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Women Veterans Speak Out: I’d like my own Social Security Number Back Please

Posted by YWM on May 14, 2012

Read the latest article in BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.

Returning guest blogger, Elizabeth McLean, an Air Force Academy graduate who has transitioned into the civilian world in search of fulfillment after serving on active duty for four and a half years tells her personal story.

The transition from the military world to civilian culture is undoubtedly a difficult one for a female; everything from fashion to finding your proper place in a community seems challenging. You are peeled away from the rigid military environment and asked to flourish on your own in a society that fails to understand the path that you have chosen. The trials and tribulations of opening your eyes to a new chapter are difficult, but what compounds it even more is when you leave the military and are still connected to a spouse who serves. The question is how do you find a balance of being a veteran and a military spouse at the same time?  How do you come to terms with the fact that you are now identified by your husband’s social security number?

One obstacle can be the already formed spouse club that you are asked to join in order to support your husband.  Here we need to get around stereotypes by both groups.  It is often perceived that military spouses do not particularly enjoy the company of female service members. Spouses may view the military women as a threat and not respect the fact that the woman is serving in such close proximity to their husbands is just about business.  Military woman conversely may unfairly assume that the spouses are women who have decided to live through their husband’s careers and restrict themselves from exerting their own independence. When these stereotypic worlds collide female veterans can feel ostracized and lonely and guilty about not supporting her husband.  As  an ambitious woman adjusting to her new civilian work day, she cannot stand at the bake sale in the middle of the day. This leaves her alone, looking aloof and not supportive of both her husband and her fellow spouses. Just one more barrier to building new relationships.

Additional barriers are the new base restrictions and “dependent policies” the veteran must follow. Suddenly the reality hits that when you have medical or personal affairs that you are no longer “allowed” to take care of without the authorization of your husband. The irony has been laced with frustration when a woman who once led hundreds overseas, is no longer permitted to be responsible for her own dental records or make a doctor’s appointment for her sprained ankle. Those who have

Photograph by Collin Krauthamer

been military spouses for a while are accustomed to this way of life, but for the woman veteran the word ‘dependent’ has never really been in her vocabulary. Bottom-line, in the mind of the veteran is…if Rosie the Riveter can be a cultural American icon and flex her abilities, so can prior service women.

Being that the military still defines the husband and it is a fine line of trying to not shun the military husband from his squadron with your standoffishness, is the answer to bake the cookies and send them with your husband to show you still care about his career? Reach out to the spouse club and offer your words of wisdom on what a deployment is truly like? Let down your own defenses and judgments and ask the civilian spouses what it is that fuels them in life?? Perhaps the answer is to truly define your new self with your civilian pedigree and let pride roll off of your shoulder with what you have done in the past? Perhaps it all boils down to communication and learning from each other.

Regardless the answer, the women veterans must realize that just because you don’t salute the 4 star anymore…doesn’t mean you stop being motivated or that you love your husband any less.  You’ve bridged gaps with logistical nightmares in foreign countries….is it that difficult to bridge a gap amongst the world of spouses? Having pride in independence is perhaps a trait you can help others to appreciate in your new social circle…


Posted in Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Uncategorized, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Employment and Career Issues Confronting Military Spouses

Posted by YWM on May 11, 2012

May is Military Appreciation Month and May 12 is Military Spouse Day.  These are truly our unsung heroes.

The success of our nation’s all-volunteer military force depends to a large extent on the unwavering support of our nation’s military spouses. More than 2.2 million service members comprise our nation’s active duty, National Guard and Reserve forces. According to the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), more than 55% of military members are married — meaning there are more than 1.2 million military spouses who are often left behind during deployments to manage their households, families and careers. According to the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) nearly 1.15 million, or 95% of those military spouses are women, an overwhelming majority of whom want and/or need to work. Unfortunately, 26% of military spouses are unemployed. This is three times the unemployment rate of their civilian counterparts.

