November 15, 2022 • 28 mins
Dr. Tiffani Worthy is an authentic leader and combat veteran with a diverse background that spans over 20 years across various industries. The common thread in all she does is her commitment to helping people and organizations reach their fullest potential and her passion for learning. Dr. Worthy shares her connection to life and how being a veteran has influenced her career and personal life.
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Unknown (00:00):
Welcome to Rowan College at Burlington County's
Baroness podcast. I'm Dr. BrookeMailhiot program chair and
assistant professor of ourentertainment technologies
department. I'm a co chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
(00:22):
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women if you want to
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
Welcome to our November podcastthis month, as we applaud and
(00:44):
honor our veterans foreverything they do to keep our
country safe. And we respect allthat you have done. Thank you to
our fellow member of the rcbccommunity, Dr. Tiffany Worthy
who is joining us today. She isa West Point grad, a veteran US
Army officer and a motherWelcome, Dr. Worthy. Thank you
so much for joining us today onthe Baroness podcast.
(01:06):
Thank you so much. I'm soexcited to be here.
We are so lucky to have you asone of our CBC community
advocate. And I would just lovefor you to tell everybody a
little bit about your backgroundin the military.
Sure. So I graduated from theUnited States Military Academy
many years ago. And it was awonderful experience. Upon
(01:28):
graduation, I commissioned as aUnited States officer, I
attended officer basic trainingat Fort Jackson, where I was an
adjutant general Corps officer.And from there, my career just
launched off, I had theopportunity to serve in the
Second Infantry Division inKorea, I served as a company
commander, which was an amazingexperience leading soldiers in
(01:52):
Korea. After that I spent sometime at Fort Bragg the center of
the universe and 18th AirborneCorps, where I deployed to an
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Igot an opportunity to serve
there under Lieutenant Generalvines, who was a three star
commanding general of the groundforces. So it was an amazing
opportunity to serve America'ssons and daughters.
(02:15):
That was pretty powerful resumethere. And, and I just would
love for you to share what'sthat like working on the ground?
Like, especially Iraqi Freedom?What is that like to just be on
the ground with other fellowAmericans supporting our
country?
(02:36):
Yeah, you know, I think that thetime at West Point really helped
me to shape my perspective andunderstand not just the fact
that I'm serving, but I'mleading, and how it's such a
huge responsibility to be ableto make decisions that truly
impact the lives of America,sons and daughters. And I think
(02:58):
for me, it was, it was a greatexperience. But I really took
took it to heart, you know, theamount of influence the
authority that I was given, andthe trust that the United States
Army placed in me, as a youngofficer, leading soldiers, while
we were in combat, while we werein conflict in Korea, and then
(03:21):
also in a Garrison Command in.In Fort Bragg. We're, we're not
at war, but we're constantlypreparing and thinking about
what's next and what we need todo and how we're going to train.
So I think for me, it washumbling. But I was very mindful
of the amount of responsibilityand authority that had been
(03:42):
bestowed upon me.
So what's really interesting, Ithink about your career, we just
obviously the the portfolio wasvery geared towards, obviously,
your military, but you'veactually moved all of those
wonderful things that you'velearned in the military to what
you're doing today. In the dayto day, you have a political
(04:05):
career. You have a career fornonprofits and all those things
that you learned in themilitary, can you share how they
kind of cross pollinate?
Absolutely. You know, I thinkthat West Point prepares you to
be leaders of character for thenation for a lifetime of public
service. In fact, it's part ofthe mission of the academy. And
it's something that I tookforward with me and so the
(04:27):
skills that I learned in termsof leading others being open,
being agile, being persistent,having grit and tenacity are
things that I was able to carryover into a political career up
seeding three incumbents,leading a nonprofit to really
help underrepresented youth tomake sure that they have a fair
(04:49):
chance that aspiring togreatness also. And being a
wife, a mom and so many otherthings, I think that I was
prepared for it. And I reallytook those lessons to heart Are
you know, as a college student,we were preparing to go forward
to lead, we didn't have the sameluxuries of just enjoying
college per se. But you'reyou're enjoying the college
(05:10):
experience in preparation forleading soldiers and being a
leader for a lifetime. So Ithink that those fundamental
experiences in those years, from17 to 21 really shaped my
perspective, my outlook andhelped me to understand who I
was becoming,
you know, a lot of people don'trealize the numbers that are
(05:32):
built into being a female in themilitary. So I just have a few
quick numbers that I wanted toshare. And then I wanted your
reflection on that. Okay. So asof September 30 2019, there were
325,981 veterans in New Jersey,of which 25,791 are women. We
(05:54):
have another one from theDepartment of Labor Statistics
that there are nearly 2 millionliving women veterans in the US.
Women currently make upapproximately 10% of the overall
veteran population, veteransmake up 14% of the men in
America, but among women inAmerica, only 1.5% are veterans.
(06:17):
What do you reflect? Firstthings that come to mind after I
read those, wow.
The numbers are astounding. Andhonestly, the first thing that
comes to mind is how so manywomen opt out when it comes to
veteran status. They don't wantto talk about it. They based on
(06:37):
experiences they may have hadthey although they're veterans,
you may never know. And then youhave other women veterans who
are so proud, they want to joinall the different organizations,
they want everyone to know, theymark the box every time so I'd
be really curious to know, dothose numbers even fully
represent our women veteranpopulation? Sure.
