Rhode Island Veterans Network
RIVN PARTNER PROGRAM · SECOND WIND LEARNING
Free Training & Certifications
Live career bootcamps, full-day classes, and Scrum.org certification prep, free for Rhode Island veterans through RIVN partner Second Wind Learning.
Meet Your Instructor
Jim Hannon spent over twenty years in project management, including as a Director and Agile Coach at Fidelity Investments. He holds more than 20 professional certifications across project management, Agile, and AI, and founded Second Wind Learning to make those skills accessible to people who need a fresh start. It runs as a nonprofit effort, and through a partnership with the Rhode Island Veterans Network he offers his training to veterans at no cost.
Every class runs live on Google Meet. You get the joining link by email after you register. Nothing to install, and it works in a browser.
FOR VETERANS · FEATURED
Four half-days · Dates below
Translating a military record into language a civilian hiring manager will actually read. The acronyms that quietly lose a reader and what to put in their place. What your role was worth in civilian terms, stated in numbers you can defend. The interview questions that come up every time. The local employers worth the phone call.
■ You leave with a civilian-readable resume, ten named contacts, and your four interview answers written down.
■ Includes the Transition Crossover app. One enrollment covers all four days. Bring your resume in whatever state it is in.
Kickstart Job Hunt: Veteran Bootcamp
Rebuild: For Laid-Off Professionals
Four half-days. Thirty years of work, written down in a way that reads as expensive. That is a translation problem, not a you problem. Also suits military spouses and supporters in transition.
LaunchPad: Students and New Grads
Four half-days. For anyone who did everything right and still cannot get a reply. A fit for GI Bill students and for veterans' college-age kids.
New to Agile? Start Here
Agile is a way of running projects. Instead of planning everything up front and hoping the plan survives, the team works in short cycles, shows real progress every couple of weeks, and adjusts as it learns. Scrum is the most widely used version of it, and it is standard practice in software, healthcare, defense contracting, and a growing share of civilian industry.
If you have ever kept a mission moving while the situation changed underneath you, you have already done this kind of work. The certification does not teach you a new job. It puts a civilian name on work you have already done, in a form a recruiter's filter recognizes.
THE ROLE: SCRUM MASTER
PSM I, II, III
Keeps the team unblocked and the process working. The closest civilian cousin to an NCO keeping a unit moving. The levels build: I is the foundation and the credential employers screen for, II is for practicing Scrum Masters, III is the expert level. Start at I.
THE ROLE: PRODUCT OWNER
PSPO I, II, III
Decides what gets built and in what order, and answers for the result. The fit when your experience is on the business or requirements side. Same ladder: start at I, and II and III come later in the career, not the job search.
THE ROLE: LEADERSHIP
PAL, PAL-EBM
For people who led a department rather than a project: how leaders support agile teams and measure what actually matters. The fit for senior enlisted and officers who ran organizations.
There are also AI, developer, Kanban, UX, scaling, facilitation, and backlog-management certifications. Fifteen in all. The list is a menu, not a path: most people need exactly one, and Jim will help you pick it before you spend a single hour studying.
How the certification prep works
No fixed dates. Second Wind Learning supplies the course material, you work through it at your own pace, and a live review session at the end of each month covers whatever did not land. When you are ready, you sit the exam directly with Scrum.org.
Jim provides all course materials and training at no cost. Your only expense is the exam fee of $50, paid directly to Scrum.org. Courses built on official Scrum.org material typically run several hundred dollars or more. And the certification never expires: no renewal fees.
Upcoming Schedule
Every date below runs live on Google Meet. Full-day classes run 8 hours on a Tuesday and each is offered twice, so pick the date that suits.
Kickstart Job Hunt: Veteran Bootcamp
October 12 to 15
Four half-days, one enrollment covers all four
LaunchPad: Students and New Grads
September 14 to 17
Four half-days
Rebuild: For Laid-Off Professionals
October 26 to 29
Four half-days
Communication and Storytelling
September 8 or November 17
The skill that decides who gets heard in a meeting. Full day, 8 hours. Full day, 8 hours
LLM Tools for Project Managers
September 22 or November 3
No hype and no predictions. What these tools do well on a real project, and where they are confidently wrong. Full day, 8 hours
AI at Home
October 6 or December 1
For anyone who feels they missed the boat and would rather not say so out loud. Full day, 8 hours
The Musk Way
October 20 or December 8
First-principles thinking and hard requirement-cutting, examined as a method rather than a personality. Full day, 8 hours
Second Wind Sessions
September 23 to December 16
Seven free 45-minute sessions, alternate Wednesdays at 11:00 am Eastern
Scrum.org Certification Prep
Start any time
Self-paced, with a live review session at the end of each month
Schedule current as of September 2026. New dates are announced each season, so check back or ask when you enroll.
Every registration also includes the Second Wind Sessions: seven free 45-minute sessions on alternate Wednesdays, open to everyone enrolled.
How to Enroll
Fill out the short form below. Your message goes directly to the Jim, who will follow up with next steps and joining details.
The Rhode Island Veterans Network shares training opportunities offered by community partners as a service to veterans. RIVN does not administer these programs. Enrollment, scheduling, and course delivery are handled directly by Second Wind Learning. Certification exams are administered by Scrum.org and carry Scrum.org's own exam fees unless noted otherwise.