It didn’t take long to feel the energy in the room at the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) launch on June 29, 2011. Excitement filled the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. along with high-caliber men and women who had come to support MSEP, a budding program launched by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy. The Partnership supports our military spouses by connecting them to jobs with Fortune 500 plus companies.
Speaking at the MSEP launch were Thomas J. Donohue, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Mr. Robert Gordon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Deborah Mullen, spouse of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and keynote speaker Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady of the United States – an all-star lineup showcasing the skill, value, and work ethic military spouses bring to the workforce, our economy, and our nation.
Addressing a common sentiment among military spouses, Mrs. Mullen said, “All I wanted was to get in the door to be able to be judged on my merits, my qualifications, and strengths.” As she said that, I began to think about a conversation I once had with my mother. A retired educator and a military spouse, she experienced firsthand the difficulty in finding work because of her responsibilities as a military spouse.
“Nobody would ever dare hire a military spouse back in my day,” my mother told me. “Companies did not want to take the time to invest in us professionally, provide training or assimilate us into a new position knowing that in a year or two, we may be moved out of that particular state. How could young military wives compete with non-military wives in the job market who could offer more stability? There just was not a consciousness about it.”
Today, because of MSEP and the partnerships it has developed with the public, private, and nonprofit sector, perceptions of military spouses in the workforce are changing. Retired military spouses like my mother are thrilled to be witnessing positive, tangible alliances between the United State government, and the Chamber of Commerce to meet the needs of military spouses who wish to pursue careers.
I am proud to have been a part of the team here at Bowen who helped to support this endeavor. While at the event, it brought me great joy to see the materials, that our team had so carefully designed, circulate throughout the rooms. It was thrilling to see the oversized posters and stand-up banners we had developed flanking the stage as fifteen new MSEP partners signed a Statement of Support joining the fifty-seven existing MSEP partners – an elite group that includes Wal-Mart, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Northrop Grumman. This was truly a long overdue partnership to create opportunities for military families and redefine the perception of working military spouses as an asset instead of a liability.
I have great faith that this partnership will continue to flourish and grow. It is my hope that each year, more and more companies will begin to bring military spouses in for interviews, to open that door for them, and to realize the potential and the possibilities when it comes to supporting our military families in the workplace.
To learn more about MSEP, please visit https://www.msepjobs.com
Keri Saunders
Graphic Designer
The Bowen Group