Zach Iscol

Iscol served two tours and fought in Iraq from 2001 to 2007 as a special ops Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.[10][17][18][8][19] During his service in Iraq in the Iraq War, he fought on the front lines in the Second Battle of Fallujah, as commander of a combined action platoon composed of 30 U.S. Marines and 250 Iraqi soldiers.[18][20] He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for bravery in combat in that battle, with Combat-Distinguished V device, and the Combat Action Ribbon.[20][15] After returning from Iraq, he successfully lobbied to bring his threatened Iraqi translator to the United States.[21] In 2019, he was named to be one of five Grand Marshals leading the New York City Veterans Day Parade.[22][23]

He returned to Iraq to make a film, The Western Front, which was shown at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, and explored in what ways the US changed its tactics in Iraq over time.[6][24] Iscol served as screenwriter, cast, director, and producer.[25]

Iscol then launched the Headstrong Project in 2012. It is a New York City-based nonprofit organization that provides veterans and their families in 25 cities with free mental health care.[26][19] Therapy is confidential, free, and there is no application process.[27][28] It offers a number of treatments, including psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and virtual reality, and the number of sessions is open-ended – there are not any limits on frequency of care.[29] He is its former Chairman.[11][30]

He co-founded Task & Purpose in 2014, and Iscol is its CEO.[31] It is a military-focused digital media company, serving as a news outlet that provides reporting and perspectives on stories of interest to military members, veterans, and the broader American public.[31][32][11] Its parent company is Grid North Group.[33] In 2018 managing editor Adam Weinstein resigned after CEO Zachary Iscol requested that he change the title of a ProPublica investigation into undue influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs featured on the site.[34] Weinstein contended that Iscol strongly disagreed with both the title and the factual accuracy of the reporting done by ProPublica which Weinstein felt was undue influence on the publication's editorial independence. Weinstein also said that this was not the first time that management, specifically Iscol, had interfered in the editorial process in an effort to make the publication appealing to more conservative readers.[35]

In 2014 Iscol also founded and became CEO of Hirepurpose, a Manhattan-based company that supplies a hiring platform job website for former military service members, veterans, and spouses that provides them with career guidance and matches them with potential employers.[29][31][36] Hirepurpose is also part of the Grid North Group.[31][36]

Iscol worked as the Deputy Director at the Javits Center's COVID-19 temporary emergency hospital during the Spring 2020 height of the pandemic in New York City.[19][11] The field hospital treated over 1,000 patients.[26]

Iscol was one of a number of candidates looking to succeed New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, having launched his campaign in the 2021 New York City Mayoral election on October 21, 2020, and was initially entered in the June 22, 2021, Democratic primary.[10][37][38][11][19][8] He proposed involving the New York City tech community in educating young students, involving the real estate industry in providing affordable housing in properties left vacant by COVID-19, bolstering restaurants by waiving fines except for the worst violations, and keeping the subway closed down every night for cleaning.[18] Iscol said that post-pandemic, the city will need programs to educate New Yorkers about mental health and effectively address mental illness.[19] New York City's last mayor with a military background was David Dinkins, a Marine veteran who was mayor from 1990 to 1993.[8] Iscol's campaign staff included Joe Trippi, a national political strategist.[11] As of mid-January 2021, he had raised more than $746,000 from donors, spent just over $261,000 on his campaign, and had about $485,000 left.[39]

On January 26, 2021, Iscol filed paperwork to drop out of the Mayor's race, and run instead in the 2021 New York City Comptroller election.[4][40] The NYC Comptroller is the watchdog responsible for auditing the financial performance of all city agencies, reviewing all city contracts, and managing the large city pension funds, and has a staff of about 800 people and a budget of over $100 million.[41] Iscol will be able to use the money he raised while he ran for mayor in the comptroller’s race.[42] As of the end of January, he was the second-biggest fundraiser in the race.[43]

Iscol said his goal is to help the city recover economically from the pandemic, focusing on the performance of city agencies.[42] He also said he would require companies that contract with New York City to describe their commitment to the five boroughs, and that he would push to reinvest some pension fund monies in local job creation.[41] Hillary Clinton said: "I’ve known Zach Iscol for over two decades, and he comes at everything from the mind-set of 'How do we bring resources and assets together to solve problems and address inequities.' He’s done it at the community level, the national level and in combat zones. He's got a big heart and is indefatigable when he puts his mind to something."[42]