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Our Mission
... is to build a holistic world-class support service and network where U.S. servicewomen and women veterans are fully empowered to achieve their dreams and goals.
Our Goal
Ensure that every U.S. servicewoman has a female-friendly space and community forum in which to effectively move from the structure, unique culture, and personal impact of their time in military service to the differently structured, nonmilitary culture of the civilian world.
Our Plan
Create a nationwide network of near-base and community-anchored women-centric service centers affording holistic hands-on support to frame, or reframe, and advance the civilian lives of our returning U.S. servicewomen and women veterans.
plan components - our what
Women-Centric Facilities
Adjacent to installations, these will be spaces for mingling, talking, studying, learning, childcare, and relaxing. Space in which to coach, teach, construct, and polish. Spaces for finding and sharing friendship and support.
Community Building Events
Hosting community building events including career and personal growth workshops: Where Yes and No Don't Mean It, Networking (When You Hate It), Family Dynamics Now, Cooking for Those Who Can't, and sharing simple pleasures like movie nights, and cookouts.
Coaching
Individual one-to-one relationships, and small groups coaching where coaches listen deeply, empower and inspire, and are judgement-free confidential resources focused on helping Sheroes to discover their personal choices and their next stage.
Education & Training
Career and skills training workshops including Writing a Real Resume, Interview Planning and Rehearsals, Employer Presentations, Jobs Skills Training, Education Enrollment Support.
Partnerships
Partnering with other Veteran Service Providers, YNS will work in partnership with every available organization, service and company committed to supporting our returning military personnel.
Referral Network
YNS will be a part of a technologically-integrated service network where each provider meets specific needs. Sheroes will never walk alone, but will be guided to and through the right network to meet her needs.
our when and where
The need is now ... right now as approximately 20,000 women transition annually from the US military into civilian life.
YNS is working in partnership with a major academic institution to ensure that our initial launch of a three-year pilot is a record-breaking institution-creating success. Our partnership involves
- the identification of the ideal location (and we do have one in mind),
- the creation of quantifiable metrics with which to measure our impact at that location, and
- the codification and authorship of every policy and procedure required to sustain and expand.
We fully anticipate that during the pilot, YNS and its partners will undergo academic and clinically valid assessments of the entire YNS program. While we are intellectually certain of the need for and value of our approach, we are humble enough to learn and hopefully will be gracious with what we learn.
We are fully aware that funding comes with proof of concept and understand that the planned scope of YNS is unique. YNS believes that our proposed approach -- holistic, community-based and integrated with other partners -- will be substantially greater than the sum of its parts. We invite all who are interested in investing in a system designed to support our women who serve and who have served this great country to be in touch with us; to contribute to YourNexStage so that we can move our Sheroes to Success.
Board of Directors
Althea Green, Ph.D., CSM USA (Ret.)
Co-Chair
Director, Recruitment and Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2)
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
After 35 years of active duty and retiring as a CSM, Dr. Green (formerly Dixon) continues to serve at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. In addition to overseeing recruitment operations at the School of Medicine, she is director of the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2). The EMDP2 provides enlisted service members with science coursework, clinical experience, and mentoring so they can be competitive applicants to medical school.
Barton Buechner, Ph.D., Captain, USN (Ret.)
Co-Chair
Senior Adjunct Professor, Military Psychology
Adler University, Midland, MI
Barton Buechner is a retired Naval Commander, and active educator, researcher, and advocate for post-service education and employment, and community-based, mentor-led approaches to transition support for returning veterans. He earned a Ph.D. in Human Development from Fielding Graduate University; is a graduate of the US Naval Academy; Case Western Reserve University , and the US Naval War College. Dr. Buechner is actively involved in the American Psychological Assocation's, Division 19.
Tundra Gatewood, CMSgt., USAF (Ret.)
Board Member
Consultant & Doctoral Candidate
Memphis, TN
From the Memphis Metropolitan Area, Tundra brings experience at the functional, operational, and strategic levels of the Department of Defense Military Health System. An independent consultant, community advocate and Ph.D. student in Human Capital Development, Tundra is focusing her research on women veterans as well as integration and engagement of veterans into the national workforce.
John S. Pavlovsky
Treasurer
Owner of John S. Pavlovsky, Jr., CPA in Bordentown, N.J.
John brings a wealth of experience -- most importantly as a highly sought-after board member and nonprofit accountant. John's practice provides accounting, consult and tax services. An active community volunteer, John is on the board and Treasurer for Mercer County Community College, a Rotarian, and music officiando.
Kate Watson
Founder / CEO
YourNexStage Inc.
Silver Spring, MD
A dreamer, builder, fixer, and consummate generalist, Kate brings more than 30 years experience in public policy and program design, development, and implementation in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Her passion for meeting the unmet needs of U.S. Servicewomen and women veterans comes as a result of her introduction to these very special soldiers, sailors, airwomen and Marines -- by her own Marine.
Kelly Kaplan
Secretary
President / COO, Revive PPC
St. Petersburg, FL
One of the few New Jerseyans at the University of Iowa, Kelly wore Army boots, fatigues, and full-on patriotism as a member of the ROTC. A successful entrepreneur, Kelly carried her "can do" spirit through the advertising agency community of NYC on to her own consulting company, and from there to a privately-owned product revival marketing and distribution company owning The Natural Dentist care line, Stim-U-Dent and Fresh and Bright. Kelly is married to Army veteran Kevin and mother to daughter Anya.
Advisory Board
Kiersten Downs, PhD. USAF Veteran
Kiersten's passion for research, veterans and their families has found new roots as Research Director for ScoutComms, an Alexandria-based Certified B Corporation committed to to providing communication and marketing services that support veterans and military families. Formerly a health services researcher at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida, Kiersten bring her skills in research and evaluation of veterans’ experiences with reintegration to both ScoutComms and YourNexStage. Dr. Downs' current world or work is legions away from her service as a bomb loader for four years in the U.S. Air Force and her four more years as an administrative assistant in a fighter jet squadron in the New York Air National Guard. She was deployed overseas three times, including once to Iraq.
Rebecca Lorraine, Col. USAF (Ret.)
Becky is a retired Colonel, retired Family Nurse Practitioner, and a never-to-be-retired military wife and mother. Subsequent to retiring from the Air Force, rather than pursuing the next degree in a series which includes a BSN and a MS, Becky sought a second Bachelors studying anthropology, sociology and gender studies to understand the transition experiences of post-9/11 women veterans. She is also investigating how the women-into-combat roles and non-traditional career fields has created a evolution in the socio-cultural aspects of women veterans.
Kate Hendricks Thomas, PhD. USMC Veteran
Kate Hendricks Thomas, PhD is a behavioral health researcher focused on the reintegration experience of military women. A prolific writer, blogger, and researcher, Kate is also the author of "Brave, Strong, True: The Modern Warrior's Battle for Balance", "Just Roll With It: Wellness Journal", and most recently, "Bulletproofing the Psyche: Preventing Mental Health Problems in Our Military and Veterans." The YNS community anxiously awaits the August/September 2019 arrival of "Invisible Veterans: What Happens When Military Women Become Civilians Again." "Dr. Kate" is a nationally recognized woman veteran and occasional spokesperson who resides in DC with her husband, son, and Great Dane. You can find her at www.DocKate.com.