National Executive Director, American Veterans (AMVETS)

Joseph Chenelly is the national executive director of American Veterans (AMVETS), the nation’s most inclusive Congressionally-chartered veterans service organization, representing the interests of more than 19 million American veterans and their families. A combat veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Chenelly enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998. Before becoming a veterans advocate, Chenelly was a Washington-based reporter for Gannet’s newspapers. He was named one of the “most influential journalists covering armed violence” in 2013.