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Please meet, Matt Ervin, the new Program Manager fellow hired through the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program at NSI. Hiring Our Heroes Fellowship Program is an innovative program that provides transitioning service members with professional training and hands-on experience in the civilian workforce. 

Q: Hi, Matt. Thank you for chatting with us.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from, etc.?

I am originally from the Philadelphia area (Go Eagles). I have been able to serve in the Army over the last 13 years. I’ve held numerous positions during my service including, Howitzer Section Chief, Security Force Advisor, Recruiter, Combatives Program Director, and Division Fires Operations Manager among others. All of which have given me opportunities to explore  multiple temporary duty stations around the world!  On top of this I was able to leverage opportunities in the Army to earn my MBA as well as PMP certification. I enjoy spending time cooking, playing rugby, muay thai, and spending time with my ten month old son!

Q: Can you tell us about the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program? How did you get involved in it?

The Hiring our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program (HoH) is an opportunity provided to transitioning service members to help them wade into the waters of civilian work. I got really lucky in how I became involved. Upon my return from a tour in Europe I had begun my transition pretty late. My appointment with the transition office and Career Skills Program (CSP) office was on the last possible day for me to enroll in HoH. I had shown up and received a firehose of information and an extremely long to do list. After scrambling around and waking up a few people still in Europe I was able to get everything signed and engage in the program with its deadline being the next day!

Q: What drew you to working with NSI?

During my transition out of the Army I still wanted to ensure that what I was doing would still contribute to the betterment of the world. When I saw the possibility to work at NSI I had done some investigating into the organization and felt that this would be a great challenging opportunity to ensure I was able to continue that service as well as undertake a new and exciting challenge.

Q: What do you hope to get out of your fellowship?

The ability to exercise a skillset that may have otherwise atrophied is a welcome challenge. The opportunity to work at NSI has been a wonderful way to increase my experience as a project manager and has enabled me to focus on my transition out of the Army comfortably while being able to contribute in a meaningful way to a team that has welcomed me wholeheartedly.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your current work?

The HoH program seems to have begun at the exact right time. NSI has gained a lot of traction recently and is working on the acquisition of quite a few projects so getting in on the ground floor and working to help develop these project management plans as well as continuing to keep up on more mature projects has been a wonderful growth experience. Ensuring I can contribute to the team has been upmost important to the work I’ve been doing, and I look forward to continuing to do so.

Q: Thank you. Do you have anything else to add about NSI or your current goals or work?

I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here! I look forward to working with everyone, developing relationships, and seeing what the future holds! Thank you.