It has been one of my greatest honors to serve as the CEO of the SEAL Future Foundation. I want to express my gratitude to everyone I served alongside with this last decade, we are only here because of your support and the collective effort behind our mission. I want to especially thank my wife and my family for helping build out this amazing nonprofit. I could not have done any of this without the love, support and guidance you have given me along the way, I love you! Today I write to inform the SFF Family that I have officially turned over my position as CEO to Ty Bathurst who has taken command of the SFF. I will continue to serve as Board Chairman, focusing my efforts on the health and wellness pillar of our organization. Ty retired from the military last February after 21 years as a SEAL and since that time has served as the Chief Engagement Officer of the SFF, leading our external community relations effort. I have no doubt that under his leadership the SFF will continue to thrive and reach higher grounds in support of the men and their families we serve. As I reflect back on this organization’s first ten years I am just astonished and amazed by how far we have come. There were countless highs and just as many lows but we always pushed through because we could not fail – our teammates were relying on us. Thank you for those who trusted us in the early years and helped us start this nonprofit. Thank you to those who helped us grow into a “community for the community” and finally thank you all for making this so much more than a nonprofit, you have made this a family.
Specifically to the SEALs and your families, I will not sugarcoat how difficult it is to transition from the Teams. The hardest thing my family and I have ever done is this transition. It is not easy to find your new team and purpose after serving alongside the warriors you were honored to serve with while in the military but know this, you have your team here at SFF and our collective family is yours. This organization was built off of your brother’s previous successes and failures and our mission is simple, to help you find your next purpose in life. Transition for us is not a point in time or a course you can take but instead it is a never-ending condition and the challenges will continue but this family, like in the Teams, will never leave your side. “Suffer in silence” was a mantra we lived by but my ask of you when you do get out is to take that armor off and be vulnerable, share your failures with your brothers and others because in doing so we become stronger and in doing so we help the thousands that will come after us. By “Suffering aloud” we save our teammates lives. Please remember the SFF is your organization, it’s not mine, it isn’t Ty’s, it isn’t our Board’s – it is yours and we will continue to operate with our mission and you and your families as our guide post. If we steer adrift let us know, when we are on point let us know and when we need to pivot let us know. I will end with one final request but it won’t be easy and is against everything you know and were taught. Take care of yourself first! Get yourself healthy when you get out, find your purpose, succeed on the outside in your new role and then give back and help those behind you. When you are at 100%, the impact you have is exponentially greater than when you aren’t. Thank you again for allowing me to lead this organization and for the trust you have given me over the years. LLTB
To the SFF Board, our Advisory Boards and the SFF Team, thank you for teaching me how to be a true teammate, follower and leader. The time, energy and effort that each of you have poured into me over the years and the trust you have afforded me is directly related to our organization’s success. I am extremely grateful for the patience, coaching and investment that you have put into me and want you to know that you truly are the greatest team I have ever had the honor of working with. Take a moment and look how far your efforts have taken us and most importantly the impact it has had. Again, none of this has been possible without you and I was simply fortunate enough to act as a conduit for your hearts – thank you for allowing me to serve with you. As a parting request and gift, I ask that you please give Ty the same trust you gave me and in return I promise you the SFF will far exceed what we were ever able of doing under my leadership.
Over these last few months I have been reflecting on the journey. Some of you may remember the 102-mile Specter Event from a few years ago where my teammates and I skydived into the Pacific, swam 2+ miles (current was awesome) and ran 100 miles in support of Traumatic Brain Injury. I took two major things away from that experience. The first is we are capable of so much more than we think possible when we work together, suffer together and succeed together. A team aligned behind a purposeful mission will enable you to fight through the chatter in your head and the pain in your body, it will allow you to push past preconceived limits because you won’t let your teammates down. SFF, this is our 102-mile journey and we are just getting started! It’s going to hurt at times and you may hit a wall but I promise you we will prevail and we will do it together because we do not know how to let each other down. The second major lesson learned from this experience was the gap around mental health solutions specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). There is a monumental need for a better understanding of these issues and an absolute cry for new tools and resources to address them. A decade ago the biggest demand that we saw when we started SFF was the education gap. Over time, the next gaps we saw were job alignment, the need for community and then wellness. Today the biggest cry for help in the world is around mental health and this has been amplified by the pandemic. Mental health will be where my family and I focus our energy moving forward in our next chapter in life. I will work with the SFF team to identify new treatment modalities to support our Community but will also work to create new solutions outside of SFF to help improve the world’s mental health. Which leads me to my final ask as the CEO of SFF. You will never walk a day in someone else’s shoes or understand the experiences in one’s life that have brought one to that very moment. So be respectful, show compassion to all you meet and give love in the face of hatred. This journey isn’t about you, it isn’t about me, it’s about leaving the world better for those behind us. We did it with SFF, let’s do it outside of it.
