AFA’s F2 Community

Supporting our Department of the Air Force families has been an important piece of AFA’s mission since our inception in 1946. Inspired by Mrs. Sharene Brown’s Five & Thrive initiative, AFA stood up our United Forces & Families (F2) programming in 2022 to further expand our support and influence to improve the quality of life for our Airmen, Guardians, and their Families. We believe that stronger families continuously build stronger Forces.

Who We Are

The F2 Community builds on AFA’s 110,000+ member network, a dedicated grassroots organization around the world, and a mission-driven staff to advocate for and present solutions to address the top quality of life challenges. We are a passionate and growing community of Airmen, Guardians, spouses, family members, like-minded professionals, advocates, and experts.

Together, we are unstoppable.

F2 Task Force

To amplify the voices of our military families, AFA created the F2 Task Force, an advisory group dedicated to bringing awareness and impact-focused recommendations to AFA for the various quality-of-life issues. The F2 Task Force works with AFA leadership, local AFA Chapters, and communities around the country to:

  • Identify new value-added programming opportunities for AFA to develop in support of DAF Families;
  • Identify potential legislation initiatives in support of military family quality of life;
  • Identify potential private sector opportunities in support of military family quality of life;
  • Provide recommendations on military family-related content for AFA events to drive increased spouse and family participation;
  • Identify opportunities for USSF family engagements and support;
  • And provide content recommendations for AFA’s future events to continue discussion around high priority topics.

Lyndsey Akers

F2 Chair | Air Force Spouse

Lyndsey Akers is the Founder and Principal of Akers&Co, a boutique public relations firm serving mission-driven brands and entrepreneurs through strategic public relations with a specialty in earned media. Throughout her career, Lyndsey has led highly-visible communications campaigns for global corporations, e-commerce start-ups, national non-profits, and for small businesses. It was through her passion to deeply serve military-connected businesses that she pushed the corporate ladder aside and launched Akers&Co, helping more than 100 small businesses share their stories since launching in 2020. Lyndsey is a proud Air Force spouse and former AFA employee with a passion for serving the military family in her work and personal endeavors, particularly through military spouse employment advocacy.

Melissa Shaw

F2 Vice Chair | Space Force Spouse

Melissa Gilliam Shaw is a program and management analyst for the USSF HQSF SF/S1C, where she leads the Guardian Family Career Program. She joined the Space Force as a midcareer civilian Guardian following more than 17 years of experience in private sector marketing and communications. She is a strong advocate for military families, particularly in regard to spousal employment and mental health concerns. Melissa is married to a uniformed Guardian. She and her husband are the proud parents of three elementary school aged kids and two rescue dogs. They currently live in Colorado.

Heba Abedelaal

Air Force Spouse

Tara Brandt

Air Force Guard Spouse

Laura Browning

Air Force Spouse

Kristen Christy

Air Force Reserve Spouse

Aaron Evenson

Space Force Wounded Warrior Caregiver & Spouse

Leslie Janaros

Air Force Spouse

Tonya McGough

Air Force Wounded Warrior Caregiver & Families Program Manager

Jessica Norsky

Space Force Spouse

Anne Parker

Air Force Spouse

Debbie Schiess

Space Force Spouse

Marian Wilcox

Air Force Spouse

AFA Representatives

Janelle Stafford

AFA Board of Directors Liaison

Kari Voliva

AFA VP Member and Field Relations

Christine Brown

AFA Sr. Manager, Community Outreach

Thank You to Our Sponsors

To learn more about partnership opportunities and how you can support F2, contact us at F2@afa.org.