And what's really interestingis, you know, a lot of things
(06:59):
you read, and there's a lot ofprograms out there for female
veterans, they call them theinvisible stories. Why do you
think that is? Why do you thinkthat the women opt out? What
What can we what can you do?What can we do to support these
female veterans in our communityand around the US
part of it, I think, is thegrowth that we have to continue
(07:20):
to make as a nation. Forinstance, I have a West Point
license plate on my car, andoften people will comment and
ask me. When did my husbandgraduate from West Point? Or do
ya have a son at the academy?Wow. And I'm like, I'm the grid.
You're like, look right here.This is me. I did it. It's me.
(07:40):
I'm doing it. Yeah.
And so I wonder if part of it isthe invisibility because they're
there in plain sight, but unseenor unrecognized? Or is it also
because you feel invisible,because you fight so much just
to be seen. So I think what wecan do is to continue to offer
(08:01):
those programs continue toencourage women veterans to
participate and ask them tobring a friend or two, I think
that we can just make sure thatthe women feel valued and
supported as veterans. And Ithink that there's it's just
something that we have to workone as a nation to continue to
(08:22):
make sure that all people feelthey're that they are valued,
and they play a valued role inour society.
You said something reallyinteresting there you said, you
know, fight to be seen a valueto be seen when you were during
active duty. Is there a storywhere you had to fight to be
seen and then what happened?Yeah,
(08:46):
I have many, many stories.
One, one to highlight.
Yeah, I'll highlight one. Um, Iwas a young lieutenant in Korea.
And my command consisted ofKorean augments He's to the
United States Army, which wecalled cooks who says these are
young men who are serving theirKorean army but supporting the
(09:08):
United States Army in Korea. SoI had them. I had a traditional
United States Army soldiers. Andthen I had a large Korean
civilian population thatreported into me all men. And I
noticed I would give them theorders of the day what we needed
to do what our goals were, I hada strategic plan. I went through
(09:30):
all the textbook training that Icould from West Point and from
my army training, and I couldnot get a response, the men
would not respond, they wouldnot do what I was asking. Many
times they wouldn't show up forthe meetings. And so I had to
this lack of respect, yes. Truerwords. You as a female officer
(09:53):
in a leadership role.
That's right. Correct. And so Ipulled aside one of the men to
have conversation over lunch tounderstand what was going on
because we can't have this typeof anarchy, we have shear order,
right? And he said, well, theolder men just don't believe
that they should be takingdirection from a young woman.
(10:15):
And I said, Okay, well, let's weneed to work together to figure
this out. His name was dragon.So dragon and I work together.
And what I'd have to do ishuddle with Dragon to let him
know what it is that needed tobe done, we'd have the
formation, everyone would stand,I'd give the orders. And then
after I dismissed everyone, thendragon would have to huddle with
the men to then reinforce what Isaid yes, that we would do. And
(10:40):
so from an optics perspective,it was better. But it still was
challenging to me knowing thatwhat they what you
said didn't matter. Like yourwords, were not being heard.
They didn't respect you. I mean,and that's tough in that
position. Oh, my goodness,gracious,
a dragon was great. He helped meto work through that. And he
(11:02):
honored, you know, ourcommitment. And so for that year
plus, that's how we made ithappen. And we got things done.
And we did build bridges andstrengthen the relationship. But
I learned that some mines won'tchange, and you just have to
find different strategies to beable to get the job done. And to
a lot of women who are lookingto serve, what would you tell
(11:25):
them,
do it and do it scared, I thinkthat sometimes we shy away from
challenges. Just because itlooks like it may be too hard or
too much. Maybe you don't knowsomeone who's done it before,
You're just afraid, do it, do itscared, learn along the way,
apply the learning, and trustthe training, because you're
going to be equipped with theknowledge and the resources, the
(11:46):
United States Army isn't goingto throw you out there without
the proper equipment andtraining and resources for you
to be able to navigate. Butthinking your way through a lot
of challenging situations,trusting your capacity to be
able to think in real time andcome up with solutions based on
the training that you have, Ithink is something that we have
to remember. So I tell youngwomen and girls do it. My
(12:10):
daughter is serve is gettingcommissioned in December, my
baby girl plans to go to ourArmy ROTC also and be a
commissioned officer. There areso many paths to lead and serve
in the in the army, and then allthe armed services. And I just
feel like we need to encourageyoung women to do it and do it
scared,
(12:30):
you are so full of encouragementand just just talking to you is
putting a smile on my face topresent the female perspective
in this area. Because so manypeople don't even think about
females. When you think ofmilitary. It's like the
stereotype, right? Of all themovies and, and everything
that's been out there. How doyou keep challenging yourself
(12:54):
day in day out? In your day today routine? And what are you
bringing from your militarybackground to that?
I think for me, I'm staying trueto myself. And to what I know my
purpose is I use that all dayevery day to decide what I'm
going to do and what I will dono longer. And I think that from
(13:17):
my military service I've justbrought over the rigor and the
tenacity to keep going. Ilearned what it feels like when
you feel like you've giveneverything you have, and you're
about done. But you actuallyhave a little bit more, you can
squeak out.
Sure. We always have to keepgoing as women we're like, you
(13:39):
know, I don't know what it is wehave like this inner like thing
that we just we got to keepgoing, why to keep motivating.
Keep going. And what's reallynice is you you bring purpose
and rigor through yournonprofit. Could you tell us a
little bit about that program?