In Service,
Jonathan Wilson
It has been one of my greatest honors to serve as the CEO of the SEAL Future Foundation. I want to express my gratitude to everyone I served alongside with this last decade, we are only here because of your support and the collective effort behind our mission. I want to especially thank my wife and my family for helping build out this amazing nonprofit. I could not have done any of this without the love, support and guidance you have given me along the way, I love you! Today I write to inform the SFF Family that I have officially turned over my position as CEO to Ty Bathurst who has taken command of the SFF. I will continue to serve as Board Chairman, focusing my efforts on the health and wellness pillar of our organization. Ty retired from the military last February after 21 years as a SEAL and since that time has served as the Chief Engagement Officer of the SFF, leading our external community relations effort. I have no doubt that under his leadership the SFF will continue to thrive and reach higher grounds in support of the men and their families we serve. As I reflect back on this organization’s first ten years I am just astonished and amazed by how far we have come. There were countless highs and just as many lows but we always pushed through because we could not fail – our teammates were relying on us. Thank you for those who trusted us in the early years and helped us start this nonprofit. Thank you to those who helped us grow into a “community for the community” and finally thank you all for making this so much more than a nonprofit, you have made this a family.
Specifically to the SEALs and your families, I will not sugarcoat how difficult it is to transition from the Teams. The hardest thing my family and I have ever done is this transition. It is not easy to find your new team and purpose after serving alongside the warriors you were honored to serve with while in the military but know this, you have your team here at SFF and our collective family is yours. This organization was built off of your brother’s previous successes and failures and our mission is simple, to help you find your next purpose in life. Transition for us is not a point in time or a course you can take but instead it is a never-ending condition and the challenges will continue but this family, like in the Teams, will never leave your side. “Suffer in silence” was a mantra we lived by but my ask of you when you do get out is to take that armor off and be vulnerable, share your failures with your brothers and others because in doing so we become stronger and in doing so we help the thousands that will come after us. By “Suffering aloud” we save our teammates lives. Please remember the SFF is your organization, it’s not mine, it isn’t Ty’s, it isn’t our Board’s – it is yours and we will continue to operate with our mission and you and your families as our guide post. If we steer adrift let us know, when we are on point let us know and when we need to pivot let us know. I will end with one final request but it won’t be easy and is against everything you know and were taught. Take care of yourself first! Get yourself healthy when you get out, find your purpose, succeed on the outside in your new role and then give back and help those behind you. When you are at 100%, the impact you have is exponentially greater than when you aren’t. Thank you again for allowing me to lead this organization and for the trust you have given me over the years. LLTB
To the SFF Board, our Advisory Boards and the SFF Team, thank you for teaching me how to be a true teammate, follower and leader. The time, energy and effort that each of you have poured into me over the years and the trust you have afforded me is directly related to our organization’s success. I am extremely grateful for the patience, coaching and investment that you have put into me and want you to know that you truly are the greatest team I have ever had the honor of working with. Take a moment and look how far your efforts have taken us and most importantly the impact it has had. Again, none of this has been possible without you and I was simply fortunate enough to act as a conduit for your hearts – thank you for allowing me to serve with you. As a parting request and gift, I ask that you please give Ty the same trust you gave me and in return I promise you the SFF will far exceed what we were ever able of doing under my leadership.
Over these last few months I have been reflecting on the journey. Some of you may remember the 102-mile Specter Event from a few years ago where my teammates and I skydived into the Pacific, swam 2+ miles (current was awesome) and ran 100 miles in support of Traumatic Brain Injury. I took two major things away from that experience. The first is we are capable of so much more than we think possible when we work together, suffer together and succeed together. A team aligned behind a purposeful mission will enable you to fight through the chatter in your head and the pain in your body, it will allow you to push past preconceived limits because you won’t let your teammates down. SFF, this is our 102-mile journey and we are just getting started! It’s going to hurt at times and you may hit a wall but I promise you we will prevail and we will do it together because we do not know how to let each other down. The second major lesson learned from this experience was the gap around mental health solutions specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). There is a monumental need for a better understanding of these issues and an absolute cry for new tools and resources to address them. A decade ago the biggest demand that we saw when we started SFF was the education gap. Over time, the next gaps we saw were job alignment, the need for community and then wellness. Today the biggest cry for help in the world is around mental health and this has been amplified by the pandemic. Mental health will be where my family and I focus our energy moving forward in our next chapter in life. I will work with the SFF team to identify new treatment modalities to support our Community but will also work to create new solutions outside of SFF to help improve the world’s mental health. Which leads me to my final ask as the CEO of SFF. You will never walk a day in someone else’s shoes or understand the experiences in one’s life that have brought one to that very moment. So be respectful, show compassion to all you meet and give love in the face of hatred. This journey isn’t about you, it isn’t about me, it’s about leaving the world better for those behind us. We did it with SFF, let’s do it outside of it.
In Service,
Jonathan Wilson
