Vanguard Veteran LLC recognizes eleven women as Civilian Veteran Champions for expanding pathways for veterans, transitioning service members, and military families through employment and community leadership. Collectively, they have impacted tens of thousands of veterans.
Presented annually at the Women Who Lead Summit, the Civilian Veteran Champion Award honors civilian women who translate appreciation into meaningful action by helping veterans thrive at work and in their communities. When veterans thrive, America prospers.
“The veteran community succeeds when civilians choose to engage, advocate, and lead,”said Kathy Gallowitz, LtCol, USAF (Ret.), Founder of Vanguard Veteran. “These women have turned commitment into impact, building bridges for veterans and military families.”
As employers across the nation compete for skilled talent and stronger retention, veterans remain one of America’s most valuable yet underutilized talent pools. The Civilian Veteran Champion Award recognizes civilian leaders who turn veteran hiring into a smart business decision that strengthens culture, boosts productivity, reduces turnover, and creates a competitive edge while lowering costs.
Award Criteria
The Civilian Veteran Champion Award recognizes civilian women who have never served in the military but have demonstrated sustained commitment to veterans and military families through:
• Veteran recruiting, retention, and workplace advancement initiatives.
• Community engagement that strengthens military talent pipelines.
• Programs that improve veteran employment or quality of life.
• Volunteer leadership supporting military-connected communities.
Recipients are selected based on measurable impact, not symbolic support.
2026 Civilian Veteran Champions
Cindy Casaus — Arizona Registrar of Contractors
Built one of Arizona state government’s most veteran-intentional workplaces and launched major veteran hiring and apprenticeship events that continue to expand opportunities in the skilled trades and construction sectors.
Jessica Pierce — Career Connectors
Served tens of thousands of job seekers and spent 15 years helping civilian employers become veteran champions while directly supporting military-connected professionals across Arizona.
Laura Roman — Roman Realty Group
Returned hundreds of thousands of dollars to military families, secured scholarships for transitioning service members, and co-leads a campaign to build housing for homeless veterans in Glendale.
2025 Civilian Veteran Champions
Patty Demers — Seared Living
Built veteran arts and scholarship pathways while sustaining decades of volunteer leadership across veteran and civilian service organizations.
Christine Gannon — Brightworks Consulting
Led Phoenix’s Veterans Economic Communities Initiative to national recognition and helped establish veteran learning hubs across Arizona higher education institutions.
Linda Luman — Achieve
Pioneered veteran hiring initiatives and championed women veteran advancement through mentorship, employee resource groups, and leadership development.
Sherri Smith — Smith Advisory Partners
Built HR coalitions and workforce initiatives that created sustainable veteran hiring pipelines across Arizona.
2024 Civilian Veteran Champions
Tera Calhoun — U.S.VETS – Phoenix
Placed 1,089 veterans into careers aligned with their military skills and connected 634 homeless veterans to employment and permanent housing.3
Stacey M. Gordon — Independent Educator
A nationally respected military transition coach, life skills educator, and mentor serving service members, veterans, and military-connected job seekers nationwide.
Denise Gredler — BestCompaniesAZ
Co-launched Phoenix’s first veteran hiring event – “Vet Talks” – and helped connect thousands of veterans to Arizona employers.
Priti Sadler — Wells Fargo
Architected veteran hiring and transition programs that placed more than 600 veterans annually into meaningful careers.
Nominations Opening Soon for 2027
Nominations for the 2027 Civilian Veteran Champion Awards will open soon. Community members, employers, nonprofit leaders, and workforce advocates are encouraged to nominate civilian women whose leadership has created measurable impact for veterans and military families, primarily in the workplace.
