”We don’t just need spouses to have jobs. We need them to be able to keep those jobs, and turn them into careers. Hiring our Heroes and Blue Star Families are asking for 1,000 companies to commit to retaining more spouses. It’s ambitious, but together we can achieve it. And everyone in this room has a role in making this vision a reality.”

“Spouse. Employment isn't just the right thing to do in 2023. It's an essential part of our military's readiness.”

“Today, the Department of Defense must recruit and retain families. Who will we lose if we can't find flexible professional employment for our spouses and appropriate childcare for our children?”

“That is what the four plus one initiative does. It brings the community together to focus on a few common sense practices and policies to help military spouses as they search for and maintain careers. And I think we all would agree that military spouses shouldn't have to choose between a life of service, their life of service and their career.”

“We are facing a national crisis in military spouse unemployment. The 4+1 initiative will serve as a rallying cry to raise much needed awareness and provide pathways to meaningful careers for military spouses, especially those that are remote and portable.”

“Our mission as a company is that with every cup, with every conversation, with every community, we nurture the limitless possibilities of human connection. And for us, nothing can be more endearing than the connection we have with our partners, with the communities that we serve. One of those communities is the military and veterans community, and for there we have among our promises a bridge to a better future…I'm so grateful to join my other fellow original signatories and also making sure that Starbucks is able to lead the way and doing it all the way on behalf of this community. So we are grateful to both Blue Star and also hiring our heroes for allowing us to be here today.”

“All communities are important to Nextdoor. The military population is especially important to next door because we know that they are looking for a sense of belonging and to feel welcomed in their new community when they settle in and next door is uniquely positioned to help them establish those meaningful connections in their local communities and get things done quickly and easily, like finding employment, whether that's full time or part time.”

“Well, this is necessary because I personally feel I owe it to military families, vets and so on. We owe them a lot. We can't forget them. And, you know, like I like to tell people a nerd's got to do what a nerd's got to do.”