Sure. All things are possibleFoundation is a nonprofit
(13:59):
located in willingboro, NewJersey. And our mission is to
empower the youth and to enhancethe community through academics,
athletics, arts, and awareness.And we do that through offering
after school programs, culturaltrips, full day learning
experiences, mentorshipprograms, scholarships, there
are just so many differentcomponents to it to help us to
(14:22):
really be true to our mission.And we're excited to be able to
serve so many youth inBurlington County and to help
them to fulfill their life'spurpose also.
That's really amazing. How manystudents do you support in the
program?
Over the course of the yearabout 500 students come through
our programs, and then we docommunity events as well. So I'm
(14:45):
sure over 1000 We can weprobably serve over 1000
students in the course of ayear.
That is amazing. And I'm sure alot of your training and your
background of leadership reallyholds true to keeping that At
community organization going
absolutely, you know, at evenhelp the students to understand
(15:06):
their part, the part that theyplay as leaders, and we have
elected officials. So we havefourth graders serving as the
mayor and commissioners andSheriff and to help them to
begin to see what it means to bea leader and to experience it as
a young at a young age, whetherit's being responsible for
sharpening all the pencils,making sure all of the markers
are working, or doing account tomake sure we have the proper
(15:28):
number of students accounted forwhen we're in the building. And
so my leadership experiencesreally are just the foundation
so that I can start pouring intoour youth, and they're prepared
for the future.
So we just talked about howyou're supporting the youth in
your community. How can wesupport female veterans?
(15:48):
What a great question. I thinkthat supporting female veterans
take so many different forms,whether knowing more about the
veteran and her experiencessupporting her and leadership,
wherever she's leading,providing that support, you
know, if it's in the workplace,amplifying her voice to make
sure she's heard, becausesometimes, the same challenges
(16:11):
that women who aren't veteransface in the workplace are the
same challenges that femaleveterans also experience in the
workplace. I think also joiningdifferent organizations and
female veterans serving inleadership. And we need men to
support these women who arerunning for different positions
in the auxiliaries and veteransfor foreign war organizations
(16:34):
supporting them as they endeavorto lead some of those
organizations. And I think justshowing the solidarity that
there are many different facesof what veterans can look like.
And as we continue to supportthe veterans, I think even the
stereotypical image of what aveteran is, will change. And so
if they see if someone sees me,as a woman, they can imagine,
(16:56):
oh, she could be she actuallycould be the veteran. She could
be that West Point grad, insteadof having a different image that
comes to mind. When we sayveteran,
what do you think the public'sperception and stereotype of
veterans are?
I believe that a stereotypicalveteran would be a white male.
So if you see an older whitemale, and with the VFW hat on,
(17:20):
lots of pins and badges. I don'tthink people think about those
who have visible disabilities.You know, if they say they're a
vet, they may not even considerthat. I think often when people
see people of color, theassumption is that they must
have been a an enlisted soldiertaking orders. I think that
(17:40):
depending on who you see andwhat your perspective is, it
varies, but often, I think,older white male there like that
was the veteran who must haveserved.
And now that we are honoring ourvets for Veterans Day this
November, what are some thingsthat you have attended for
Veterans Day? And what will yoube doing this Veterans Day?
Yes. Oh, I have enjoyedveterans, Day parades. In fact,
(18:05):
this Veterans Day, willingborotownship will have a Veterans
Day Parade. I'm a member of thecouncil. And so the township
Council will be in the parade.I'm so excited about that. And
I've done that a few times.Their lunch events for veterans
Habitat for Humanity is hostingone of those events. So be
heading over to one of those.There have been different events
(18:27):
at the various masons, Masoniclodges, VFW auxiliaries, they're
hosting different events. Butthis year in particular, I am
going to be marching in therural townships Veterans Day
Parade November 11.
That is amazing. And I think aslike you said, as a wife and a
mother, and then you're havingyour children follow in your
footsteps, do you have a longline of military in your
(18:50):
background?
It's actually a little spotty.That's okay. Yeah, I've had some
great uncles who served in theNavy. My sister was in the Navy.
But for me and my generation,were going strong. So to be me
and my children going forward.My husband is a veteran also.
But I don't have a long Oh, mygrandfather, yes, he was also he
(19:13):
was in the army as well. So alittle spotty. Not everybody
does it, but those who do trulyenjoy it. And you can see how
the military has impacted theirlife in terms of how they live
their life after service.
And what are you sharing withyour children as they'll go and
embark this next piece of theircareer?
You know, the conversationreally has been about who are
(19:35):
you? And who are you becoming?Because if you don't have a plan
for what you're endeavoring todo, the Army has a plan for you.
And I think that while servingis wonderful. You also need to
understand what it is thatyou're looking to accomplish.
What are your personal goals? isactive duty the right move?
Perhaps being a reserve soldieror National Guard is an option.
(19:58):
So I believe that that for myEmily, what's really important
to us is making sure thatthey're staying true to who they
are and are authentic to theirlife's purpose as they endeavor
to serve.
So your leadership skills andyour commitment to people and
organizations and yourcommitment to veterans,
especially females, you hold aseat on a willing Burroughs Town
(20:21):
Council, and you're an you're anadvocate for your community. And
I think that's so powerful. Canyou share? What are some of
those skills that you'velearned, you know, during your
time at West Point, you know,being enduring, active duty,
being on the ground, doing allthe amazing things that you've
(20:42):
had the experience of doing?Well, how are you bringing that
in? What are you bringing to thetable as a community leader?
