Sally Roberts brings a unique blend of leadership, resilience, and advocacy to Hire Heroes USA. A former U.S. Army Sergeant and elite wrestler, Sally is a two-time World Bronze Medalist and a three-time National Champion who served in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). Her military experience extends to Psychological Operations, where she specialized in behavioral influence strategies and provided critical support during her deployment in Operation Enduring Freedom.

As Co-Founder and CEO of Wrestle Like a Girl, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls and women through wrestling, Sally has spearheaded initiatives to drive gender equity in sports and foster leadership development. Under her leadership, Wrestle Like a Girl has expanded nationally, offering youth programs, influencing policy changes, and securing corporate partnerships. Sally’s extensive background in sports and performance psychology, complemented by her Master’s degree in the field, strengthens her commitment to building programs that empower and uplift others.

Sally has received several prestigious accolades, including the Women in Sport Award from United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee, and the 2024 Hero Award from The Drake Group Education Fund. With her vast experience in program development, strategy, and fundraising, Sally is a valuable advocate for veterans and their families.

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Marycate Walsh is Vice President of External Affairs at Monumental Sports & Entertainment, where she leads marquee initiatives that connect sports to lasting community value. She steered stakeholder engagement, outreach, and narrative strategy for the Capital One Arena transformation, helping secure $515 million in unanimous District-approved public financing and positioning the arena as a long-term economic anchor for downtown Washington

She designed and now oversees District of Play, an ESPN Sports Humanitarian Award–nominated youth-sports platform that has reached more than 200,000 DC residents—refurbishing neighborhood courts and rinks, delivering essential gear, and last year, putting 29,934 basketballs into the hands of every DC Public Schools student in grades Pre-K–5.

In parallel, Marycate serves as a Public Affairs Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, where she directs training and readiness for all Reserve public affairs officers and mass communication specialists assigned to Navy Reserve Chief of Information. She most recently served as Executive Communications Advisor to the Chief of Naval Reserve, authoring the Admiral’s testimony for both the House and Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittees in 2025.

Before joining MSE, Marycate spent twelve years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, including service as a Pentagon spokesperson and assignments spanning crisis response and strategic communications at sea and ashore. An All-Patriot League rower at the U.S. Naval Academy, she holds a B.S. in English from the Academy and an M.A. in Defense & Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

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Dr. Porche Dominique Grant is a dedicated B2B sales strategist and community leader.  A proud mother and native of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Dr. Grant brings a powerful blend of athletic rigor, civic engagement, and strategic collaboration to the role. Her work with the waste management industry as a Major Account Executive leverages a deep understanding of local ecosystems, stakeholder navigation, and long-range growth planning. Her background in sales, training, and facilitation anchors her ability to design and deliver compelling partnerships that align organizational goals with community needs. A former professional basketball player who competed in the Big East with the University of South Florida, Dr. Grant embodies perseverance, teamwork, and high-performance standards. Dr. Porchè Dominique Grant, a well-connected connector and fellow leader in sport and civic life can be described as a trusted catalyst for collaboration and an expert at creating spaces where organizations can partner, co-create, and thrive.

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For more than two decades, Melissa Dawn Simkins has worked at the intersection of pressure and performance—helping leaders strengthen how they think, decide, and lead when it matters most. Her work isn’t about motivation or theory. It’s about conditioning leaders to perform when the stakes are real.

Through Velvet Suite, a leadership innovation firm, Melissa pioneered scalable, data-driven systems reaching leaders in more than 26 countries and more than 50 Fortune 500 companies—delivering measurable gains in purpose-driven individual and team performance in environments defined by constant change. Her company has been named to the Inc. 5000 and featured in CNN, CNBC, Forbes, and Fox Business.

But the true proof of her work isn’t media or metrics—it’s leaders who outperform their environment under pressure.

Beyond her work, Melissa is a believer, wife, mother, and lifelong athlete. Wellbeing remains her personal proving ground—where discipline, recovery, humility, and mental conditioning are lived daily. That lived experience fuels a core belief: with the right mindset and conditioning, anyone can become an Athleader.

Melissa is an Inc. contributor, global keynote speaker, trusted advisor to senior executives, and host of the C-Suite Confidential podcast. Her forthcoming book, Athleadership™, reveals what pressure makes undeniable: leaders aren’t born. They’re built—conditioned to win from within. Before the title, the stage, or the moment everyone sees—there is an inner arena where leadership is forged. What follows takes you inside that moment.