Surveys of military spouses indicate that satisfaction with employment and career development significantly affects their well-being. The military community is predominantly a family-oriented environment and family life issues play a strong role in a service member’s decisions to remain in the military.  For more than a decade, operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have challenged retention and reenlistment in the military. Reenlistment is such a concern, that the Department of Defense (DoD) increased their budget for reenlistment bonuses from $864 million in 2000 to $1.4 billion in 2008. While this financial compensation is can be a significant reason for reenlisting, a DoD and Treasury report found that “a spouse’s employment [also] plays a key role in the financial and personal well-being of military families, and their job satisfaction is an important component of the retention of service members. Without adequate support for military spouses and their career objectives, the military could have trouble retaining service members.” In fact, “when the spouse is supportive, reenlistment is more likely than if the spouse is not supportive” (Scarville, 1990). This brings us right back to spousal employment, the second ranked issue of concern for military families (Blue Star Families, 2010).

Blue Star Families, an organization committed to supporting, connecting and empowering military families and known for constantly capturing real-time feedback, surveyed military spouses and found that half of the respondents said that being a military spouse had a negative effect on their ability to pursue a career. This is not simply a perception. A 2010 RAND report cited nine studies, spanning 30 years, that conclude military wives work and earn less in the U.S. labor market than their civilian counterparts — despite being on average, better educated. The DMDC concludes, “the majority of military spouses believe that the military lifestyle — including frequent moves, deployments and long hours that keep service members from assisting with parenting, and living in areas with poor local labor market conditions — has negatively affected their employment opportunities.” For example, as a result of frequent moves, spouses working in professions requiring state licenses or certification bear a higher financial and administrative burden since credentials often do not transfer across states. In addition, more than 13% of those spouses whose careers have been impacted negatively by their military lifestyle have experienced some type of discrimination due to their status as a military spouse (Blue Star Families, 2010).

Military spouses are increasingly recognized for their stellar abilities to juggle work, school and children, household finances, military and civilian networks and expectations, frequent moves, emotional stressors of a spouse who may not be consistently present, and a host of other events which are part of their “normal” day. Military spouses are well educated: 84 percent have some college; 25 percent have a bachelor’s degree; and 10 percent have an advanced degree (MSEP, 2012). More than two-thirds have work experience (DMDC, 2008), and 38 percent have high levels of education for their current jobs (RAND, 2010). Furthermore, spouses volunteer three times more than civilians, and tend to take on a the more demanding leadership roles in their volunteer organizations (Blue Star Families, 2010). It is only fitting that these skills be viewed by potential employers as adaptable, resilient, persistent and dedicated. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case.

Over the past few years, Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation has championed women veterans and military spouses in their efforts to succeed in civilian careers. BPW Foundation’s work is based on nearly a decade of research on the challenges facing military women as they endeavor to find civilian employment. In 2005, BPW Foundation made a commitment to better understand the employment transition of women veterans. The research highlighted translation and portability of skills as major obstacles and underscored an overwhelming gap in career and employment support among the growing population of military women upon their return to civilian life. Armed with this learning, BPW Foundation initiated studies and engaged private and public sector partners to outline employment access strategies.

You can support military spouses by becoming a mentor though Business and Professional Women’s Foundation’s Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™. This free program provides training and resources for mentors so you can share your life and work experiences with a military spouse.  This effort builds on BPW Foundation’s long legacy of working women helping women work.

This blog is excerpted from Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™, Military Spouses: Employment and Careers Issue Brief, May 2021

Posted in Families, Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Mentoring, Military Families, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Women Veterans Speak Out: Each one, reach one: Helping homeless veterans

Posted by serenity order simplicity on April 16, 2012

Read the latest article in BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.

I’ve been part of a spirituality group since I moved to Virginia two years ago.  At one session, I proclaimed to the group that I was interested in social change but not inclined to open my house to a homeless person. Within the year, I had a chance to eat those words.

One of the group members sent an email asking if anyone had space for a woman who was living in her car.  We had a spare room, which is how I met Lynn.  She was a former military spouse who worked as a contractor but lost her source of income when her contract was cancelled.  So Lynn and then her cat (who was evicted from a foster home) came to live with us for four months. During the time she was with us, I introduced Lynn to a college friend, Mary, who provided an insider referral to Mary’s company. Lynn was hired and works for the company to this day.

No matter what your age, educational credentials, or even security clearance (important for employment in DC), many people don’t have the financial cushion to deal with emergencies or loss of income. When you aren’t sure where you’re going to spend the night, it’s hard to focus on much else. Veterans seem to be facing homelessness at a higher rate than the US population at large and women veterans are experiencing an even harder time finding secure housing.

