About our company

Our Mission

As veterans, we bring a unique set of experiences and perspectives to the business world. VetsLeverage’s mission is to help cultivate an engaging community of vetpreneurs to use our shared experience as a combat multiplier to help each other grow and succeed in business.

Though we may or may not still be wearing the uniform, our mission to support our families, community and country through the success of our businesses continues on. Together in uniform we supported each other. As business owners, VetsLeverage is dedicated to helping us succeed together!

How We Got Started

VeteransLeverage was born out of a company called Veterans List. Veterans List was an online directory of veteran owned businesses across the country.

Veterans Leverage acquired Veterans List recognizing that while a directory was useful, creating a full entrepreneur community beyond that one primary feature was critical to assisting veteran businesses achieve their goals. Seeing the need for more of a powerful community of networks and tools, VetsLeverage was born!

Our Core Program Focus Areas

At Veterans Leverage, we are building programs which are focused on delivering relevant and impactful resources and results for entrepreneurs who are at any part of their business development cycle. As our company grows, we are building events, trainings and resources to support your business goals!

our key pillars

Peerness

With the VetsLeverage community, you get access to a group of peers who know what it truly means to have your back and support the mission. We fought together and now we can help grow together!

Learning

We are dedicated to ensuring that you have access to learn from the best experts, industry leaders, investors and successful entrepreneurs to take your business to the next level!

mentorship

Sometimes all we need is a little help getting over that obstacle. Having a network of successful entrepreneurs and investors to use as a resource can sometimes make the difference between failure and success.

commerce

Through our unique platform and marketplace, we give our members an opportunity to have an exclusive place to highlight and sell products/services to the community and grow their business.

the veterans leverage team

Rick Yost

Ricky L. Yost (Rick) is a program management executive with over 30 years of leadership and management experience in Federal and commercial environments. Rick has over 20 years’ experience managing hardware and software programs and program teams. He has co-founded several start-ups including a cyber security firm, a reputation management firm, a veteran owned business advocate firm, and an AI-based text-editing firm. The foundation of his leadership and management experience developed as a cavalry and information systems officer in the U.S. Army where he served for over twelve years, earning multiple awards and honors including Airborne Ranger qualification, two Meritorious Service Medals and a Bronze Star. Mr. Yost holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management from the University of South Dakota, a Master of Business Administration in Decision and Information Sciences from the University of Florida, and a Juris Doctorate from American University Washington College of Law. Additionally, he is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute, a former member of the Virginia State Bar, and a Full Stack Developer graduate of the Coding Dojo. Rick currently works in the San Francisco Bay Area with technology companies leading program management teams.

Chad Longell

Chad Longell, a native of New Jersey, is a veteran, non-profit leader, consultant and an entrepreneur. Chad started his professional career working for Congress in the House of Representatives for NJ-7th district from 2004-2008 where he focused on military/veteran affairs. He attended Catholic University in Washington DC where he majored in political science and minored in philosophy. Chad started his military career as a cadet in the Georgetown University ROTC before joining the Army Reserves. His overseas experience includes Germany, England, Cyprus, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and Afghanistan. For 10 years, Chad was a political and defense consultant where he served across several government organizations and companies. In August 2017, Chad was appointed the National Director of Military and Veteran Affairs at the Republican National Committee in Washington DC where he oversaw the GOPVets program. He has also served as a lobbyist on various veteran/global initiatives and has successfully had legislation passed by congress and signed into law. He also has experience in the media having served previously as the Director of Military/Veteran Content for the Independent Journal Review and currently as Chairman of a DC based media company called News Cycle Media. Chad also has a passion for non-profit work. He has had a founding role in the past and currently in several veteran service organizations to include as a Co-Founder of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, Global War on Terrorism Historical Foundation and Operation Bloom. Additionally to those roles, he currently serves on the board of directors for Project Refit and the national board of advisors for Army Week Association. His past board experience also includes Cooking with the Troops and he is actively involved as a state leader in Virginia of the Veterans for Smart Power division of the US Global Leadership Coalition. Chad currently resides in Washington DC and continues to serve in his Army Reserve capacity.