10/14/2025
🔥 SHERO’s response to the MVAA 🔥
On behalf of SHERO, we are deeply disappointed by the sudden cancellation of the Michigan Women Veterans Conference, originally scheduled for October 16–18 in Grand Rapids. Let’s be clear — this event wasn’t just another line on the MVAA calendar. For hundreds of women veterans, it was a rare and sacred space to connect, to heal, and to be seen. Canceling it without consulting the women it was meant to serve is not a simple scheduling mistake — it’s a failure of leadership, communication, and respect.
The MVAA’s public apology on October 7 admits that “appropriate leadership and stakeholders were not engaged.” That’s not transparency — that’s damage control. If the MVAA truly valued women veterans, we wouldn’t be an afterthought when the optics go bad.
Many attendees had already arranged travel, taken time off work, and secured child care in anticipation of this event. Beyond the logistical inconvenience, this cancellation represents a deeper wound—one that reinforces a familiar feeling among women veterans that our voices, service, and sacrifices too often come second. Women veterans don’t need more apologies. We need action, representation, and a seat at the table.
SHERO calls on the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency to take immediate and transparent action to rebuild trust by:
1. Establishing a Women Veterans Advisory Council within 30 days - composed entirely of women veterans, chosen from across Michigan, to directly advise MVAA on programming and policy to ensure ongoing collaboration and representation in decision-making.
2. Engaging women veteran leaders and organizations in all future planning efforts related to the Women Veterans Conference and other MVAA programming.
3. Publicly releasing the decision-making process that led to the cancellation, including who authorized it and why the stakeholders were excluded.
4. Providing a clear and public timeline for rescheduling the conference, including commitments to communication and accountability at every step.
5. Hold a listening session - not a press statement - where women veterans can speak directly to MVAA leadership about the impact of this cancellation.
We believe in MVAA’s mission and the many dedicated professionals who work tirelessly on behalf of Michigan veterans. But belief must be matched by inclusion, respect, and action. Women veterans have fought too hard to be treated as an outreach demographic. We are leaders, mothers, survivors, and warriors - and we are tired of being told to wait, to understand, or to “trust the process.” Trust is earned through partnership, not placation. We deserve spaces built with intention, not apology.
We invite MVAA to join us not just in words—but in partnership.
With determination and respect,
Tracy Nagy
Founder, SHERO – Servicewomen’s Health and Education Resource Organization
