Randall White

Share your military spouse story:
I tell my husband often that he eased me into the military life, not something that many military spouses can say. We first met soon after he had gotten back from a deployment, so it was a few years into our relationship before I experienced a deployment as a military spouse. We started off with his yearly National Guard trainings and travel for his job, and that soon turned into longer stints of him going off to classes and officer training. We have now been married almost ten years and have gone through two deployments that were vastly different experiences. All of his experiences have compelled me to be involved in advocating for our military community, spouses, and families, especially in the National Guard.

Describe any leadership positions or provide an overview of your leadership contributions within the military community.
I previously held the FRG leader title when my husband was a part of the Special Forces unit based in Jackson, Mississippi. With him being in a unique unit, it was a challenge for me to coordinate spouse events or even pass on information as spouses were located all over the state, even outside the state. This position taught me a lot about the mechanics of overcoming challenges, but it also gave me some lifelong friends that I still see today. I am also currently a cohort of the Association of Defense Communities Military Spouse Leadership Initiative. Through a selection process, I was chosen along with 9 other spouse cohorts, to help bring issues, solutions, and build relationships to help move the needle on issues our military families face. I have already been able to take this knowledge back to my county representatives and help bring ideas to the table to bridge the community I live in with our military community.

What programs or projects are you currently involved in that support the needs of military families?
I am currently a cohort of the Association of Defense Communities Military Spouse Leadership Initiative. Our goal is to work with the relationships that ADC has to bring the needs of military families through all branches of service to those that can make a change, whether it's state, local, or federal officials. I am also a current member of the Defense Communities Development Council through the Governor of Mississippi's office. I was given this opportunity to sit on this council through my work as a Board Member of the Rankin First Economic Development Authority. Through the DCDC, I speak with other representatives around our state that are in economic development areas that have a military presence within their communities. Our goal is to identify and address the needs of the military communities across the state of Mississippi and work on getting legislation passed to help address these needs.

What moments best reflect your impact on building inclusive community among military spouses?
The impact I've seen on building an inclusive community on military spouses just happened in October of 2025 when I got to meet the other nine members of the ADC Military Spouse Leadership Initiative cohort. These are spouses that I had only been introduced to through Zoom calls and emails, that come from all over the world. When we got together in person, we all quickly bonded through our shared military spouse experiences. The conversations didn't matter on location or branch of service, but what we all collectively go through as a military spouse, things we love, things we want to see changed to better our communities. We all listened to each others thoughts and ideas and are working collectively to make the military community a better space. The impact I've already felt from meeting these spouses has allowed me to have more confidence to speak up at the tables I sit at for our military, our communities, and our spouses.

Identify your main advocacy effort and describe your personal connection to the cause.
My main passion and advocacy in the military community ties my personal and professional life together. Where we live, we don't have a base in a traditional sense, where everyone lives on base and creates a community that way. With the Mississippi National Guard, service members can commute hours to go to work each week. This is a major disconnect for service members and also their spouses because we don't live on a traditional base. Through my career as a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®), financial knowledge for our Guard members has been a calling that I want to be a resource for. In my experience, lack of information on where to start has been a obstacle many service members want to overcome. My goal is to continue to be a "one stop financial education shop" for my local military community so they can be financially secure, as they deserve to be.

Summarize your advocacy outreach strategies, including any events, media involvement, or other communication efforts.
I have set up a booth for my financial services business at three annual Mississippi National Guard Officers Conference to discuss financial education with attendees. This has allowed me to talk to individuals about their financial questions and concerns that they may not have known where to go before to discuss. I have contributed an article to AdviseHER magazine, a publication of the Women and Insurance and Financial Services, where I have also held the position of National Co-Director of Membership. My article discussed the benefits of financial advisors working with their local military communities and how they could be a valuable resource to the service members and their families. Locally, I have spoken at our VETCenter to veterans on cyber scams and how to protect yourself from them. I have been invited back to speak to their women's group in 2026.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
With this title, I hope to bring more awareness to the National Guard and active duty National Guard spouse community. Many of us are not in the "traditional" definition when someone says military spouse. Our housing issues look different, our childcare needs are different, how we meet with other spouses can be a challenge with how our community is set up. I'm hoping that this title will bring more awareness that changes in our military and military communities may not be a "one size fits all" solution and the National Guard communities should not feel left out or left with more work to do to get the same benefits. I also hope this title will bring more awareness for states to look at the issues they are facing and see if a nontraditional solution may be created to alleviate an issue. I feel this title would bring more awareness of our unique National Guard communities across the US and how they can be served as well.