Kathy Roth-Douquet is an advocate for the role of the military in civil society; she is an author, nonprofit leader, attorney, and former government official. Kathy is the CEO of Blue Star Families, the largest Chapter-based nonprofit organization serving active duty of all branches, Guard and Reserve, wounded, and transitioning veterans and their families. Blue Star Families mission is to strengthen military families and our nation by connecting communities and fostering leadership to millions of people.

Kathy Roth-Douquet received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, her MPA in International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University where she held a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and a JD from the University of San Diego School of Law, Magna Cum Laude and the Order of the Coif. While serving at the Pentagon as Principal Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acting) she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for her work on defense reform. She is also a recipient of President George H. W. Bush’s Daily Point of Light Award, and most recently received the Chief of Staff of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award.

Kathy is a commentator on patriotism, civil-military affairs, the value of service, and the experience of military families. She has appeared on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, CNN, NPR, has been a frequent contributor to USA Today, and is a frequent public speaker. She is an author, most notably of “AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service and How it Hurts Our Country” (Collins, 2006). She is a practicing attorney, a member of the Small Business Association Advisory Board, and is Co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center Defense Reform Task Force. She is a military spouse of 18 years, four deployments, and 9 moves. She lives with her husband and two children in Northern Virginia.

Anne Meree served as a civil servant deploying around the world in direct strategic and operational support to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. In 2010, after having her second child, she left the government and founded Maxemi LLC, a consulting business aimed at relationship navigation, strategy development, and research. She has worked as the Chief Administrative Officer at McChrystal Group and as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Berico Technologies. Her clients included Deloitte and General Dynamics. Anne Meree feels blessed to have not just served at the tip of spear but to also have married into it. She believes it provides her a unique understanding for the work she currently does at COMMIT. Anne Meree is gifted at connecting dots in creating serendipity for our veterans and works to grow the enduring relationships necessary to enable real success. Anne Meree holds a M.A. from Middlebury College and a B.A. from Wofford College. She attended The Stanford Graduate School of Business for Executive Education and was a proud member of the inaugural class of the Stand-To Leadership Initiative at The George W. Bush Institute. Anne Meree hails from the deep south but calls Bozeman, Montana home where she and her husband are prioritizing lifestyle and raising their three awesome kids. 

Mike Erwin is a 2002 graduate of The U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he was commissioned as an officer and went on to serve three combat tours with the First Cavalry Division and 3rd Special Forces Group. After his third deployment in 2010, Mike founded Team RWB and served as the organization’s first Executive Director until 2013. He continued to chair the Board of Directors until 2016, and returned as Executive Director in 2019.

Mike is the co-author of LEAD YOURSELF FIRST by Bloomsbury Press (2017). Mike continues to serve the nation as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he is an Assistant Professor. He and his wife Genevieve live on a 32-acre farm in North Carolina, where they raise their 4 young children, with one more due in December.