Media

David Chasteen Returns to IAVA to Lead West Coast Expansion

December 21, 2015
Press

Founding IAVA member returns to leadership of post-9/11 vets group

NEW YORK (December 21, 2015) – Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing post-9/11 veterans and their families, this week announced the appointment of David Chasteen as Western Regional Director. Chasteen has joined the team to support IAVA’s growing West Coast operations, including IAVA’s community and partnerships in San Francisco and the Bay Area, and the opening of IAVA’s first office in California in 2016.

“There are few people who better understand our success, or have had more to do with it, than Dave Chasteen,” said IAVA Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff. “Dave was the second member of IAVA and helped launch the organization from day one. Dave rounds out a powerfully redesigned team that will catapult our mission across Silicon Valley, California and beyond. We are excited to have Dave back with the IAVA family.”

As a Captain in the Army Chemical Corps, Chasteen served in Iraq in 2003 as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons officer with the Third Infantry Division. After the Army, Chasteen helped launch IAVA, building IAVA’s MySpace page, IAVA’s first website and its earliest programs. He went on to work at Merrill Lynch and later as a Chief Technology Officer at L-3 Military Professional Resources, while continuing to serve as a member of IAVA’s Board of Directors. In 2006 he left the IAVA board to join the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) National Clandestine Service (NCS). He was later selected to serve on the NCS Inclusion Advisory Group, which works to improve inclusion, diversity and engagement within the NCS. Chasteen earned his Bachelor of Science in political science from the Honors College at Ball State University. He currently resides in San Francisco.

Chasteen joins IAVA’s staff in New York, California, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, which includes a mix of veterans and civilians with who represent diverse areas of expertise and backgrounds. All IAVA staff demonstrate a deeply personal and professional commitment to the veteran community.