Vet Voice Foundation Announces New CEO, Bold New Mission, and Partnership with LTC (Ret.) Alexander Vindman

WASHINGTON, DC – The non-partisan, non-profit Vet Voice Foundation is today announcing a new CEO, an updated mission, and a new partnership with Lieutenant Colonel (USA, Ret.) Alexander Vindman.

Janessa Goldbeck, a Marine Corps veteran, is the new CEO of Vet Voice Foundation, a national nonprofit organization with over 1.5 million members that will now be known as VV Foundation. 

Led by veterans, VV Foundation mobilizes veterans and military families to have a voice in our democracy by providing them with the support, training, and tools to shape policy and impact outcomes in their communities.

LTC (Ret.) Alexander Vindman joins VV Foundation as a Senior Advisor. Vindman was most recently the Director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Russia on the White House’s National Security Council.

The new changes were announced in a dynamic video, seen here:  VVF – New Mission

VV Foundation works to elevate the voices of veterans of all ranks, from the enlisted soldier who served on the front lines, to the former top brass at the Pentagon. Since VV Foundation’s inception in 2009, the voices of veterans and military family members have been key to building momentum around ending the “forever wars” in the Middle East, supporting a diplomacy-first, diplomacy-heavy foreign policy, and strengthening democratic systems here at home.

“My entire career has been about promoting the security of this nation, and there’s never been this kind of threat to our security or our democracy. That’s why I’ve joined forces with the Foundation,” says Vindman in the video. “The fact is, when a veteran speaks out, lawmakers listen.”

“Those who seek to undermine our country are adapting quickly,” Goldbeck says in the video. Well, Vet Voice is adapting too. We will raise the voices of veterans in defense of America, to combat disinformation and counter the lies. To ensure the voting rights we fought to protect for every American. To end blank checks for presidents of any party to wage forever wars that cost our troops and military families the most. To strengthen our country by ensuring access to health care, reproductive rights, equal justice, and the right to organize at work. And fight to preserve public lands for all of us to enjoy, especially our returning troops.”

Goldbeck, a Marine Corps veteran, deployed overseas as a Combat Engineer Officer, managing engineering, logistics, and explosive ordnance disposal missions in support of NATO operations. She also served as a Uniformed Victim Advocate, providing care to service members who experienced sexual assault.

After discovering that some jobs in the military were closed to women due to the Combat Exclusion policy, Goldbeck volunteered to participate in Department of Defense-led research on gender integration in combat arms units. In the course of this research, she attended an infantry course officially closed to women. Following her experience, Goldbeck co-founded an advocacy campaign to repeal the discriminatory Combat Exclusion policy. In 2015, the Secretary of Defense opened all military occupations to qualified applicants, regardless of gender.

Prior to her military service, Goldbeck worked in Washington, DC, as a human rights advocate building political will for legislative and diplomatic efforts to protect civilians in conflict zones. Following her military career, she founded a firm that provides organizations with the tools to pass legislation, impact policy, and achieve meaningful change. She holds a B.S. from Northwestern University, an M.A. from the University of San Francisco, and serves on the boards of the Truman National Security Project, Equality California, and the Victory Fund’s Campaigns Board.

LTC (Ret.) Alexander S. Vindman was most recently the Director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Russia on the White House’s National Security Council. During his U.S. Army career, he served as an Infantryman and  Foreign Area Officer with assignments in Kyiv, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia and as a Political-Military Affairs Officer for Russia for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

While on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, he authored the National Military Strategy for Russia and the Global Campaign for Russia. Lieutenant Colonel Vindman came to national attention in October 2019 when he testified before the United States Congress in the Trump–Ukraine scandal Impeachment hearings. His testimony provided evidence that resulted in the impeachment of Donald Trump for the charge of abuse of power.

Commissioned in 1999 as an infantry officer, Vindman received a Purple Heart medal for wounds received from an IED attack in the Iraq War in 2004. He is currently a doctoral candidate and a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the Pritzker Military Fellow at the Lawfare Institute.