From Washington to Canberra to Ottawa—How 2025 Became the Year Veterans Took the Global Stage
In a world increasingly defined by geopolitical uncertainty and economic transition, a new class of leaders is quietly rewriting the rules of post-service life. Not in parades or memorials—but in legislation, venture portfolios, and academic models. These leaders are veterans, and the movement rallying around them—National Invest In Veterans Week® (NIVW)—has, in 2025, become something truly unprecedented: a global framework.
This March, something rare and strategically historic occurred: three nations—the United States, Canada, and Australia—converged on a shared thesis. That military service, far from being simply a sacrifice to be remembered, is a capital asset to be reinvested.
The Triangulation Heard Round the World
What began in Washington, D.C. as a U.S. initiative to reframe the conversation around veterans took a definitive turn outward this year.
On March 8, 2024, U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale (MT-02) formally entered National Invest In Veterans Week into the Congressional Record, affirming its policy relevance and economic promise. “Military service is an investment,” he quoted, “Let’s yield the return.”
Meanwhile, halfway across the world in Australia, the powerful Returned & Services League (RSL) included NIVW-aligned reforms in its 2025 Election Asks—a document submitted to all major political parties. Among the calls:
Full implementation of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide,
A nationwide Independent Defence and Veteran Services Commission,
And expanded defense funding to 3% of GDP.
Not as charity, the RSL stressed—but as structural investment in national resilience.
And in Canada, coverage by Northern Ontario Business urged companies to back the veteran-led economy. Civic leaders called for the creation of a North Atlantic Veteran Investment Framework modeled on the U.S. experience. The momentum wasn’t just symbolic. It was strategic.
From the Ivory Tower to the Investment Office
2025 was also the year academia and capital caught up with the movement.
In January, Harvard Catalyst, a division of Harvard Medical School, highlighted National Invest In Veterans Week as a model for civic and economic reintegration, noting its cross-sector logic. Where other programs isolate healthcare from employment or housing, NIVW proposed a cohesive veteran lifecycle model—workforce development, entrepreneurship, and wellness under a single philosophy.
That same week, Virginia-based defense firm ITA International launched ITA Growth Partners, a dedicated family office focused on investing in veteran-owned businesses. It was the first sign that capital institutions were moving beyond grants and small business loans—toward long-term asset management with veterans at the core.
“Veterans don’t just belong in the economy,” said Dr. Ernestine Fu, venture capitalist and founder of MilVet Angels. “They’re a class of catalytic capital. They built the economy.”
The Shift: From Beneficiaries to Originators
This was the philosophical breakthrough of 2025—the moment the veteran was reframed from beneficiary to economic originator.
The slogan of the movement—“Military service is an investment. Let’s yield the return.”—is no longer metaphor. It’s a capital thesis. Veterans are no longer framed as charity recipients, but as value generators, with networks, discipline, and leadership that rival any MBA program.
And unlike past iterations, this year’s observance wasn’t just a call to honor veterans. It was a blueprint for government, capital markets, and academia to work in synchrony.
What Comes Next
With three nations now engaged, and institutional capital entering the field, the 2025 iteration of National Invest In Veterans Week has reset the global standard for veteran integration.
It’s no longer just a week on the calendar.
It’s a system.
A philosophy.
A framework.
And for veterans in boardrooms, classrooms, and parliamentary chambers around the world, it is finally a seat at the center of the table—not as a favor, but as a fact.
Learn more at www.investinveteransweek.com
