Ashlyn Woodward

Executive Director
Future Warfighter Foundation
Co-Founder, VetClaims.AI

Ashlyn Woodward is the Executive Director of Future Warfighter Foundation and Co-Founder of VetClaims.AI, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to helping veterans navigate the VA disability claims process with clarity, structure, and support.

Ashlyn co-founded VetClaims.AI with a simple but powerful vision: to cut through the confusion and bureaucracy that too many veterans face when filing claims. What began as an idea has grown into a nationwide organization that has supported more than 20,000 veterans through one of the most overwhelming processes of their post-service lives.

She played a central role in building the organization from the ground up, establishing the systems, leadership culture, operational standards, and mission clarity that transformed an early-stage startup into a sustainable, high-impact team. Beyond supporting veterans through claims, VetClaims.AI has created meaningful economic opportunity by employing more than 300 veterans and their family members, providing careers, stability, and purpose after service.

But for Ashlyn, this work has never been about paperwork alone.

Through years of serving veterans navigating the claims system, she saw something deeper: transition is not just administrative, it is emotional, relational, and identity-shaping. Veterans were not only struggling with forms and processes; they were wrestling with purpose, belonging, and the silent weight of feeling misunderstood or forgotten.

That realization helped inspire the formation of the Future Warfighter Foundation, an effort to build a broader ecosystem of peer-informed, mission-aligned support that ensures veterans are met with clarity, community, and dignity during their transition to civilian life.

Ashlyn believes veterans are not discarded after service; they are reassigned. And she is committed to building the structures, partnerships, and communities that help them win their next mission.

For her, this is legacy work: honoring service not only with gratitude, but with action.

Marsha Stephanson

Director of Strategy & Partnerships
Future Warfighter Foundation

Marsha Stephanson serves as the Director of Strategy & Partnerships at the Future Warfighter Foundation, where she leads the organization’s growth strategy and external development initiatives. She oversees grant strategy, corporate partnerships, brand positioning, and strategic alliances to ensure the Foundation builds sustainable funding streams and mission-aligned expansion pathways.

As an early architect of the Foundation’s pilot program, Marsha played a central role in program design, facilitator recruitment and vetting, partnership development, and the creation of strategic pitch and funding materials. Her work focuses on translating vision into scalable impact through disciplined strategy and relationship-driven growth.

Marsha is a United States Air Force veteran and previously served more than four years with the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Medical Support Assistant, supporting veterans across primary care, specialty services, and mental health. Her experience within the VA system provides firsthand insight into the structural challenges veterans face, informing her commitment to building solutions that address transition, readiness, and long-term success.

In addition to her nonprofit leadership, Marsha is the Founder & CEO of Cater to Mom, a mission-driven organization supporting postpartum families, and has mentored veteran entrepreneurs through Bunker Labs, a national nonprofit empowering military-connected founders.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resources Management from the University of Arizona Global Campus, where she developed a foundation in organizational leadership, workforce strategy, and systems management, expertise she applies to building sustainable partnerships and mission-driven growth.

Marsha brings a blend of military service, federal healthcare experience, entrepreneurial leadership, and strategic development expertise to advance the Foundation’s national partnerships and long-term institutional growth.