When Yvonne Perrino talks about her work, she does not start with programs or paperwork. She starts with people.
As Outreach Program Coordinator at Kennesaw State University, she sits at the crossroads of two worlds. On one side are veteran and military-connected students working through business classes, case studies, and exams. On the other side is everything they carry from their time in uniform and everything they hope for next.
Many of them are not dreaming about a job. They are dreaming about ownership. They just do not always have language or a path for it yet. That is where Yvonne and Owners in Honor™ meet.
A Campus Where Veterans Are Seen As Future Owners
In her role at Kennesaw State, Yvonne sees more than majors and GPAs. She sees potential operators — veterans who show up early, sit in the back, and quietly ace the hardest assignments; who ask questions that come from real-world responsibility, not just textbook scenarios; who feel the pull toward doing something bigger than a single job description.
For them, “business” is not an abstract concept. It is a way to keep serving.
When Owners in Honor™ partners with the university, it reinforces what Yvonne believes at her core. Veteran students are not just another demographic on campus. They are a pipeline of future owners, employers, and community anchors.
Through events, conversations, and exposure to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, those students start to see: owning a main street business is a real option; their leadership, discipline, and calm under pressure are assets, not quirks; there are sellers and communities who would welcome someone like them taking the keys.
Why A University Partnership Matters So Much
On campus, that looks like: a veteran in a business class realizing they do not have to start from scratch, they can buy a good business and grow it; a student hearing that their experience leading teams, managing risk, and solving problems is exactly what many small businesses need next; a cohort of veteran students seeing each other not just as classmates, but as a future network of owners and operators.
For Yvonne, being part of a university means creating that kind of environment deliberately — making sure veteran students are not only supported academically, but activated, given access to ideas, people, and partners that turn ambition into a tangible plan.
Owners in Honor™ brings the ETA and succession expertise. Kennesaw State brings the classroom, the community, and the students who are ready to learn and build. Together, they turn theory into a pathway.
Walking Beside Veteran Students, Not Just Pointing The Way
Yvonne’s outreach work is about the long game: checking in with students who are juggling school, family, and transition decisions; connecting them to events and resources where ETA is explained clearly, not in jargon; making sure they know there are organizations like Owners in Honor™ ready to walk with them beyond graduation.
Instead of treating entrepreneurship as a distant dream, veteran students begin to see steps: learn the fundamentals in class; get exposed to ETA and small business ownership through Owners in Honor™; build relationships with owners, lenders, and mentors; move from student to operator when the time and deal are right.
It is not instant. It is not easy. But it is possible, and that possibility changes how a veteran shows up in the classroom and how they think about their future.
Why This Work Needs Backup
What Yvonne does at Kennesaw State and what Owners in Honor™ does across the country are deeply aligned: both are about expanding a veteran’s sense of what is possible.
On campus, that work needs support to grow: more exposure to ETA and veteran ownership for business students; more touchpoints between universities, Owners in Honor™, and values-driven industry partners; more seats, more events, and more follow-through so students are not inspired for a night and then left on their own.
Every partnership like the one at Kennesaw State is a proof of concept. It shows that when a university, a mission-driven nonprofit, and veteran students link arms, you do not just graduate alumni. You launch future owners who can keep businesses alive, protect jobs, and strengthen communities.
