How This Founder Turned Data Into a Force for Good

Vannessa Haydee Weber never imagined she’d one day run her own research firm. For years, she worked in higher education, helping students, particularly military-connected ones, navigate the complexities of admissions and financial aid. But when she decided to pursue a graduate degree in research psychology and data analytics through her university’s tuition remission program, something clicked.

“At first, I thought it would just be a great addition to my résumé,” she recalls. “But about a year in, I realized I didn’t just want to incorporate what I was learning into my current field, but I wanted to do something on my own with it.”

That “something” became Veracity Research Solutions, a mission-driven research and data analytics firm that helps organizations maximize their impact, while also empowering veterans and military-connected students to access the benefits they’ve earned.

“The unfortunate reality,” Vannessa explains, “is that many veterans aren’t given proper information when they separate from service. They don’t always know what benefits are available or how to make the most of them. I wanted to change that.”

Through Veracity, Vannessa offers compliance training for university staff working with the GI Bill and free workshops for veterans and their families to help them navigate educational benefits. Her drive to make this information accessible is deeply personal: her husband is a veteran, and she’s witnessed firsthand the financial and informational gaps many face when returning to civilian life.

“Early on, I decided these workshops needed to be complimentary,” she says. But that meant stepping outside her comfort zone to secure sponsors. “I’m definitely an introvert, so asking for financial commitments was hard. But I had to decide: Is it more valuable to me to be comfortable or offer this service complimentary to those who have sacrificed so much for our country.”

That mindset shift, she says, changed everything. Within her first month of launching Veracity in 2023, she landed her dream client — a major U.S. nonprofit with a global footprint — and hasn’t slowed down since. Today, she works with organizations nationwide and has even brought on independent contractors to help manage her growing workload.

Her long-term goal? To create flexible, remote roles for women, particularly single mothers. “If I can offer someone meaningful work that allows them to support their family and still be present for their kids, that would feel like true success,” she says.

Vannessa credits the Selfmade community and Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program with helping her find the courage to step out into her community, like joining her local Chamber of Commerce, and building partnerships. “Selfmade pushed me to take myself out of my comfort zone,” she says. “And one of Verizon’s social media courses really helped me see how even a business centered on data can have a human story behind it.”

That human-first approach shines through in everything she does. “At the end of the day,” she says, “I just want to use what I know to help others succeed.”

It’s that spirit — grounded, generous, and impact-driven — that made Vannessa Haydee Weber our latest Verizon Challenge Winner.