Yes. You know, at West Point, wetalked a lot about respect. In
fact, I was one of the leadersof the respect for others
Advisory Council, and that is mycurrency respect. And when I
became an elected official inwillingboro, I was sworn in as
(21:03):
mayor, January 1 2020. And thenthe world shut down 90 days
later, I had the opportunity torepresent willingboro and help
other organizations to respectour township. And by that, I
mean, we had challenges withsomething as simple as being
able to keep our lights on, westruggled with our utility
(21:24):
provider, power outageseverywhere. And so we called a
series of meetings, I call it aseries of meetings, because we
wanted to demand the respect andattention of our utility
providers. Sure, sure. Iresidents had power. Here we are
in a pandemic, people areworking from home, children are
working from home, you havefood, everyone's going out,
(21:46):
getting all this food, trying tohave it, we didn't have lights.
And so at West Point, I learnedthe power of advocacy, I learned
how to advocate. And I learnedhow to represent the voices of
those who were being overlooked,who were underrepresented, and
who deserved the respect and theattention. And so I think that,
you know, with my leadership asmayor for two years, I brought,
(22:10):
I tried really hard to bringcivility and respect back to our
township in terms of how wedealt with developers, or
utility providers, big business,and how willingboro was
perceived and received in thosespaces. And so I think that came
for me, a lot of that came frommy training at West Point, and
(22:30):
also as a soldier, becauserespect for others when you're
living in close quarters, whenyou're out and about trying to
do what is right, respect isjust the baseline that is the
foundation upon which we canbuild collaboration and, and
foster cooperation, and reallyachieve the goals. And I think
the other thing I have to say,is the skill of strategic
(22:52):
planning. I love a strategicplan. I love to write it, I love
to operate higher
in Unix time strategic plans, Ithink we need that we do
and you know, it was missingfrom willingboro Township. And
because it's something that Ienjoy doing, I was able to get
the township council to reallysupport and advocate for the
(23:13):
strategic plan and get the buyin from the administration. And
now we are set. We have ourstrategic plan. And of course,
you have to revisit it. Ofcourse, it takes some tweaking,
but it's the first time that ourtownship had won, we're living
it out, we're making progress.And we will continue to be
better as a as a township.
What is your personal strategicplan as a female veteran?
(23:38):
My personal strategic plan wouldbe to continue to build the
capacity of people andorganizations. That's it. That
is pretty that is that that's asynced such strategic plan. I
like it. I like it. So what I'vebeen doing this whole podcast
and let me tell you out of allof my guests, and we're coming
(23:58):
up on a full year of ofbarrenness, podcasts, I write
down words that you've beensaying throughout our discussion
here. And you, I'm telling you,if I had to put a word cloud
together, I feel like this wordcloud would be the best word
cloud of all these words thatyou've been saying. And you may
(24:19):
want to get it printed out andhang it in your office, because
it's so powerful to me justthinking about all these words.
So what I do is I write downthese words. And at the end, I
write down these words. And Isay, if these were all hashtags,
these would be the words thatyou just said throughout our
time here speaking, but I wantto know what your personal
(24:40):
hashtag is. So I'm going to readfrom all the words that you've
said today, and I want you totell me what at the end what
your personal hashtag would be.Does that sound good? Sounds
good. All right. I'm ready forthis amazing list of words
because I feel like you are sucha powerful leader and an
inspiration and I've just Iloved talking with you today. So
(25:01):
here we go. Voices advocaterespect apply, do it perspective
leading serving, experience,influence, authority, trust,
preparing, train, humblingresponsibility, agile, go a
grit, tenacity, equipped think,purpose and rigor. And that was
(25:24):
probably not even like, that wasprobably like a quarter of the
words that you use today to talkabout you, your your journey,
your career, inside and outsideof the military, what would be
your hashtag?
My hashtag would simply be, keepgoing.
(25:47):
Expand on keep going to all theyoung women who are aspiring to
do what you're doing right now.
Yes, keep going, despite thefear, despite the challenges,
persist. Keep going when youdon't believe in yourself,
because it will come over time.Keep going when others don't
believe in you. Because youknow, you have a purpose, and
(26:11):
keep God at the center of it allso that you know what it is that
you should do, how you should doit. And I think just as
importantly, what you should notdo any longer. So keep going.
I love that and I have a fewmore data points to wrap us up.
It says to meet one femaleveteran, you have to meet 69
(26:34):
people. Okay to meet just onewoman under the age of 35 who
have served in the military, youmay have to meet 120 Women of
that age group. The median ageof a male veteran is 65 years
old while the median age of afemale veteran is 51. year as a
difference of 14 years. Wow. Andit is projected that 12% of
(26:59):
veterans nationwide will bewomen by the year 2025. Wow. So
I would like to thank Dr.Tiffany worthy for joining us
today. Please visit our websitefor more information about dei
initiatives and our committeewww.rcbc.edu/diversity. If you
(27:19):
want to hear from women who leadand inspire this podcast is for
you. You've been listening tothe rcbc Baroness podcast, which
highlights women in leadershipwhile encouraging listeners to
build their skills, connect withthe community and visualize the
opportunities available to womenin various professions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
(27:42):
the rcbc Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast And subscribe
to the rcbc bareness podcast,wherever you tune in for a
female perspective into theBurlington County community. You
have been listening to theBaroness Podcast Take care.
Thanks.
You've been listening to thercbc bareness podcast, which
(28:03):
highlights women in leadershipwhile encouraging listeners to
build their skills, connect withthe community and visualize the
opportunities available to womenin various professions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
the RCBC Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast. And be sure to
subscribe to the rcbc barenesspodcast available on all
streaming platforms.
