The old career playbook is broken. With the average professional now navigating four to six careers in a lifetime — and AI, geopolitical change, and institutional disruption reshaping what work looks like — purpose has become the only constant worth building around. 

Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach Foundation, national bestselling author, venture capitalist, and faculty at both Stanford and Georgetown, will open this session with an overview of the framework at the heart of his latest book, The Mission Generation: Reclaim Your Purpose, Rewrite Success, Rebuild Our Future. Gupta's Compass Capital framework identifies six forms of capital — mission, trust, health, learning, experience, and financial — that, when developed together, compound into careers of lasting impact. He'll also address the four forms of resistance that block meaningful work, and why mission isn't a sacrifice, it's a competitive advantage. 

Following his remarks, Cmdr. Erin Cardinal, USN (Ret), ACC, CPC, program director for MOAA Career Transition Services and Family Programs, will moderate a fireside chat bringing these ideas to life for the military and veteran community. Together, they'll explore how servicemembers and veterans are uniquely positioned to lead as mission-driven professionals and what it looks like to carry that sense of purpose into every stage of a civilian career. 

Whether you're newly separating, mid-career, or mentoring the next generation, this session will challenge you to think differently about what success looks like and equip you with a new framework to pursue it.