A shared purpose: WellSky joins fellowship program that connects members of military with private companies for mutual learning, growth
This summer, WellSky has partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to participate in the Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) fellowship program. HOH connects the military community—service members, military spouses, and veterans—with American businesses to create economic opportunity and a strong and diversified workforce.
HOH Fellows remain on active military service while spending 11 weeks working with participating companies. The goal of the program is to provide service members transitioning out of active duty with networking, professional training, and hands-on experience in the civilian workforce.
Last spring, several WellSky teammates interviewed fellowship candidates and shared with them WellSky’s mission to transform healthcare. In May, we proudly welcomed our first two fellows—Valeria Berrios and Rob Pester—to the WellSky team.
Valeria has been in the U.S. Army for three years, serving as a signal officer at Fort Hood, Texas. She leads technical teams that provide encrypted communication paths in the field and plan and execute operations to support an engineer battalion during missions. At WellSky, Valeria is working as an associate project manager for the home health division. Valeria hails from Cayey, Puerto Rico, and in her spare time enjoys volleyball, running, hiking, traveling, and trying new restaurants.
“Being in the military prepares you to be adaptive and able to work in a fast-paced environment with a multicultural view. It also gives you the leadership and discipline required to successfully manage teams and projects,” said Valeria. “Having the opportunity to be part of a leading healthcare services and software company as unique as WellSky really caught my attention. I see a lot of potential in this field, and I wanted to be part of it.”
Rob joined the U.S. Marines Corps after high school and spent time in military intelligence as a linguist. After four years, he left the Corps but rejoined the military a few years later as an electronics technician in the U.S. Coast Guard. He attained the rank of warrant officer and will retire after 30+ years on October 1. Rob is working as a technical project manager with WellSky’s corporate IT team and WellSky Professional Services on internal projects. Outside of the office, Rob can be found on his motorcycle or feeding his Lego obsession.
“Two of the main skillsets I learned in the military are critical thinking and how to be effective and productive quickly. This has helped me at WellSky tremendously, especially at a time when the company is making many changes,” Rob says. “The fellowship experience has been very interesting. I have had an opportunity to learn so much about how civilian companies are structured and where they focus their resources compared to the military.”
WellSky joined the HOH program as part of its Teammate Resource Group (TRG) initiative. TRGs are formed around common interests or similar backgrounds and are an invaluable resource for providing connections for professionals with shared identities. WellSky has five TRGs, one of which is for any teammates with military affiliations.
“WellSky is honored and delighted to have Valeria and Rob complete their fellowships with us,” remarks Kristin Lewis, talent management director. “As members of the military, they bring strong leadership and a broad array of technical skills to our team. In addition, WellSky is gaining a better understanding of the military workforce and how we can be a top employer choice for servicemen and servicewomen.”
For more information about Hiring Our Heroes, visit the program’s website.