Joanne Steen, MS, NCC, Author, Instructor and Speaker on Military Loss, is the co-author of Military Widow: A Survival Guide (Naval Institute Press, 2006), honored as the 2007 Distinguished Author of the Year by the US Naval Institute.
The founder of Grief Solutions, LLC, she has trained over 10,000 military and civilian personnel on the best ways to respond to military loss, and manage stress and burnout after 9-plus years of a wartime optempo. A former military instructor and naval aviator’s widow, she is knowledgeable of the military, its culture, and the unique issues military service presents. Joanne is also a nationally certified counselor (NCC), with a focus on traumatic loss.
In her first career, Joanne had twenty years of experience in engineering, leadership, and strategic planning with two Fortune 50 companies and the Department of the Navy. In the corporate sector, she held engineering and management positions with General Motors and Johnson & Johnson. A senior instructor and strategic planning facilitator with the Department of the Navy, Joanne worked with senior leaders of the US Navy, the US Marine Corps, Britain’s Royal Navy, and other allied military leaders. For her dedicated service, she was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.
Joanne is a past co-chair of the Auxiliary Member Advisory Committee of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA); a founding Board member of the Military Spouse and Family Legacy Association, Inc. (MilSFLA), and a founding Board member of Young Widows and Widowers, Inc. (YWOW).
Joanne holds a MS in Counseling from Old Dominion University and a BS in Manufacturing /Industrial Engineering from Rutgers University. Old Dominion University honored Joanne as a 2009 Fellow for her contributions to the counseling profession.
Joanne is currently working on MILITARY PARENTS: We Regret to Inform You, a survival guide for parents who have lost a son or daughter in military service.
