As the new chief executive officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Allison Jaslow committed to tackling the thorny issues that face active-duty and former service members.
With a history of being “an organization willing to pick the tough fights,” Jaslow said IAVA is poised to shape conversations about national defense, U.S. service members and veterans in the next decade.
“A lot of what I want to bring to the organization is that I want it to have that flare that was so foundational to IAVA,” said Jaslow, a former Army captain and Iraq War veteran.
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Jaslow has a pedigree as a disrupter: a driving force behind a push to make the Department of Veterans Affairs' motto gender-inclusive; a veteran unafraid to call out Democrats or Republicans for using U.S. military members as political props; the first woman to lead IAVA; and the first openly gay head of a major veterans service organization.
She also has a strong sense of service and tradition — setting goals for the organization, to include addressing the problems that plague troops and veterans like mental health, employment, sexual assault and suicide, but also to support post-9/11 veterans as they take on key leadership positions nationally.
Pointing to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat and former Army veteran who once served on IAVA's board, and Rep. Mike…
