Lieutenant Colonel Erica G. Courtney
Bio
2nd Vice-Chair
For more than three decades, Erica G. Courtney has worked at the intersection of national security and human security — improving the lives of women and veterans through policy, legislation, and advocacy. A scout helicopter pilot turned founder, professor, and Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, she is a NATO-certified Gender Advisor and former United Nations Military-Political Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff who helped shape the Department of Defense’s first Women, Peace, and Security Strategic Framework and contributed to the 2023 National WPS Plan and the 2024 DoD WPS Strategic Plan. Her thesis is straightforward: when the entire population is accounted for in crisis and conflict, missions carry fewer blind spots, less risk, and better operational outcomes. She has carried that conviction from the Pentagon to UN peacekeeping operations, NATO partner nations, and Operation Allies Welcome — where she served as Command Action Group lead for the resettlement of 13,500 Afghan refugees, and currently advises senior DoW leaders as a commerce and trade functional specialist through partner nation capacity building and interagency participation.
A two-time entrepreneur, Erica built one of the top 10% U.S. grossing veteran-owned firms, advising small businesses through billion-dollar primes on government contracting, supply chain strategy, and dual-use technology adoption — work that today positions her as a U.S. Special Operations Command industry liaison and Defense Innovation Unit embed bridging Silicon Valley with the Department of War. As Second Vice Chair of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, she represents 20 million Californians with a focus on women veterans, the small business community, and international partnerships with U.S. interagency. She is a Dame of the Order of St. George having taken the oath of Knighthood, recognized for her continued service to veterans and first responders. Erica holds an Executive MBA from Florida International University, a B.A. in Communications from the University of Hawai‘i, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Her husband served 20 years as a pilot across the U.S. Army and Coast Guard now leading operations as an C-Suite Executive; together they have two sons. One is a newly minted pilot in the Air Force and their youngest just completed his junior year in college as a business student.