NVF Women Veteran Outreach Coordinator Featured in LA Magazine

Kristine Hess, the National Veterans Foundation’s Women Veteran Outreach Coordinator was interviewed in Los Angeles Magazine, along with Susie Carder from Motivating the Masses, this week about her work reaching out to women Veterans with transitional services.

When asked about starting the Women Veteran Outreach program, Kristine said:

I got my placement at the NVF, and that’s where it all started. I started inviting myself to all the [city] meetings in Los Angeles to try to figure out what was out there. Nobody was talking about women veterans, so I asked my boss, “Can I start a women’s program?” He said, “Run with it.” Every time people were talking about needs in the community, I was like, “Women veterans are here, too.” I remember for the mayor’s 10,000 Strong initiative, he hosted a discussion panel of veterans. Well, they were all men. So I got up there, in a room of like 100 people, and I told them women serve, too, and we have different needs. Half of the audience went, Oh, that’s right, women serve. And the other half went, Thank god somebody said something. They were just waiting for a woman to be the representative. 

Kristine served in the US Air Force for 24 years as a Personnel Specialist with various organizations throughout the world. She joined the NVF in 2013 as a Fellow from The Mission Continues, a nonprofit organization that supports post 9/11 Veterans by giving them an opportunity to serve again, but this time at home.