ILR to the Military to the Private Sector: Bassney Star Keeps Rising
The Forces in Business Awards is the world’s largest celebration of ex-military in second careers – and this year, an ILRie was among its U.S. honorees.
Servicemen and women spend years adapting to roles and growing valuable skills, and that is something Kevin Bassney ’13 has done throughout his ILR years and adult life.
He was named a finalist for the Rising Star of the Year after being nominated by his colleagues at Altana, a trade technology company with an AI-powered network that empowers governments and businesses to build a more resilient and secure global economy while keeping trade flowing. His position as technical account manager is the latest stop in a career that has seen him continually adapt and grow.
A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Bassney began his collegiate career at Norwich University, a private military college in Northfield, Vermont, but credits his father’s work in the casino hotel business – and his regular negotiations with labor unions – with planting the seed of the ILR School in his mind.
“I’ll be honest, in high school I did not have the grades or the test scores to qualify for Cornell,” Bassney says. “But I discovered that if you put me in an austere environment where there’s nothing to do but study, I tend to study.”
A January 2011 transfer to ILR, Bassney became a member of Cornell’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and joined both the Big Red varsity sprint football and lightweight rowing teams.
“I got to eat when I was playing sprint football, because I had to get up to 170 pounds, but in rowing, I had to get down to, typically, the high 150s,” Bassney says. “So, at no point in college did I ever have a normal eating schedule. I was either looking to gain or lose 20 pounds, depending on the season.”
Following graduation, Bassney was commissioned into the U.S. Army, where he graduated from Army Ranger School and served as an infantry captain.
“Something I learned early, and really clearly, is when to ask for help,” Bassney says. “I was a platoon leader, and I had 45 men and women under me, and I’m 25 years old. There are some things I just didn’t know. I was going to do my best, but they had different lived experiences than I did. I realized that no one expects a leader to be everything to everyone. They just expect you to try your best and find a way to assist.”
During his five-year stint in the military, Bassney was granted a year-long leave of absence to participate in the Fulbright Program, where he partnered with the University of Belgrade law faculty on a project entitled “Coalition Building in Serbia.” While there, Bassney, who has adopted family from Bosnia, studied what types of laws and institutional reforms worked, and didn’t work, following the Bosnian War.
When Bassney returned to the military, his final job was as a speechwriter for a three-star general, writing for over 100 public appearances in 10 different countries.
“That was probably one of the best jobs possible for really seeing how high-level government officials – which any general would tell you they are – understand, communicate and engage with multiple different sectors of the world, whether that be foreign, American private sector or within the United States government, to get things done,” Bassney says.
Bassney left the military in October 2017 to embark on his next adventure, travelling to China as a Schwarzman Scholar to earn a Master of Global Affairs at Tsinghua University.
As part of the program, students spend a year immersed in an international community of business leaders, public officials, scientists, artists and thought leaders. The curriculum helps scholars develop a deep understanding of diverse markets, political systems and approaches to problem-solving in a rapidly changing world.
After China, Bassney “cut his teeth” in business as an associate at Morgan Stanley, and credits it with building the bedrock of his business acumen. His next position, however, as a senior director at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel – a national security and foreign affairs consulting firm – was perfect for an individual with Bassney’s background in the U.S. military and international affairs.
“No career counselor had ever prepared me for getting that invite,” Bassney said, referring to the high-profile firm founded by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and former diplomat Anja Manuel.
Now, with Altana AI, Bassney is implementing the lessons he has learned along the way to make a name for himself and set an example for other former military personnel.
“It's really been tremendous to have been recognized by my colleagues,” Bassney says. “And it’s great to have an organization like Forces in Business that’s focused on showing veterans not only doing well in the military, which is wonderful, but also how they can thrive in the next stage of their career.”
