Kathy Roth-Douquet

Kathy Roth-Douquet serves as co-chair of BPC’s Task Force on Defense Personnel. Currently she is CEO of Blue Star Families, the largest non-profit organization serving active duty personnel in all four military branches and the National Guard and Reserves, as well as wounded and transitioning veterans and their families. Blue Star Families’ mission is to support and strengthen military families by connecting them with resources that are available in their communities that can help them address the challenges of military life. Its programs and services reach more than 1.5 million military families every year.

Roth-Douquet received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College; her M.P.A. in International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, where she held a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship; and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, Magna Cum Laude and Order of the Coif. While serving at the Pentagon as acting Principal Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, she received the Secretary’s Medal for Outstanding Public Service for her work on defense reform. She is also a recipient of President George H. W. Bush’s Daily Point of Light Award, and most recently received the Chief of Staff of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award.

Roth-Douquet is a commentator and frequent public speaker on patriotism, civil-military affairs, the value of service, and the experience of military families. She has appeared on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, CNN, NPR, and has been a frequent contributor to USA Today. She is an author, most notably of AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service and How it Hurts Our Country (Collins, 2006). She is a practicing attorney and member of the Small Business Association Advisory Board. She is a military spouse of 18 years, which includes four deployments and nine moves. She lives with her husband and two children in Northern Virginia.