Join us for Episode 6: Black Veteran, their Family and mental wellness Town Hall.
We have a panel of 4 Black National Veterans leaders who promised to be Authentic, fair but not offensive.
The purpose of this Town Hall is to give black Veterans and their families a platform and voice to discuss black Veteran mental health and the racial tension we are currently experiencing. We will discuss:
Black Veterans and Suicide
Black Veterans and mental health
Black Veterans and Military Sexual Trauma
Their thoughts on seeing George Floyd dying on TV
The confirmation of US first Black Secretary of Defense
The election of a the US first Black female Vice President
Black Veteran and transitioning
And so much more….
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Roy Blair Roy is Chief Executive Officer for Karuka Cultural Consulting, LLC and a military veteran with over 15 years of executive leadership experience and proven results of professional leadership development with the mentorship of over 6,100 men and women in flourishing corporate and military careers. He is a Toastmaster, Certified (SCORE) Mentor Small Business Administration, Diversity and Inclusion Champion for (SCORE) Southeast Jacksonville, Member of Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee.
While serving in the United States military, Roy volunteered as a community goodwill ambassador, liaison, and culture advisor in numerous nations. He has piloted organizations in development operations (DevOps), resulting in programs of high-quality, customer-focused services that contribute to resilience, retention, readiness, and quality of life for businesses. He successfully directed fundraising campaigns equaling $1.2 million and managed accounts calculated at $3.4 million of allocated funds and donated items.
His expertise in applying a unique mix of agile and scrum methodologies, rapid application development, extreme programming, DSDM, feature-driven development, pragmatic programming, leadership development, and organization development have led to multiple corporate and government program success. He is a subject matter expert on operational risk analysis and human capital, including analyzing data, detecting emerging trends, and identifying and evaluating alternative courses of action.
Moreover, Roy’s expertise in business analysis, economic, employee, and regulatory constraints, complemented by his knowledge of government procurement, business intelligence, business process improvement, and product management, led to the establishment and growth of his company Karuka Consulting. His education in the Department of Defense Equal Employment Opportunity, crisis management, change management, and organizational culture produced true leaders. His expertise in cross-functional communications, conflict resolution, requirement analysis, process improvement has created successful War and Board rooms campaigns.
Roy is an accomplished Public Affairs liaison committed to delivering and exceeding demanding business targets and objectives, with a strong track record of producing top results. He is a master in interpersonal communication skills and develops and creates positive internal and external relationships effectively with the inherent ability to solve problems
Dr. Tracy Neal-Walden is the Chief Clinical Officer at the Cohen Veterans Network (CVN), providing clinical vision and strategic leadership in the development and implementation of network-wide clinical practice guidelines and training for a network of 19 mental health clinics across the US. Dr. Neal-Walden is a veteran of the United States Air Force and served for 24 years as a military psychologist/clinician, officer, leader, and academic; retiring in the rank of Colonel. Dr. Neal-Walden is actively involved in the professional community and currently serves on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s National Advisory Council, the Editorial Board of APA Division 12’s journal, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, and the Blue Star Families Advisory Board (National Capitol Region). Dr. Neal-Walden attained her doctorate in clinical psychology from Drexel University (formerly Hahnemann University) in Philadelphia, PA and completed a two year post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, TX.
Cherissa Jackson served 23 years of active duty military service with 10 of those years as an U.S. Air Force Nurse. She is a veteran of both Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, having served a total of 3 combat deployments where she honed her expertise as a battlefield clinician.
Following her honorable service, Jackson became an ambassador and advocate for persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She was inducted into the SHEROES United Organization Hall of Fame and traveled to Rome, Italy in November 2016 in order to collaborate with the Vatican, the Nation of Congo, and the city of Amatrice, Italy to help advance a global discussion on eliminating stigmas associated with PTSD. She has a non-profit that saves the lives of women from cervical cancer called “Project Give Hope” and has travelled internationally to Uganda in 2017, and 2018 and will be traveling overseas in 2021.
Jackson is the author of “At Peace Not in Pieces,” a bestselling memoir that outlines her principles of coping with her own PTSD challenges as a combat veteran and nurse. She was also named one of “25 Individuals of Influence” in the June 2018 issue of PTSD magazine and recently joined the HillVets 100 list of top influencers of 2018. Cherissa also won the “Daily Record Top 100 Maryland Women for 2016” for her efforts with PTSD. Recently Cherissa was awarded the first “Passion Award” at the AVB 2019 (American Veterans Ball). She is 2020’s recipient of “The Vettys” (Veterans Award) for excellence in Mental Health. This year, she won the “Star Nurses Nightingale Award” amongst 600 nominees in September 2020. The award was a collaboration between Washington Post and American Nurses Association.
She joined AMVETS on February 1, 2019 as Chief Medical Executive and leads the organization’s HEAL Program, which strives to confront the risk factors that lead to crisis and veteran suicide. She uses her experience to lead the organization’s effort to address issues related to women veterans and champion legislation that improves access to quality healthcare. She has conducted several Focus groups around women veterans and LGBT+ communities. She and her team launched a Suicide Prevention Training in September 2019 during Suicide Prevention Month. She also created a one of a kind, Women Journey Map that details the experiences of women veterans from induction to separation/retirement to help the VA and legislators understand what programs are needed to combat the increased rate of suicide in women veterans. Her inaugural “ROSE Brunch” (Respect our Sheroes Experiences) was a huge success as she created an event for Women Veterans during Veterans Day weekend to inspire, motivate and encourage women veterans to know that “it’s ok to not be ok”. She launched an interview show called “Live at the Table” to provide a place for Women Veterans to discuss their triumphs and share their stories with the world.
Jackson is a mother of twin daughters and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing degree from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Raymond D. Kemp, Sr. is a United States Navy combat veteran, founder, and CEO of Kemp Solutions LLC based in Dallas, Texas., a Leadership Development and Resilience Building company. Raymond is a highly experienced senior executive in leadership, human resources, diversity & inclusion with over 20 years of experience at the Navy’s highest levels. His ability to improve organizational strategies, increase operational excellence, and boost teams and employees’ performance translates into any organization.
Raymond represented the US Navy as a speaker at the NATO International Senior Enlisted Seminar and other international venues including Finland, Poland, Romania, and Ghana. While as the Naval Inspector General for Sailor programs, he mentored over 300 senior executives in direction best practices and ethics while training to take command at their assigned duty stations worldwide.
As the Fleet Master Chief of Europe and Africa, he influenced over 56,000 service members, civilians, contractors, and family members. His dynamic combat and peacetime assignments give him a unique perspective to employ while consulting with world leaders on retention, professionalizing their force, and management development at various National service Academies within their country and would benefit your company.
Fleet Master Chief (Ret) Kemp has received honors from the Office of the President of the United States for his exceptional leadership skills, operational performance, and Naval impact.
Raymond is a results-focused facilitator and sought-after keynote speaker that is called upon to share his unique insights on rallying teams, bringing tactical clarity, and aligning people around goals. Fueled by a commitment to discipline and helping professionals strive and achieve success, helping them master the path to leadership.