Welcome to Rowan College at Burlington County's
Baroness podcast. I'm Dr. BrookeMailhiot program chair and
assistant professor of ourentertainment technologies
department. I'm a co chair ofthe Women's Advocacy Group a
subcommittee of the President'sAdvisory Council on diversity,
equity and inclusion. Thismonthly series highlights women
in leadership while encouraginglisteners to build their skills,
(00:22):
connect with the community andvisualize the opportunities
available to women in variousprofessions. Tune in for a
female perspective on theBurlington County community. We
are here to listen to theseamazing women if you want to
hear from women who lead andinspire this podcast is for you.
Welcome to our November podcastthis month, as we applaud and
(00:44):
honor our veterans foreverything they do to keep our
country safe. And we respect allthat you have done. Thank you to
our fellow member of the rcbccommunity, Dr. Tiffany Worthy
who is joining us today. She isa West Point grad, a veteran US
Army officer and a motherWelcome, Dr. Worthy. Thank you
so much for joining us today onthe Baroness podcast.
(01:06):
Thank you so much. I'm soexcited to be here.
We are so lucky to have you asone of our CBC community
advocate. And I would just lovefor you to tell everybody a
little bit about your backgroundin the military.
Sure. So I graduated from theUnited States Military Academy
many years ago. And it was awonderful experience. Upon
(01:28):
graduation, I commissioned as aUnited States officer, I
attended officer basic trainingat Fort Jackson, where I was an
adjutant general Corps officer.And from there, my career just
launched off, I had theopportunity to serve in the
Second Infantry Division inKorea, I served as a company
commander, which was an amazingexperience leading soldiers in
(01:52):
Korea. After that I spent sometime at Fort Bragg the center of
the universe and 18th AirborneCorps, where I deployed to an
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Igot an opportunity to serve
there under Lieutenant Generalvines, who was a three star
commanding general of the groundforces. So it was an amazing
opportunity to serve America'ssons and daughters.
(02:15):
That was pretty powerful resumethere. And, and I just would
love for you to share what'sthat like working on the ground?
Like, especially Iraqi Freedom?What is that like to just be on
the ground with other fellowAmericans supporting our
country?
(02:36):
Yeah, you know, I think that thetime at West Point really helped
me to shape my perspective andunderstand not just the fact
that I'm serving, but I'mleading, and how it's such a
huge responsibility to be ableto make decisions that truly
impact the lives of America,sons and daughters. And I think
(02:58):
for me, it was, it was a greatexperience. But I really took
took it to heart, you know, theamount of influence the
authority that I was given, andthe trust that the United States
Army placed in me, as a youngofficer, leading soldiers, while
we were in combat, while we werein conflict in Korea, and then
(03:21):
also in a Garrison Command in.In Fort Bragg. We're, we're not
at war, but we're constantlypreparing and thinking about
what's next and what we need todo and how we're going to train.
So I think for me, it washumbling. But I was very mindful
of the amount of responsibilityand authority that had been
(03:42):
bestowed upon me.
So what's really interesting, Ithink about your career, we just
obviously the the portfolio wasvery geared towards, obviously,
your military, but you'veactually moved all of those
wonderful things that you'velearned in the military to what
you're doing today. In the dayto day, you have a political
(04:05):
career. You have a career fornonprofits and all those things
that you learned in themilitary, can you share how they
kind of cross pollinate?
Absolutely. You know, I thinkthat West Point prepares you to
be leaders of character for thenation for a lifetime of public
service. In fact, it's part ofthe mission of the academy. And
it's something that I tookforward with me and so the
(04:27):
skills that I learned in termsof leading others being open,
being agile, being persistent,having grit and tenacity are
things that I was able to carryover into a political career up
seeding three incumbents,leading a nonprofit to really
help underrepresented youth tomake sure that they have a fair
(04:49):
chance that aspiring togreatness also. And being a
wife, a mom and so many otherthings, I think that I was
prepared for it. And I reallytook those lessons to heart Are
you know, as a college student,we were preparing to go forward
to lead, we didn't have the sameluxuries of just enjoying
college per se. But you'reyou're enjoying the college
(05:10):
experience in preparation forleading soldiers and being a
leader for a lifetime. So Ithink that those fundamental
experiences in those years, from17 to 21 really shaped my
perspective, my outlook andhelped me to understand who I
was becoming,
you know, a lot of people don'trealize the numbers that are
(05:32):
built into being a female in themilitary. So I just have a few
quick numbers that I wanted toshare. And then I wanted your
reflection on that. Okay. So asof September 30 2019, there were
325,981 veterans in New Jersey,of which 25,791 are women. We
(05:54):
have another one from theDepartment of Labor Statistics
that there are nearly 2 millionliving women veterans in the US.
Women currently make upapproximately 10% of the overall
veteran population, veteransmake up 14% of the men in
America, but among women inAmerica, only 1.5% are veterans.
(06:17):
What do you reflect? Firstthings that come to mind after I
read those, wow.
The numbers are astounding. Andhonestly, the first thing that
comes to mind is how so manywomen opt out when it comes to
veteran status. They don't wantto talk about it. They based on
(06:37):
experiences they may have hadthey although they're veterans,
you may never know. And then youhave other women veterans who
are so proud, they want to joinall the different organizations,
they want everyone to know, theymark the box every time so I'd
be really curious to know, dothose numbers even fully
represent our women veteranpopulation? Sure.
