About the Foundation

The Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF) is a national public charity 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.

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MCWEF functions as both a national foundation and the home of the National Association for Military-Connected Children, forming a unified institutional structure that provides year-round engagement opportunities, leadership development pathways, arts and cultural enrichment, research, family support, and national convenings. Through its programs, referred to as initiatives, the Foundation works to create stable environments of belonging for youth who often experience significant mobility, emotional strain, and cultural complexity due to military life.

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Military-connected children grow up moving frequently, navigating long separations, supporting parents with invisible wounds, and taking on adult responsibilities earlier than most of their civilian peers. Many young people in military families serve as teen caregivers, supporting a parent or sibling with injury, illness, disability, or post-traumatic stress. Others navigate the emotional burden of deployments, reintegration, and constant transition.

 

These experiences shape identity, mental health, academic continuity, and long-term wellbeing in ways that deserve national attention, resources, and celebration. MCWEF exists to meet this need with depth, dignity, and excellence.

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A central pillar of the Foundation is the Military Child World Expo (MCWE), the world’s only global gathering dedicated entirely to military-connected children. The Expo brings together thousands of youth, caregivers, educators, service providers, arts partners, community leaders, and national organizations to celebrate, honor, and elevate military children through performances, exhibitions, interactive experiences, workshops, recognition events, and cultural programming. Held annually in Arlington, Virginia, proclaimed as the “Home of the Military Child”, the Expo offers a powerful public platform that complements MCWEF’s year-round efforts and amplifies the voices of military-connected youth on a national stage.

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Another defining feature of MCWEF is its commitment to Arts & Humanities. The Foundation asserts that military-connected children deserve a national cultural identity—one that reflects their mobility, resilience, diversity, global experiences, and connection to service. Through its Arts & Humanities Division, the Foundation hosts national youth showcases, artistic commissions, storytelling archives, exhibitions, and performances in partnership with professional arts organizations. These cultural contributions ensure that the experiences of military children are preserved, honored, and celebrated across generations.

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MCWEF also provides research and policy insight, providing data-driven analysis that informs schools, youth agencies, healthcare providers, government leaders, and policymakers. The Foundation develops and disseminates the State of the Military Child Briefing, the National Readiness Report, and specialized studies on mobility, teen caregiving, mental health, transitions, educational continuity, and youth identity. Through these research initiatives, MCWEF bridges the gap between lived experiences and evidence-based solutions.

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Youth leadership and voice are central to the Foundation’s mission. MCWEF operates the Youth Ambassador Program, the Torchbearer Youth Summit, and a network of Youth Councils through which children and teens participate in decision-making, serve as community leaders, and help shape national priorities. These opportunities help youth build confidence, civic identity, and lifelong leadership skills. The Foundation also develops emerging adult leaders (ages 18–24), providing continuity and mentorship during post–high school transitions.

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To address the needs of youth supporting a wounded, ill, or injured family member, the Foundation administers the Teen Caregiver Circle and the Torch of Care Community Service Hours (TCCSH) initiative. These programs formally acknowledge and validate caregiving youth—a population historically invisible in military culture—by providing recognition, support networks, community hours, and pathways to honor their contributions.

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MCWEF’s Health, Mental Health & Wellness Initiatives include partnerships with healthcare systems, mental health providers, and national associations. These initiatives offer wellness tools, parent and teen resources, training for youth-serving professionals, and national events such as the Family Health & Wellness Symposium.

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The Foundation’s Chapters and Membership Network form the backbone of its national identity. Through the National Association for Military-Connected Children, MCWEF supports local, regional, installation-based, and overseas chapters that provide community-building, leadership opportunities, and direct engagement. Chapters serve as “local homes” of the military child, carrying out the Foundation’s mission across states, schools, and military installations. The Association also hosts a National Assembly, where delegates from across the country convene to vote on initiatives, present resolutions, and help shape the future of the organization.

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MCWEF’s work extends globally through the Global Military Child Alliance (GMCA), which builds bridges with international partners, allied forces, and overseas communities to support children connected to military service wherever they live.

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What makes MCWEF distinct is its holistic approach—uniting arts, research, policy, youth leadership, family readiness, wellness, culture, heritage, and national convenings under one unified institution dedicated exclusively to military-connected children. It is not a program or a support service. It is a national home, a cultural identity, and a long-term commitment to one of the nation’s most resilient yet underserved populations.

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Through strategic partnerships, community mobilization, artistic excellence, data-driven insight, and youth-centered leadership, the Military Child World Expo Foundation is establishing a permanent legacy for military-connected children: a space where their stories matter, their contributions are honored, and their future is championed.

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