There is no single reason why homelessness is more of an issue for veterans. It may be that they have no family safety net. Many young adults end up living with their parents after they college or if they find themselves between jobs.  According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, homelessness results when individuals cannot resolve life’s basic issues without assistance. Generally, these problems fall into three categories: health issues, economic hardships, and lack of affordable housing.

While BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ is focused on helping with career transitions and advancement for women veterans and military spouses, our mentors are aware that you can’t concentrate on revising your resume when you are sleeping in your car.  In developing Mentoring Plus, we are linking with organizations that help house and outfit women veterans.  Since launching the program in January, we have been affililiating with resource and community partners who can help veterans. Some DC-based Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ partners include Final Salute and Women Veterans Interactive (WVI).  As WVI CEO, Ginger Miller, said, “Our goal is to serve the whole women veteran by meeting her at her point of need.”

The core competency of BPW Foundation is Working•Women•Helping•Women•Work, not homelessness, but we have connections with partners who have special expertise in a variety of areas including housing. Some resources for homeless vets in the DC metro area include: Doorways for Women and Families: http://www.doorwaysva.org/, New Hope Housing: http://www.newhopehousing.org/?page_id=163, and Northern Virginia Family Service: http://www.nvfs.org/ .

While the government provides a safety net for when things go wrong, each of us has the ability to be of service. We are not asking you to open your house, but to reach out a hand. How can you help? Give back to those who have given much. Consider sharing your expertise by becoming a mentor to a woman veteran or military spouse.  BPW’s Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ program provides training and tools to help you be a successful mentor.  Check out the Mentoring Plus website and sign up. http://www.joiningforcesmentoringplus.org/ Also, connect with us on social media: BPW Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ LinkedIn. Join us on Twitter.

We can’t do everything, but we can do something. What will you do today?

Posted in Families, Financial Security, Homelessness, Joining Forces, mature workers, Uncategorized, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Working Women Helping Women Work

Posted by YWM on March 28, 2012

by Barbara Henton, Chair, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation Board of Trustees

For nearly one hundred years, the women of the BPW/USA and Business and Professional Women’s Foundation (BPW Foundation) have been dedicated to advancing the cause of our nation’s working women.  As Women’s History Month comes to a close, it provides us an opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments, as well as an opportunity to reconcile our mission with our goals moving forward.

We began in 1919 as BPW/USA, on the heels of World War I, with a mission from the government to “coordinate identification of women’s available skills and experience.”  Since then, we have consistently provided education, outreach, and opportunity for advocacy on issues that affect working women.  In 1956, we strengthened our efforts by establishing BPW Foundation, the first non-profit research and education institution of national scope solely dedicated to the cause of working women.  In 2009, BPW/USA and BPW Foundation merged to become one powerhouse organization of working women helping women work.

I joined BPW/USA in 1984,  because it was more than just an organization where women could come together to network and have fun…it was an organization that focused on advocacy issues related to working families.  I have been proud to be a part of our efforts ever since. I began my career as a schoolteacher, but gave up that job to be with my husband as he was called to duty in the US Army. I was a military spouse for two years…just enough time to know what it is like to live on a military base, find a job in an area where you don’t know anyone, and the need to start over once the military service is completed.  As a result of these experiences, I have much admiration for the women and men who serve our country and their families. I am very proud of our organization’s outreach to help both veterans and military spouses.

My personal experiences have provided me with first-hand knowledge of the significant impact an organization like BPW Foundation can have on the lives of working women.  We are effective because we reach out to working women, identify the issues that matter, conduct the data-driven research to back up our positions, and provide opportunities for working women to self-advocate in ways that make a difference.  We continue to succeed because we are not stagnant – we are consistent in our outreach efforts, but always evolving to achieve maximum impact.

Over the past several years, BPW Foundation has been working to champion women veterans in their efforts to succeed in civilian careers.  This year, we launched a new program, Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus™, to facilitate the career development of those women who have given so much of their lives and their loves to protect our freedom: women veterans and military wives.

BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ was conceived and developed to address the critical ongoing need for informed, committed mentors to position and assist women veterans and military spouses as they search for new employment, hone their career goals, and package their military skills and experiences to put them on the road to successful careers.  First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden acknowledged this “mentorship gap” when they recognized BPW Foundation’s mentoring initiative as part of the White House’s national Joining Forces effort.

