Carin Richelle Sendra

I've spent over a decade moving between government and private sector work, and it all started with my time in the military. I served 4 years of active duty in the Air Force on a special duty assignment, stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base overseas. When I got out of the military about a decade ago, I transitioned into private security work overseas in support of the Iraq-Afghanistan wars. That transition was really significant for me because I was somewhat limited in what I could do in my role as an enlisted member of the military, but when I moved into the private security government contracting role, it allowed me to be in a broader leadership capacity. I was on deployments, able to lead and shape a team in austere conditions, and be a part of that initiative, which was pretty significant, especially as a female government contractor. After coming back to the States, I started taking on training and development-type roles, working for the private sector, then transitioned over to the government sector. I also branched out for the last couple of years and worked alongside individuals on the federal election and the federal campaign. Around last June, I got back with the government side of things when they asked me to be an advisory board member to help shape their government policies and priorities. Right now I'm on a public member strategic advisory board that supports the Department of State foreign service selection boards. My education has supported this journey - my undergrad was in criminal and social justice because at the time I was doing military police work, so it was a good degree to secure. Then I moved on to more of the management leadership side, which is what my graduate degree's in, because I wanted to focus more on leading teams and shaping organizations. I think it's just the culmination of my very diverse experiences and travel, alongside interesting education pursuits.

• Undergraduate degree in Criminal and Social Justice
• Graduate degree in Management Leadership

• Air Force Sheriff's Association

• Military veteran transition advocacy