Meet the President and Vice President

James Carlisle retired from the Army in 2015, as a Lieutenant Colonel, after 26 years.  He is married to The Honorable Karen H. Carlisle, Director, Soldier and Family Legal Services

Office of the Judge Advocate General.  Together they have two adult children.  He has traveled the world, jumped out of airplanes, brokered peace agreements, run marathons and ultra-marathons.  He owns a small trucking company.  He grew up in South Florida, graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile Alabama in the 1980s and earned his Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 2010.  In 2016 he joined Teach For America and moved to Walterboro, SC to teach 5th Grade math and science  for  four  years.    He  now  lives  in  Fairfax Virginia ant  teaches  4th  Grade.  In his free time, he is a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider Coach, an Official for USA Cycling, the Secretary of a National Motorcycle Club for First Responders and Military, a  writer  for  various  magazines ,  and an Ambassador for Teach for America. He loves to travel, read books, work on old cars and motorcycles, and learn new skills. 

The Vice President is Meredith A. Rynkiewicz.  As a young college student in Maryland she deployed with James Carlisle to Iraq at the very beginning of our war there.  Within just a few days she had impressed him so greatly that he would never forget her.  Years later she has her own list of accomplishments.  She is the mother of three beautiful children.  But one, Adelaide, has been challenged by cancer for her entire life.  As a result Meredith learned the ropes of 501c3 formation and management.  For the past several years she has been involved with business development, sales and marketing.