Supporting Air Force Families with guest Mrs. Sharene Brown

Welcome back, listeners! It’s Season 4 of Owning Up! 

First, we are grateful for YOU, our listeners, partners, and sponsors. 

Now, let’s jump right in! In this season, Moni wanted to bring on guests who influence the community and are dreamers, makers, doers, believers, bold and bravely creating the career of their dreams. This podcast is here to support military spouse business owners.

Our guest this week is Mrs. Sharene Brown - Spouse of the 22nd Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Mrs. Brown is not new to military life. Growing up, she was a military kid. Now, she has been a military spouse for 32 years. She is currently working as an advocate for Air Force military families and has created the Five & Thrive initiative. 

Some takeaways from this episode: 

• The five topics in the Five and Thrive Guide are: 
• • Childcare
  • Education
  • Healthcare
  • Housing
  • Spouse Employment
• Grassroots level of understanding where Air Force families are and how to best assist them.  
• Help families thrive during challenging times, as we’ve experienced in the past couple of years. 
• The pandemic provided an opportunity to listen and learn more about the needs of families. 
• The guide is an opportunity to consolidate the essential resources to serve families best.
• The guide is a living document and will continue to evolve.
• The Space Force is also included in the Air Force family.  
• We both can help each other and bring everyone to the same level of understanding. 
• She has the opportunity to travel with her husband and gets to meet with spouses of all ranks to hear the topics that continue to be brought up. 
• A joint effort between my team and myself to meet families where they are, listen to their concerns and give respectful feedback in areas that may be blind spots for leadership positions. 
• The guide is giving a voice to the Air Force families. 

Ways to connect with Mrs. Brown: 

• If you’d like to email Mrs. Brown and her Five and Thrive Team send an email to [email protected] or check out the Five and Thrive Guide for yourself! 
• AirForce families can use the App- AirForce Connect App to connect with their AirForce community. 
• Follow Mrs. Brown on Facebook to see everything going on and the advocacy she’s doing.

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