Est. 2011
About the Sisterhood
OUR STORY
Building friendships and supporting women veterans since 2011.
Building Friendships
Research shows that friendship is formed through close, repeated, unplanned interaction. Think back to your earliest friendships they likely formed in neighborhoods, schools, or during your military service where you saw the same people regularly without having to schedule it.
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During military service, women form deep bonds through shared challenges, close quarters, and intense experiences. These friendships develop naturally because the conditions for connection are built into daily life. But when service ends, so do those organic opportunities for connection.
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Transitioning to civilian life often means losing the built-in social structure of military life. Traditional veteran organizations, while valuable, don't always address the unique needs of women veterans. Many are designed around male experiences and social patterns.
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The Sisterhood of Veterans was created to fill this gap. We provide the regular, meaningful interactions that allow genuine friendships to form naturally just like they did during service.
Our Vision
Social Support
Creating a network of understanding and care that extends beyond scheduled meetings a community you can rely on.
Leadership & Empowerment
Channeling the leadership skills developed in service into new opportunities for growth and impact.
Identity Rebuilding
Helping women rediscover who they are beyond their service, embracing new roles while honoring their military identity.
Reducing Stigma
Creating safe spaces where women can share struggles without judgment, normalizing the challenges of transition.
Our Mission
MISSION STATEMENT
The Sisterhood of Veterans aims to provide an easy avenue for women veterans to gain social support during and after the transition from the military, by facilitating healthy activities that create informal and natural therapies among women veterans.
The Sisterhood aspires to harness the strength, determination, and leadership of military experience to empower women and reduce the stigma of service-connected disabilities. We want to strengthen our families and communities by challenging ourselves and each other.
Our Philosophy
"Banded together to heal ourselves, each other, and our worlds."
Unity
We stand together, drawing strength from our shared experiences and diverse backgrounds.
Healing
We support each other's journey toward wholeness, understanding that healing is not linear.
Our Worlds
We extend our care to our families, communities, and the broader world around us.
Evolution of the Sisterhood
So many wonderful people have supported and encouraged us that it’s hard to know where to begin.
Our early lessons came from an alpha program created by a group of Seattle University graduate students, who spent much of 2010 working tirelessly to build what they called the Female Vet Connect. Their efforts laid the groundwork for what would come next.
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At the same time though none of us knew it yet Diane Adams, a PTSD counselor with the WDVA, launched a Meetup group for women veterans in Renton. With encouragement and guidance from Mark Fischer, WDVA Program Manager for VCC, Vet Corps volunteers Sarah Andrews and Kristina Setchfield were connected with Dorothy Hanson, also a PTSD counselor with the WDVA. Together, they shaped our name, mission, and purpose: to build meaningful social support specifically for women veterans. And, of course, they did all of this with no budget.
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Thanks to Diane’s leadership, her Meetup group became our starting point. Through the support of Ralph Ibarra and Mayor Lewis of Auburn, we officially launched in August 2011.
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All these pieces and all these people came together to form what we are today. Our growth continues through the dedication, collaboration, and passion of the women and men who believe in this mission.
To everyone who has supported and encouraged us along the way: thank you, sincerely.