About Us

Our Mission

Preparing military Veterans and their spouses for Agile careers through training, coaching, certification and practical experience using the Scrum framework and agile practices

Our Vision

All graduates of the Agile for Patriots program are employed with fulfilling roles in Agile Value Delivery

Who We Are

As a Dallas-based non-profit, Agile for Patriots has provided military veterans and their spouses with focused Agile training, practical experience, and Professional Scrum Master certification.

Our Board of Directors

Greg Gomel

Co-Founder and Board Member Emeritus

Greg is a veteran and President & CEO of The Gomel Group, a consulting company that helps with Agile and Digital Transformation, Program Management, Organizational Change and Security.

Ravi Verma

Co-Founder, Board Member, VP of IT and Secretary

Ravi is a grateful immigrant and the founder of SmoothApps, a boutique I.T. Management Consulting firm specializing in Agile Training, Coaching & Consulting.

Janie Purvis

Board Member and VP of Program Management

Janie is the Chief Operating Officer for SmoothApps, a global Agile training, coaching and consulting firm. She is a military spouse and previously worked as Director for a nonprofit that focuses on employment for Veterans and military spouses.

William “Red” Davidson

Board Member, Treasurer

Red is a freelance Agile Coach from Plano, Texas. He has coached at large enterprises including CA Technologies, Frontier Communications, Citigroup, Toyota and Chase. He has been writing software since 1983. As an Agile Coach, Red helps teams and their organizations achieve the benefits of Agile software delivery.

Blake McMillan

Board Member and V.P. Of Training

Blake McMillan is a Trainer, Scrum Master, Agile Coach, and Consultant. With nearly 25 years of experience in the tech industry, Blake believes that we can make a positive impact on people’s lives and the organizations they work in when they experience the benefits of working on a self-organized, cross-functional team that delivers value frequently and learns to strive for continuous improvement.

Our Advisors to the Board

Don McGreal

Advisor to the Board

In his role as VP of Learning Solutions at Improving Enterprises, Don McGreal is a hands-on agile consultant and a Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer. As a grateful immigrant from Canada, Don is proud to be a part of the Agile for Patriots organization.

Eric Nailburg

Advisor to the Board and VP of Marketing

Eric is COO for Scrum.org and co-author of UML for Database Design and UML for Mere Mortal. Prior to joining Scrum.org, he was Program Director at IBM and Rational Software and was responsible for application lifecycle management (ALM), DevOps, Data Governance and Agile solutions. He has years of experience in product management and marketing roles with many other organizations.

Claudia Oakley

Advisor to the Board

Claudia is a creative problem solver and operational strategist with over 15+ years of experience enhancing efficiency and value. Originally from Mexico, Claudia immigrated to the U.S. and became a citizen. Renowned as a “Jira Ninja,” she brings her expertise and passion for innovation to optimizing workflows, improving applicant experiences, and scaling services for the Veteran community.

Supporters

Agile for Patriots is a free program and we do not have any paid employees. We rely on support from other companies and individuals who have a heart for helping military families. These companies donate training, facilities, services and other resources to make this program possible. We appreciate all they do for us – we couldn’t do it without them!

Org Whisperers donates training, coaching and general program support assistance.

Improving donates training, coaching and general program support assistance.

Al Dente donates free licenses to help AFP Graduates who are in good standing optimize ROI for their organizations.

Scrum.org provides all graduates with a Professional Scrum Master certification at no cost.

Kanaka has helped improve our website by providing free and discounted website services to support our program.