'We need to tell our stories'

The American Legion hosted a Prominent and Promising Women Veterans Social at the Legion’s National Headquarters office in Washington, D.C., Tuesday evening. Veterans service organization representatives, Department of Veterans Affairs staff members and veterans gathered together to recognize the sacrifices and efforts women of all eras have contributed to the military.

“We need to tell our stories,” said Charley Yancey, assistant director of The American Legion’s Women and Minority Veterans Outreach program. “Although women have been serving since the Revolutionary War, it is a story we don’t hear all the time.”

American Legion Executive Director Verna Jones highlighted the Legion’s dedication to serving women in the military and women veterans through grassroots advocacy efforts. “We take care of all segments of veterans, but we noticed that the resources for women veterans are few,” she said. “We are the most rapidly growing population in the military. We have to make sure people understand what we need – they need to grow with us.”

The women veterans in attendance forged new bonds, finding a renewed sense of camaraderie with each other that only other members of the military community could understand. “I saw people exchanging business cards and making plans to connect with each other later in the week,” Yancey added.

Other non-veteran community members came out to show their support and admiration. “They shared how much they were inspired and proud of the women who served this country,” Yancey noted. “The event was an absolute success. There were also people present that aren’t veterans. We were able to share a lot about the women veteran experience and the many different decisions we have to make when we decide to serve our country.”

Yancey attributed the inspiration for the intimate event to the Legion’s dedication to lauding the achievements of the country’s prominent and promising military women and veterans like special guest Charlynda Scales, Ms. Veteran American 2016 second runner-up.

“It is important for us to emphasize to the community that The American Legion is actively engaging in women veterans outreach,” she said. “We are here to support and rally behind women – the fastest growing military and veteran demographic.”

Attendees including Misty Bright, managing partner of Intupower, felt a wave of optimism after the event. Bright was elated to find common ground with fellow attendee Dr. Nancy Glowacki, the Department of Labor’s Women Veterans program manager. They plan to create an avenue to help Bright find ways her company can serve women veterans and help them get the training they need to transition to a new career.

Looking ahead to the future, Yancey said the bar for future outreach has been set very high after the night’s event.