Kristopher Goldsmith

Speaking truth to power is a mainstay in the world of Veteran advocacy. But it takes more than words to be an instrument of change. Kris put bad paper discharges on the map by highlighting the abuses and the arbitrary nature of some command decisions that were literally leaving would-be Veterans in the streets without a lot of options. More recently, Kris has highlighted the fraud being instigated by nefarious individuals against Veterans online. It’s his attention to marginalized individuals and identifying specifically addressable issues that has made Kris stand out from the crowd over the last few years. Now days, Kris is the chief investigator and associate director for policy and government affairs at Vietnam Veterans of America, a congressionally-chartered veterans service organization. Kris’s policy focus at VVA is “New Veterans,” covering a broad range of issues from healthcare to education, and Military personnel policy to post-service employment opportunities for Veterans. He is the founder of High Ground Veterans Advocacy, a small nonprofit organization which trains Veterans to engage successfully with government on policy changes meant to improve the lives of Service Members, Veterans and their families. Kris is currently a full-time student at Columbia University in the City of New York, and spends his summers living in D.C. engaging with policy makers on Capitol Hill between semesters.