I am confident about this program’s success; because, like everything else we do at BPW Foundation, we have done our homework.  Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ builds upon the research and experience of effective mentoring programs that have successfully impacted the lives of many.  Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ is focusing on helping thousands of women veterans and military wives by connecting them with volunteer working women mentors over a sustained period of time.  Veteran and civilian mentors of all ages across the country will provide insight, advice, and encouragement to help women veterans and military wives steer an individualized course of action in the civilian workplace.

The structure of Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ will enable mentors and mentees to work together to design and develop the goals and benchmarks for mentee employment plans.  A rich library of online resources along with a cadre of subject matter experts will assist mentees in areas that affect workplace attainment, adjustment, retention, and/or supplier chain participation for small businesses.  With this capacity to guide women veterans in their job searches and career development, we will initially pair 1,800 mentees with mentors with a goal of 10,000 mentoring relationships in the next three years.  Ultimately, we will engage partners toward a widening target of 100,000 mentoring relationships, recognizing that more than 150,000 women are projected to leave the military over the next five years and join the more than 1.8 million existing women veterans who have proudly served our nation.

BPW Foundation’s long history of women helping women allows us to leverage the experience, expertise and resources of women in the workplace, to benefit those who have made so many personal and family sacrifices to protect our freedom: women veterans and military wives.  And so, BPW Foundation is carrying on in the tradition of nearly one hundred years of history: working women helping women work.

Meet two of our Joining Forces Mentoring Plus mentees and one of our mentors in this piece that appeared on the NBC Nightly News.

Learn how to become a mentee, mentor or subject matter expert.

Posted in Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Mentoring, Military Families, Uncategorized, Women Veterans, Women's History Month | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Meeting the Needs of Women Veterans Where They Are

Posted by sherrysaunders on March 16, 2012

Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation announced that Women Veterans Interactive (WVI), a Maryland based organization meeting the needs of DC Metro Area women veterans and their families, has been designated a Community Partner in Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus™.

WVI brings a fresh interactive approach to supporting women veterans through diligent advocacy efforts, research, policy engagement, networking, collaborations, community support, and peer to peer interaction. WVI is dedicated to addressing the needs of women veterans.

Founder and CEO, Ginger Miller said, “Our goal is to serve the whole women veteran by meeting her at her point of need, while providing her with housing options, support services and interaction.”

“BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ will fill a critical need by matching women mentors with women veterans who are receiving assistance from Women Veterans Interactive.  Working together, Women Veterans Interactive and Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ will help these veterans face employment and career challenges so they can move toward successful civilian careers” said BPW Foundation CEO Deborah L. Frett.

Ginger Miller, herself a veteran and formerly homeless said, “We believe in giving women veterans the respect they have earned and we are dedicated to working alongside these women to facilitate their path to independence. We also are working to help eradicate homelessness among women veterans and seek ways to prevent it.”

Studies have shown that many factors make transition harder for woman veterans, including, lack of awareness and/or unavailability of veteran’s benefits, legal issues, military sexual trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, service disabilities, divorce/separation, domestic violence, lack of family or social support networks, and substance abuse.

The 1st Annual Empowerment and Unification Brunch Cruise for women veterans sponsored by WVI will sail from National Harbor, MD on March 18 and will celebrate women veterans during Women’s History Month.  The cruise is a community outreach tool for 150+ women veterans who will engage in peer to peer interaction and obtain information on services and support available through the VA and nonprofit organizations. In addition to being a Cruise sponsor, BPW Foundation is providing funds to sponsor 20 women veterans to attend the cruise at no cost, and will be on board providing mentoring information.

The goal of the cruise is to strengthen and enlighten women veterans as they learn about some of the essential components needed for self sufficiency and economic stability which will help bridge the women veteran unemployment gap.

“Being able to tap into the Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ network of women mentors and subject matter experts will be invaluable for these women veterans and offer them important resources. We are excited to join BPW Foundation as a Community Partner in Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ and we know that this partnership will support women veterans, which is our organizations’ mutual goal.”

“Joining Forces Mentoring Plus™ is connecting women veterans of all eras with volunteer working women mentors across the U.S. whose personal and professional training has prepared them to provide insights, advice, and encouragement to women veterans,” Deborah Frett said. “Working together, volunteer mentors will help steer their mentees on individualized courses of action to succeed in the civilian workplace. Women Veterans Interactive’s commitment to women veterans and their families is an extraordinary example of serving those who have served. This is an ideal partnership, and we look forward to helping to meet the needs of women veterans together.”

BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus™ was developed following the October, 2010 Joining Forces for Women Veterans Summit, which found the need for informed, committed mentors to position and assist women veterans as they search for new employment, hone their career goals, and package their military skills and experience to gain access to meaningful civilian jobs.  First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden highlighted this “mentorship gap” when they applauded BPW Foundation’s mentoring initiative as part of the White House’s national Joining Forces effort.

 

Women Veterans Interactive was created last year to meet all women veterans at their specific point of need, with a concerted focus on wellness and empowerment and homelessness. A division of John 14:2, Inc., Women Veterans Interactive (WVI) brings a pioneering, interactive approach to supporting women veterans and their families through policy engagement, community support, mentoring, and advocacy.  http://www.john142vets.org/womenveterans/womenveteransinteractive.html

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Posted in Career Advancement, Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Mentoring, Uncategorized, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

State Action Need to Assist Military Spouses with Professional License Issues

Posted by sherrysaunders on February 16, 2012

I was pleased to represent BPW Foundation at the announcement of the new report on military spouse employment that First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, Secretary Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey presented at the Pentagon on Wednesday, February 15th.  The report, “Supporting our Military Families: Best Practices for Streamlining Occupational Licensing Across State Lines,” explains the hardship military spouses face as they move from state to state with their service member. As a result of the many moves associated with military life, spouses working in professions that require state licenses or certification bear a higher high financial and administrative burden, since credentials often do not transfer from one state do to another state. This burden negatively impacts the chances for employment for more than 100,000 military spouses.

The First Lady urged states to pass legislation based on the best practices already in place in several states and said she personally would be urging governors and state legislators to move quickly to put in place rules that would assist military spouses.   She along with all of the other speakers noted the importance of the family in the success of our mission and said that cutting red tape on the portability of occupational licenses would be a big step in easing the burden on military families as they move from state to state.

Eleven of 50 states have already enacted legislation that supports portability of occupational licenses for military spouses including: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Thirteen states have proposed legislation that would assist military spouses if signed into law including: Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Among the nearly 50 professions that state licensure requirements affect are teachers, nurses, speech pathologists, dental hygienists, physical therapists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, physician assistants, emergency medical technicians and dieticians, the release said, noting that 11 of 50 states have enacted legislation that supports portability for military spouses with occupational licenses

The report provides practical, real and concrete suggestions that states can use as they consider their own legislation.  The First Lady stressed that the report is a road map for states with ideas and suggestions and not an edict or decree.

The report is just one step in the Obama administration’s Joining Forces initiative, launched  by First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden to bring together the resources of many government agencies and private sector groups to support military members, veterans and their families. This report was a joint effort of the Departments of Defense and Treasury.

This issue has been a priority for the Pentagon for sometime, having set up a Facebook page during summer to encourage military spouses to advocate for states to change their licensing rules.

BPW Foundation strongly supports this effort by the Administration to help our military families and urges you to find out what your state requirements are on portability of licenses for military spouses and if they are working to  make it easier for a military spouse transferred to your state.  Check with your state legislators.

You can also help our women veterans and military spouses by becoming a mentor.  BPW Foundations Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus®is built on our long history of women helping women.  Join us in this effort to give back to those who have given so much.

Posted in Families, Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Successful Workplaces | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Mentoring Program for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Launched

Posted by YWM on February 13, 2012

BPW Foundation Builds on History of Women Helping Women

 During January, National Mentoring Month, Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation deployed Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses (JFWVMS) Mentoring Plus®. This ground-breaking program connects women veterans and military spouses with working women mentors and subject matter experts (SMEs).  Participants receive career development support and guidance that will enable them to find and keep meaningful employment.

“BPW Foundation’s long history of women helping women allows us to leverage the experience, expertise and resources of women in the workplace, to benefit those who have made so many personal and family sacrifices to protect our freedom: women veterans and military wives,” said BPW Foundation CEO, Deborah L. Frett.

Joining Forces Mentoring Plus enables mentors and mentees to work together to design and develop individualized and quantifiable goals and benchmarks for mentee employment plans.  Online resources and subject matter experts will assist mentees in areas that affect workplace attainment, adjustment, retention and/or supplier chain participation for small businesses.  This deployment of the program will focus on an initial group of 1,000 mentees, and then broaden to benefit a larger group of 10,000 women veterans and military spouses. Ultimately, additional public and private workforce partners will be engaged to achieve a target of 100,000 mentoring relationships. More than 150,000 women are projected to leave the military over the next five years joining the more than 1.8 million existing women veterans.

