Brigadier General Donald Scott, U.S. Army

Following a 30-year career in the U.S. Army, Brigadier General Scott served as Chief of Staff for the mayor of Atlanta before being appointed by President Clinton as the founding director of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps in 1993.

In 1996, he was appointed Deputy Librarian and Chief Operating Office for the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, until he retired in 2006. His early Army career included stints in Germany and two tours in Vietnam. From 1988-1991, Brigadier General Scott managed a staff of 400 at Fort Gillem in Georgia where he led operational and training support for Reserve and National Guard units in the southeastern U.S. and the Virgin Islands. He expanded cooperative ventures between military and local business communities, coordinated the emergency operation center for the cleanup after Hurricane Hugo and managed the activation of individuals and units in response to Operation Desert Storm. Brigadier General Scott was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, six Bronze Stars and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

He is the author of Recipient of Grace (2015), a memoir spanning the racial segregation in the 1930s to the election of President Obama. Brigadier General Scott earned an M.A. in Counseling and Human Development from Troy State University. He serves on the board of directors for the Truman Library Institute.

Colonel Edna Cummings, U.S. Army

A native of Fayetteville, NC, Col. Cummings operates a Washington DC area consultancy specializing in management and proposal services for federal and commercial clients. She was the first African American woman to earn her commission as an Army officer through the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Appalachian State University (ASU), Boone, NC. Afterwards, she embarked on a distinguished 25-year military career in a variety of progressive assignments culminating with senior-level positions at Georgetown University, the Pentagon, and NORAD/USNORTHCOM in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After retiring from the Army, she held management positions for federal contracting companies wherein she led homeland security and information technology initiatives for federal agencies including the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice.

Since January 2018, retired Army Col. Edna W. Cummings has worked to bring recognition to the all-black WWII Women’s Army Corps unit the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion also known as the Six Triple Eight. As a citizen advocate, she raised funds for the 6888th monument and co-produced an award-winning documentary about the unit. She championed the effort with Congress to enact passage of the Six Triple Eight Congressional Gold Medal Act. On March 14, 2022, President Biden signed the legislation into law awarding the 6888th the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Col. Cummings is a former member of ASU’s Foundation Board of Directors, wherein she established the Warrior Fund for veterans their children. She is current member of the Military Advisory Board of the History Makers, the nation’s largest African American video oral history archive, and an Army Reserve Ambassador for the state of Maryland, a volunteer special government employee equivalent to a Major General (two-star) in the Armed Forces. In this capacity she advances Army ROTC scholarships for reserve duty opportunities and promotes awareness of the Army Reserve, its goals and objectives.

Col. Cummings holds a Master of Strategic Studies, Army War College, Carlisle, PA, and a Master of Science Degree in Foundations of Education, Troy State University, Troy, AL. She is also a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS, Quartermaster Officers’ Basic and Advanced Courses, Fort Lee, VA, and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick Air Force Base, FL. She has certifications in Information Technology Information Library (Foundations), Maryland Circuit Court Training for Mediators, and as an Equal Employment Opportunity Investigator. As an Army officer, she received the Defense Superior Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medals (three awards), Army Commendation Awards (four awards), Joint Service Commendation Award, Army Superior Unit, Reserve Forces Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.

Among other the many other military and civic recognitions, in March 2020, Col. Cummings was inducted into the Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame and the Military Officers Association of America selected her as one its national Changemakers MOAA – Edna Cummings – MOAA Changemaker. In July 2022, she received the NAACP’s Jesse Brown Leadership Award.

Colonel Eries L.G. Mentzer, U.S. Air Force

Eries Mentzer served for nearly three decades in the U.S. Air Force, shaping national security strategies, crisis management plans, and legislative engagements while leading and mentoring America’s service members.

As a legislative liaison, she ensured Air Force transparency and shaped Congressional understanding of war-fighting readiness priorities to optimize lethality and retention.

A commander in the Middle East, she led the largest encampment and the second-largest mortuary operation, ensuring readiness to fight tonight while honoring the fallen. Her leadership extended to the Joint Staff, where she prepared top military generals to advise the President and National Security Council during the War on Terrorism and the Ebola crisis.

A Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Fellow, her research reformed decades-old Air Force structures, retaining top executive talent for critical commands. After serving as speechwriter and leading the transition teams for the top Air Force General, she served as the Vice Commander of Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C, leading the first joint-base transfer and securing critical investments for presidential support missions.

The first Black woman to command Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, she launched the first Top-Tracer – Top Golf on a military base, repurposed underutilized military land to launch the new $75-million Montgomery Whitewater, and honored Rosa Park’s World War II service on the base that sparked her Montgomery Bus Boycott activism with the Rosa Parks “Opening Eyes” Sculpture.

Her career culminated at Air Force Special Operations Command, where she launched the Air Commando Development Center, training highly specialized warfighters for global campaigns, conflict, and crisis, earning the Air Force Blacks in Government Leader of the Year.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska with advanced degrees from The University of Oklahoma and The George Washington University, she is featured in the National World War II Museum’s film “Our War Too: Women in Service” and as a TEDx Speaker.

As a Veteran, she now serves removing barriers so rising Americans can join and remain in service, believing when every service member has the right to fight in the military and pathways to voluntarily share their talents, our armed forces — and our nation — are strengthened.
She serves on the boards for Operation Lifeline to deliver safe homes for displaced Veterans and the Truman Library Institute to inspire rising leaders through President Truman’s legacy.

Chief JoAnne Bass, U.S. Air Force

Jo Bass served in the U.S. Air Force for over 31 years. In August 2020, she was selected as the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and the first woman to become the highest senior enlisted leader in any military service, making her a unique trailblazer and role model to hundreds of thousands of men and women. She retired from that position in March 2024 and continues to champion national security and policies that impact veterans and their families using her influence and platform.

Jo has vast whole-of-society leadership experience from cutting-edge technology to our nation’s most sensitive relationships. She has written and spoken extensively on leadership, national security, innovation, risk management, international affairs, workforce strategy, and the understanding of generational diversity.

Jo is the founder and president of The Bass Group LLC, developing the leaders our nation needs and fostering a leadership style that breaks barriers, challenges convention, and ignites innovation. She is also a Strategic Advisor to the President of Columbia Southern University, an Ambassador for Hiring Our Heroes, an Honorary Board Co-Chair for the Military Women’s Memorial, and Member of the Board of Directors for the Mighty Hero Homes, the Robert Irvine Foundation, and the Air & Space Forces Association.

Jo was raised as an Army dependent, living in several overseas and stateside locations, and calls Hawaii home. She graduated with honors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and now shares her time between Texas and Washington, DC.