Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs joins VBC Happy Hour to brief us on the PACT Act and answer questions.

Secretary Jacobs leads more than 28,000 Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employees in the delivery of non-medical benefits programs. VBA provides disability compensation benefits to nearly 6 million Veterans and their survivors and administers pension benefits for over 300,000 Veterans and their survivors. Through a nationwide network of 56 regional offices, special processing centers, and VBA Headquarters, he oversees the execution of nearly $150 billion in direct benefits to Veterans and their dependents.

Jacobs previously served as Senior Advisor for Policy in the Office of the Secretary, where he helped to design and implement a new structure and process for enterprise governance and policy development. In this role, heestablished and chaired a new Evidence Based Policy Council, which meets on a regular basis to drive enterprise policy making. Jacobs also developed a new interagency policy development process to coordinate and implement more than 50 interagency policy efforts.

Prior to rejoining VA in 2021, Joshua Jacobs was a Senior Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. From 2013 to 2017, Josh served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of VA, where he was awarded the Secretary’s Meritorious Service Award. Josh also served nine years in the U.S. Senate, including two years as Deputy Staff Director for the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Josh is a graduate of the University of Washington. He and his wife, Julia, have three children.