President, Veterans Advocacy Group
Co-Chair, BACE V-Suite

Derrick Winding is a disabled military veteran who served as an Infantryman and Security Forces member in the US Marine Corps active duty (1992–1996) and US Marine Corps Reserve (1996–2002) network administrator. Derrick is the President of the Veterans Advocacy Group (VAG), which collaborates with higher education institutions and veteran-service organizations to support military and veteran students. Derrick serves on the Board for the Coalition of Veterans Organizations (CVO) and as Co-Chair of the Business Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE) V-Suite, a career and entrepreneurship arm for military and veteran spouses with the Veterans Advocacy Group.

Derrick is also a member of American Legion Dorie Miller Post, Strike Force and the DePaul University Alumni Board. As a student leader, Derrick served as the President of DePaul University’s Veterans Advocacy Group and secured corporate sponsorship to host hundreds in honoring the Medal of Honor recipients: Buffalo Soldiers, Triple Nickles, and Tuskegee Airmen. The HistoryMakers ceremony and interviews were turned into a short documentary now housed in the Library of Congress and due to this event, DePaul received a $0.5M pledge for veterans from a military alumnus. In 2018, Derrick Winding was selected as an IL Bicentennial Honoree (Honor 200). This program, launched by the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission, recognized 200 veterans for their contributions above and beyond the call of duty.

Derrick holds a bachelors in pre-law with a certification in service leadership and his graduate degree focused on identifying and designing a collaborative cross-sector and peer-driven support structure for veterans with seen and unseen disabilities to succeed in higher education and business. Derrick was admitted to Law School to continue his research with a focus on advocacy specific to the military-to-prison pipeline, but had to defer due to his illness. In 2017, Derrick received the Emerging Non-Profit Certificate of Training from CLCCR.