Kathy Roth-Douquet

Kathy Roth-Douquet is a non-profit executive, author, commentator, strategist, and attorney.

As co-founder and CEO of Blue Star Families, Kathy is a national spokesperson for military-connected families, actively addressing the issues facing military families, including socioeconomic challenges, access to mental health care, and the toll of frequent relocations—such as child care and high unemployment rates among military spouses. She regularly appears on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, NPR, CNN, and other media outlets. She is frequently traveling across the country talking about how to bridge the military-civilian divide. She is an invited speaker at universities, policy forums, military audiences, and civic groups. She is the co-author of two books, including AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service and How It Hurts Our Country (HarperCollins, 2006), with Frank Schaeffer.

Kathy has served in the White House and the Department of Defense, where, as Acting Principal Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, she received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for her work on defense reform. She is also a recipient of the Secretary of the Navy Award for Civilian Service, the Chief of Staff of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award, President George H. W. Bush’s Daily Point of Light Award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. add a year here to create a more interesting cadence] She was inducted into the Ford Hall of Heroes at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

She serves on a number of boards and commissions, including Princeton University’s Board of Trustees, the Reserve Forces Policy Board at the Department of Defense reporting to the Secretary of Defense, the Commission to select the Under Secretary of Benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs, reporting to the Secretary of the VA, and an advisory board to the Export-Import Bank of America, and America250.

As a military spouse and mother of two, she managed four combat deployments and nine moves over 16 years. She lives with her now-veteran husband in northern Virginia.