Salesforce Military Has Been Revived: What to Expect from the Community 

After nearly a year of uncertainty surrounding the future of the Salesforce Military program, Salesforce have finally provided some concrete updates.  

The company revealed that the program will now be led by Tom House and Josh Mendez, taking over from SVP of the Salesforce Trailblazer Community Leah McGowen-Hare.

What’s New for the Community?

Salesforce announced last week that its military program and community were officially being revived, which was spurred on by feedback from the wider community, who pushed to make this resource available again for the people who need it most.

This follows the results of Salesforce’s latest Community Sentiment Survey, where over 7,000 Trailblazers detailed their thoughts on the community, with the Salesforce Military program being a significant talking point. 

“At Salesforce, we know that our greatest strength lies in our community,” Mallory Ranahan, Senior Director, Trailblazer Community at Salesforce, wrote. “We heard your disappointment about reduced support in essential programs like Salesforce Military and Well-Architected. We understand how important these initiatives are to you and recognize the impact of these lost connections.”

A New Leadership Front

It has been announced that the Salesforce Military Program will now be led by Tom House in the Director position and Josh Mendez in the Manager position. 

Tom House’s experience puts him in a great position to lead this program. As a 25-year U.S. Navy veteran (enlisted Operations Specialist, then Naval Supply Officer) and the former President of Salesforce’s Vetforce, Tom’s dedication to both the veteran community and the ecosystem has been more than apparent. 

Josh Mendez is a familiar face in the Salesforce Military space. He played a big part in helping the team navigate the changes of the COVID-19 pandemic and has since made contributions to the Trailhead platform and Salesforce’s Customer Success initiatives. He’s also spent 10 years as an Active Duty Army Officer and has continued serving in the Army Reserve.

Why Now? 

If you were to ask many members of the community about this, they would likely tell you that this revival effort has been long overdue. The discussion of this came to life at the end of last year, when veteran and ecosystem voice Matt Pieper took to LinkedIn to share his frustrations over the lack of communication surrounding the program.

This got the community talking and caught the attention of Patrick Stokes, Salesforce’s EVP of Product and Industries Marketing. 

“We acknowledge that resources and focus have been limited and that has caused real problems and concerns,” he wrote. “The good news [is that] leadership is refreshing its commitment for 2025 with real funding and headcount.”

Since then, we reported that Leah McGowen-Hare would be taking ownership of the Salesforce Military program, empowered by her nearly 17 years of experience at Salesforce and time as the SVP of the Trailblazer Community. 

Now, it is evident that Salesforce has decided to restructure the program’s leadership to allow the most relevant members of the community to step up to the task.

The Data Doesn’t Lie

Although 64% of participants from the Community Sentiment Survey admitted their perceptions of Salesforce had improved over the last year, issues like restoring trust and transparency, as well as unifying community identity, were both big areas of concern. 

“You’ve highlighted the confusion arising from fragmented community identities,” Mallory wrote. “This feedback underscores the need for greater clarity and cohesion in how we present and organize our community experience.”

This is not new feedback by any means – it’s something that has been discussed heavily since the Salesforce Military Program went dark and the loss of Well-Architected. However, now Salesforce has the undeniable evidence in front of them; the community has spoken, and now the right action needs to be taken.

How to Get Involved

If you’re interested in meeting the new team and finding out more about the program’s future plans, Salesforce will be hosting two virtual meet-ups in the next month, one on Tuesday, July 1 at 7:30 am PST, and the other on Tuesday, July 8 at 5:00 pm PST. You can sign up for either of these sessions here. 

In addition to that, Salesforce has also announced that it will be establishing a Community Advisory Board, which will kick off next month. This will be a board made up of trusted leaders in the community from across the globe, with the intention of co-creating solutions alongside Salesforce that meet the needs of the entire ecosystem. 

At Dreamforce this year, make sure you also look out for a new Community Keynote – one that Salesforce says will be made by the community for the community.

Summary

Salesforce Military is finally undergoing the revival it has needed for the last few years, and the community should be excited that it is going to be led by two passionate, dedicated, and most importantly, relevant members of the ecosystem. 

However, Salesforce’s work is not done yet, and neither is ours. Make sure to be making your voice heard over the next year, especially regarding what you want to see from the community and which specific groups need those all-important resources. Salesforce has indicated that it is listening, so let’s make sure that we are heard.