The Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) Assistant Director Martina Sternberg, Ph.D., has been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Salute to Veterans, which is held annually to honor the sacrifices of our nation's veterans and in observance of Veterans Day.
The Department of Labor conducts an annual veterans salute at the Frances Perkins Department of Labor (DOL) main building in Washington, DC. Sternberg, who served for 20 years in the Air Force, was nominated by Gary A. Tyler, director of Indiana’s Veterans' Employment and Training Service, an office of the DOL.
Since this year’s veterans salute focuses on women veterans, Tyler thought Sternberg would be a natural choice.
“There are not many women veterans with the kind of involvement Martina has had in serving veterans and uniformed service members through employment and economic issues, and in collaboration with the public employment system and Department of Labor programs and interests,” Tyler said. “It was my honor to nominate her for recognition.”
As the assistant director of MFRI, Sternberg is the administrator in charge of the daily functions of the internal administration of the organization. As community outreach director, she leads MFRI’s initiatives that support the military infrastructure and increase the knowledge and capacities of civilian communities. Working within 10 regional communities that cover most of Indiana, her team collaborates with community members to put in place programming that meets the needs of military and veteran families.
Sternberg received her doctorate in counselor education and supervision from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has two children and a grandson, and is the mother of a combat veteran.