21st Century Fox and News Corp co-hosted a reception on Feb. 11 to celebrate their longstanding partnership with American Corporate Partners (ACP), a nonprofit organization that helps U.S. military veterans transition into the civilian workforce by connecting them with professional mentors.
The reception brought together current mentors and mentees, alumni, and executives from 21st Century Fox and News Corp, including ACP mentors Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox; and Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. The two companies have supported ACP’s Mentoring Program since 2009.
ACP’s significance
“As employers, we are never surprised by the ingenuity of veterans, who have been tested in difficult circumstances and whose experiences on the battlefield are more than precious,” Thomson said. “As companies, we’re not doing veterans a favor by mentoring and hiring them. We’re doing ourselves a favor.”
ACP founder and chairman Sidney E. Goodfriend, who gave opening remarks at the reception, said that 97 percent of the nonprofit’s funds goes directly to benefit participating veterans. General David Petraeus was also in attendance and shared his thoughts on the impact ACP has had on the nearly 7,000 veterans who have participated its mentorship program since the nonprofit was started in 2008.
“What we’re trying to do is not just find someone a job or help them find a job, but to help them find a career,” Petraeus said. “We need to remind people what these great men and women have done for our country, preserving our freedoms around the world. It’s not just the right thing to do to hire veterans; it’s the smart thing to do.”
What ACP means for current mentees
Elizabeth Ortiz, a former public affairs officer for the U.S. Air Force who retired two weeks ago, applied for an ACP mentor in the fall after hearing about the program.
“After 21 years of going where you were told to go and doing what you were told to do, you don’t really give much thought to your career because you just expect it to happen,” she said. But after heeding the advice of her fellow airmen, Ortiz applied and found two mentors at 21st Century Fox to help her as she goes “from one world into another world.”
“They really nailed down my mentorship,” said Tahlia Burton, who served six years as a linguist for the Air Force and was recently paired with a mentor at 21st Century Fox. “When I met her, we just really clicked. It wasn’t just on the job level; it was on a personal level, too.”
Burton, one of the 2,500 veterans who have found mentors through ACP this year, added that mentees stand to “gain so much” from such a small time commitment to talk with their mentors each month – from resume and interview help, to potential internships and employment.
“Coming here and being with General David Petraeus, Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thompson in this intimate setting — I was blown away and I feel really honored to be here,” Burton said at the reception, which was held at 21st Century Fox and News Corp’s New York headquarters.
For more information on ACP, including how to get involved as a mentor, visit ACP-USA.org.
