Where Service Becomes Legacy

Veteran Venture Foundation exists to help veterans turn the discipline, leadership, and experience gained through military service into businesses built for long-term impact.

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Our Mission

Our mission is to empower veterans to build sustainable businesses by providing the infrastructure, resources, guidance, and support needed to turn their skills and ideas into launch-ready companies.

We believe veterans have already developed many of the qualities required to become successful entrepreneurs. Our role is to help translate those qualities into the knowledge, systems, and business infrastructure necessary to build and grow.

Our Vision

Our vision is a future where every veteran who wants to pursue entrepreneurship has a meaningful pathway to turn their service, experience, and ambition into a sustainable business and lasting economic impact.

We envision veterans not only as employees and consumers, but as founders, employers, community builders, and economic contributors.

Our Values

Turning Military Experience Into Entrepreneurial Opportunity

We believe service doesn't end when military service does. We carry the spirit of service into everything we do.

Mission

We approach entrepreneurship with the same focus and intentionality that veterans bring to every mission: define the objective, build the plan, and execute.

Integrity

Trust is foundational. We operate honestly, communicate clearly, and make decisions with the long-term interests of veterans and our partners in mind.

Ownership

We believe veterans deserve the opportunity to build something they own - personally, professionally, and financially.

Impact

Success is measured by more than the number of businesses launched. We care about sustainable companies, and the communities those businesses can strengthen.

Accountability

We hold ourselves and the veterans we serve to high standards. Progress requires commitment, transparency, and follow-through.

Veteran Venture Foundation turns that mindset into opportunity & ownership.

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Leadership & TEAM

Meet the People Building the Mission

Veteran Venture Foundation is powered by a team that understands the importance of service, entrepreneurship, and execution.

Matthew Cook

President & CEO

James Biggs

Co-Founder & COO

Transparency Is Part of Our Mission

As a nonprofit organization, Veteran Venture Foundation believes trust must extend beyond the veterans we serve. It also includes donors, grant makers, partners, volunteers, and the broader community.

Veteran Venture Foundation was founded in 2026 in Orange County, California. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation, with its federal tax-exempt determination pending. The organization files its IRS Form 990 publicly on an annual basis once required.

A Different Kind of Veteran Support

Our job is to help provide the structure, resources, and support necessary for the next one. Through Veteran Venture Foundation, veterans can take the skills developed through service and apply them to something they can build, own, and grow.

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Amelia Atwill

Chief Development Officer

Amelia Atwill is a nonprofit development professional with more than 20 years of experience building strategic partnerships, leading fundraising initiatives, and engaging volunteers to strengthen communities. Throughout her career, she has worked with organizations including Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia, the ALS Association, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, helping to raise millions of dollars in support of mission-driven programs.

A Virginia resident, Amelia is passionate about connecting people and resources to causes that create meaningful impact. In addition to her professional experience, she has served in numerous volunteer leadership roles within local schools and community organizations. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History with a certification in Arts Management from Sweet Briar College.

At VVF, Amelia is proud to help share the organization’sstory and connect supporters to its mission of empowering veterans as they transition to life after service. She is inspired by VVF’s nationwide reach and its collaboration with partners across the country to expand opportunities for veterans and strengthen communities through philanthropy, volunteerism, and civic engagement.

Amelia is married with two children. Outside of her professional and volunteer commitments, she enjoys traveling with family and friends, pursuing creative art projects, and giving back to her community.

Jannelle Allong-Diakaba

Director of Marketing and Communications

Jannelle Allong-Diakabana is a strategic communications and marketing leader with more than 15 years of experience spanning public relations, executive communications, content strategy, and experiential marketing. She enjoys developing and delivering intentional storytelling for mission-driven brands.

A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer, Jannelle holds a Master of Arts in Strategic Public Relations from The George Washington University.

Outside of her communications career, Jannelle is a trained postpartum recovery practitioner supporting families through the fourth trimester. Based in Colorado, she enjoys long walks with her family, swimming, cycling, ballet, teaching yoga, and exploring the world.

Matthew Cook

Founder, CEO

Matthew Cook is a marketing and communications strategist, entrepreneur, and nonprofit leader with more than 15 years of experience across the nonprofit, startup, and small business sectors. He has worked with numerous nonprofits both in-house and as a consultant, including CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) and the ALS Association, helping organizations strengthen their marketing, communications, fundraising, and impact.

Matthew has also worked extensively with entrepreneurs and growing businesses, helping turn ideas into sustainable ventures through marketing and communications strategy, brand development, business planning, and go-to-market execution. He has served as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer for numerous organizations and was a partner at Lost Trail Communications. As Founder and CEO of Veteran Venture Foundation, he brings this experience together to help veterans turn their skills and ideas into successful businesses.

Matthew holds a B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from UMBC; a master’s degree in Sports Industry Management, with a concentration in Strategic Marketing, Communications, and Digital Media, from Georgetown University; and an MBA with concentrations in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Mark Nager

Chief Financial Officer, Director of Events

Mark Nager serves as Chief Financial Officer and Director of Events for Veteran Venture Foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Principia College, where he also played collegiate soccer, after previously attending the University of Alabama. His professional background includes several years as a wealth manager at Southern Capital Services in Daphne, AL, where he began developing his analytical and interpersonal skills. Mark then chose to move to Los Angeles, CA, to expand his horizons to the arts as well as hospitality. There, he collected several credits as an actor and a voice actor as well as finding leadership and management roles in hospitality services.

Bringing together his financial, operational, and leadership skills in hospitality, Mark spent many years organizing and executing events of all kinds. He also participated in theatre alongside veterans as a form of art therapy and community building, giving him a meaningful perspective on the importance of connection, purpose, and community after military service is done. Mark, having family members of his own that are veterans, is deeply committed to the well-being of former service members and is proud to help create opportunities for veterans to pursue independence, entrepreneurship, and lasting success.

James Biggs

Co-Founder, COO

James Biggs graduated with honors from Principia College in 2007 and spent the next four years in Army Intelligence. He deployed with the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division to Iraq, and after he left the Army, spent time as an intelligence contractor in Afghanistan. In 2026, while he was assisting with the expedited drawdown of Embassy personnel in Baghdad due to the hostilities with Iran, he and a friend from high school began chatting back and forth about ideas that could help veterans take charge of their own futures. And so the Veteran Venture Foundation was born. Rather than leaving veterans to the whims of war and working for others, he is dedicated to ensuring that the foundation serves the veteran community and helps veterans to serve themselves.

Matthew Beck

Chief of Staff

Matthew Beck is a seasoned entrepreneur, business strategist, and founder with extensive business ownership experience across multiple industries. As the grandson of a United States Air Force veteran, Matthew was raised with a deep appreciation for the values of service, discipline, commitment, and perseverance, principles that continue to shape his approach to life and business. Throughout his career, he has founded and developed ventures spanning strategic consulting, marketing and communications, financial services, business funding, technology, AI solutions, real estate, sports and entertainment, and consumer products.

His work with Veteran Venture Foundation has included organizational strategy, project planning, project management, and executive operations designed to support the organization’s mission of serving the veteran community. Matthew combines business analytics, technology, marketing, strategic planning, and operational leadership with a practical, execution-focused philosophy centered on building organizations that create measurable and lasting impact.