And what's really interestingis, you know, a lot of things
(06:59):
you read, and there's a lot ofprograms out there for female
veterans, they call them theinvisible stories. Why do you
think that is? Why do you thinkthat the women opt out? What
What can we what can you do?What can we do to support these
female veterans in our communityand around the US
part of it, I think, is thegrowth that we have to continue
(07:20):
to make as a nation. Forinstance, I have a West Point
license plate on my car, andoften people will comment and
ask me. When did my husbandgraduate from West Point? Or do
ya have a son at the academy?Wow. And I'm like, I'm the grid.
You're like, look right here.This is me. I did it. It's me.
(07:40):
I'm doing it. Yeah.
And so I wonder if part of it isthe invisibility because they're
there in plain sight, but unseenor unrecognized? Or is it also
because you feel invisible,because you fight so much just
to be seen. So I think what wecan do is to continue to offer
(08:01):
those programs continue toencourage women veterans to
participate and ask them tobring a friend or two, I think
that we can just make sure thatthe women feel valued and
supported as veterans. And Ithink that there's it's just
something that we have to workone as a nation to continue to
(08:22):
make sure that all people feelthey're that they are valued,
and they play a valued role inour society.
You said something reallyinteresting there you said, you
know, fight to be seen a valueto be seen when you were during
active duty. Is there a storywhere you had to fight to be
seen and then what happened?Yeah,
(08:46):
I have many, many stories.
One, one to highlight.
Yeah, I'll highlight one. Um, Iwas a young lieutenant in Korea.
And my command consisted ofKorean augments He's to the
United States Army, which wecalled cooks who says these are
young men who are serving theirKorean army but supporting the
(09:08):
United States Army in Korea. SoI had them. I had a traditional
United States Army soldiers. Andthen I had a large Korean
civilian population thatreported into me all men. And I
noticed I would give them theorders of the day what we needed
to do what our goals were, I hada strategic plan. I went through
(09:30):
all the textbook training that Icould from West Point and from
my army training, and I couldnot get a response, the men
would not respond, they wouldnot do what I was asking. Many
times they wouldn't show up forthe meetings. And so I had to
this lack of respect, yes. Truerwords. You as a female officer
(09:53):
in a leadership role.
That's right. Correct. And so Ipulled aside one of the men to
have conversation over lunch tounderstand what was going on
because we can't have this typeof anarchy, we have shear order,
right? And he said, well, theolder men just don't believe
that they should be takingdirection from a young woman.
(10:15):
And I said, Okay, well, let's weneed to work together to figure
this out. His name was dragon.So dragon and I work together.
And what I'd have to do ishuddle with Dragon to let him
know what it is that needed tobe done, we'd have the
formation, everyone would stand,I'd give the orders. And then
after I dismissed everyone, thendragon would have to huddle with
the men to then reinforce what Isaid yes, that we would do. And
(10:40):
so from an optics perspective,it was better. But it still was
challenging to me knowing thatwhat they what you
said didn't matter. Like yourwords, were not being heard.
They didn't respect you. I mean,and that's tough in that
position. Oh, my goodness,gracious,
a dragon was great. He helped meto work through that. And he
(11:02):
honored, you know, ourcommitment. And so for that year
plus, that's how we made ithappen. And we got things done.
And we did build bridges andstrengthen the relationship. But
I learned that some mines won'tchange, and you just have to
find different strategies to beable to get the job done. And to
a lot of women who are lookingto serve, what would you tell
(11:25):
them,
do it and do it scared, I thinkthat sometimes we shy away from
challenges. Just because itlooks like it may be too hard or
too much. Maybe you don't knowsomeone who's done it before,
You're just afraid, do it, do itscared, learn along the way,
apply the learning, and trustthe training, because you're
going to be equipped with theknowledge and the resources, the
(11:46):
United States Army isn't goingto throw you out there without
the proper equipment andtraining and resources for you
to be able to navigate. Butthinking your way through a lot
of challenging situations,trusting your capacity to be
able to think in real time andcome up with solutions based on
the training that you have, Ithink is something that we have
to remember. So I tell youngwomen and girls do it. My
(12:10):
daughter is serve is gettingcommissioned in December, my
baby girl plans to go to ourArmy ROTC also and be a
commissioned officer. There areso many paths to lead and serve
in the in the army, and then allthe armed services. And I just
feel like we need to encourageyoung women to do it and do it
scared,
(12:30):
you are so full of encouragementand just just talking to you is
putting a smile on my face topresent the female perspective
in this area. Because so manypeople don't even think about
females. When you think ofmilitary. It's like the
stereotype, right? Of all themovies and, and everything
that's been out there. How doyou keep challenging yourself
(12:54):
day in day out? In your day today routine? And what are you
bringing from your militarybackground to that?
I think for me, I'm staying trueto myself. And to what I know my
purpose is I use that all dayevery day to decide what I'm
going to do and what I will dono longer. And I think that from
(13:17):
my military service I've justbrought over the rigor and the
tenacity to keep going. Ilearned what it feels like when
you feel like you've giveneverything you have, and you're
about done. But you actuallyhave a little bit more, you can
squeak out.
Sure. We always have to keepgoing as women we're like, you
(13:39):
know, I don't know what it is wehave like this inner like thing
that we just we got to keepgoing, why to keep motivating.
Keep going. And what's reallynice is you you bring purpose
and rigor through yournonprofit. Could you tell us a
little bit about that program?
