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  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Staff
    • Board Members
    • Network Partners
    • EFMP Coalition
    • Our Blog
    • Join Our Team
    • EFM Voices Podcast
    • Request Assistance
    • All-Ability-a-thon
  • Donate
    • Donate
  • Govt Policy & Legislation
    • Legislative Priorities
    • DoD Information
    • Autism Demonstration
    • How to Advocate
    • EFM Reports
    • 21 Military Family Caucus
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  • Press
    • EFM in the Media
    • Press Room
  • Resources/Support Groups
    • Military Support Groups
    • EFMP by Branch
    • Downloadable Consumables
    • Helpful Items

Executive Staff

Austin Carrigg

Austin Carrigg

Austin Carrigg

Chief Executive Officer


Austin has been an Active Duty Army spouse for 19 years. She is the parent of three children all of whom are registered in EFMP. Austin's advocacy work includes military issues surrounding Tricare and EFMP as well as civilian issues such as Medicaid and SNAP. In 2020 Austin Founded Exceptional Families of the Milita

Chief Executive Officer


Austin has been an Active Duty Army spouse for 19 years. She is the parent of three children all of whom are registered in EFMP. Austin's advocacy work includes military issues surrounding Tricare and EFMP as well as civilian issues such as Medicaid and SNAP. In 2020 Austin Founded Exceptional Families of the Military (EFM) after testifying before the House Armed Service Committee in an effort to unite the voices of military families like hers and raise their voices collectively.  In 2019 Austin was named a board member of Ketotic Hypoglycemia International, subsequently, transitioning to staff and publishing Towards enhanced understanding of idiopathic ketotic hypoglycemia: a literature review and introduction of the patient organization, Ketotic Hypoglycemia International in Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases and Ketotic hypoglycemia in patients with Down syndrome in JIMD Reports. Austin was the Vice President and a founding board member of Little Lobbyists, an organization whose vision is to ensure that all children with complex medical needs have access to the health care, education, and community inclusion they need to thrive. 

Twitter: @AustinCarrigg

Rebecca Emerson

Austin Carrigg

Austin Carrigg

 Executive Director 


Rebecca is an Active Duty Army spouse.  She is the parent of two children; one born typical, and one born with Down Syndrome.  Rebecca retired from Active Duty in the Air Force and served in a variety of leadership and management roles.   The bulk of her 23 year military experience was as a Government Contracting Offic

 Executive Director 


Rebecca is an Active Duty Army spouse.  She is the parent of two children; one born typical, and one born with Down Syndrome.  Rebecca retired from Active Duty in the Air Force and served in a variety of leadership and management roles.   The bulk of her 23 year military experience was as a Government Contracting Officer.  Rebecca has advocacy experience at the State level and has worked within DoD EFMP to expand outreach opportunities.  She has a passion for assisting exceptional military families wherever they need it most. In 2022 Rebecca was named Fort Belvior Military Spouse of the Year.

Dr. Jennifer Bittner

Austin Carrigg

Dr. Jennifer Bittner

Deputy Executive Director

and

Lead Researcher

Co-Director of the Autism Advocacy Committee


Jennifer is an Active Duty Army spouse for eleven years.  She has three children, two of which have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Language Receptive Disorder.  Prior to joining EFM, Jennifer’s advocacy wo

Deputy Executive Director

and

Lead Researcher

Co-Director of the Autism Advocacy Committee


Jennifer is an Active Duty Army spouse for eleven years.  She has three children, two of which have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Language Receptive Disorder.  Prior to joining EFM, Jennifer’s advocacy work focused on assisting Autism families with another organization for two years until she decided to dedicate her time advocating for military families.  Before she was introduced to advocacy work, Jennifer was a previously practicing therapist with a specialty in child and adolescent counseling and she now works part time teaching psychology at the community college level.  Jennifer hopes that her personal, work, and educational experiences will assist military families in areas of their lives where they need it the most. 

Kirtley Adams

CARA-LEE ALFORD

Dr. Jennifer Bittner

Chief Operations Officer 



Kirtley is an Active Duty Army spouse of 12 years. She has 3 children. Her son was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech which led to an EFMP enrollment. While navigating the EFMP process, Tricare, and frequent moves it has led to her passion to help other families. 

