In explaining the basis for choosing Jones, the White House highlighted that she was commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program while a student at Boston University and “has spent her career working to protect U.S. economic and national security.” During her Air Force career, Jones served as an intelligence officer and deployed to Iraq with the 18th Air Support Operations Group, supporting close air support operations. Additionally, at a time when President Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have made diversity and inclusion high priorities across the entire military, Jones brings insight to the effort as a member of the LGBTQ community who served under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” After separating from active duty, Jones remained closely connected to efforts to ensure the nation’s security, advising on military operations in Central and South America with the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade and U.S. Army South. She joined the Defense Intelligence Agency as an inaugural member of U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, and served in the Libya Crisis Intelligence Cell.

General Robinson entered the Air Force in 1982 through the ROTC program at the University of New Hampshire. She has served in a variety of positions as an Air Battle Manager, including instructor and Commander of the Command and Control Operations Division at the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, and Chief of Tactics in the 965th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron. She has commanded an operations group, a training wing, an air control wing and deployed as Vice Commander of the 405th Air Expeditionary Wing, leading more than 2,000 Airmen flying the B-1 Lancer, KC-135 Stratotanker and E-3 Sentry aircraft in operations ENDURING and IRAQI FREEDOM. General Robinson was an Air Force Fellow at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and served at the Pentagon as Director of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Executive Action Group. She has also been Deputy Director for Force Application and Support, Directorate of Force Structure, Resources and Assessment, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Following these assignments, General Robinson was Director, Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. General Robinson also served as the Deputy Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command; Deputy, Combined Force Air Component Commander, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia, Vice Commander, Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. Prior to her current assignment, General Robinson was Commander, Pacific Air Forces and Air Component Commander for U.S. Pacific Command; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

Brig. Gen. Lisa M. Craig is the Deputy Commander of Air Force Recruiting Service, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. The Air Force Recruiting Service comprises more than 2,800 Total Force Airmen and civilians and approximately 1,040 recruiting offices across the U.S. and abroad. AFRS is responsible for all enlisted accessions and a variety of officer accession programs. AFRS also manages all strategic marketing for the U.S. Air Force. Brig. Gen. Craig was commissioned a second lieutenant upon completing Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1989. She has served in various operational and staff assignments at the unit, major command and Air Staff levels. Prior to her current position, Brig. Gen. Craig served as Director of Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia and was responsible for the human capital, position, and talent management for nearly 75,000 military and civilian personnel worldwide, serving in all duty statuses. Previously, she directed the Secretary of the Air Force Personnel Council. She has held command positions at the group and squadron level. Brig. Gen. Craig also led the successful Air Force-wide implementation of the Management Internal Control Toolset.

Col (ret.) Jason Lamb is currently the Technical Director for Space System Command’s Talent Management Division. In this role, he is actively involved in the formulating of the Space Force’s Human Capital Strategic Plan, which will guide how the newest service will acquire, develop, engage, promote, and employ its total force personnel. Previous to this position, Jason served in the Air Force for 25 years as an intelligence officer with deployments to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He has experience in unit level operations, unified and geographic combatant commands, and on the Secretary of Defense staff. While he has commanded at the squadron and group levels, he is best known for his writing and speaking as ‘Col Ned Stark.’ He continues to write and engage on issues related to leadership, talent management, and organizational culture.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass represents the highest enlisted level of leadership, and as such, provides direction for the enlisted force and represents their interests, as appropriate, to the American public and to those in all levels of government. She serves as the personal adviser to the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force on all issues regarding the welfare, readiness, morale, and proper utilization and progress of more than 600,000 Total Force Airmen. Chief Bass is the 19th chief master sergeant appointed to the highest noncommissioned officer position. Chief Bass was raised as an Army dependent, living in several overseas and stateside locations, prior to entering the Air Force in 1993. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of leadership positions serving at the squadron, group, wing and major command levels. She has significant joint service and special operations experience and has participated in several operations and exercises as well as deployments in direct support of Operations SOUTHERN WATCH, ENDURING FREEDOM, and IRAQI FREEDOM. Prior to this assignment, she served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant, Second Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.

Ms. Venice M. Goodwine, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Director of Enterprise Information Technology within the Office of the Chief Information Officer for the Department of the Air Force, comprised of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force. Ms. Goodwine also has an extensive military career, joining the active duty Air Force in 1986 as a Signals Intelligence Analyst and transitioned to the Air Force Reserve where she received her commission in 2003 as a Communication and Information Officer, completing assignments at levels including squadron, group, wing, joint, and combined, honing her skills at the tactical, operational, and strategic level. In her latest military assignment, she served at the 439th Communications Squadron, Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts, leading 101 personnel consisting of civilians, Air Guard and Reserve, and Traditional Reservists in three flights; operations, plans and programs and a newly-established mission defense team supporting the Wings Air Mobility mission . Goodwine was named a 2020 WashingtonExec Top 25 Cybersecurity Executives to Watch and won both the 2020 WashingtonExec Pinnacle Award for Cybersecurity Government Executive of the Year and the 2020 G2Xchange Women in Leadership awards. She also was nominated for the 2020 FedScoop50 Cybersecurity Leader of the Year award.

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson is an author, professor, and keynote speaker who studies the intersection of leadership and diversity, focusing on (1) how unconscious bias affects the evaluation of leaders and (2) strategies that leaders can use to mitigate bias. Her new Harper Collins book, Inclusify: Harnessing the power of uniqueness and belonging to build innovative teams, shares the surprising ways the leaders undermine inclusion and provides actionable ways that leaders can pivot to build more inclusive teams. Dr. Johnson is a member of the MG 100 Coaches and was selected for the 2020 Thinkers50 Radar List, comprising 30 international management scholars whose work will shape the future of how organizations are managed and led. She works with the best companies in the world to create more inclusive leaders. She has extensive consulting experience and has created and delivered leadership development training with an emphasis on evidence-based practice.

Jordan Shapiro, PhD is a globally celebrated American thought leader. He's senior fellow for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, and Nonresident Fellow in the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. In his upcoming book, Father Figure: How to be a Feminist Dad (Little, Brown Spark 2021), Shapiro offers a norm-shattering perspective on fatherhood, family, and gender essentialism. This thoughtful exploration of dad-psychology—presented from an archetypal perspective—challenges our familiar assumptions about the origins of so-called traditional parenting roles. There are hundreds of books on parenting, but when it comes to books about parenting identity, rather than the nuts and bolts of raising children, nearly all are about what it's like to be a mother. Father Figure fills that gap. It teaches dads how to embrace the joys of fathering while guiding toward an image of manliness for the modern world. Shapiro has worked an adviser and strategist to the United States Air Force, helping Air University’s eSchool develop pedagogical practices that promote sophisticated 21st century “habits of mind.”