HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Redstone Arsenal hosted its first session of the 'Female Mentoring and Morale Program,' being one of 25 FMMP chapters established throughout the Army.
Colonel Clydea Prichard-Brown, the XO to the Deputy Commanding General for Army Materiel Command, and founder of FMMP, says, "Team Redstone is going to be the largest chapter of the FMMP because of the different organizations that are here."
This program started three years ago during Women's History Month, "we started as a small chapter where initially the 13 women that came to me asking for mentorship, asking for guidance...And [the] next month we asked those same people to come back, and they brought 45 people. And then a month later they said, 'can we come back, ma'am?' Absolutely. The next month with 79 people. So we knew there was something there," Colonel Prichard-Brown said.
Something was there for sure, it turned into a full program where both men and women can come together to discuss issues and challenges that women may be facing in the workforce or the military.
"Diversity, equitable inclusion in programs, opportunities, job opportunities and something as simple as how they're treated in the workforce, how they're treated by their male and female counterparts. But we want to ensure that they have an equal opportunity to be able to voice their opinions and in expressing the issues that they've had," Colonel Prichard-Brown said.
Right now the program's Executive Board is made up of eight individuals that grew FMMP into 25 chapters established throughout the army.
"We wanted to provide a platform where they felt not judged. They were able and free to talk about these issues and not only that we would address them, we would immediately get involved with whatever issues they were experiencing. So that was the concern. And so making sure that they understand here at team Redstone, not just military, but civilian as well," Colonel Prichard-Brown said.
Now that the program is being established at Team Redstone, they'll be putting together a board of members and producing committees to tackle and provide answers for the issues brought to them.
Colonel Prichard-Brown hopes FMMP will be accepted as an Army program or policy so that the Army can take it on.
And she wants to instill a message of support for young women getting into this industry, "my advice to the young females coming into this industry is be brave. Ask for help. If you can't ask your boss, your supervisor, find someone you can feel comfortable talking to and let them help you champion your cause."
The Female Mentoring and Morale Program will meet regularly where members can ask questions and get support as they navigate their positions both on the military and civilian level.