A select group of military spouses will be part of special meetings and sessions at next month’s Defense Communities National Summit through the Military Spouse Defense Community Leadership Initiative.

ADC Executive Director Matt Borron said the initiative came about as there were more and more discussions about quality of life – child care, education, housing, spouse employment and more.

“In ADC’s current group of stakeholders, including base leadership and community leadership, there was a voice missing at the table,” Borron said in the latest episode of America’s Defense Communities | The Podcast. “That was the individuals who deal with these quality of life issues on a day-to-day basis. And that was really the military spouse.”

Borron was joined on the podcast by Vanessa Errico and Laura Myer, two of the initiatives’ participants. They are both Army spouses who attended ADC’s Installation Innovation Forum last fall when the initiative was launched.

“We were in very intimate conversations with these senior leaders,” Errico said. “We were with a general, sitting down, going around the table and talking about our top concerns…. We definitely felt heard.”

Myer said part of the discussions is helping leaders realize that not all military families are the same.

“You really can’t just lump a military spouse into one grouping,” Myer said. “We have very diverse needs and experiences, so… including that spouse at the table is really important.

Hear the Conversation

Listen to this America’s Defense Communities | The Podcast episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or in your favorite podcast app. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss future episodes.

Join the Discussion

Register now to participate in the Defense Communities National Summit, taking place April 8-10 in the D.C. area. Multiple sessions will focus on military family quality of life, including a discussion with the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee’s Quality of Life Panel.