Anthony Paolino currently serves as the Chief Operations Officer for Student Veterans of America. In this role, he oversees SVA Operations, Human Resources, Finance, and Technology. Additionally, Anthony is responsible for developing SVA’s two newest initiatives – the National Academic Advisement Center (NAAC) and the Career Center. The NAAC will offer personalized career exploration and academic support to service members and their families prior to and during their transition process out of the military and into higher education. The NAAC will be the first exposure to SVA for most veterans and will serve as a gateway to the variety of SVA programs and services. The Career Center will be a destination where student veterans meet industry partners to explore the variety of internships, fellowships, career opportunities as well as other resources to help them successfully transition into the workforce.

Anthony joined the military following the events of 9/11, first in aviation and then as a training instructor. He served in several capacities stateside and abroad in Kuwait, Qatar, Germany and Afghanistan during his 12 years in the U.S. Air Force. He later founded two veteran nonprofit organizations, the Rhode Island Student Veterans Organization (SVO) and Rhode Island Military Organization (RIMO) and served as the RIMO CEO for two terms. Following the non-profit work, he was the Military & Veterans Affairs Liaison for United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse where he interacted with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, Veteran Service Organizations, and military constituents.

In 2015 Anthony joined General Dynamics Corporation where he served as the Military & Veterans Affairs Program Lead for GD’s submarine division, Electric Boat. In this role he worked with a variety of agencies and stakeholders to increase access and resources to current GD veterans. He worked with talent acquisition, workforce development and higher education partners to build a pipeline of veterans, getting them reintegrated, trained, and prepared for employment across GD. In 2018, Anthony transferred to the GD NASSCO division as the head of Communications and Strategic Outreach. In that role, he led the company’s communications, strategic sourcing, public relations and corporate social responsibility efforts.

More recently, Anthony moved back into the higher education and the student veteran space, serving as Deputy Director for the Helen Diller Veterans Center and then Associate Dean of Students for Undergraduate Studies at Golden Gate University.

Anthony has participated with SVA as a member and partner for over a decade. He has served as a chapter leader, chapter advisor, speaker and corporate sponsor. He is an adjunct professor at night and is passionate about both higher education and the student veteran experience. He holds an A.S. from the Community College of Rhode Island in Business Management, a B.A. with a focus on Leadership Studies from Providence College and an MPA from Brown University with a focus in Public Policy and Corporate Governance.