CARA-LEE ALFORD

CARA-LEE ALFORD

CARA-LEE ALFORD

Non Profit Administrator of Internal Operations


Cara-Lee is an active duty military wife of 18 years (Air Force and Space Force) and mother of three. Her two oldest children have an autism diagnosis and one of them also has significant medical needs as well.  After years of advocating for her children and getting nowhere she got frustrated

Non Profit Administrator of Internal Operations


Cara-Lee is an active duty military wife of 18 years (Air Force and Space Force) and mother of three. Her two oldest children have an autism diagnosis and one of them also has significant medical needs as well.  After years of advocating for her children and getting nowhere she got frustrated that exceptional families have to spend so much energy fighting battles, whose outcomes only affect their family.  She went back to school to earn a Graduate Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorder from GMU to learn how to better advocate for, and support her children and others.  She also graduated from the inaugural Military Spouse Leadership Development Program for the same reason. After her OpEd “ABA a Military Mother’s Lifeline” was published she found her way to EFM.  While she advocates for EFMP as well, her current focus is trying to help other families affected by the recent Autism Care Demonstration changes.  She wants to be for other families, what she wished she had. In 2022 Cara-Lee was named AFI Buckley Space Force Base Military Spouse of the Year.  https://www.militaryspouse.com/military-life/aba-therapy-military-mom/   

Holly Duncan

CARA-LEE ALFORD

CARA-LEE ALFORD

Government Affairs and Family Advocacy Director

Co-Chair of Autism Family Advocacy Committee  


Holly has been an Active Duty Air Force Spouse for 13 years.  She is also a parent of 2 children on the autism spectrum.  While navigating difficulties with TRICARE and EFMP herself is where she gained her passion to help other military families. 

Government Affairs and Family Advocacy Director

Co-Chair of Autism Family Advocacy Committee  


Holly has been an Active Duty Air Force Spouse for 13 years.  She is also a parent of 2 children on the autism spectrum.  While navigating difficulties with TRICARE and EFMP herself is where she gained her passion to help other military families.  She has spoken to legislators and also had an article written about the Autism Care Demonstration changes.  Through her advocacy efforts she strives to ensure military families get the services they need for their loved ones. 

Ashley Harris

Christiane Meaney

Christiane Meaney

Peer-to-Peer Support Director


Ashley is an Active Duty Air Force wife of 20+ years and the parent of 3 children. It was during her child’s rare disease diagnosis and journey, including navigating EFMP enrollment, Tricare and the EFMP assignment system that she realized our military families lacked support and information on a peer to peer 

Peer-to-Peer Support Director


Ashley is an Active Duty Air Force wife of 20+ years and the parent of 3 children. It was during her child’s rare disease diagnosis and journey, including navigating EFMP enrollment, Tricare and the EFMP assignment system that she realized our military families lacked support and information on a peer to peer level, and thus her passion for peer mentoring and support was born.  Her specialty is supporting and sharing knowledge and experience with families who are brand new to the EFMP community.    She holds a Bachelor of Science in human development and family studies with minors in social welfare and child development. 

Christiane Meaney

Christiane Meaney

Christiane Meaney

Production and Editing


Christiane is an Active Duty Army Spouse of 10 years and a parent of five children. Her youngest son is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and enrolled in the EFMP program. A German native, she arrived in the United States in 2013. Connecting with other families during her time as a school clerk, she disco

Production and Editing


Christiane is an Active Duty Army Spouse of 10 years and a parent of five children. Her youngest son is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and enrolled in the EFMP program. A German native, she arrived in the United States in 2013. Connecting with other families during her time as a school clerk, she discovered a passion for community advocacy, with a focus on the inclusion of special needs children in the school setting. The struggles and questions she has experienced with her own family's situation made clear how important it is for all families to find the programs available for their special needs dependents.  


General Staff and Committees

Ainée Robles Ekudi

Ainée Robles Ekudi

Ainée Robles Ekudi

Special Education Case Manager and EFMP Bilingual Point of Contact


Ainée has been an Active-Duty Army spouse for 6 years.  She has two children, one who is enrolled in the EFMP program.  She is from El Paso, Texas and has received a bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, a master’s degree in Special Education, and a master’s degre

Special Education Case Manager and EFMP Bilingual Point of Contact


Ainée has been an Active-Duty Army spouse for 6 years.  She has two children, one who is enrolled in the EFMP program.  She is from El Paso, Texas and has received a bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, a master’s degree in Special Education, and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas at El Paso.  She is a former Special Education teacher and has over 8 years of classroom teaching experience.  Being an advocate for children with special needs has always been her calling.  It is now her passion to become an advocate for families with children with special needs in our military community.  Therefore, it was important for her to join EFM because the organization is so proactive in advocating for all EFMP families.  Her goal is to support families in navigating through the school system as well as support bilingual  families.

