July 10, 2021 | 1pm

Jen served 20 years in the US Air Force achieving the highest enlisted rank of E-9, Chief Master Sergeant. Only one percent of the service reach the rank of “Chief” and she did so at a time when the total population of women service members was less than 18%. She served all over the world to include places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Italy, and Turkey. While in service, she specialized in offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, human relations, and developed a strong background in leadership and the professional development of those who were trusted to her care. Jen comes from a family with a long line of military service and her son is currently serving as an Active Duty Air Force Loadmaster.

Post military, Jen joined the corporate workforce as a healthcare executive for two years and then returned to the work she had a real passion for – serving military veterans and their families.

Jen believes people are the key to power world change and her leadership philosophy is simple: work hard, be kind, and make time to share great coffee with other humans.

Jennifer Dane was born and raised in West Texas. She never thought that she would actually leave her windblown and dusty, tumbleweed town, but in 2010, she joined the United States Air Force and served as an intelligence analyst focused on geopolitical relations, terrorism, and threat vulnerability issues.

During her service, she was investigated under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – a policy which barred lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from serving openly in the military – because she reported a sexual assault that was perpetrated against her. This cornerstone trauma spurred her passion for public policy and social change.

Her path to where she is today was anything but linear. After her honorable service, she worked in higher education combating sexual violence, she advocated for inclusive, data driven policies and assessments at the Ohio Department of Education, and she was a passionate kindergarten teacher for the Kinder Dogs and Kinder Dragons.

Today, Jennifer serves as the Executive Director of the Modern Military Association of America – the nation’s largest non-profit organization working to advance fairness and equality for the LGBTQ military and veteran community.

Jennifer is an avid collector of political artifacts, good people, and random facts that are only necessary for trivia games and her own fulfillment. She is passionate about her commitment to leaving the world a better place than it was before she was born.

Her life goal is to be a U.S. Senator.

VR Small is the founder and chief executive officer for the Veteran Women’s Enterprise Center (VWEC), a national initiative launched in southern Dallas to empower entrepreneur women associated with the military scale for success.

VR testified for the original House Bill to make June 12 Women Veterans Day in Texas. In 2020, she led the first annual statewide Women Veterans Day Pitch Competition, highlighting the innovations and economic impact of current/potential women veteran entrepreneurs. VR also participated in the Texas “I Am Not Invisible” Campaign.

VR serves on the Advisory Committee for TWU’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs and is a fellow of SMU’s Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity—Inclusive Economy, Dallas Public Voices, the Bush Institute Stand-to-Veteran Leadership Program, and is featured in Dallas Innovates 2020: The Future 50 North Texans. VR is the SBA’s DFW District 2020 Veteran Small Business Advocate of the Year, serves on the 30th Congressional District Veteran Advisory Committee, and is a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), Center for Women Veterans (CWV), 2021 Trailblazer “Women Veterans Leading the Way.”

Most importantly, VR is a Navy Veteran, proud stepdaughter and sister to U.S. Army Retired Vietnam & Iraq Veterans, respectively. Living her personal slogan “Changing the way we see the world and do business,” VR is a motivational speaker, moderator, educator, and dedicated advocate, specifically for women veterans, as well as women, and small businesses in general—committed to driving social, and economic change across our nation.

Julianne “Jules” Sohn currently serves as the Officer In Charge of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Harbor Community Relations Office.

Jules has over a decade of law enforcement experience at both the LAPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  She served as the lead public information officer for FBI San Francisco, which covered the 15 counties in the Northern District of California and supervised the media relations program from 2010 to 2013. During her time with the FBI she executed and supervised the strategic media plans for numerous joint, multi-agency law enforcement operations to include cyber, gang/RICO, white-collar, counterterrorism, and economic espionage cases.

Jules served as a spokeswoman of a non-profit organization, which was at the forefront of advocacy work for servicewomen and women veterans, and was a sought-after speaker on the impact of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, which at one time banned LGBTQ people from serving openly in the military.

She was the 2019 recipient of Anti-Defamation League’s Helene and Joseph Sherwood Prize for Combatting Hate for her work collaborating with the LGBTQ communities in Los Angeles to build trust and increase reporting of hate crimes through community-based programs and grassroots organizing.  She is also a law enforcement instructor for the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service “Engaging and Building Relationships with Transgender Communities.”

Jules is a former U.S. Marine officer and Iraq War veteran, who was discharged due to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and holds a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University.  

Aissatou E Sunjata feels strongly that she is still serving in the United States Army and her country. The oath does not expire because one is no longer actively serving. Her connection continues to be that of a female Veteran, and a military widow. She is also a writer, poet, and a retired Librarian both Public and School (K-12). Most of all she continues to be a survivor still blazing a mighty trail. She said she is now learning to thrive!

Lourdes is a connector, specializing in building relationships across nations, NGO’s, and various industry sectors. She’s currently a Partnership Manager working at Airbnb.org. Her background cuts across sectors in the military, federal, and NGO’s. Her experience spans 18+ years of experience in leadership roles as supervisor, educator, and project manager in the US Air Force and the nonprofit environment across business, communications, and healthcare.

During her tenure in the USAF, she utilized her medical expertise to help save lives during her extensive critical care air & ground transport experience globally on the CCATT team. Bilingual in English and Tagalog, she bridged communications overseas, having more than 5 years of experience working with foreign governments and medical services establishing clinic services & international medical relations.

After her honorable discharge, Lourdes developed her disaster skills with Team Rubicon, a non-profit disaster response organization, deploying with the organization during Hurricane Sandy in New York and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. She later became Team Rubicon Global’s Strategic Partnerships Officer, connecting the network with government and organizations around the world. A staunch veteran advocate, she previously served on the federal advisory board for the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Her advocacy led her to speak on topics ranging from non-profits, medicine, veteran reintegration, humanitarian response, and volunteer mobilization globally, including the Philippine Embassy, NY and San Francisco Philippine consulates, the State Department, as a guest speaker by international television networks, universities, and scientific conferences.