Behind The Mission

About Today’s Guest As Executive Director, Besa brings leadership at NMFA along with her personal experience as a military spouse to this incredible team. Besa is an award-winning journalist and marketer whose passion for our military began during her time as a reporter and television news anchor. From Jacksonville, North Carolina to Kosovo, her assignments opened her eyes to the post-9/11 militar...

About Today’s Guest Dr. Davis is a subject matter expert on Military, Veteran, Family (MVF), Caregiver & Survivor support through successful, sustainable services. Dr. Davis is currently working with the Department of Defense in the area of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) and Caring for Military Families, Elizabeth Dole Foundation. She was educated at the University of Southern...

About Today’s Guest Alex Balbir serves as the director for Independence Services. Prior to joining Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP), he served as a health care consultant supporting the Department of Defense Military Health System and as the deputy director and chief of operations for clinical research at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Alex is a Navy reservist, serving as a health care...

About Today’s Guest Ever since her late husband, LT (SEAL) Brendan Looney was killed in Afghanistan on September 21, 2010 and awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, Amy Looney has served as an inspirational champion for families of fallen service members, military families, veterans, and American troops. Serving as Vice President of Travis Manion Foundation, Amy leads a national movement focused on e...

About Today’s Guest Michael Genovese is the chief medical officer of Acadia Healthcare, the largest stand-alone provider of behavioral healthcare in the United States. Acadia operates a network of 238 behavioral health facilities in 40 States and Puerto Rico.  Dr. Genovese is serves on the CMO Corporate Council of the Joint Commission and is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Universi...

About Today’s Guest Jenna Pryor serves as the Director of Programs at PsychArmor. In this role, Jenna leads the implementation and evaluation of PsychArmor’s educational programs and training on military culture. Jenna coordinates with the clinical, customer success, and content development teams to design and implement education and training resources for individuals, organizations, and community...

About Today’s Guest Susie Dicker Sitzer is an experienced organizer, connector, and public relations maven, who is highly dedicated to the mission of helping others. She has over two decades of experience leading teams in philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, communications, talent management, and more. Susie has most recently served as the Executive Director of Drawn from Valor, an award...

About Today’s Guest Paul Fukuma is the Chairman and CEO of Taji 100, a nonprofit that hosts a virtual fitness challenge in February of every year. Paul is a fourth generation US Army veteran, and has deep ties to the military and a profound respect for all who have served their country. His great grandfather served in WWI, both grandfathers in WWII, father in Vietnam, and he served in Iraq. Paul w...

About Today’s Guest Cat Corchado is the Community Relations and Partnerships Ambassador at the Women Veterans Network (WoVeN). She volunteered and was chosen as one of the original Peer Leaders with the WoVeN program in 2017. She has helped lead many in-person and online peer groups and she ran one of the first WoVeN online Peer Leader Trainings. She is an advocate and champion for all women Veter...

About Today’s Guest Josh Protas is the Vice President of Public Policy and heads the Washington, D.C. office for MAZON. In this role, which he assumed in 2012, Josh coordinates and implements MAZON’s advocacy agenda, including efforts to protect and strengthen the federal nutrition safety net, with particular emphasis on the food security needs for seniors, veterans, and military families. Josh ha...

About Today’s Guest Carie Rodgers, Ph. D., ABPP, currently serves as Chief Program Officer at PsychArmor Institute, and is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine. Prior to joining the team, she was the Associate Director of the Education & Dissemination Unit at the VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health in San Diego, California. She has served as a Nati...

About Today’s Guest Kristin A. Meekhof is an author, life coach, writer and obtained her M.S.W. from the University of Michigan. She has more than 20 years of clinical experience. A nationally recognized expert on resiliency and gratitude, her best-selling book, A Widow’s Guide to Healing, was inspired by her own personal experience with widowhood, grief, and healing. A Korean-American adoptee, sh...

