Our mission
Families on the Home Front strives to help military children (and their civilian friends) maximize their developmental and learning potential by addressing their unique challenges through parent education and educational advocacy.
Our goals
Provide effective strategies
Strengthen family bonds
Provide useful tools
- Provide useful tools for parents and educators to ease military students’ school transitions
- Share practical activities to strengthen family bonds
- Provide innovative training to parents to maximize their child’s development and learning potential
- Present effective parenting strategies to build resilient, confident kids
- Lead advocacy efforts to support the unique needs of military families
Our team
We are experienced professional women who have each dedicated more than a decade to shepherding our families through never-ending transition. It’s taken a family mentality to succeed, leaning on and sometimes guiding each other along the way. Together we created Families on the Home Front to share transition tips and advice, innovative educational tools, the latest research-based strategies and provide a supportive community to benefit all military families. We’re in this together!
Becky Harris – Managing Director
Family psychologist, curator of research, Labrador fan, beer enthusiast
Becky Harris is a school psychologist consultant, parent educator and educational advocate. A curator of research, Becky loves to explore child development and neuroscience. She has a gift for translating academic expertise into language parents and educators can use to maximize their children’s learning and developmental potential.
Becky is the wife of a military service member, the mother of two children and the best friend of two chocolate labradors. Her experiences as a military spouse and mother are the catalysts behind her professional endeavor to educate schools and communities about the unique challenges military families face, particularly children’s education and mental well-being.
She earned a Graduate Certificate in Mind, Brain and Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, a Masters in School Psychology from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Bachelors in psychology from The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
Becky loves to take long walks in the woods with her two Labs, take her kids to museums, photograph nature and explore craft beer.
Stacy Huisman – Managing Director
Published author, military family advocate, tennis boss, lover of wine
Stacy is a freelance writer and advocate with a passion for military spouses and children. She is a mother of two, reader of news and lover of wine. Being married to the Air Force for a decade has given her a front row view of the life and struggles of the military family. She’s a strong advocate for military children and their challenges in education and transition.
In her “other” life, she worked in public affairs and project management for the city of Las Vegas for 14 years. She was Executive Director of the Las Vegas Centennial. She had a hand in baking the world’s largest birthday cake, hosting a 100,000-person parade, marrying 100 couples at once, organizing an amazing Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and managing 450 other events, programs and public relations celebrating her hometown’s birthday! She’s a graduate of the UNLV Greenspun School of Communication with a B.A. in Communication/Journalism.
She met her husband while he was stationed at Nellis AFB. She was whisked away on a crazy military spouse journey around the globe and hasn’t looked back – only forward – since.
Stacy is connected to many aspects of military life. She writes for Victory Media publications’ G.I. Jobs Magazine, where she features veterans who have successfully transitioned into the civilian workforce, and Military Spouse Magazine, where she writes about issues facing military families.
Stacy was published in the popular book Stories Around the Table – Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life. She is also a judge for Operation Homefront’s Military Child of the Year 2015.
Ashley Burleson – Director, Operations & Marketing
Education enthusiast, social media addict, shoe obsessed, travel junkie
A Tarheel through and through, Ashley was born into a family of strong educator role models, including her mother, aunts and others. She’s a passionate reader (counting Diana Gabaldon and Bill Bryson among her favorite authors) and news – especially political news – junkie.
Ashley thoroughly enjoyed earning her undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of North Carolina (what’s not to love about Chapel Hill…except maybe its proximity to Duke?) and an MBA from the University of Tampa with concentrations in marketing and management. She’s also addicted to social media and has a Twitter crush on David Corn, Mark Knoller and Dave Weigel.
Ashley’s husband, an active duty Air Force member, is the reason she has had a series of jobs – not a career. She’s worked in a wide variety of fields, including market intelligence, reputation research and brand management, but her favorite job by far was serving as director of marketing and communications for an online education firm in Arlington, Virginia. She loved helping teachers and students reach their respective education goals in innovative, engaging ways.
Ashley has been a military spouse for over a decade, and has leveraged the ups and downs of military life to fulfill another of her passions: travel. Her current goal is to visit 40 countries by the time she’s 40 years old. She’s up to #38 and always looks for an excuse to travel. #40×40