Press Release Details

Each Will Receive a $30,000 Unrestricted Grant for Excellence in Veteran Job Placement

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2018-- The Call of Duty Endowment (“the Endowment”) is proud to announce the selection of Workshops for Warriors and FourBlock as the 2018 recipients of the Call of Duty Endowment Seal of Distinction, the standard of excellence in the veterans’ employment sector.

Celebrating its sixth year, the program, which is recognized by the Philanthropy Roundtable as a best-in-class model for funding veteran employment, is key to the Endowment’s success in placing veterans at one-sixth the cost of U.S. Department of Labor efforts. Each winner will receive a $30,000 grant and the opportunity to apply for additional restricted funding, advice, and support.

“We are proud to bestow this honor on two best-in-class organizations: Workshops for Warriors and FourBlock,” said Dan Goldenberg, Executive Director of the Call of Duty Endowment. “Through our rigorous vetting, in collaboration with Deloitte, these organizations have proven their abilities in preparing veterans to secure high quality employment.”

More about this year’s U.S. winners:

• Workshops for Warriors is a nonprofit that trains, certifies, and helps place veterans, wounded warriors, and transitioning service members into advanced manufacturing careers.
• FourBlock is a nonprofit that offers career development instruction and mentorship to veterans during their military-to-civilian career transitions. Through its in-person Career Readiness Program and FourBlock Online, the foundation provides veterans with the professional development, career exploration, and network needed to make strong career choices.

This program would not be possible without Deloitte’s collaboration and assistance in assessing all Seal of Distinction semi-finalists.

“We are so grateful for the support of Deloitte in identifying and vetting these organizations,” Goldenberg added. “Their expertise is critical to the program’s ongoing success.”

“Deloitte is honored to continue its long-standing relationship with the Endowment and the Seal of Distinction program. This program has created true impact by accelerating the employment of more than 50,000 transitioning service-members and veterans back into the workforce,” said Mark Goulart, Principal, Deloitte Consulting.

This year’s Seal of Distinction recipients join an elite list of non-profit organizations to receive this recognition. Previous recipients of the Seal of Distinction who continue to make a major difference in the lives of U.S. and U.K. veterans are:

• Able-Disabled Advocacy - San Diego, California
• American Red Cross of Southern Nevada - Las Vegas, Nevada
• AMVETS - Lanham, Maryland
• Career Source Broward - Oakland Park, Florida
• Career Source Palm Beach County - West Palm Beach, Florida
• CASY - St. Louis, Missouri
• Easter Seals of DC, MD and VA’s Veteran Staffing Network - Silver Spring, Maryland
• Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region - Tacoma, Washington
• Goodwill Southern California - Los Angeles, California
• Hire Heroes USA - Alpharetta, Georgia
• Hiring Our Heroes - Washington, D.C.
• JVS - Los Angeles, California
• National Able Network - Chicago, Illinois
• NextOp, Inc. - Houston, Texas
• Operation: Job Ready Veterans - Indianapolis, Indiana
• Project Renewal - New York, New York
• Salvation Army Haven - Los Angeles, California
• Still Serving Veterans - Huntsville, Alabama
• The Forces Employment Charity - London, United Kingdom
• Thresholds - Chicago, Illinois
• US Vets - Los Angeles, California
• USC School of Social Work’s Center for Innovation and Research for Veterans and Military Families - Los Angeles, California
• Veterans Inc. - Worcester, Massachusetts
• Veterans Leadership Program - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Walking with the Wounded - Melton Constable, United Kingdom
• Weingart Center for the Homeless - Los Angeles, California

Applicants for the Call of Duty Endowment’s Seal of Distinction must meet rigorous criteria to be considered, including full transparency when opening their books to provide extensive documentation about their job placement results. The metrics assessed include number of placements made, average cost per placement, average starting salary, six-month retention rate, key employee background checks, and a variety of organizational financial health indicators. All qualified applications were initially reviewed and evaluated by the Endowment’s outside Board of Advisors. Semi-finalists are then independently assessed on a pro bono basis by Deloitte and ultimately approved by the Endowment’s Board of Directors.

The Call of Duty Endowment has successfully funded the placement of more than 50,000 veterans into high-quality, high-retention employment since 2009. They reached this goal ahead of schedule, and recently announced they will double down their efforts and have committed to placing a total of 100,000 veterans by 2024. The Endowment launched its Seal of Distinction program in August 2013 and to-date has awarded more than $28 million in grants to Seal of Distinction recipients, and Activision Blizzard has donated over $30 million to the Endowment since its inception in 2009.

About the Call of Duty™ Endowment:

The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit organization founded by Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. The Endowment seeks to help veterans find high-quality careers by supporting groups that prepare them for the job market and by raising awareness of the value vets bring to the workplace. For more information about the Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org.

ACTIVISION and CALL OF DUTY are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181220005544/en/

Source: Activision Blizzard, Inc.

Activision Blizzard
pr@activisionblizzard.com