Southbury, CT
–Lydiah is a Kenyan-born Lawyer, Project Manager, and International Development consultant. She relocated to the United States to join her military husband with whom they served for 12 years and now live in Connecticut with their 3 children.
As a foreign-born military spouse, Lydiah experienced a myriad of hardships with among other things, acclimating to a new environment and learning new systems and culture, a lack of recognition of professional credentials, finding meaningful employment, and other barriers that are now driving her advocacy efforts for those like her. She launched a website with resources, a support group where foreign born spouses can find community, and the Foreign Born Military Spouse Playbook, a one stop shop for learning about the military, American culture, and what it takes to thrive as a spouse.
Lydiah was part of Blue Star Families Campaign for Inclusion where she learned about the military community, she then was a HillVets Fellow and also is an alumni of the MSAN Military Spouse Leadership Development Program. The knowledge led to her work as the Program Manager, Military Spouse Professional Networks (MSPN) at Hiring Our Heroes where she dedicated her time to achieving positive job outcomes for the spouses by ensuring they are career ready, and connected to local employers. She is currently Director of Programs & Policy, at Afrithrive, a non profit dedicated to social, economic and environmental justice for immigrants in the DMV area, where she continues to support immigrants to thrive.