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Show Summary
On this bonus episode commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the attacks on September 11th, 2001, PsychArmor CEO Tina Atherall and Freedom Learning Group CEO Elizabeth O'Brien join the show to talk about what they experienced on that day and how these tragic events changed their lives forever
About Today’s Guests
Tina Atherall, DSW, LMSW, brings to PsychArmor her vast experience and leadership in the military non-profit community and academia. In 2006, she co-founded Hope For The Warriors, an organization dedicated to serving combat wounded servicemembers and their families. Scaling a grass-roots effort to a national platform, she worked extensively with various levels of military leadership, agencies, corporations, and communities educating and advocating for critical support for those who have served and their families. She has embedded her career in the field of social work innovation and leadership and obtained her Doctor of Social Work (DSW) from the University of Southern California. Her recent work focuses on the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work to eradicate social isolation specifically the challenges of military family social isolation. As an adjunct faculty, her love for PsychArmor began while utilizing the PAI educational videos to enhance teaching social work practice with military and their families to Masters of Social Work students in New York City.
As PsychArmor’s new CEO, Tina will continue the mission of bridging the military-civilian divide. She has fresh ideas to strengthen PsychAmor’s pivotal role as the “go to” place for employers, healthcare providers, educators, volunteers, municipalities, service providers, government workers, caregivers and communities to learn about how to better serve our military Veterans.
Elizabeth O’Brien was appointed CEO of the Freedom Learning Group in April 2020.
In the last six years, O’Brien has served in significant leadership roles as a Senior Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program, and as Chairwoman for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs, the first military spouse to be appointed to that role.
As Senior Director at HOH, O’Brien evolved the military spouse program’s event-centric focus to become a national comprehensive resource at the forefront of military spouse workforce development for over one million military spouses. In addition to overseeing the program’s research and strategic operations, she led the growth of the Military Spouse Employment Advisory Council (MSEAC), a coalition she grew in five years comprised of more than 35 companies with a combined market value of over three trillion dollars to include Amazon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. The MSEAC focused on creating innovative workforce development strategies through upskilling and reskilling a chronically unemployed and underemployed workforce. O’Brien has worked closely with current and past administrations to advance the narrative around military spouse workforce development solutions; most recently co-chairing the release of “A Collective Effort: Workforce Development Solutions for the 21st Century Military Spouse” with Mrs. Karen Pence, Second Lady of the United States.
Prior to joining the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, O’Brien spent over a decade coaching college women’s basketball at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Hofstra University, and The University of Hawaii.
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Theme Music
Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.
This Episode Sponsored By:
This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.
Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families. You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com