IAM Veterans Services Steering Committee Representatives Network with Veterans Aid Allies

IAM Veterans Services Coordinator Rich Evans and Assistant Coordinator Brian Stymacks led the IAM Veterans Services delegation in participating in the 2025 National Organization of Veterans' Advocates (NOVA) Fall Conference at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C.

IAM Veterans Services Steering Committee members Teressa Peart (Local 774), Robert Sevenson (Local 1125), Stevie Bailey (Local 97 Vice President), and Tony Wirth (Retired IAM Aerospace Chief of Staff) attended the conference to network with other veterans aid professionals and learn about different aspects of representing veterans in the VA benefit claims process.

The IAM Veterans Services representatives listened to speakers about a variety of topics regarding intricacies of filing claims on veterans' behalf and how to use the Veterans Affairs claims and benefits system to its highest potential.

The IAM delegates took part in workshops like 'Best Practices at the Board of Veterans' Appeals,' 'AI and the VA Lawyer: Ethics, Efficiency, and the Future,' and 'Identifying Common VA Errors.'

Many speakers and attendees of the Conference were lawyers, Veterans Services Organizations, or Claims Agents, like Evans.

"We are proud to grow our years-long partnership with NOVA," said Evans. "We're ecstatic to bring new and potential IAM advocates to a NOVA conference so that they can hear from top experts in veterans advocacy and get ideas about how we can grow our program to serve IAM members best."

"I appreciate the networking that NOVA conferences offer," said Stymacks. "There's no one right way to process a claim. All of these organizations approach it a different way, and it's really beneficial to have this exposure to a diversity of pathways to reach our goal: getting the most for our veteran members."

"There's been a lot of great education at this conference and it's been a great experience," said Bailey. "I really enjoyed the three-judge panel that dove deep into a specific veterans' appeals case and how the proceedings were navigated. It illuminated how the VA guides their reasoning in a grey area that provides them with maximum subjectivity. I took a lot away from that."