Manuel Gomez is a United States Navy veteran, executive leader, social worker, and nationally recognized voice in veteran reintegration and systems transformation. His work sits at the intersection of military service, lived experience, and public-sector innovation.

 

Manuel served as a senior executive in the nation’s largest county Veterans Service Office, where he designed and led Los Angeles County’s strategy for justice-involved veterans, building collaborative court pathways, shaping multidisciplinary policy efforts, and advancing cross-system partnerships that set statewide precedent.

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Manuel draws from a lived journey that includes military service, incarceration, and reentry, giving him rare insight into the realities of transformation, trauma, and institutional barriers. He has transformed that experience into a model of leadership rooted in service, accountability, and system-level impact. He has secured millions in public funding, spearheaded cross-agency veteran initiatives, and advised national stakeholders on veteran equity, diversion, and reentry.

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Currently completing his Doctorate in Social Work at California Baptist University, Manuel integrates academic rigor, lived perspective, and policy experience to redefine how institutions understand justice-impacted service members. His leadership philosophy is grounded in the belief that lived expertise is a form of strategic intelligence and that veterans who have navigated adversity have unique capacity to lead change.

 

Through VetPhoenix, he is advancing a future where no veteran or family is left behind and where those who served and overcame become architects of systems built for dignity, equity, and human potential.