Behind the Change: Portraits of Women Leading VA’s Transformation

When I sat down with several of VA’s women leaders for Women’s History Month, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by their determination and passion; their sense of responsibility and gratitude; their focus on all things associated with women Veterans. And it’s led them to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs from the inside out.

For that reason, we want you—other women Veterans—to know who’s in your corner. These women have dedicated years of their lives to serving those like us. In Behind the Change: Portraits of Women Leading VA’s Transformation, I’ve highlighted eight of these leaders. (To view the Section 508-compliant version of this post, click here.)

Their backgrounds vary, from a young girl who realized her dream of joining the U.S. Air Force while picking cotton on a small farm in Aiken, South Carolina to a woman who entered the U.S. Air Force Academy as one of its first female recruits. From women who grew up with fathers who struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder to one who served as a caregiver for her Atomic Veteran father.

Irene Trowell-Harris is an Air Force Veteran and the Director of VA’s Center for Women Veterans. She put it this way, “America has dynamic stories of women who have shaped the past, the present and groundbreaking young women who will lead our future.”

The slideshow above highlights just a few of these dynamic women and their stories of service. While they have all reached VA in different ways, they are here and willing to do whatever it takes for today’s women Veterans. As you read their stories, I ask you to share your story and what you’d like them to know—help them transform VA to fit the needs of today’s women Veterans.

(Article by public affairs specialist and Iraq Veteran Kate Hoit. Photography by Robert Turtil.)

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