About Jared S. Lyon
Executive leader, institution builder, and Navy veteran.
About Jared S. Lyon
Jared S. Lyon is an executive leader, institution builder, and Navy veteran with a track record of growing mission-driven, member-based organizations serving communities across all 50 states. His experience spans scaling institutions, partnering with boards, diversifying revenue, strengthening operations, and translating stakeholder value into long-term organizational sustainability.
He is best known for his decade of leadership as President & CEO of Student Veterans of America. During that period, he helped grow the organization from roughly 400 to more than 1,600 chapters nationwide, raised more than $68 million in total revenue, and strengthened its position as a trusted national voice at the intersection of higher education, workforce outcomes, public policy, and veteran success.
Jared's leadership sits at the intersection of strategy, governance, revenue, and external impact. He led a five-year capital deployment strategy following an $8 million unrestricted gift and helped return the organization to a balanced operating model with approximately $7 million in net assets and zero debt. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his family.
What Distinguishes His Experience
What distinguishes Jared's experience is a deep understanding of organizations where community is central to the model. He knows how to grow and sustain member-driven institutions, support chapter and affiliate-style networks, convene stakeholders nationally, and align mission, governance, and revenue around a clear value proposition.
His experience continues to be valued in governance, advisory, and academic settings. He serves in roles including the George W. Bush Institute Advisory Council and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Education, and he teaches entrepreneurship at Syracuse University, where he works with emerging leaders and aspiring founders. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and is a doctoral candidate in Social Science at Syracuse University, where his academic work reflects a continued interest in leadership, institutions, and civic life.
Military Service
Jared's leadership style is grounded in his service as a U.S. Navy submariner and nuclear SCUBA diver during the opening years of the Global War on Terrorism. That experience — rooted in discipline, teamwork, accountability, and mission-first leadership — continues to shape the way he leads institutions and teams.
He enlisted in August 2001 and served through the opening years of the Global War on Terrorism, an experience that forged the leadership principles he has carried into every organization he has led since.
