Dr. Margaret “Meg” Harrell is the Chief Program Officer at the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF). Prior to BWF, she was the Executive Director, Force Resiliency, for the office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and was responsible for the OSD offices and policy pertaining to sexual assault prevention and response, suicide prevention, diversity management, equal opportunity, drug reduction, and personnel safety. She was also responsible for Department of Defense collaborative efforts with the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs.

Jared Lyon was appointed National President & CEO of Student Veterans of America (SVA) in 2016. He leads the organization’s efforts to empower student veterans using the trans-formative power of higher education.

Since he took office, Lyon has overseen SVA’s growth to a network of more than 1,500 chapters on campuses in all 50 states and three countries abroad representing more than 750,000 student veterans.

C. Eddy Mentzer brings three decades of personal and professional experience in supporting military families through a variety of roles across the DoD and Federal Government. Having worked within the Office of the Secretary of Defense since 2010, he joined Military Community Support Programs in April of 2020, assuming the duties of associate director for
strategic initiatives. In this role, he leads a team focused on emerging opportunities to support Service members and their families across the
military lifecycle.

Mr. Mentzer serves as the Department’s Program Manager for the Spouse
Education and Career Opportunities (SECO) program. Previous roles include leading the Department’s Family Readiness System and Child Care and Youth Programs policy efforts.

Steph is the Executive Director of NextOp, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in Houston, Texas. Steph was named to her current position in August 2019. In 2005 Steph commissioned as a US Marine Officer, serving 8 years active duty before transitioning to the reserves and moving to Houston. During her time serving our country, Steph held multiple roles at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Camp Lejeune, and Marine Barracks Washington, 8th & I. Steph deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2007-2008) as the Executive Officer for Security Company, Combat Logistics Battalion-8 and Officer-In-Charge of Fallujah’s first Sisters of Fallujah program. Her other roles included Aerial Port Officer-In-Charge, Company Commander, Logistics Officer, and Regimental Operations Officer.

Daniel F. Perkins, Ph.D., is the Principal Scientist (founder) of the Clearinghouse and is a Professor of Family and Youth Resiliency and Policy at Penn State University. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Family and Child Ecology, his M.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, and his B.A. in Developmental Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University.

One of his primary areas of focus is in fostering the well-being of military Service members, veterans, and their families through the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State. He facilitates the translation of science into action by providing comprehensive, science-based programs and
technical assistance to professionals working with military and veteran families.