“We are determined and honored to help our women veterans meet their post-military service employment goals by applying their exceptional skills and military achievements to their future success in the civilian work world.” said Dr. Lynda Davis, Chair of the Joining Forces Mentoring Plus Advisory Council. “The program will also help overcome the challenges of base living and frequent moves that military wives often face by connecting them to training and employment opportunities that match their abilities, interests and education level.”

Joining Forces Mentoring Plus builds upon the research and experience of proven mentoring programs that have measurably impacted many individuals’ lives. The BPW Foundation initiative is connecting women veterans of all eras and military wives with volunteer working women mentors across the U.S., whose personal and professional training has prepared them to provide insights, advice and encouragement to help women veterans and military wives. Working in tandem, volunteer mentors will help steer their mentees on individualized courses of action to succeed in the civilian workplace.  While the national program has just been launched, a USO grant funded a successful six-month pilot effort for women veterans in Virginia during the second half of 2011.

“This program really does work. I don’t know where I would be without the help of my dedicated BPW mentor,” said Carolyn Allen, a veteran who retired from the Army after 20 years of service. I am now looking forward to passing the torch and stepping up as a mentor for other women veterans.”

As the first organization to conduct research about working women, BPW Foundation attributes much of its success to programs built upon evidenced-based research.  Joining Forces Mentoring Plus is the result of a commitment BPW Foundation made in 2005 to better understand the employment transition of women veterans.  Research identified unique challenges that hinder the successful re-entry of women veterans upon their return home, including limited access to benefits and services they have earned and deserve. BPW Foundation’s research highlighted translation and portability of skills as major obstacles and underscored an overwhelming gap in career and employment support that this growing population of military women need upon their return to civilian life.  Mentoring Plus was developed following the October, 2010 Joining Forces for Women Veterans Summit, which brought together government, nonprofit and business leaders, and women veterans to examine and seek solutions for the challenges facing our women veterans. The group recognized a broad-based need for informed, committed mentors to position and assist women veterans as they search for new employment, hone their career goals and package their military skills and experience to gain access to meaningful civilian jobs.  First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden highlighted this “mentorship gap” when they applauded BPW Foundation’s mentoring initiative as part of the White House’s national Joining Forces effort.

“Mentoring is a two way street,” Frett said.  “The benefits to mentees are easy to see, but recent research shows that mentors reap rewards, as well. They not only find great personal reward in helping others succeed, they also improve their leadership skills, expand their own networks and keep more current with industry trends.”

To join Mentoring Plus as a mentee, mentor or subject matter expert, please visit www.bpwfoundation.org.

Posted in Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Mentoring, Military Families, Misbehavin' Notification, Uncategorized, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Mentoring: Giving Back to Those Women Who Have Given So Much

Posted by YWM on January 30, 2012

This article first ran on the Huffington Post
By Deborah L. Frett

Deborah L. Frett, BPW Foundation CEO

You aced the holiday dinner, picked out the perfect presents, rung in the New Year with style, and started working on those resolutions. By now, you’ve got that gym routine down and even shed a few holiday pounds. You dusted off the resume, reached out to your networks and updated the LinkedIn profile. Check, check, and done. Yet you still feel like something is missing.

January is often the month when we take stock of our lives and realize that among our many goals and accomplishments, giving back sometimes takes a back seat. January is also National Mentoring Month, and for a decade now, it has been highlighting mentoring as one of the most personally rewarding ways to give back. This year, Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation is taking the power of mentoring and focusing it on those women who have given their lives and their loves to protect our freedom: women veterans and military wives. BPW Foundation has deployed Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses (JFWVMS) Mentoring Plus®, a program dedicated to helping women veterans and military spouses connect with working women mentors and subject matter experts (SMEs) to receive support and guidance, career development, and ultimately, to obtain meaningful employment.

