W Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary Department of Veterans Affairs

December 15, 2010 | 12:15 | Public Domain

Scott Gould likes to talk with his constituents and find out what’s on their mind. When a 20,000-person survey of agency stakeholders identified veteran homelessness as a major problem, Secretary Shinseki and Deputy Secretary Gould took the call to action: They pledged to end homelessness among the nation’s veterans within 5 years and reduce from 131,000 to 59,000 by June 2012. Setting a specific, time-bound goal that “gets the game to the next level” may be a stretch, but it’s something they are passionate about achieving.