MLB introduces BRG for military veterans

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball has done a lot for the military over the years, but it’s looking to do a lot more. On Tuesday afternoon, MLB launched the Military Veteran Professionals Business Resource Group.

The main goal is to help people who had a career in the military. The MVP BRG wants to help create an inclusive environment in the workplace and have people feel that they can bring their best self to work every day.

This BRG is one of nine such groups at Major League Baseball that were founded to help employees gather with others who have common interests, identities or care about similar social issues. These groups aid in business development, provide support for employees and create career development opportunities as well as help promote cultural awareness.

The groups are part of Diversity & Inclusion at Major League Baseball, which is overseen by Corey Smith, D&I's senior director.

This launch has been in the works for about a year and was put together by Smith.

The MVP BRG’s mission statement is simple. They want to “establish and grow a community of individuals who served in the United States Military, have a friend or relative who served in the United States Military and those interested in opportunities to promote awareness of military and veteran issues.”

There will be workshops to help develop and execute ideas for business integration as well as having monthly meetings for members to discuss initiatives, events and strategies.

Steve Swindell, a senior manager of security operations for Major League Baseball, helped launch MVP BRG. Swindell, who served in the army, always wanted to do the right thing when it comes to helping veterans.

“To help out other veterans is something I like to do,” Swindell said. “Being so close to Memorial Day, if we could do something to help out those [veterans] who are living -- whatever we could do to help them through MLB -- would be great.”

There was plenty of talk on Tuesday, but one can bet there will be plenty of action. For starters, MVP BRG is looking help children who have parents in the military. For example, it could have children involved in All-Star Week. This could start as soon as next year when the All-Star Game is played Los Angeles.

“We are going to look into doing some stuff for children of parents who are deployed,” said Shelagh Dillon, who is the senior director of security operations for Major League Baseball and a member of MVP BRG. “Next year will be a better opportunity for us, because in Los Angeles, there are more military people out there. We are trying to incorporate everything as much as we can. … MLB already does a ton of things for veterans, but if we could bring it to the forefront, in front of people and employees, so they can focus on it a little bit more, it would be a great opportunity for us.”