Katherine Pratt has long felt called to serve veterans in unique ways, inspired by her own military family and her husband’s time as an Army Ranger.

As a driven problem-solver, Pratt naturally combined her calling with her more than two decades of experience in the corporate financial sector. In 2025, Pratt retired from what she called her “big girl” job and founded Synergistic Credit Union Solutions, a consulting firm with a mission to empower credit unions to best understand and serve the veteran community.

Soon after, she discovered DAV Patriot Boot Camp, an entrepreneurship program designed specifically for veterans and their spouses. The program’s flagship offering consists of a three-day boot camp packed with hours of learning, mentoring and networking. Through her cohort, she met two veterans and founders who helped her expand her reach through another venture, a nonprofit called National Credit Union Coalition for America’s Heroes. The goal is to connect veterans to financial literacy and wellness resources, something Pratt sees as critical to overall well-being and suicide prevention.

One of Pratt’s fellow alumni now sits on the nonprofit board, and one of her cohort mentors, a licensed therapist, serves as the mental health liaison. Plus, Pratt said, she stays in regular contact with other alumni and mentors.

“I would say Patriot Boot Camp really invigorated me to double down—like really double down,” Pratt said about her mission.

Pratt’s experience highlights the most essential ingredient of DAV Patriot Boot Camp: community. Through the program, founders meet dozens of people from across the country representing various industries and levels of expertise, including mentors who donate their time to help them succeed.

“We put months of work into DAV Patriot Boot Camp’s educational and training opportunities,” said program director Matthew Feldhaus. “But time and again, it’s the community built through each cohort that proves to be the most powerful asset for our founders.”

Kisiah Cole, an Army National Guard veteran and founder of Calming Souls Massage, said that kind of community is the foundation for navigating what can often be the roller coaster life of an entrepreneur.

Cole learned about DAV Patriot Boot Camp through Aviatra, a Cincinnati-area nonprofit dedicated solely to helping women succeed as business owners. Aviatra founder Jill Morenz is a regular mentor for the program.

In 2025, DAV sponsored the Woman Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year Award as part of Aviatra’s annual awards, for which Cole was a finalist. That ultimately funneled Cole into DAV Patriot Boot Camp, where she found yet another vibrant community.

“A lot of women vets, or a lot of women that are military members, tend to get overlooked, unfortunately,” Cole said. “And so, it’s nice to know that there is a space for us.”

Cole, whose first experience diving into a community of founders was with Aviatra, said both programs have pushed her to let more people into her community so she never has to go at it alone.

“Partnerships like the one we have with Aviatra are crucial to the diversity and reach of our community,” Feldhaus said. The program also works closely with the Robert Irvine Foundation, Owners In Honor and others.

Mika Cross learned early in the Army that “you’re only as good as your weakest link.”

“And sometimes that was me, and sometimes that might be someone else, and your role is to bring up somebody else,” she said.

Cross is the founder of Strategy@Work, a company that provides consulting and training to help organizations build healthier, high-performing workplace cultures. The venture is a culmination of a long career spanning enlisted and commissioned military service, the federal workforce, and the private sector. It’s also a reflection of Cross’ passion to make teams and communities the best they can be—including the veteran community.

When Cross attended DAV Patriot Boot Camp, she had just started partnering with a Virginia-based company dedicated to equipping veterans, spouses and caregivers with AI tools that allow for economic autonomy. Cross was developing a program called AI Mission Ready. During her cohort, she met Jason Brooks, founder of Innovo AI, an intelligent automation company serving healthcare, finance and commercial enterprises.

Their passions, missions and expertise aligned. Cross brought Brooks on as a founding faculty member. She also invited a fellow cohort alumna based in Virginia to participate in the first class of AI Mission Ready.

“On Demo Day, she really built an AI agent and assistant to help leverage her own business,” Cross said.

The results illustrate what Pratt believes: “Iron sharpens iron.”

“Watching our program alumni collaborate and make even greater impacts by working together is incredibly rewarding,” Feldhaus said. “That sense of community is critical to the success of our program and the larger veteran entrepreneur space.”

Learn more about DAV Patriot Boot Camp and sign up for the community newsletter at patriotbootcamp.org.