Memorial Day is a time to pause, remember, and honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Their sacrifice has shaped the freedoms and opportunities we are privileged to experience, and it calls us to respond with more than gratitude. It calls us to act with care, respect, and purpose.

For those of us at Colliers, that means recognizing the continued needs of veterans, service members, Gold Star families, and the families who carry the weight of service alongside them. A simple “thank you” matters, but real support requires more. Listening, showing up, creating opportunities, and helping ensure that those who have served can transition into civilian life with dignity and purpose are ways we can begin to put gratitude into action.

Veterans bring discipline, adaptability, leadership under pressure, sound judgment, and a mission-focused mindset. Those qualities can strengthen our teams, our client service, and our culture. They also reflect many of the values we strive to uphold at Colliers, including being enterprising, collaborative, invested in relationships, experts in our work, and committed to doing what is right for our clients, people, and communities. By identifying the unique differences in everyone, celebrating them, and connecting them to our business strategy, we ensure prosperity. People first. Process always. Prosperity ensues.

At Colliers, we have an opportunity to turn appreciation into meaningful action. Through our Veterans Employee Resource Group, partnerships such as Hiring Our Heroes and DoW SkillBridge, dedicated mentorship, training, and intentional recruiting, we can help create clear pathways for transitioning service members and veterans. Just as important, we can support the families whose sacrifices are too often unseen.

This Memorial Day, as we remember those who gave everything, I ask each of us to carry that gratitude forward in practical ways: reaching out with genuine care, supporting Gold Star families through our time, resources, and presence, being intentional in recruiting, mentoring, and retaining veteran talent — recognizing that military experience brings leadership, judgment, resilience, and specialized expertise that strengthen our business — investing in transition programs that help service members move successfully into civilian careers, and continuing to build a brand and culture that truly reflects our values through the way we support our people and our communities.

By doing these things, we honor the fallen not only in remembrance but also through meaningful action that supports those who continue to serve, those who have served, and the families who carry their legacy forward. In doing so, we strengthen the enterprising, people-first culture we are proud to build at Colliers — one where every individual’s potential is recognized, their skills are valued, and their contributions make a lasting difference.