Beyond the Uniform: Uplifting Military Families

Besa PinchottiChief Executive Officer, National Military Family AssociationBesa Pinchotti is Chief Executive Officer of the National Military Family Association (NMFA), which works with families to identify and solve the unique challenges of military life. Besa was drawn to NMFA’s mission to support the families who serve alongside those in uniform and has held leadership positions at the Association since 2013.Besa is an award-winning journalist and marketer whose passion for our military began during her time as a reporter and television news anchor. From Jacksonville, North Carolina, to Austin, Texas, and Eastern Europe, her assignments opened her eyes to the military experience of service members and their families. She covered post-9/11 deployments, war casualties, and highly contentious Congressional hearings about the unanticipated impacts of military life, including the lasting effects of toxic exposure on our military bases.A nationally recognized expert on military families, Besa speaks at events and to the press around the country and internationally about the military family experience. She has been featured on CNN, CBS News, NBC News, Military Times, Military.com, NPR and more. She was named a Military Spouse Influencer to Watch by Military Spouse Magazine in 2021. In 2022, she spoke at the First Lady’s Luncheon and launched a partnership with the Congressional Club to support military spouses pursuing careers in public affairs and government. She has co-chaired The Military Coalition’s Communication Committee, representing 35 organizations advocating for service members, veterans, and their families. During her tenure at NMFA, the Association expanded programming for military kids, incorporated Bloom: Empowering the Military Teen into NMFA’s portfolio, and she gave feedback to the Quality of Life Panel of the House Armed Services Committee.To amplify NMFA’s work for military families, Besa works with leaders around the world to recognize the service and support of America’s military families. Most recently, she met with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, who wanted to publicly thank America’s military families for their sacrifices in ensuring his country’s freedom and independence. While in Eastern Europe, Besa was also honored with the Elena Gjika award for her philanthropic work and the Madeline Albright award for her support of military families in the United States and freedom abroad.During the five years Besa spent reporting on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she met her husband, a now medically retired Marine Corps veteran, and started her own military family.Besa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Journalism and a Business minor. She also received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she focused her degree on the social, scientific, and humanistic dimensions of today’s world. Company Website: https://www.militaryfamily.org/LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/besapinchotti/