Beginning in 2005, BPW Foundation made a commitment to better understand the employment transition of women veterans. We realized that every day, women in the military proudly serve our country, but when they return home they are faced with different challenges and often do not receive the recognition, benefits, or services they have earned. Our research highlighted translation and portability of skills as major obstacles and underscored an overwhelming gap in career and employment support among the growing population of military women upon their return to civilian life. Armed with this learning, BPW Foundation initiated studies and engaged private and public sector partners to outline employment access strategies, culminating in October 2010 with the inaugural Joining Forces for Women Veterans National Summit. More than 80 corporate, community and public sector leaders, including high-level White House and Administration officials, joined with women veterans to discuss key reintegration issues.

BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus® was conceived and developed following this conference to address the critical ongoing need for informed, committed mentors to position and assist women veterans and military spouses as they search for new employment, hone their career goals, and package their military skills and experience to gain access to civilian jobs. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden acknowledged this “mentorship gap” when they recognized BPW Foundation’s mentoring initiative as part of the White House’s national Joining Forces effort.

We chose to officially launch this landmark program during National Mentoring Month 2012, as it builds upon the research and experience of effective mentoring programs that have successfully impacted the lives of so many. JFWVMS Mentoring Plus is focusing on helping thousands of women veterans and military wives by connecting them with volunteer working women mentors over a sustained period of time. Veteran and civilian mentors of all ages across the country will provide insight, advice, and encouragement to help women veterans and military wives steer an individualized course of action in the civilian workplace.

The Mentoring Plus structure will enable mentors and mentees to work together to design and develop the goals and benchmarks for mentee employment plans. A cadre of online resources and subject matter experts will assist mentees in areas that affect workplace attainment, adjustment, retention, and/or supplier chain participation for small businesses. With this grassroots capacity to guide women veterans in their job searches and career development, we will initially pair 10,000 mentees with mentors. Ultimately, we will engage partners toward a widening target of 100,000 mentoring relationships, recognizing that more than 150,000 women are projected to leave the military over the next five years and join the more than 1.8 million existing women veterans who have proudly served our nation.

So as you take stock of your life and lay out your goals and resolutions, resolve to give back to these women who have given so much for your freedom and way of life. Being a mentor for women veterans and military spouses is a great way to give back and pay it forward. Recent polling shows that mentors not only find great reward in helping others succeed, they also discovered that they improve their own leadership skills, expand their own networks, and surprisingly keep more current with industry trends. BPW Foundation can help you become a mentor and invest in America’s “sheroes.” To join Mentoring Plus, please visit www.bpwfoundation.org.

Follow Deborah Frett on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BPW_CEO

Posted in Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Mentoring, Misbehavin' Notification, Uncategorized, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Joining Forces: Women Veterans Speak Out – Acknowledging Homeless Women Veterans

Posted by danielleac on January 2, 2012

Read the latest article of BPW Foundation’s every-other-week Joining Forces feature that brings us the voices of women veterans telling their stories.  If you are a women veteran who would like to share your story, please contact us through our Joining Forces for Women Veterans Facebook page, or email dcorazza@bpwfoundation.org.

Acknowledging Homeless Women Veterans

by Debbie Metcalf (as printed in the Asheville Citizen-Times)

 

The horrible situation of being homeless — not having a place to call your own, to lay down in your own bed, make coffee in your own kitchen, and play with your kids in your own den — is made worse if you’re a homeless female veteran, by feelings of embarrassment for being in that situation and anger for having faithfully served our country and still not have a home when you get out.

They come in all shapes and sizes, with varying goals for their lives and differing ideas on how to best attain them. Some of these women are mothers with dependent children to care for. Some are going to school to further their education and increase their work skills. Some of these women are victims of sexual harassment and abuse while serving in the military. Some are addicts and alcoholics. Some are religious and some are not. Some are gay and some are straight. Their lives are as varied as ours.

But their life experiences are very different from ours in that they are experiencing a form of betrayal that most of us have never known. They came home from service in the military to a society that seems to ignore the fact that women have played a vital role in the U.S. armed services for many decades. And contrary to popular thought, women have always been exposed to and participated in very dangerous situations in the military. These women have been injured and experienced loss and sadness while working to serve their country, just as the male veterans. Now, they are homeless.