Sure. All things are possibleFoundation is a nonprofit
(13:59):
located in willingboro, NewJersey. And our mission is to
empower the youth and to enhancethe community through academics,
athletics, arts, and awareness.And we do that through offering
after school programs, culturaltrips, full day learning
experiences, mentorshipprograms, scholarships, there
are just so many differentcomponents to it to help us to
(14:22):
really be true to our mission.And we're excited to be able to
serve so many youth inBurlington County and to help
them to fulfill their life'spurpose also.
That's really amazing. How manystudents do you support in the
program?
Over the course of the yearabout 500 students come through
our programs, and then we docommunity events as well. So I'm
(14:45):
sure over 1000 We can weprobably serve over 1000
students in the course of ayear.
That is amazing. And I'm sure alot of your training and your
background of leadership reallyholds true to keeping that At
community organization going
absolutely, you know, at evenhelp the students to understand
(15:06):
their part, the part that theyplay as leaders, and we have
elected officials. So we havefourth graders serving as the
mayor and commissioners andSheriff and to help them to
begin to see what it means to bea leader and to experience it as
a young at a young age, whetherit's being responsible for
sharpening all the pencils,making sure all of the markers
are working, or doing account tomake sure we have the proper
(15:28):
number of students accounted forwhen we're in the building. And
so my leadership experiencesreally are just the foundation
so that I can start pouring intoour youth, and they're prepared
for the future.
So we just talked about howyou're supporting the youth in
your community. How can wesupport female veterans?
(15:48):
What a great question. I thinkthat supporting female veterans
take so many different forms,whether knowing more about the
veteran and her experiencessupporting her and leadership,
wherever she's leading,providing that support, you
know, if it's in the workplace,amplifying her voice to make
sure she's heard, becausesometimes, the same challenges
(16:11):
that women who aren't veteransface in the workplace are the
same challenges that femaleveterans also experience in the
workplace. I think also joiningdifferent organizations and
female veterans serving inleadership. And we need men to
support these women who arerunning for different positions
in the auxiliaries and veteransfor foreign war organizations
(16:34):
supporting them as they endeavorto lead some of those
organizations. And I think justshowing the solidarity that
there are many different facesof what veterans can look like.
And as we continue to supportthe veterans, I think even the
stereotypical image of what aveteran is, will change. And so
if they see if someone sees me,as a woman, they can imagine,
(16:56):
oh, she could be she actuallycould be the veteran. She could
be that West Point grad, insteadof having a different image that
comes to mind. When we sayveteran,
what do you think the public'sperception and stereotype of
veterans are?
I believe that a stereotypicalveteran would be a white male.
So if you see an older whitemale, and with the VFW hat on,
(17:20):
lots of pins and badges. I don'tthink people think about those
who have visible disabilities.You know, if they say they're a
vet, they may not even considerthat. I think often when people
see people of color, theassumption is that they must
have been a an enlisted soldiertaking orders. I think that
(17:40):
depending on who you see andwhat your perspective is, it
varies, but often, I think,older white male there like that
was the veteran who must haveserved.
And now that we are honoring ourvets for Veterans Day this
November, what are some thingsthat you have attended for
Veterans Day? And what will yoube doing this Veterans Day?
Yes. Oh, I have enjoyedveterans, Day parades. In fact,
(18:05):
this Veterans Day, willingborotownship will have a Veterans
Day Parade. I'm a member of thecouncil. And so the township
Council will be in the parade.I'm so excited about that. And
I've done that a few times.Their lunch events for veterans
Habitat for Humanity is hostingone of those events. So be
heading over to one of those.There have been different events
(18:27):
at the various masons, Masoniclodges, VFW auxiliaries, they're
hosting different events. Butthis year in particular, I am
going to be marching in therural townships Veterans Day
Parade November 11.
That is amazing. And I think aslike you said, as a wife and a
mother, and then you're havingyour children follow in your
footsteps, do you have a longline of military in your
(18:50):
background?
It's actually a little spotty.That's okay. Yeah, I've had some
great uncles who served in theNavy. My sister was in the Navy.
But for me and my generation,were going strong. So to be me
and my children going forward.My husband is a veteran also.
But I don't have a long Oh, mygrandfather, yes, he was also he
(19:13):
was in the army as well. So alittle spotty. Not everybody
does it, but those who do trulyenjoy it. And you can see how
the military has impacted theirlife in terms of how they live
their life after service.
And what are you sharing withyour children as they'll go and
embark this next piece of theircareer?
You know, the conversationreally has been about who are
(19:35):
you? And who are you becoming?Because if you don't have a plan
for what you're endeavoring todo, the Army has a plan for you.
And I think that while servingis wonderful. You also need to
understand what it is thatyou're looking to accomplish.
What are your personal goals? isactive duty the right move?
Perhaps being a reserve soldieror National Guard is an option.
(19:58):
So I believe that that for myEmily, what's really important
to us is making sure thatthey're staying true to who they
are and are authentic to theirlife's purpose as they endeavor
to serve.
So your leadership skills andyour commitment to people and
organizations and yourcommitment to veterans,
especially females, you hold aseat on a willing Burroughs Town
(20:21):
Council, and you're an you're anadvocate for your community. And
I think that's so powerful. Canyou share? What are some of
those skills that you'velearned, you know, during your
time at West Point, you know,being enduring, active duty,
being on the ground, doing allthe amazing things that you've
(20:42):
had the experience of doing?Well, how are you bringing that
in? What are you bringing to thetable as a community leader?