Ainée Robles Ekudi

Administradora de Educación Especial y Punto de Contacto Bilingüe de EFMP

Ainée es una esposa de un soldado del servicio activo por 6 años.  Ella tiene dos hijos, incluyendo uno que está inscrito en el programa EFMP.  Esta emocionada de ser parte de esta organización y trabajar con mujeres increíbles.  Ella es de Tejas, recibío su titulo en Estudios Multidisciplinarios, su maestría en Educación Especial y su maestría en Administracion de Educacíon de la Universidad de Tejas en El Paso.  Ella era maestra de Educación Especial y tiene más de 8 años de experiencia de instrucción.  Para ella, su vocación siempre asido defender a los niños con discapacidades.  Ahora, la pasión de Ainée es ayudar a las familias de la comunidad militar.  Es importante para ella unirse con la organización EFM para ayudar a las familias con niños de EFMP en el sistema ecolar.  Su objetivo es apoyar a las familias en la navegación a través del sistema escolar, así como apoyar a las familias bilingüe.  

Carolyn Chase

Ainée Robles Ekudi

Ainée Robles Ekudi

Lead Advocate of the Guard and Reserve Family Advocacy Committee


Carolyn is a military brat, a veteran, and the spouse of a National Guardsman. Carolyn is the 2020-2021 California National Guard Military Spouse of the Year and the 2022 Flordia National Guard Military Spouse of the Year. Carolyn has 4 children with 2 that would qualify for 

Lead Advocate of the Guard and Reserve Family Advocacy Committee


Carolyn is a military brat, a veteran, and the spouse of a National Guardsman. Carolyn is the 2020-2021 California National Guard Military Spouse of the Year and the 2022 Flordia National Guard Military Spouse of the Year. Carolyn has 4 children with 2 that would qualify for EFMP if her spouse were active duty.  She has spent over 18 years as volunteer, Key Volunteer, Key Volunteer Mentor, and now an exceptional Guard families advocate. She has participated as a Care Team member, Combined Council Representative, and liaison for the local Blood Center. She has spent the last 2 years building a team of advocates to aid in her mission to make the Exceptional Family Members Program accessible to Guard and Reserve families. A critical oversight is preventing families across all branches from gaining access to EFMP, preventing support for readiness, retention, and resiliency. 

CASSANDRA WHEELER

Ainée Robles Ekudi

CASSANDRA WHEELER

Legislative Assistant and 

Autism Family Advocacy Committee


Cassandra is the spouse of a medically retired Army Veteran. She has 3 children, two of which have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She was introduced to Exceptional Families of the Military after the changes to the Autism Care Demonstration directly affected her son's

Legislative Assistant and 

Autism Family Advocacy Committee


Cassandra is the spouse of a medically retired Army Veteran. She has 3 children, two of which have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She was introduced to Exceptional Families of the Military after the changes to the Autism Care Demonstration directly affected her son's access to ABA therapy. When she noticed her story was being echoed by many other TRICARE beneficiaries, she decided to use her son's story to advocate for change. Through her advocacy efforts, she hopes to give a voice to the most vulnerable members of military families. Cassandra hopes to put the faces of our children in front of people who can make a  difference and use all of our stories to insight change

AMY WADDILL

Ainée Robles Ekudi

CASSANDRA WHEELER

General Volunteer


Amy is an active duty Navy spouse of 16 years with 2 children. During a hectic period of multiple cross-country moves, her oldest daughter was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. During this experience of navigating EFMP enrollment, Tricare & ECHO benefits, and special education services a desire grew to help other 

General Volunteer


Amy is an active duty Navy spouse of 16 years with 2 children. During a hectic period of multiple cross-country moves, her oldest daughter was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. During this experience of navigating EFMP enrollment, Tricare & ECHO benefits, and special education services a desire grew to help other military families facing these challenges. Prior to joining EFM, Amy spent her time volunteering with multiple Navy spouse groups and Family Readiness Groups. 


Amy passionately believes in supporting military families by readily sharing the resources available to them, and staying open to learning new things along the way. She is grateful to be a part of the EFM team as not only the COO but also a Navy branch advisor and a peer to peer support advisor to EFM's advocacy group. 

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Exceptional Families of the Military is a 501(c)(3) charity.

NTEE Code W-30 (Military & Veterans Organizations) 

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