Sam Pressler is the President and Executive Director of the Armed Services Arts Partnership and an Echoing Green Global Fellow. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from the College of William & Mary in 2015, where he received the Ewell Award, McGlennon Scholarship, and recognition as a TEDx Innovative Thinker. While in college, he founded the W&M Center for Veterans Engagement, W&M Military & Veterans Council, and Student Veterans of W&M. Pressler is largely credited with establishing the robust veteran’s arts community in Southern Virginia, and for leading the transformation of W&M's policies toward its student veterans.

The Armed Services Arts Partnership strives to build and sustain communities around the expressive arts at no cost to veterans and military families by partnering with respected nonprofits and colleges located in areas with high military populations. We focus on developing the literary, musical, and comedic skills of our veterans in sustained, community-based environments. In the process, we also hope to foster resiliency and improve well-being among our participants, and bridge divides by connecting veterans, students, and local communities through the arts.

Sam is also the Founder and President of The William & Mary Center for Veterans Engagement (WMCVE) enables William & Mary students and faculty to create, plan, and execute community-creating, expressive arts initiatives for service members, veterans, and military families throughout Virginia. The WMCVE provides three therapeutic outlets - community, expression, and learning - without the stigma associated with seeking traditional therapy.



Current offerings include:



- Writing: Veterans Writing Project (veteranswriting.org) & Hampton Roads Veterans Writing Group

- Music: Musicorps (musicorps.net)

- Comedy: Comedy Bootcamp (ComedyBootcamp.org)

Comedy Bootcamp is an eight-week comedy writing and performing class exclusively for veterans and service members. Each course, which is led by a professional comedy instructor, covers the basics of writing and delivering jokes, stage presence, and developing and organizing material. Throughout the class, aspiring comics receive constructive feedback from their instructors and fellow classmates. By the end of the eight weekly sessions, participating veterans deliver a five-minute stand-up set to a public audience, and are then inducted into alumni meet-up groups. We've been featured in Soldiers Magazine, Military Times, Stars & Stripes, and on NPR, and our class is being covered by the Washington Post and ABC News this fall.