Why This Ecosystem Matters

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A Thesis for Structural Change

Despite $369 billion in federal spending and over 40,000 veteran-serving organizations, the system built to care for veterans is failing at the systems level. Not for lack of effort — but for lack of integration.

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What veterans experience as fragmentation, service providers experience as chaos. What funders experience as inefficiency, policymakers experience as political gridlock.

And what gets lost in all of it is impact.

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The Problem: Siloed Solutions

Most innovation in the veteran space happens in isolation:

• VSOs serve veterans locally but struggle with visibility, referrals, and data

• Tech platforms launch, but fail to integrate with real-world organizations

• Funders support programs but lack the tools to measure systems-level change

• Policymakers chase reform without coordinated ground-level input

This fragmentation isn’t just inefficient — it’s harmful. Veterans fall through cracks. Orgs compete for scraps. Outcomes plateau.

 

Our Premise

We believe the next generation of veteran care will not be built by any single nonprofit, tech platform, or government agency.

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It will be built by ecosystems — composed of:

• Neutral infrastructure: that connects instead of competes

• Collaborative data models: that fuel care, not just compliance

• Aligned capital: philanthropic, civic, and private — flowing toward what works

• Platform technologies: that translate insight into action, in real time

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A Regenerative Model

The Last 1 Ecosystem — built through the collaboration of Last 1 Nonprofit, Veterans Coalition, LastVet, and LastOne Capital — creates this foundation.

It is:

• Non-zero-sum: Participation benefits all parties

• Post-GDP: Focused on dignity, purpose, healing, and connection

• Field-led: Standards, insights, and practices come from real organizations doing real work

• Technology-enabled: Using AI, Web3/Web4, and user-owned data structures

• Investment-aligned: Integrating capital with care outcomes

This model starts with veterans, but the thesis is broader: **this is how social systems should work.**

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Where We’re Going

By 2026, this ecosystem will:

• Connect thousands of veteran-serving organizations via a national data backbone

• Provide real-time, predictive care tools to frontline providers

• Align funding, policy, and tech around shared standards of veteran flourishing

If successful, this becomes a replicable model — not just for veteran care, but for any community or system facing fragmentation.

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Join the Thesis

Whether you’re a funder, policymaker, community leader, or veteran advocate, you can be part of the solution. Not by joining another initiative — but by co-creating the infrastructure for systems change.

This ecosystem doesn’t belong to any one entity. It belongs to the future we all say we want.