Keronica C. Richardson

black and white headshot of Keronica Richardson

Assistant Director of Women and Minority Veterans Outreach, American Legion

Richardson serves as the primary point of contact for the Women and Minority Veterans Program. Keronica works with the Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran service organizations and members of the Legion in leadership to coordinate resources in the local community, and recommend initiatives to assist women veterans. She has testified for women veterans before Congress in support of increase the health care needs and various other bills. She also served on the 2017 Health of Women Who Have Served Advisory Group providing feedback and gender specific data. Keronica also currently serves in an appointed position on the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. Prior to working at the American Legion, Keronica was selected to be a HillVets Fellow in the Office of Senator Joe Donnelly. She served as the policy advisor for the veterans and defense portfolio, staffed Senator Donnelly at briefings, wrote internal memorandums to familiarize congressional staff on issues raised by constituents and responded to constituents requests. Keronica interned with Piemonte Law Firm conducting legal research associated with Veteran’s Affairs and Social Security issues. Keronica prepared Veteran’s Affairs and Social security cases for court proceedings and drafted non-legal memorandas and correspondences for attorneys. She also served as a judicial extern under the direct supervision of the Honorable Judge Ty Hands, assisting and preparing documents for daily court use. She attended numerous District Court hearings, trials, and several training events for Judges and young attorneys on Domestic Violence and Family Law. Keronica also interned with the Army Judge Advocate General Corp (JAG) at Fort Jackson, SC. She prepared motions, conducted legal research and authored briefs and memorandas that supported pending cases. Keronica gathered and prepared all administrative details for multiple high-level government cases. Keronica also served as an active duty Captain in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. She served as the operations planner and supervisor for a combat organization in Fort Lee, VA supporting over 3,000 personnel. Keronica coordinated and managed the deployment plans, orders and reports for 10 different units; ensuring each deadline plan met its specific requirements. Keronica developed detailed trackers for training and unit operations, which allowed the units to project out its schedule and resource requirements into the next calendar year. She has published several articles on army.mil. Keronica deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait as a Mortuary Affairs Platoon Leader. She supervised and processed more than 500-combined U.S. and Coalition Force deceased personnel, which is recognized as one of the most important jobs in the entire Army. Keronica was appointed as the convoy commander and traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait providing efficient and safe movement of personnel and equipment for over 1, 167 miles. Keronica has a law degree from Charlotte School of Law and as a law student she was selected to study in London, UK at Oxford University as a criminology student. Keronica has a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from Claflin University.