The National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) is entering a defining new chapter—one marked by strengthened leadership, strategic board alignment, and an accelerated commitment to preparing veteran-owned businesses for success in an increasingly digital, competitive, and global marketplace.
At the center of this evolution is a renewed focus on execution: moving from readiness to results and ensuring that certified veteran-owned businesses are not only prepared to compete, but positioned to win.
For NVBDC, this next phase is about more than organizational growth. It is about expanding the infrastructure, partnerships, and leadership necessary to connect veteran-owned businesses with real economic opportunity across corporate, government, and global supply chains.
Strengthening Leadership and Governance
As part of its strategic path forward, NVBDC has implemented key leadership updates and a thoughtful restructuring of its Board of Directors to enhance governance, accountability, and long-term impact. These changes reflect a clear commitment to stability, clarity, and performance as the organization continues to scale its national and global footprint.
A major milestone in this evolution is the appointment of Elaine M. Taylor as Executive Director. In this role, Taylor will work directly with the NVBDC Board of Directors to support day-to-day operations, strengthen organizational alignment, expand partnerships, and help execute NVBDC’s strategic initiatives.
Taylor brings more than 25 years of experience across the defense, government, aerospace, business development, marketing, and nonprofit sectors. Her appointment signals a sharpened focus on operational excellence, partnership development, and measurable outcomes.
Working alongside Interim CEO John Oleson and Board Chair Jim Cowper, NVBDC’s leadership team is aligned around a clear objective: strengthen the organization’s impact while preserving the integrity, credibility, and trust that define NVBDC certification.
That integrity is central to NVBDC’s value. In today’s procurement environment, corporations are not simply looking for supplier diversity claims. They need verified, auditable, and procurement-ready suppliers they can trust. NVBDC certification provides that trusted third-party validation, helping veteran-owned businesses translate their ownership status into a recognized business credential accepted by corporate America.
Driving Digital Readiness Through Strategic Investment
Beyond leadership and governance, NVBDC is doubling down on one of the most important challenges facing veteran entrepreneurs today: digital readiness.
Through a major grant initiative led by Annette Stevenson, NVBDC is advancing a comprehensive effort to help veteran-owned businesses modernize, compete, and scale in today’s economy. This initiative is designed to provide practical, actionable support across key areas that directly impact business growth, including:
- Leveraging AI tools for operational efficiency, marketing, and business development
- Developing strong private-sector capability statements that resonate with corporate buyers
- Building export readiness and preparing for global market entry
- Strengthening cybersecurity frameworks to meet corporate and government expectations
- Enhancing overall digital infrastructure, visibility, and competitiveness
This work is not theoretical. It is execution-focused and directly aligned with NVBDC’s broader Digital Readiness Initiative and Services Committee programming.
From foundational business education to advanced training on capability statements, exporting, cybersecurity, marketing, and AI-driven growth strategies, NVBDC continues to deliver high-impact education that helps certified veteran-owned businesses become more visible, more credible, and more prepared to pursue opportunity.
The goal is not simply to help businesses become certified. The goal is to help them become competitive.
Expanding Global Access and International Certification
As global supply chains continue to evolve, NVBDC is expanding its international reach to ensure veteran-owned businesses are positioned for opportunities beyond the domestic marketplace. This global strategy is being accelerated through the addition of Fernando Hernandez, a globally recognized supplier diversity lead from The Coca-Cola Company.
Hernandez, who led Coca-Cola’s $800 million global Supplier Diversity program, will support NVBDC’s international certification expansion and global corporate engagement. He brings unmatched experience overseeing multi-billion-dollar supplier diversity programs, including Microsoft’s $5 billion annual Supplier Diversity program and AT&T’s $1 billion annual Supplier Diversity program. He also holds the distinction of being the first person to earn membership twice in the Billion Dollar Roundtable through his work with AT&T and Microsoft.
These efforts build directly on NVBDC’s recent global initiatives, including export strategy programming in partnership with the International Trade Administration, export readiness financial training in collaboration with the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and expanded partnerships designed to open doors to international markets.
The message is clear: NVBDC is not only preparing veteran-owned businesses for opportunity; it is actively building the pathways to help them access it.
Certification as a Business Credential
NVBDC’s work begins with certification, but its impact extends far beyond the certificate itself.
For veteran-owned businesses, certification is more than a recognition of ownership. It is a business credential that helps companies enter corporate supplier diversity systems, demonstrate credibility, and align with the procurement standards major corporations require.
Corporate buyers need confidence that the suppliers they engage have been properly vetted. NVBDC certification helps provide that confidence by verifying veteran ownership, control, and operational status through a trusted third-party process. This gives corporations a reliable way to identify qualified veteran-owned suppliers while giving certified businesses a clearer pathway into sourcing conversations.
That distinction matters.
In today’s marketplace, opportunity is not created by visibility alone. It is created when visibility is backed by verification, readiness, capability, and access. NVBDC’s role is to help veteran-owned businesses move from being recognized to being considered, engaged, and ultimately selected.
Connecting Veteran Businesses to Real Economic Opportunity
NVBDC’s evolution is also rooted in economic impact.
The organization connects certified veteran-owned businesses to a corporate supplier marketplace representing more than $122 billion in opportunity. Corporations within the NVBDC network have reported more than $4.3 billion in spend with certified veteran-owned suppliers, demonstrating that veteran business certification is not only symbolic; it is tied to measurable procurement activity and real revenue potential.
These numbers reflect an important shift in the conversation around veteran entrepreneurship.
For years, veteran business support has often been framed around resources, recognition, and training. Those elements are important, but they are not the end goal. Revenue is.
NVBDC is helping shift the focus from support to scale by building the systems, relationships, and educational pathways that connect veteran-owned businesses with buyers that have real procurement demand.
Through certification, corporate engagement, Services Committee programming, global initiatives, and strategic partnerships, NVBDC is helping veteran-owned businesses become better positioned to compete for contracts, build relationships, and grow sustainably.
Scaling Veteran Business Growth for the Next Decade.
NVBDC’s continued growth reflects more than a new phase of strategy; it reflects the strength of an organization now entering its 12th year of advancing economic opportunity for veteran-owned businesses.
With a proven foundation in trusted third-party certification, corporate engagement, supplier development, and strategic partnerships, NVBDC is expanding its impact to help veteran-owned businesses scale, compete globally, and continue accessing meaningful procurement opportunities.
Through strengthened leadership, strategic governance, targeted investment in digital readiness, and expanded global access, NVBDC is building on more than a decade of work to ensure certified veteran-owned businesses are prepared for the next level of growth.
Our work is about more than certification.
It is about connection. It is about capability. It is about credibility. And ultimately, it is about outcomes.
NVBDC helps veteran-owned businesses turn SD/VOB certification into business opportunity by connecting them with corporate supplier networks, global market resources, and the tools needed to compete in today’s economy. As procurement continues to evolve, NVBDC remains focused on helping veteran entrepreneurs stay visible, trusted, and positioned for long-term success.
As NVBDC continues to grow, its mission remains clear: to ensure service-disabled and veteran-owned businesses are recognized, certified, and empowered to compete at the highest levels of the national and global economy.
With the right leadership, strategy, partnerships, and tools in place, NVBDC is not redefining its mission, it is expanding the reach and impact of the mission it has carried forward for more than a decade.
