On May 15, 2021, the 2021-22 Board met to begin training ahead of the June 1 start to their term. As part of the event, President-Elect Kristen Jones proudly presented the Mary Reding Smith Excellence in Leadership Award to Claire Gibson, MSJDN’s current Governance Director. Named for MSJDN’s Founder and first president, the award recognizes one director who has gone above and beyond for the organization during her first year of board service.

“Working with Claire has been a privilege and an education,” Kristen said. “MSJDN has Claire to thank for our recent rebranding, our new logo, and our soon-to-be-revealed website, which is absolutely gorgeous.” In addition to Claire’s immeasurable effort to bring MSJDN this outward polish, she has also done a tremendous amount of behind the scenes work to improve MSJDN’s operations. She leads a technology committee, which is reviewing MSJDN’s current tech platforms and offering improvements to allow the group to accomplish more. She also heads a governance committee which is actively working through MSJDN’s governing documents to update the way we do things and keep MSJDN focused on its mission to support all military families.

Claire shared her appreciation in acceptance of the award: “I am honored by this recognition. When I started my term on the Board of MSJDN a year ago, I was not sure how I could best lend my skills to this organization and its legacy of amazing milspouse attorneys who have done so much for our community. I am grateful that the opportunity to serve as Governance Director has allowed me to be a part of moving this organization forward and I aim to continue serving MSJDN and its membership to the best of my ability.”

Please join us in congratulating, Claire. She is such a powerful force behind MSJDN’s success and we hope she will continue to be for years to come!