What is Disney’s SALUTE? How does it build bridges between Disney and the military community outside the organization?   

Cappy Surette: 10 years ago, I was invited to be a founding member of our veteran ERG that we named “Disney SALUTE.” The word “salute” was a perfect name as it’s a gesture in the military rendered as not only a form of greeting, but of showing respect.  The idea for a veteran-centric ERG stemmed from The Walt Disney Company’s enduring admiration for U.S. military service and from its veteran hiring initiative called “Heroes Work Here” which the company launched in 2012.   

This was during a time of high veteran unemployment across the country and Disney stepped up to make a commitment to hire 1,000 veterans in three years. It turned out we hired 1,000 veterans in just the first year. We saw the value veterans brought to the table, both in terms of hard skills they learned in the military as well as additional skills like leadership, teamwork and more. So, we kept going and today, we proudly salute the thousands of U.S. military veterans who work in all sectors of our company. 

Transitioning from the military to civilian life is challenging. That’s why we created Disney SALUTE to build a peer-to-peer network inside the company. As we made a staunch commitment to hire veterans, we wanted to ensure there was a dedicated ERG that could help support them.  Not only that, we know that military service is a family business so our veteran ERG is open to anyone with a connection to the service, whether it’s as a veteran, a military family member or any reason at all. 

At Disney, employees are called “cast members,” as we’re all part of the show. The teamwork and collaboration here are exceptional, much like in the military. Having a peer-to-peer network of people with military experience, whether you're a veteran, a military spouse, or part of a military family, adds a layer of camaraderie and enhances the employee experience for this community.   

For veterans, this network helps those transitioning from military service navigate the new environment and terrain. It’s like a little family inside of a larger, amazing family. Veterans are also committed to helping others and our Disney SALUTE team often hosts community service projects that greatly appeal to our members. 

Veterans often identify with their branch of service – whether they were a Sailor, Marine, Soldier, Airman, Guardian or Coastie – and that identity remains strong. When veterans get together, there’s friendly banter among branches, but it’s all in good fun and mutual respect. Having that culture inside a BERG (At Disney, we call them BERGs, Belonging Employee Resource Groups) is crucial because it helps veterans bring their authentic selves to work. Sometimes it acts as a relief valve when things are different from what they experienced in the military. They have a network where they can talk it out, get advice, and just have that support system. 

How does Disney communicate the mission and significance of your ERG to veterans at Disney and the external community? 

Cappy Surette: In terms of internal communications, we have an employee intranet site called “Disney Cast Life,” which has dedicated pages for individual chapters of Disney SALUTE in Florida, Disneyland and other parts of our business. We provide information there about our events, leadership team members, and profiles on various members. We also have dedicated Slack channels, use email distribution and other channels to communicate. 

We also share many of the ways we honor the military community with external audiences. These include hosting flyovers of our theme parks, honoring guests who are veterans during daily flag retreat ceremonies at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park, recognizing our cast members with military service and so much more. A lot of these stories are showcased on the Disney Parks Blog, The Walt Disney Company’s homepage, the Disney Experiences newsroom and more. 

One of the things we’re honored to have recently debuted in June was former U.S. President George W. Bush's collection of paintings called the Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors. This traveling exhibit provides a spotlight on the valiant service of veterans on the battlefield, their resilience in recovering from injury and their contributions they make in their post-military careers. We were honored to bring this collection of paintings to the American Adventure Pavilion at EPCOT at Walt Disney World Resort. It features paintings of more than 60 veterans including stories of their journey written by President Bush himself.  The exhibit honors post-9/11 veterans and hosting it through June 2025 is another example how Disney recognizes the service and sacrifice of military service members, veterans and their families. 

We also recently had the special opportunity to honor a cast member who is an Army veteran with the Portraits of Courage as a backdrop this summer. He reached out to our Disney SALUTE leadership team around March or April and said, "Hey, I received a Purple Heart citation from the Army for a traumatic brain injury I sustained in Mosul, Iraq. My son has never seen me in uniform. Could I put my uniform on, and maybe the SALUTE team could present the Purple Heart in a conference room somewhere where my family could join us for this special moment?" Knowing we work at Disney, we knew we could do better than that and give this veteran the recognition this distinguished award merited. 

It was so incredible seeing the support from Disney leaders across the company resulting in us presenting him the Purple Heart medal inside the American Adventure Pavilion before park opening one day in June. As this cast member shared, he was inspired to join the Army after hearing President Bush’s inspirational words on 9/11 as he stood on a fire truck in Manhattan with a megaphone so hosting the ceremony amidst the former President’s paintings was special. The event was even more special as the veteran’s wife, his 13-year-old son, his father and brother as well as his father-in-law (a retired Navy three-star admiral) attended the event. Other veterans, including members of Disney SALUTE, showed up in force to support him. We also presented him with letters from Bob Iger (CEO of The Walt Disney Company), Josh D'Amaro (Chairman of Disney Experiences), President Bush, and Congressman Mike Walz, a Green Beret, who flew a flag over the U.S.Capitol in his honor. We flew a flag over EPCOT in the cast member’s honor as well. 

It was an amazing day to recognize this fellow veteran and cast member. It's an example of the power of our BERG and the company's dedication in saluting U.S. military service. These kinds of events are so important because they are part of our company culture that began with the service to country by our founders Walt and Roy Disney during the First World War and has continued throughout the 100-year history of our company. 

What role has strategic communications played in the success of SALUTE, and what lessons can other organizations learn from Disney’s approach?   

Cappy Surette: Every year, our Disney SALUTE chapters host strategic planning meetings to map out the strategy for the year ahead. A key part of developing the strategy is communicating with our membership. Communication is vital. It’s the foundation of the direction you want to go. You need to know what you want to do, who your audience is, and what you’d like them to do after receiving the information you share with them. You also need to determine what channels or mechanisms you'll use to deliver that information. 

When communicating with our members, we not only want them to be aware of upcoming events but want to hear what they want from the BERG. What kind of value do they derive from being part of it? What types of events would they like to participate in? 

We’re helping veterans grow here at Disney, and strategic communications is a big part of it. How do we get that information to our membership, so they find value in it, read it, and participate in events that contribute to their growth? We want them to find satisfaction in their careers and recapture some of that camaraderie they had in the military as they build their careers at Disney. Veterans often have fond memories of the tight-knit camaraderie they experienced in service, and we aim to bring this part of the military service culture here to our Disney SALUTE ERG. 

Hear more from Cappy and other ERG leaders during American Veterans Group's virtual panel discussion, VetSuccess: Empowering Veteran Resource Groups on October 23, 2024 1:30-2:30 pm ET.