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Lori is an experienced strategic leader with a demonstrated history of leading organizational change, human resource management, skill development, and building and leading complex teams. She is a visionary executive with experience in strategic planning, process improvement, leading transformation, solving complex strategic problems and challenging organizations to maximize outcomes through diversity, equity and inclusion.

Lori recently retired as a three-star United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General with experience in cyberspace, information technology, strategic communications, gender and diversity integration and executive decision making.

She developed, led and managed the Corps’ $12B global information portfolio spanning intelligence, IT, networking, cyber, space and information. She guides complex global organizations to manage large-scale risk and transform operational information into strategic business intelligence assets.

As the senior woman in the USMC for nearly a decade, Lori is passionate about identifying and retaining diverse, global workforces to deliver innovation and value. She regularly mentors up-and-coming talent and leads initiatives to increase diversity and engagement.

Lori served on the USMC Corporate Board with responsibility for strategic oversight of $50B budget and global strategy, capabilities and missions. She regularly reported to and was accountable to Congressional committees on risk, cybersecurity and strategy. She can serve on board transformation, cybersecurity, risk and DEI committees, and regularly speaks to corporate, academic, and military groups about cybersecurity, risk, transformation, leadership and diversity.

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Dr. Linda L. Singh is a distinguished professional with over 38 years of experience in leadership consulting and systems integration, having held various senior executive-level positions. She is the founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope Affect LLC, a firm providing leadership development, management consulting, and strategic advisory services.

Dr. Singh’s expertise spans the health, defense, and state and local government sectors.

Before her current role, Dr. Singh made significant contributions as the Inaugural Leader-In-Residence at Towson University, where she laid the groundwork for leadership culture and common leader competencies across the campus. Her career also includes a tenure as the Interim Executive Director and CEO of TEDCO, focusing on early-stage technology and life sciences companies, fueling economic development and growth.

A retired Major General from the Maryland National Guard, Dr. Singh dedicated over 38 years of service, where she served as the Adjutant General and Cabinet Secretary for the Maryland Military Department. She played a critical role in international relations, working with senior officials in Estonia and Bosnia under the Department of Defense State Partnership Program. She served on the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee from 2014 to 2019. In this capacity, Dr. Singh played a pivotal role in reviewing and commenting on major policy matters directly affecting the reserve components and the mobilization preparedness of the Army. The committee’s insights and recommendations were crucial, as their comments on policy matters were compiled into a final report and submitted to the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff. This role underlined her expertise and commitment to the strategic aspects of military readiness and reserve force policy.

Dr. Singh’s corporate journey includes a remarkable 21-year stint at Accenture, where she retired as a Managing Director in the Health and Public Service North America Operating Unit.

Her board affiliations include positions with Westat, Capella University Board of Trustees, Strategic Education Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA), Tac (formerly MISI), and the Cybersecurity Forum Initiative. She has also served on the board of WaveDancer (WAVD), Howard Bancorp, and is an emeritus member of Easterseals DC MD VA and Headstrong boards.

Dr. Singh is a respected mentor, coach, and speaker, addressing topics like leadership, diversity, career transition, and issues faced by women and veterans in the workplace. Her educational credentials are equally impressive, holding a bachelor’s degree in business, a Master’s of Business Administration, a Master’s of Strategic Studies, and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

As an author, Dr. Singh has shared her insights in “Moments of Choice: My path to leadership” and “What’s in Your Box? Designing the Life You Want”. Her professional certifications include Project Management Professional (PMP), Cyber AB Registered Practicioner Advanced (RPA), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Certified Corporate Director, and Gallup Strengths Coach. She is also a certified John Maxwell trainer and speaker.

Her accolades include the 2025 Daily Record’s Top 100 Women, 2013 DiversityMBA Top 100 under 50 Diverse Emerging Leaders, The Network Journal 25 Influential Black Women in Business Award for 2014, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for 2015. Inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame in 2021, Dr. Singh has also been recognized on the Today Show and named one of InStyle’s Badass 50 in July 2019 for her groundbreaking leadership.

Dr. Singh’s career is a testament to her leadership, innovation, and dedication to empowering others, making her a prominent figure in both the public and private sectors.

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