Yes. You know, at West Point, wetalked a lot about respect. In
fact, I was one of the leadersof the respect for others
Advisory Council, and that is mycurrency respect. And when I
became an elected official inwillingboro, I was sworn in as
(21:03):
mayor, January 1 2020. And thenthe world shut down 90 days
later, I had the opportunity torepresent willingboro and help
other organizations to respectour township. And by that, I
mean, we had challenges withsomething as simple as being
able to keep our lights on, westruggled with our utility
(21:24):
provider, power outageseverywhere. And so we called a
series of meetings, I call it aseries of meetings, because we
wanted to demand the respect andattention of our utility
providers. Sure, sure. Iresidents had power. Here we are
in a pandemic, people areworking from home, children are
working from home, you havefood, everyone's going out,
(21:46):
getting all this food, trying tohave it, we didn't have lights.
And so at West Point, I learnedthe power of advocacy, I learned
how to advocate. And I learnedhow to represent the voices of
those who were being overlooked,who were underrepresented, and
who deserved the respect and theattention. And so I think that,
you know, with my leadership asmayor for two years, I brought,
(22:10):
I tried really hard to bringcivility and respect back to our
township in terms of how wedealt with developers, or
utility providers, big business,and how willingboro was
perceived and received in thosespaces. And so I think that came
for me, a lot of that came frommy training at West Point, and
(22:30):
also as a soldier, becauserespect for others when you're
living in close quarters, whenyou're out and about trying to
do what is right, respect isjust the baseline that is the
foundation upon which we canbuild collaboration and, and
foster cooperation, and reallyachieve the goals. And I think
the other thing I have to say,is the skill of strategic
(22:52):
planning. I love a strategicplan. I love to write it, I love
to operate higher
in Unix time strategic plans, Ithink we need that we do
and you know, it was missingfrom willingboro Township. And
because it's something that Ienjoy doing, I was able to get
the township council to reallysupport and advocate for the
(23:13):
strategic plan and get the buyin from the administration. And
now we are set. We have ourstrategic plan. And of course,
you have to revisit it. Ofcourse, it takes some tweaking,
but it's the first time that ourtownship had won, we're living
it out, we're making progress.And we will continue to be
better as a as a township.
What is your personal strategicplan as a female veteran?
(23:38):
My personal strategic plan wouldbe to continue to build the
capacity of people andorganizations. That's it. That
is pretty that is that that's asynced such strategic plan. I
like it. I like it. So what I'vebeen doing this whole podcast
and let me tell you out of allof my guests, and we're coming
(23:58):
up on a full year of ofbarrenness, podcasts, I write
down words that you've beensaying throughout our discussion
here. And you, I'm telling you,if I had to put a word cloud
together, I feel like this wordcloud would be the best word
cloud of all these words thatyou've been saying. And you may
(24:19):
want to get it printed out andhang it in your office, because
it's so powerful to me justthinking about all these words.
So what I do is I write downthese words. And at the end, I
write down these words. And Isay, if these were all hashtags,
these would be the words thatyou just said throughout our
time here speaking, but I wantto know what your personal
(24:40):
hashtag is. So I'm going to readfrom all the words that you've
said today, and I want you totell me what at the end what
your personal hashtag would be.Does that sound good? Sounds
good. All right. I'm ready forthis amazing list of words
because I feel like you are sucha powerful leader and an
inspiration and I've just Iloved talking with you today. So
(25:01):
here we go. Voices advocaterespect apply, do it perspective
leading serving, experience,influence, authority, trust,
preparing, train, humblingresponsibility, agile, go a
grit, tenacity, equipped think,purpose and rigor. And that was
(25:24):
probably not even like, that wasprobably like a quarter of the
words that you use today to talkabout you, your your journey,
your career, inside and outsideof the military, what would be
your hashtag?
My hashtag would simply be, keepgoing.
(25:47):
Expand on keep going to all theyoung women who are aspiring to
do what you're doing right now.
Yes, keep going, despite thefear, despite the challenges,
persist. Keep going when youdon't believe in yourself,
because it will come over time.Keep going when others don't
believe in you. Because youknow, you have a purpose, and
(26:11):
keep God at the center of it allso that you know what it is that
you should do, how you should doit. And I think just as
importantly, what you should notdo any longer. So keep going.
I love that and I have a fewmore data points to wrap us up.
It says to meet one femaleveteran, you have to meet 69
(26:34):
people. Okay to meet just onewoman under the age of 35 who
have served in the military, youmay have to meet 120 Women of
that age group. The median ageof a male veteran is 65 years
old while the median age of afemale veteran is 51. year as a
difference of 14 years. Wow. Andit is projected that 12% of
(26:59):
veterans nationwide will bewomen by the year 2025. Wow. So
I would like to thank Dr.Tiffany worthy for joining us
today. Please visit our websitefor more information about dei
initiatives and our committeewww.rcbc.edu/diversity. If you
(27:19):
want to hear from women who leadand inspire this podcast is for
you. You've been listening tothe rcbc Baroness podcast, which
highlights women in leadershipwhile encouraging listeners to
build their skills, connect withthe community and visualize the
opportunities available to womenin various professions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
(27:42):
the rcbc Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast And subscribe
to the rcbc bareness podcast,wherever you tune in for a
female perspective into theBurlington County community. You
have been listening to theBaroness Podcast Take care.
Thanks.
You've been listening to thercbc bareness podcast, which
(28:03):
highlights women in leadershipwhile encouraging listeners to
build their skills, connect withthe community and visualize the
opportunities available to womenin various professions. For more
information about this podcastor other podcasts available on
the RCBC Podcast Network, visitrcbc.edu/podcast. And be sure to
subscribe to the rcbc barenesspodcast available on all
streaming platforms.
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