Asheville is a great area to live and work. We have so many philanthropic organizations that assist people in need. I’m a proud native of Asheville. There are nonprofits dedicated to protecting our rivers, mountains, downtown, greenways, animals, civil rights, air. We have nonprofits to protect handicapped persons and victims of domestic violence, rape, PTSD, child abuse, hate crimes. We also have nonprofits that offer assistance to homeless individuals. The problem in Asheville is that homeless male veterans have a specific place to call their own, whereas homeless female veterans do not have such a facility. The federal government has extended grants to nonprofits to assist homeless veterans in our area. The males have the Veterans Restoration Center at Oteen that houses only male veterans. The women, however, are allocated only 10 beds at the Steadfast House, a homeless shelter that houses all homeless women. Many homeless female veterans are discouraged to accept this housing because of the stringent interviewing process that many feel discriminates against them. These female veterans are also many times left out of the loop about veteran issues and programs available to assist women to achieve their goals in becoming self-sufficient. The homeless female veterans in our area need a transitional facility that serves only veterans and provides information related to their veteran status. It’s only fair.

Homeless female veterans have unique experiences and needs from the general homeless female population. We are committed to doing what we can to bring greater equality for these women. They deserve a group working for them, since they are being short-changed by the existing organizations that are funded to assist homeless vets. It’s the age-old problem of sexism in our society. Women who have served in the military are victims of a patriarchal culture that devalues their worth, minimizing their involvement in the service of our country. We need to stand up for these voiceless women who are living at the mercies of a patriarchal organization and get them some real help; the kind of help that will get them out of their current situation and into a place of their own. They have much to offer society. But first we need to offer them a hand-up so they can get their lives back in order.These women need clothes to wear to job interviews. They need transportation to appointments and sometimes assistance completing applications for housing, food assistance, school, employment. They need a safe and comfortable place to sleep at night, until they can get a permanent place of their own. We are working to make that happen.

For more information on the effort to end homelessness among the women veteran population in Asheville, contact Debbie at mzdjm@live.com

 

Posted in Families, Homelessness, Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Military, Uncategorized, Veterans, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Support Women Veterans and Military Spouses by Becoming a Mentor

Posted by YWM on December 23, 2011

Yesterday BPW Foundation took the first step in deploying Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus! We invite women from across the country to join us in this unique program that will lay the foundation for helping women veterans and military spouses find successful employment and careers in the coming year and beyond.

The purpose of the Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus is to provide a mechanism for women veterans and military wives to use the support and guidance of a mentoring relationship to assist in their successfully obtaining meaningful employment and a career in their field of interest.

During this first phase we are asking those who would like to be Mentors and/or a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to sign up on our new Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus webpage.  Both of these groups will help women veterans and military wives in their journey to meaningful employment or business ownership.  BPW Foundation will build its Mentor and SME pool starting now through the first quarter of 2012 and beyond, so that we will have a ready group of mentors when we begin matching with mentees.  Women wishing to be mentored can begin signing up on January 18, 2012.

Built on BPW Foundation’s history of women-helping-women, this program will enable professional working women (veterans and civilians) to tap their own workplace and transition experiences, to help women veterans successfully enter and advance in the civilian workforce. We will be working with women of all ages, eras, ranks and skill levels.

BPW Foundation first became interested in the transition of women veterans from military to civilian careers in 2005. We made a commitment to better understand the employment transition of women veterans, conducting research among 1,600 women veterans of all eras. The results highlighted translation and portability of skills as major obstacles and underscored an overwhelming gap in career and employment support among the growing population of military women upon their return to civilian life.

Armed with this learning, BPW Foundation initiated studies and engaged private and public sector partners to outline employment access strategies, culminating in October 2010 with the inaugural Joining Forces for Women Veterans National Summit. More than 75 leaders from private sector businesses, local and national government agencies, and non profit organizations joined with women veterans for a full-day’s discussion of reintegration issues, employment, and homelessness.

BPW Foundation’s Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus was conceived and developed following this conference to address the critical ongoing need for informed, committed mentors to position and educate women veterans as they search for new employment, hone their career goals, and package their military skills and experience to gain access to successful civilian careers. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden recognized this “mentorship gap” in their selection of BPW Foundation to implement a large-scale mentoring initiative to benefit women veterans and military wives within the White House’s national Joining Forces effort.

We encourage you to sign up today to become a Mentor and/or a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and make and support women veterans and military wives in their journey to meaningful employment or business ownership.  Please join us in this important work to give back to those who have served us.

Visit the mentoring sign up page.

Read more about Joining Forces for Women Veterans and Military Spouses Mentoring Plus

Posted in Joining Forces, Joining Forces for Women Veterans, Uncategorized, Women Veterans | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

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