Transitioning for Success

Kelly Saeli ’10, MPS ’17 spends 18 Saturdays a year in classes at ILR’s midtown Manhattan location.

During the week, she works as operations director for New York City Helmets to Hardhats, Inc., a non-profit group that has helped hundreds of veterans transition from the military to union jobs in the construction industry.

ILR’s part-time Master of Professional Studies program, she said, “fits with what I’m doing as a professional. The MPS is key.”

“Budgeting, deliverables, being able to forecast five and 10 years out, pay, compliance issues — I have been able to take what I’ve learned and apply it immediately.”

ILR’s blend of theoretical and applied skills has helped her change people’s lives, said Saeli, who was a U.S. Air Force member before studying at Tompkins County Community College and ILR.

Her work now with the New York City Helmets to Hardhats, she said, “is not about giving military veterans jobs, but about giving them an opportunity to have a career they can thrive in and that allows them to take care of their families."