Before becoming an ordained minister in 2022, Shelly served in the United States Army Reserves for 16 years as an Intelligence Officer. She now advocates for selfless service in action. Attaining the rank of Captain, Shelly served as an S2, a Company Commander and more, leading covert intelligence briefings and orchestrating security programs for nearly 4,000 Soldiers. Her military awards include the Shield of Sparta and the St. Joan D’Arc. Shelly is a Distinguished Military Graduate from Western Michigan University, and earned an M.A. in Ministry Studies at Moody Theological Seminary. Awarded a place among the Top 7 Veteran Entrepreneurs in America, Shelly is the creator of Others Over Self®, a leadership mindset serving people in positions of influence to make a lasting impact on others. Alongside other projects, Shelly and her team run Woman Veteran Strong, a peer support program for military women. She is happily married and is tackling the daily challenge of raising two boys in an increasingly self-focused society.

Laverne is a retired major who proudly served 23 years in the Michigan National Guard. She recently retired from the corporate world and became a small business owner. She is a licensed counselor, a yoga instructor and is owner of Laverne Santangelo, LLC. She specializes in anxiety, depression, grief, life transitions and post abortive healing. Laverne is passionate about serving women Veterans. Laverne is the chair for CNS Healthcare Veteran’s Affairs Committee and serves on the Governor’s Task Force for Women Veterans and volunteers for Women Veteran Strong. Laverne resides in Shelby Township with her husband of 31 years, Jim, and is the proud mother of two adult sons.

Diana Laskey comes from a lifelong history of being associated with the military in one way or another, which helps to fuel her passion she has for assisting those within the military community. She was raised as an Air Force brat, is a USAF veteran, and a military spouse. Her dad was a chaplain and she was raised on multiple military bases until she joined the USAF herself as an AMMO troop. While she was serving in Korea, she met her husband and they have now been married 24 years. Diana served her four years and separated so she could devote her time to going to school and raising their 4 girls. It has been her dream to be able to give back to the military community. Diana has worked with a large variety of people and situations: both children and adults in non-profit, substance abuse, emergency, outpatient therapy situations and more. Diana recently served in the role as the Selfridge Director of Psychological Health, and is now currently the Walking With Warriors Veteran Navigator for Macomb County, which has been the perfect fit to integrate her personal background with the military and versatile knowledge as a social worker and therapist for the last 15 years.

Jenn Sauer, a 16-year Air Force Veteran, served on Active Duty, as Traditional Guardsman and also as an Active Guard Reservist. Jenn has achieved the rank of Master Sergeant and is still serving her country. She currently oversees several programs within the Security Forces family, specializing in Anti-terrorism, Investigations and Intelligence. Jenn met her husband in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2011, and he, too, was a member of the Armed Forces for 13 years. They are the proud parents of two baby girls and three dogs. Jenn strives for building positive connections within her communities, both veteran and civilian alike, in an effort to bring joy, honesty, and support to those around her. While seeking community bonds, she continues to build upon personnel growth with an awareness and mentality of “there is always room to grow through resiliency and strength”.