Meritorious

Founding Meritorious

Launched September 16, 2020, Meritorious is the only national network exclusive to military Veterans and military spouses in senior level positions, combining a private member portal, networking events and professional development. While the pandemic has harmed and shuttered many small businesses, Meritorious is finding unusual success through its niche virtual platform, with 200 members joining the platform in its first two weeks.

Meritorious is the brainchild of co-founders Katherine Kostreva, current national Director of Development and Marketing for PsychArmor Institute, and Ryan Loya, a US Marine Corps Veteran, and fractional CEO for startups at Columbia Technology Ventures. During Ryan’s transition from the military, the duo lobbied to reform the Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program (TAP), with key mandates now law in NDAA 2019, including the requirement that TAP be completed 365 days prior to End of Active Service, and program impact be measured, consolidated and delivered to Congress annually. Over the past few years Katherine and Ryan struggled to find groups specific to military connected individuals for executive level peer-to-peer and professional growth. They set out to build such a platform that would create connectivity and access to resources during a time of social distancing, with capacity to scale both virtually and physically post pandemic.