Veterans & Service Women

Throughout history, women had had an important role in our military. Today, women comprise one of the fastest growing segments in the military. Utahns have long honored and supported our service men and women and worked to provide resources for veterans who served our country. Unfortunately, many female veterans are unaware of the benefits available to them. There are more unique challenges facing women veterans including disproportionally high rates of homelessness, healthcare issues, disability benefits, employment discrimination and legal barriers preventing them from accessing baseline benefits and services. The National Library of Medicine published a report that concluded that One third of women Veterans perceived gender-based discrimination in VA. This Impact Team is tased with working with service women, military families, and women veterans to be aware of and access resources available to them and make leaders aware of the outsized challenges preventing women of the military to thrive. 

Leaders

Emily Harrison

Chapter Director, BSF
LinkedIn Profile

Emily has dedicated over two decades to supporting military families, with a background that spans various roles in the Army and Army Reserve. Her commitment to this cause led her to Blue Star Families in 2019 to launch the Utah Chapter. 

Lisa Duckworth

IDEA Director, Utah SHRM
LinkedIn Profile

Lisa proudly served in the US Army in the Chaplains Corps for close to six years.  After serving, she graduated with a BS from UofU and an MS from WGU in Business Management. With decades of experience in HR, she is on the Utah SHRM Board of Directors.  

Bold Vision

To make Utah a place where more girls and women can thrive, the Veterans & Service Women Impact Team leaders, affiliates, and partners are currently working to craft a bold vision. The bold vision will help guide the 18 areas of focus as they develop their bold goals, measure outcomes, create dashboards, and create momentum for additional changes.

Partners