FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
JANUARY 13, 2020

PRESS CONTACT:
MARTINA CHESONIS
(202) 798-5570
martina@servicewomen.org

Army Reserve Captain and Former Miss USA Joins Leading Advocacy Organization for Service Women and Women Veterans as CEO
Captain Deshauna Barber appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Service Women’s Action Network

Washington D.C. – The Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), a national organization advocating for the individual and collective needs of service women and women veterans, has appointed Deshauna Barber as the organization’s chief executive officer (CEO). Barber is currently a Captain in the United States Army Reserves and is the first active military member crowned Miss USA in 2016, where she used her platform to advocate for service members, specifically those living with post-traumatic stress. Her tenure as CEO is effective Jan. 6, 2020.

Former SWAN CEO Ellen Haring, PhD, Colonel, US Army (Ret.) is stepping away from her position to focus on the Military Women’s Coalition, an initiative of SWAN. She will remain active with SWAN as the Coalition Administrator.

Barber commissioned as a U.S. Army Reserve Quartermaster Officer in 2011 and currently works as a cadet instructor at Howard University’s Bison Battalion. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Virginia State University and a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and Services from the University of Maryland University College.

Before joining SWAN, Barber worked as a contractor at the Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, Department of the Navy, and the Department of Commerce as an I.T. Analyst for over seven years. She will continue to work as a full-time Motivational Speaker under the Harry Walker Agency.

“We are thrilled to have Deshauna as the new CEO of our organization,” said Dr. Haring. “Given her military background, professional experience, and command of the issues, Deshauna is absolutely the right woman at the right time to take SWAN to new heights. I look forward to supporting her in the years to come.”

Not only has Barber honorably served our country for nine years, but her father, mother, sister, and brother have also served in the military. Through her experience as an Army officer and as a military family member, Barber understands the challenges that service members and their families face and has spent much of her adult life advocating for their needs. In 2016, Barber was crowned as Miss USA and dedicated her year-long reign to ensuring veterans receive the assistance, support, and aid they earned.

“I am very excited to represent the Service Women’s Action Network as the chief executive officer,” said Barber. “I am the daughter of two Soldiers and it is with great pride that I follow in my mother’s footsteps as a woman in the Army. This organization has a history and reputation of excellence as advocates for service women and women veterans and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”

As SWAN’s CEO, Captain Barber will be responsible for the overall management and direction of the SWAN organization.

About the Service Women’s Action Network

SWAN is a national, nonpartisan organization and member-driven community network advocating for the individual and collective needs of service women and women veterans. To date, SWAN has played a significant role in opening all military jobs to service women, holding sex offenders accountable in the military justice system, eliminating barriers to disability claims for those who have experienced military sexual trauma, and expanding access to a broad range of reproductive healthcare services for military women.