“The cohort also fosters a very strong sense of sisterhood for women veterans interested in investing in our professional and leadership development.”
Jane Killer joined the United States Army straight out of high school and served as medic.
Committed to continuing to serve her community, Jane followed her passion for medicine to Cal State Long Beach where she majored in microbiology. Throughout her degree, she discovered a second passion for supporting students specifically through honing their leadership skills and building self-confidence to successfully complete their own degrees and gain fulfilling employment. After discovering how much she enjoyed her work in higher education and the well-being of students, she decided to pursue her master’s in counseling with a focus on higher education. Since obtaining her master’s she has worked across Southern California helping college students and fellow student veterans to establish their own post-college goals and find meaningful careers.
Passionate about continuing to serve this community and grow her own skills to better do so, Jane applied for our Women Veterans Lead Cohort in 2023. Jane saw the program as a great opportunity to hear new perspectives on the transition to civilian life, learn skills for her own personal and professional development, and create relationships with other women who had shared experience in the military.
Understanding the value of community from her many years working in higher education, Jane found the networking opportunities provided by WVL uniquely beneficial. “This cohort fosters a very strong sense of sisterhood for women veterans interested in investing in our professional and leadership development” she reflected. She shared that it was truly special- as a member of the woman veteran community and as someone professionally dedicated to helping veterans thrive in their post-military lives- to see “successful women veterans supporting and empowering the success of other women in an authentic and genuine way through our shared lived experiences.”
Since the 2023 cohort concluded, Jane has remained close to the other women veterans of the program. Professionally, she has continued to pursue opportunities to empower fellow veterans, and last year was hired as a tenured Veterans Counselor at Saddleback College. Here, she gets to hear inspiring stories of students pursuing their goals on their next mission of education- a mission she has the privilege to support every day.
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