Linnea Gavrilis Appointed as USO North Carolina Board Chair, Southeast Region Advisory Board Member

Linnea Gavrilis was recently named chair of the USO North Carolina Advisory Board, and subsequently is the newest member of the USO Southeast Region Advisory Board.

Gavrilis is currently a Principal with Ernst & Young LLP (EY), Government and Public Sector practice. Before joining EY, she was the Chief Strategy Officer at the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and prior to that, she worked at both BearingPoint and Deloitte as a leader in the Human Capital and Strategic Risk practices, leading globally deployed projects for Federal and Commercial clients.

“I love the USO’s mission of supporting the needs of our service members and their families throughout the globe,” said Gavrilis. “The USO has served our military communities and their families for over 82 years, and I’m excited to offer my assistance and help them continue strengthening those who serve in this new capacity.”

In her new role as a USO Advisory Board Member, Gavrilis will work with both USO Southeast Region and USO North Carolina leadership and staff to increase the visibility of the USO across North Carolina and throughout the southeastern, U.S., to include the Special Operations Forces (SOF) community and Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Gavrilis will also concentrate on increasing year-over-year donations and fund development for the USO, to better support the needs of service members and their families through outdoor programs, the USO’s Gaming Program and other generationally relevant programing that promotes the mental health and resiliency of our military communities.

“USO North Carolina is excited and proud to welcome Linnea Gavrilis as our Advisory Board Chair,” said Kelli Willoughby, Executive Director of USO North Carolina. “Linnea’s desire to support military families like her own will bring a unique passion to our goal of raising awareness of the USO’s vital mission.”

Gavrilis is no stranger to the military community, having been an active-duty military spouse. Her uncle was also a commander in the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Understanding first-hand the many challenges and sacrifices our service members and their families endure throughout their time in service, Gavrilis is committed to having a positive impact on the military community throughout North Carolina and the southeast, U.S., as a whole in her new role.

“As a corporate leader I confidently and proudly support the USO’s broad mission set and close connection to the needs of our military families, and I am excited to contribute to the USO’s mission,” said Gavrilis.

The southeastern, U.S., is home to over 1.1 million service members and their families, with North Carolina itself having the fourth largest active-duty military population in the U.S.

The USO Southeast Region currently encompasses the following nine states: Ala, Fla, Ga, Ky, La, Miss, N.C, S.C., and Tenn., supporting roughly 33.2% (431K) of the nation’s active duty military, 30% (186K) of the National Guard and Reserve Forces, and 535K military dependents (spouses and children), as reported by the 2021 Demographics Report: Profile of the Military Community report.

Since 1941, the USO has been the nation’s leading organization to serve the men and women in the U.S. military, and their families, throughout their time in uniform. From the moment they join, through their assignments and deployments, and as they transition back to their communities, the USO is always by their side.

To learn more about the USO and how you can get involved with helping to strengthen America’s military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country, throughout their service to the nation, please visit USO.org.