Leadership Team

Mark D. Smith
Executive Director
Army Veteran

Mark Smith joined Blue Star Families as Executive Director on March 26, 2010. He brings 30 years of unique experience in the military, business and the nonprofit arena to the organization.

Previously, Smith served as Director of Strategy and Development of the Veterans Innovation Center. He began his career as an Army officer leading forward-deployed armor units in the U.S. and Germany after graduating from Washington & Lee University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He earned his M.A. in strategic studies and economics from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and went on to serve as an assistant professor of International Relations and National Security Studies at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. Smith subsequently served as special assistant to former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Gen. (Ret.) John R. Galvin. Smith separated from the Army in 1994 and became a vice president and chief of staff to the CEO of Cedel Bank (now Clearstream) in Luxembourg.

In 1997, Smith and his family returned to New York where he served as senior vice president and chief operations officer of Prudential Investment Management Services. In 2000, he left Prudential and was hired as a consultant by the Chairman & CEO of the Pacific Stock and Options Exchange in San Francisco where he led the project to launch the first fully electronic national stock exchange in the U.S., the ARCA Exchange. After September 11, 2001, Smith focused his professional skills again to public service when he accepted a position as director of Strategic Business Development at Outward Bound, USA. Smith later joined the professional consulting arm of Outward Bound where he coached Fortune 500 and nonprofit leadership teams before joining the Philanthropy Roundtable in Washington D.C. in 2006, where he served as Director of National Security Programs and worked closely with many philanthropic leaders as well as government officials on a myriad of national security issues. Prior to joining the Veterans Innovation Center (VIC), Smith served as President and CEO of Operation Homefront, a national non-profit serving military families and wounded warriors. msmith@bluestarfam.org

Kathy Roth-Douquet, Esq.
Chief Executive Officer
Marine Corps Spouse 

Kathy Roth-Douquet is a noted author, advocate for military families, commentator, and a former Clinton White House and Pentagon appointee. She has been called a “spokesperson for military families” (Leatherneck magazine), and her book AWOL, The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service and How It Hurts the Country (with Frank Schaeffer, HarperCollins) was widely lauded. Sen. John McCain called the book “a great service” to the country. Her current book is How Free People Move Mountains (HarperCollins, Sept. 2008)—it is a treatise on the joys and promise of engaging beyond oneself. 

Kathy currently lives in Stuttgart, Germany, with her husband and children

Noeleen Tillman
Managing Director, External Affairs
Air Force Spouse

Noeleen Tillman is the Managing Director for External Affairs at Blue Star Families. Ms. Tillman is the executive point of contact for outreach to senior leadership at the Department of Defense, Congress, the White House, media and private sector organizations.

Prior to joining Blue Star Families, Ms. Tillman was Executive Vice President of the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), a 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation devoted to promoting corporate responsibility for industry through innovation, partnerships, and market-based applications. While with GETF, Ms. Tillman founded the International Institute for Sustainable Seaports (I2S2), a nonprofit academic organization that provides technical support to seaports around the world.  Ms. Tillman managed a portfolio in excess of $40M and led the creation of a number of  several public private partnerships that included state, federal, military and private sector organizations.

Early in her career, Ms. Tillman served as the Chief of Environmental Compliance for the 21st Space Wing; US Space Command where she managed civilian and military personnel responsible for environmental activities at 32 geographically separated units (GSUs) located worldwide.  Ms. Tillman has also held positions with US EPA, TEC, Inc. and started her own consulting firm. She has authored a number of reports, white papers, and guidance documents and is a noted speaker on corporate responsibility.

Ms. Tillman has a degree in Environmental Engineering, magna cum laude from Temple University.  She is married to Antonio W. Tillman, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF and has two children.