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About
The Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF) is a national foundation dedicated to strengthening, uplifting, and empowering military-connected children and their families across the United States and around the world. Established to address longstanding gaps in visibility, belonging, recognition, and structured support, MCWEF serves as the nation’s first institution created entirely around the needs, stories, and futures of military-connected youth.
While many organizations support military families broadly, MCWEF is unique in its exclusive and comprehensive focus on children and teens connected to service, whether through active duty, National Guard, Reserve, veteran households, Gold Star families, DoD civilian families, or allied forces stationed in the United States.
Our Public Statement
The Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF) is the national organization representing military-connected children from all branches of service, active duty, Reserve, Guard, Coast Guard, veteran families, and Gold Star children. MCWEF exists to elevate their voices, advance their wellbeing, and ensure they are seen, supported, and celebrated across America and around the world.
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Why We Exist
Military-connected children grow up with extraordinary resilience , navigating moves, deployments, cultural transitions, emotional stress, and in many cases, caregiving responsibilities far beyond their years.
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For decades, support for military children existed in silos.
We are changing that. MCWEF unifies everything military-connected children need: leadership, culture, arts, wellness, identity, recognition, and national community, all under one institution.
WHO WE ARE
MCWEF is a permanent national institution dedicated to the wellbeing, identity, and belonging of military-connected children.
As the National Association, we provide continuity beyond individual programs or events and offer a unifying framework for families, institutions, and partners.
Our work includes:
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National stewardship and coordination
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Cultural and identity preservation
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Membership and Chapter engagement
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Recognition and protection frameworks
We serve military-connected children across all branches, components, and geographies, inclusive of all backgrounds and lived experiences.
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Learn more about the National Association →
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The Home of the Military Child
Military-connected children grow up navigating frequent transitions, global cultures, and the realities of service. MCWEF serves as the Home of the Military Child, safeguarding cultural identity, stories, and belonging across generations.
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Through arts, humanities, and narrative stewardship, we ensure military-connected childhood is preserved, respected, and understood as a distinct cultural experience, not a footnote to service.
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Flagship Platform: The Military Child World Expo
The Military Child World Expo is MCWEF’s flagship national convening, providing a high-visibility platform that brings together children, families, institutions, and partners from across the country and around the world.
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The Expo serves as an annual point of connection, learning, recognition, and alignment, amplifying the voices and experiences of military-connected youth.
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The Expo is a platform, not the entirety of our work.
Our Initiatives
MCWEF advances its national mission through targeted initiatives that respond to identified gaps in recognition, care, and cultural preservation.
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Arts & Humanities for the Military Child
A national initiative centered on belonging, cultural identity, and creative expression, affirming military-connected childhood as a lived experience worthy of preservation.
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Teen Caregiver Community Service Hours (TCCSH)
A national recognition framework acknowledging the ongoing, unpaid caregiving responsibilities carried by teen caregivers, particularly within military-connected families.
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These initiatives operate within MCWEF’s national framework and are supported by Membership and Chapters.
Membership & Chapters
As a membership-based national association, MCWEF engages individuals, families, institutions, and communities through a structured Membership and Chapter model.
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Chapters provide local and sector-based engagement while remaining accountable to national principles, standards, and ethical commitments.
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Membership is a commitment to stewardship—not a transactional affiliation.
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STEWARDSHIP ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Military Child World Expo was originally created by the Military Children’s Six Foundation (MC6) and is now governed and operated by the Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF) as a permanent national institution.
The National Association for Military-Connected Children
A membership community uniting youth, caregivers, schools, installations, partners, and supporters.
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Through local chapters, national leadership pathways, the Youth Assembly, councils, and year-round programs, we give military-connected children something they have never had:
a national home, cultural identity, and unified voice.
Join the Association →
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New National Framework
MCWEF is stewarding a national framework to recognize caregiving youth, with particular attention to military-connected families.
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The Military Child World Expo
The world’s only global celebration of military-connected children, held annually in Arlington, Virginia, the Home of the Military Child.
But the Expo is not the mission.
It is the gathering place.
MCWEF is the year-round institution behind it.
The Military Child World Expo is the flagship national convening of the Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF), the National Association for Military-Connected Children.
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Support the National Home of the Military Child
Your gift ensures:
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Teen caregivers are honored
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Youth leaders rise
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Culture and stories are preserved
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Mental wellness resources reach families
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Chapters thrive nationwide
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The Expo remains a global moment of celebration
No amount is too small. Every gift strengthens a child of service.
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