About Today’s Guest Ken Davenport is the co-founder and CEO of Mission Edge, a social enterprise providing consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and social impact organizations. Prior to starting Mission Edge, Ken was a serial entrepreneur who started and ran a number of successful companies in the healthcare and data analytics field. Ken is passionate about veteran entrepreneurship and t...

About Today’s Guest Dr. Qwynn Galloway-Salazar is a veteran of the United States Army (01-06) and spouse to a retired combat Veteran. Her work has spanned the last 20 years, supporting our Nation’s Military and Veteran communities. As the founder of In Their Honor, LLC, Qwynn serves as an End-of-Life Doula and Trainer. This Spring, she is slated to roll out state-specific training for End-of-Life...

About Today’s Guest Steve Dilley, MFA, founder and Executive Director of The Veterans Art Project, has 35 years collaborating with the military on creative Artistic engagement projects, expressing emotions, documenting experiences, and sharing ideas. After 9/11, Steve was moved to help Veterans, active duty and spouses through Art making. He has a profound weight of responsibility to reach out and...

About Today’s Guest Zach is a Retired US Coast Guard Officer who worked in IT security and engineering for most of his civilian life. As the parent of an autistic child, he developed skills and an affinity for working with people who have special needs. This grew his passion for helping others and that lead him to peer support and suicide prevention. He always knew he had a calling helping people...

About Today’s Guest Col. Denise “Deno” Cooper, Ph. D., is a U.S. Air Force Wounded Warrior who worked with PsychArmor as part of the OSD employment education initiative program. Col. Cooper is now an Organizational Behavior Consultant for PsychArmor. A part of PsychArmor’s Program department, Col. Cooper also brings nearly three decades of Air Force leadership experience to the organization. She a...

About Today’s Guest Following in the footsteps of a family dedicated to military and spiritual service, Lauren Postler strives to apply the principles of servant leadership in all her endeavors. With more than 15 years of experience in strategic planning, change management, capacity building and collaborations for nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 businesses alike, Lauren brings a wealth of...

About Today’s Guest Art delaCruz served honorably for over 22 years in the United States Navy and enjoyed a career that included a broad range of assignments.  Art commanded a Navy strike-fighter squadron, spent one year with McKinsey & Co. as a Secretary of Defense Corporate Fellow, served as a Topgun instructor, and made six combat deployments.     After retiring, he spent two and a half yea...

About Today’s Guest Jerome Tennille is the Manager of Social Impact & Volunteerism for Marriott International. Jerome is also an independent consultant and advisor in the subject matter of Sustainability and Social Impact. Prior to that Jerome held the position of Senior Manager of Impact Analysis and Assessment for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a national organization that...

About Today’s Guest Roxana Delgado, Ph. D. is a health scientist, an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, School of Medicine, General and Hospital Medicine Division. She is also the Elizabeth Dole Foundation research advisor for the Campaign of Inclusive Care and one of the investigators at the VA Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence for Veteran and C...

About Today’s Guest As Senior Vice President of Advancement, Josie Beets works closely with the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Trustees to integrate communications and fundraising to support United Through Reading’s mission delivery. She leads a team of development and communications professionals who together provide program support through alliance strategies, marketing and campaigns,...

About Today’s Guest Lornett Vestal was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He joined the United States Navy at the age of seventeen. He served four years honorably and was deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He’s traveled to various countries including Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, Estonia. He has a BA in Sociology from Northern Illinois University and a Master’s Degree in Social Service Admin...

About Today’s Guest Scott Tirocchi is the division director for Justice For Vets (JFV), a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). He served in the U.S. Army reserves and the Rhode Island Army National Guard for 21 years. His occupational specialty was being a military police officer. While deployed to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004, he served as commander for the t...

About Today’s Guest Betty Rhoades joined the HillVets Foundation in December of 2019 as the Executive Director. Betty lives in Washington, DC – just steps from the HillVets House! – with her husband, her rescued pit bull, Jack, and her “quarantine kitty,” Rex. Betty’s husband, Jason, was one of the original class of HillVets Fellows; he worked in Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick’s office and then mov...