Sara Rizzo

Share your military spouse story:
My military spouse story is like many. Girl meets boy at 17, girl falls love with boy, girl moves away with boy, and then boy joins the military. Looking back these past 18 years, I couldn't have imagined the trajectory of where our love story would take us and how it would shape the course of my life. For 5 years, our love story continued to unfold and in 2011 my Marine earned his title. Adapting to this new way of life was overwhelming, thrusting me beyond my comfort zone into the unfamiliar. From the loneliness of living in a new area sans friends or family, coupled with the aloneness due to field ops/exercises/et. al, to navigating the murky waters of all things military life, I was overwhelmed and exhausted. And then, like a lifeboat in the dark when I was treading water, another military spouse took my hand and showed me the true power of connectedness. My journey of servant leadership and passion for selfless service to others began at that first duty station when another spouse recognized something in me I couldn't see. Thirteen years, two deployments, one SDA (Recruiting), and four PCS's later, my expedition continues. This chaotic and beautiful whirlpool of military life has molded me into a stronger person and sparked my life's purpose to serve others. I've had the privilege of supporting other military families in various roles with MCCS, blessed to serve as a Family Readiness Officer (FRO) & Deployment Readiness Coordinator (DRC), as the Area Manager for Operation Homefront’s (OH) Pacific Northwest region, the Programs Manager for the USO North Carolina coastal area, and currently, as the Community Engagement Manager at One Place – a nonprofit dedicated to ending child abuse and neglect. This expedition has not just shaped my own story, but has allowed me to impact the lives of others navigating the intricate waters of this lifestyle. It has molded me into the spouse, mentor, friend, professional, servant leader, and woman I am today.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
I've had the privilege of leading military spouses in various volunteer capacities such as Family Readiness Assistant, Command Team Advisor, Volunteer Reserves Team Captain for OH, and Curriculum Chair for the CLLS. I've organized volunteers for unit functions, spouse events, and support for single Marines. I've initiated Town Halls to facilitate networking between recruiting spouses and Command Leadership and assisted fellow spouses in establishing support networks, creating resource guides for those in remote duty locations. Professionally, I've devoted over a decade of service to uplifting and empowering military spouses and families. I've executed a multitude of diverse programs to increase protective factors for spouses and service members. Pouring into others is my spiritual calling. Helping others to achieve their aspirations creates a ripple of positivity. As John Maxwell said, "Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."

Describe your involvement in the military community:
As mentioned above, my involvement within the military community spans over a decade from participation with the Family Readiness Program both at the volunteer and professional levels, to my roles serving with military focused national nonprofit agencies such as Operation Homefront & the USO, to my current volunteer service with the Camp Lejeune Leadership Seminar (CLLS). As the Curriculum Chair for the 23/24 Executive Board, I'm responsible for ensuring the content of our bi-annual, 3-day leadership seminar for military spouses remains focused on our mission of fostering servant leadership. This is accomplished through interactive workshops, networking opportunities, and inspirational speakers intentionally curated to plant the seeds of altruism. Dedicated to ensuring our Alumni remain anchored in leadership after seminar, I recently reinvigorated our continuing education curriculum, now rebranded as the CLLS Lifelong Leader Series, hosting monthly specialized workshops for Alumni.

Describe how you support your community:
As a Volunteer Team Captain with OH, I've supported my community by volunteering at events to distribute school supplies, backpacks, meals, and toys to hundreds of military families in Camp Lejeune/New River/Cherry Point areas. Additionally, I serve as a pickup volunteer for OH's bi-annual donation collections for school supplies and toys accumulating over 400 driving hours, and nearly 4,000 road miles since 2020, collecting donations for local military children. Supporting fellow military spouses through CLLS has been incredibly gratifying. Ensuring impactful keynotes and seminar content empowers spouses across branches and generations to be community changemakers is a true privilege. In my capacity at One Place as the Community Engagement Manager, I work to ensure a more responsive and resilient community through our Foundations for Resilience program, which offers customized plans to support professional and community development directly impacting the future of young children.

What do you advocate for? Why?
I champion the growth of leadership development opportunities for, and capacity building of, military spouses. Walking alongside our service member can cause one to lose sight of themselves as an individual and all the incredible gifts they have to offer this world. Often, I hear others refer to themselves as 'just a military spouse', but they are so much more. We need to eliminate the qualifier 'just' before 'military spouse' from our vocabulary. Its removal recognizes and cultivates the leadership potential within all military spouses. It's about eliminating stereotypes and instilling pride in the term 'military spouse,' ensuring each individual is seen, heard, and empowered to lead with purpose. Whether you are a careerist, a mother, a student, the project manager of your household, or all of the above, you are a leader and if others don't offer you a seat at their table then I'll help you build your own. The legacy we leave today lights the way for future military spouses to come.

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
Throughout my career in the nonprofit sector, I've been able to work with a wide range of media outlets at the local level conducting interviews for various platforms such as digital and print, as well as live on-air interviews and radio broadcasts. In my role with OH, I actively engaged with local news agencies to spread awareness of the organization's mission. In both professional and volunteer capacities, I've spoken at outreach events, community engagement events, key stakeholder gatherings, and executed briefs with Command Leadership. Leveraging the power of social media and my relational equity, I've casted a broad spotlight on CLLS and the need for diverse leadership development opportunities tailored to meet military spouses where they are in their military life journey.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
If I am entrusted with the honor of carrying the Military Spouse of the Year title, I would utilize its platform to bring national awareness to the need, and demand, for a paradigm shift with regard to what we as military spouses bring to the table. A leader is not defined by a title and a position description. If a military spouse is taking a career break to raise their family, they are still a leader. If a military spouse is working part-time, they are still a leader. My hope is to support military spouses on their own transformative journey of removing the 'just' before the 'milspouse' through mentorship, opportunities that grow their capacity on a personal and professional level, and foster a thriving culture of positivity which invokes self-transcendence throughout the military spouse community. All of our stories are unique, all of our journeys are walked on different paths, and all of us are worthy of having a seat at the table. Within every milspouse, there exists a leader.