Women in the Arena

Citizenship in a Republic?is the title of a speech given by?Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, at the?Sorbonne?in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910.

One notable passage from the speech is referred to as "The Man in the Arena." Roosevelt's very eloquent words describe someone who is heavily involved in a situation that requires courage, skill, or tenacity, as opposed to someone sitting on the sidelines and watching.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

In thinking about this memorable and the type of leader Roosevelt describes, this week's #Changemakers Newsletter is aptly titled: "Women in the Arena"

Make no mistake about it — the sweeping changes that DOD announced last week are the direct result of tireless leaders -- “doers of deeds” -- many of them military spouses who fought with grit and determination to effect change for their fellow military families.??

Today ZeroMils is spotlighting four extraordinary women who are among the fiercest military spouse advocates in the country, and who played a big part in Secretary Austin’s announcement of immediate and long-term actions to help strengthen the economic security and stability of service members and their families.?

Elizabeth O'Brien - Military Spouse Advocate

The first is Elizabeth OBrien . When I read Liz's post about the DOD changes last week, you could almost feel the passion and excitement jump off the page. Liz is a #Changemaker who never sits on the sidelines. After a very successfu career as a basketball coach including at her alma mater Hofstra University and at West Point -- and a typically challenging and nomadic life as a military spouse with stays in Hawaii, California, Kansas, Kentucky and Germany -- Liz found her calling at Hiring Our Heroes in 2014.

In her role as the Senior Director of the Military Spouse Program at HOH and subsequently as the CEO at Freedom Learning Group, Liz has tangibly impacted thousands of spouses like herself. As a U.S. Army spouse and Mom to three beautiful girls, Liz does it all and inspires military spouses like her to achieve their career aspirations, too.

Shannon Razsadin - Military Family Advisory Network

In an equally inspiring post by the President and Executive Director of Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN) Shannon Razsadin talks about the extraordinary work MFAN has done to research and address the needs of military families suffering from food insecurity. While the DOD announcement was encouraging, Shannon points out: "MFAN is in this fight for the long haul — we know it’s a complex issue that will take time. We see our lines at food distribution getting longer, a sign of two things: continued need and lower barriers to support."

In our view, it is a good thing they're going to stay in the arena and fight for our military families. The truth is: no other nonprofit has done more for currently serving families than MFAN when it comes to food insecurity.

Verenice Castillo - Military Spouse Advocacy Network

We absolutely love this comprehensive post by the Founder and CEO of Military Spouse Advocacy Network, Verenice Castillo .

Verenice speaks the gospel of ZeroMils and one of our core values when she talks about the need for collaboration and partnership to achieve greater impact for the military family community.

With a diverse group of 150 active volunteers, MSAN provides a full circle of support to more than 417,000 military and veteran spouses, expanding their sense of community, knowledge of resources, and opportunities to thrive and support one another.

The most extraordinary thing about Verenice and MFAN is how they've grown to nearly a half million spouses on a shoe-string budget (less than 1% of larger military and veteran nonprofits), with the help of a Board made up entirely of military spouses. ZeroMils is committed to helping MSAN grow from a David in a Goliath space to be a key player in support of military and veteran spouses -- Watch this space!

Besa Pinchotti - National Military Family Association

And last but not least, was this incredibly touching post by the Executive Director and CEO of the National Military Family Association Besa Pinchotti . During a week of historic change for military families we can't think of a better way to put an exclamation on a newsletter than with a photo of Besa with the founder of NMFA, Joyce Wessel Raezer , and Dr. Jill Biden at the 109th annual First Lady’s Luncheon hosted by the Congressional Club as both the header and the footer.

At ZeroMils, we applaud leaders like Besa who never forget the roots of their organization and stand side-by-side with other women in the arena who prepped the battlefield and started a movement when they founded some of the most successful and impactful advocacy organizations in the country.

We are proud to serve with #Changemakers like Besa, and Liz, Shannon, and Verenice who advocated for the policy changes that Secretary Austin announced last week. They are leaders "who know great enthusiasms... and great devotions; who spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst.. fail while daring greatly." We stand ready to dare greatly with you.

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