Our Staff Team

Meet Our Team

We understand the application process can be frustrating. Our dedicated and skilled staff and Board of Directors are here to help.

Staff

Erik Delgadillo

Executive Director

Erik Delgadillo is a native of Los Angeles, California. He enlisted in July 1998 and served the United States Marine Corps for 16 years. As a Marine he held numerous positions but more notably he was a Training Staff Non-Commissioned Officer, a Drill Instructor and finally ended his career by deploying to Afghanistan in 2012. His decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps achievement Medal with two gold stars the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, National Defense Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal and the NATO ISAF Campaign Medal.

After his career as a Marine ended in 2014, Erik Delgadillo has looked for new opportunities and gaining higher education. He completed his MBA at the University of California, Irvine in 2019. While he was completing school, he held positions with Bank of America as the Financial Center Operations Manager, Assistant Property Manager at Bridgecreek Investment LLC and Area Manager with Amazon.

Veronica Lira

Director of Operations

Veronica Lira is a licensed independent agent of the Department of Veterans Affairs with a Master’s Degree in clinical social work from the University of Southern California. Mrs. Lira’s specialty includes having a working knowledge of the neurology of stress and trauma related to environmental factors affecting the military and Veteran community. Her experience encompasses over 16 years of experience providing direct services to the Veteran community that includes mental health services, navigating the legal concepts of disability claims, and creating models and process that improve the area of claim advocacy.

Since 2015, Mrs. Lira designed a model that reduces workload stress for the provider and increases control and competency over the VA process. Our model is designed to increase capacity in a role that is custom to reviewing laws, rules, medical conditions, and mental health challenges and providing fast-turn around services to our Veteran community by decreasing stress overload, compassion fatigue, and counter-transference that impact the value of their client’s case. Alternatives for Veterans nonprofit created to address direct services to our Veteran community.

Nicole Fisher

Assistant Director of Operations

Nicole Fisher, graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and decided to further her academic career by attending the University of Southern California. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Social Work, with an emphasis on Military Social Work and Adult Mental Health and Wellness. The field of Social Work introduced her to the Veteran population where she started as an intern with Veronica Lira at Alternatives for Vets. From there, she was inspired by her ability to make an impact in the daily lives of Veterans and their families. She learned that making an impact does not have to be a grand gesture, but simply taking the time to listen, educate, and guide Veterans in the right direction. Currently she has applied and waiting for the test to become a licensed Claims Agent.

Samantha Hernandez

Administrative Assistant

Samantha joined Alternatives for Vets with the desire of being part of a team that advocates for Veterans. Her goal is to be masterful in the process so that she can one day become an accredited Claims Agent.