The National Association of American Veterans, Inc. (NAAV) attends the annual Veterans Day briefing sponsored by the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute in cooperation with Representatives Susan Brooks and Lois Frankel, Co-Chairs, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and Representatives Mimi Walters an Brenda Lawrence, Vice-Chairs, Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. The briefing welcome and presentation of guest speakers was given by Cindy Hall, President of the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute in Washington, DC.
Guest speakers were as follows: Francheska T. Atchison, an active duty US Army Veteran and National Office of Jobs for Veterans State Grants (JVSG) Program Lead, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS), Department of Labor; Shurhonda Love, a service-connected disabled Veteran, was appointed Assistant National Legislative Director of the nearly 1.3 million-member Disabled American Veterans (DAV) in 2015. Ms. Love works to support and advance federal legislative goals and policies of the DAV to assist disabled Veterans and their families, and to guard current benefits and services for Veterans form legislative erosion. Melissa Bryant is a former Army Captain and Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Veteran and Chief Policy Officer for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). She leads IAVA’s policy division, overseeing the legislative, research, and intergovernmental affairs departments. Ms. Bryant spearheads the development of IAVA’s policy agenda and advocacy campaigns in collaboration with IAVA leadership, and leads IAVA’s engagement with the White House, government departments and agencies, particularly the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Veteran and Military Service Organizations, and advocacy organizations.
The subject of the briefing “Employment Challenges Facing Women Veterans Following Deployment” was held on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. The guest speakers all agreed that we must increase awareness of women Veterans, both in Veterans Affairs and in the public, and to continue to encourage women Veterans to seek the VA and other resources in support of their health, employment, and wellness needs. For more information, please contact via email: julia@wcpinst.org.
