Brittany Ramos DeBarros
Drop The MIC Campaign Co-Director
Brittany came to About Face: Veterans Against the War with a diverse mix of business, military and non-profit leadership experiences that cemented her deep passion and commitment to intersectional movement building work. She deployed to Afghanistan for a year in 2012 and has worked on economic and racial liberation issues in various capacities since she returned. She is particularly passionate about leveraging her experience as a Psychological Operations Officer to center narrative and behavior change in campaign strategy. She is based in NYC.
Cassidy Regan
Associate Director of Operations & Development
Cassidy is a civilian who’s organized alongside About Face: Veterans Against the War members since 2012 and joined the staff in 2016. As someone with veterans and service members in her family, she’s grateful for the chance to support About Face’s work day-to-day through operational upkeep, grassroots fundraising, and whatever needs doing. She’s been part of organizing in solidarity with people’s movements in the Philippines, against free trade agreements, for farmworker justice, and more, and she currently lives in occupied Lenape territory (NYC) and studies theatre-as-resistance at CUNY, the City University of New York.
Chantelle Bateman
Leadership Development Organizer
Chantelle is a mother, artist, and grassroots strategist currently residing in Philadelphia, PA. She has been serving as an About Face: Veterans Against the War member for 10+ years and is excited to be returning to the staff to help develop the next wave of veteran leadership. She is the founder of the Tubman-Baker Fund for Veteran Organizers of Color, a recovering Marine, and lover of Eduardo Galeano’s philosophy on utopia.
Jovanni Reyes
Member Coordinator
Jovanni has been a member of About Face: Veterans Against the War since 2013 and part of the staff since 2015, working in the capacity of Member Coordinator. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1993 and deployed to the Balkans in 1996 as part of NATO’s first ever military intervention which culminated in the dismemberment of Yugoslavia into six statelets. By 2002, he was no longer moved by the pretexts and false narratives cheerleading for war, and when the invasion of Iraq began in 2003, he decided he could not support or continue his military service. He resigned from the military in 2007.
Krystal Two Bulls
Drop The MIC Campaign Co-Director
Krystal is an Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne woman who reminds us that what matters is what we fight for, not what we fight against. Krystal is a new member to About Face: Veterans Against the War, having joined in August 2018. She served in the US Army Reserves for 8 years and was deployed to Kuwait in 2009. Krystal is new to the anti-militarism conversation, but has significant knowledge and experience in environmental justice, Indigenous Sovereignty and social justice campaigns. She works to decolonize the approaches and methods that we utilize within movement spaces. Krystal is very excited to be joining About Face in an official capacity to support the amazing work being done by staff and membership.
Maggie Martin
Co-Director
Maggie has been a member of About Face: Veterans Against the War for over a decade holding volunteer positions as a chapter leader, campaign team leader, and a regional organizer before coming on staff in 2011. She was in the US Army from 2001-2006 deploying three times to Kuwait and Iraq. Maggie has helped build the organizing program for About Face and has played a key role in mobilizing veterans for countless community building, training, and action opportunities. She currently resides in Decatur, TN.
Matt Howard
Co-Director
Matt has worked with About Face: Veterans Against the War in various capacities since 2011 including as Chapter president in the Bay area, local organizer in Texas with the Operation Recovery campaign, as Communications Director and currently as Co-Director. He served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter mechanic from 2001 to 2006 and deployed twice to Iraq where he became deeply opposed to the occupations and discovered a commitment to social change work. Matt is presently based in New York City and has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, The Guardian and various other media outlets.
Ramon Mejía
Field Organizer
Ramon enlisted in the Marine Corps out of economic necessity. He served in Supply Ops. and participated in the initial invasion of and deployment to Dhi Qar Province, Iraq in 2003. As a result of his experience in Iraq, he converted to Islam in 2008. He has been an active organizer in countering local manifestations of hate and racism by neo-Nazis and paramilitary groups in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Ramon is a Social Studies teacher and one of the founding organizers of #VetsVsHate, a national veteran grassroots initiative pushing back against racism and bigotry. He was recently recognized as part of the ‘MPower 100–Muslim Social Justice Leaders Building Power Across the United States.