Ernie Spycher, born and raised in Mount Pleasant, MI, has dedicated over 30 years to serving others through nonprofit and community organizations. In 2019, he founded the Northern Ohio Team of Sheep Dog Impact Assistance (SDIA), leading it until 2023 and participating in five Disaster Response Missions.

    From 2013 to 2016, Ernie helped build Serving Together, a military and veteran support program under EveryMind in Rockville, MD. As its first Peer Navigator and later as the Northern Virginia Program Manager, he established collaborative networks across multiple counties and served on the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Military and Veteran Committee. Ernie is trained as a Crisis Intervention Team Member, as an Instructor of Mental Health First Aid, an operator for the National Suicide Hotline and the Montgomery County, MD Crisis Line. He has helped train business professionals, government staff members, military chaplains, and community members nationwide. His work has been featured in academic publications, media interviews, and conferences.

​    A veteran of both the Ohio and Virginia Army National Guard, Ernie served as a Forward Observer and later in the Military Police Corps. In 2004, under the Global War on Terror he deployed to the United Kingdom, where he was named twice as Soldier of the month, and once as Soldier of the Quarter. In 2008-09 he was deployed under Operation Iraqi Freedom where he held leadership roles and was the sole certified Raven UAV Operator for his Military Police company. He was medically retired in 2010 after sustaining injuries in Iraq.

​    Ernie holds a B.A. in Political Science from Thomas Edison State University, where he is pursuing an M.A. in Nonprofit Management. A devoted father, traveler, and musician - Ernie brings passion and purpose to everything he does.