Military Family Support
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow serves as the Executive Director of the Valor Partners Foundation, an organization deeply rooted in her personal journey.
In 2016, Kelli’s life was forever changed when her husband, Major Shawn Campbell, and eleven fellow Marines were killed in a helicopter training accident off the coast of Hawaii. Suddenly separated from the military community that had always been home, Kelli and her four children, then ages 11, 9, 6, and 2, were forced to start anew.
With the support of family, friends, and a strong local community, they not only endured but thrived. K-12 scholarships made it possible for Kelli to enroll her previously homeschooled children in a private school in Kansas City, where they had moved to be near family. Kelli began working in the military nonprofit sector as a way of serving the community that had carried her through her hardest days. In 2020, Kelli married Michael Goodnow and gained a bonus daughter. She loves calling Kansas City home.
This path through loss, resilience, and renewal strengthened Kelli’s faith and revealed the power of grace and grit in the face of uncertainty. A lifelong learner and former homeschooling mom, Kelli knows firsthand the transformative power of education. In 2024, she earned her Executive MBA from Rockhurst University. Today, she is proud to see her children thriving—her oldest son studying at Temple University Japan in Tokyo, her daughter heading to Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida this fall, and her younger three who will be in 11th, 8th, and 6th grades.
At the Valor Partners Foundation, Kelli leads efforts to honor the sacrifices of military families by closing the higher education funding gap for spouses and children of 100% disabled and deceased veterans. VPF partners directly with colleges, universities, and technical schools to create matching scholarship programs that double every donor dollar as they expand opportunity and build a community of support for thousands of deserving students.
Learn more or join the mission at www.valorpartners.org.
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-Transcript-
Brad Burrow (00:01):
Welcome to In a World With Real Media. I’m your host, Brad Burrow. In this podcast, we’ll dive into the lives of the most successful people in business. We’ll learn how they overcame adversity, took advantage of opportunities and learned from their experiences. Learn from our experts. Get inspired, then go live your story. It’s in a world with real media. Hello and welcome to the In A World With Real Media Podcast. I’m Brad Burrow, and today we have Kelly Campbell. Good. Now with us, she’s the executive director of Valor Partners Foundations. Kelly, we met at an accelerant event, and I’m trying to remember that morning. Those things are, there’s so much going on. It’s like, like when you get married, you don’t remember half the stuff that happened that day. That’s
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (00:53):
Right.
Brad Burrow (00:53):
But I was excited that you wanted to be on the podcast because we support veterans initiatives and we owe such a big debt to the veterans. And so I’m excited to have you here. You’re also a gold star spouse,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (01:10):
Right?
Brad Burrow (01:10):
So I’d love to just give a little bit of background. You’re from Kansas City, is that correct?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (01:16):
Not originally, no. I’ve been here almost 10 years now. So I grew up in Texas. I’m an Aggie, went to Texas a and m, and I met my husband Sean there. Back in about when you were starting this, I was graduating high school and going to college in 97. So I met Sean at a and m and he commissioned with the Marine Corps when we both graduated and we were off on that adventure, lived all over the United States.
(01:43):
So you moved a lot.
(01:45):
Yep, yep. 15 years. We were Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and then Hawaii.
Brad Burrow (01:50):
What was that like? That has to be, I hate moving by the way.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (01:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Brad Burrow (01:55):
You’re probably really good at it.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (01:57):
Yeah, I wouldn’t say I love it, but I’m good at it. I’ve done it a lot. Yeah, we loved it. We loved that life because we found the Marine Corps is very small, and so even though you move around a lot, no matter where you go, somebody or somebody who knows somebody. And so we always had a great recommendation of a church to try and friends to meet. And the community just when you know you don’t have time, you dig in really deep, really fast. So we always just had such amazing
Brad Burrow (02:26):
Community. You knew you were only going to be there for a short amount
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (02:29):
Of time,
Brad Burrow (02:29):
So let’s get plugged, plugged in now the most it,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (02:31):
Yeah. Yeah. And it was amazing to see after 15 years when I lost Sean in a helicopter accident, and that’s what brought me here. But just to see that community come back to us from literally around the world, to have friends get on planes in Japan and all over to come and be with us, it was pretty incredible.
Brad Burrow (02:54):
Now, were you in Kansas City when that happened?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (02:56):
We were in Hawaii.
Brad Burrow (02:57):
Okay.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (02:58):
So in 2014 we were stationed in Hawaii. Our kids were 11, 8, 6, and two when we got there. And then it was a nighttime training accident, a training flight, and Sean was one of four pilots on two helicopters and 12 Marines total. And they collided in the middle of the night out over the ocean, and so horribly tragic. And we lost 12 good men that night. And obviously, yeah, I set my family on a whole new trajectory.
Brad Burrow (03:37):
I don’t know how deep you’d like to get into that, but how do you get through something like that? I mean, you probably get asked that all the time, but that’s a shocking thing to happen,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (03:48):
And how do you get through God? Number one, I would not be here without all that God has done for us and protected us and provided, and that’s a situation I think people look at gold, star, spouse, anybody who’s gone through that a lot and say, oh, you’re so strong. I could never do that.
(04:11):
And
(04:12):
We kind of go, well, you would have to. Yeah, you would to didn’t have a choice, did you? And thank God that I had my faith and hope, because I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through it otherwise I don’t have the strength. So yeah, I am.
Brad Burrow (04:31):
You’ve had to help your kids probably understand what happened as well.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (04:35):
Yeah, yeah. I’m probably the hardest part. I remember that being the worst part. They were so little, and yeah, they were so little at the time. They really can’t understand. They can’t. And so when you lose your dad at that young, it’s a lifelong process. And so now today I can say they’re thriving, they’re doing so great. My oldest is now 21 and then 18, 16 and 11, almost 12. So my youngest is the age that my oldest was when we lost Sean. And that’s been a weird year to kind
(05:17):
Of
(05:18):
Almost, and they’re like, he’s a mini me of his big brother. So it’s just been amazing to kind of see that age again. But they’re doing amazing. But it’s been a roller coaster of 10 years and it’ll always be, but again, we’ve seen so much goodness and beauty for ashes for 10 years.
Brad Burrow (05:41):
Yeah. Talk about how the military family came in and supported. You mentioned that briefly, but that had to be a key.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (05:49):
It was incredible. Really incredible. I mean, from the first moment, and especially when it’s something so public and tragic, and the whole island of Oahu was out on the beach searching every branch of the military and police and fire were out there. And so everybody really gathered around there. In the beginning, there was a week long search, which then became several months long salvage operation. And during that time, it was just a constant stream of people I knew and people I didn’t know, just showing up to help. And a lot of times people ask me now, maybe they have a friend or family member going through something and they say, what can I do? What should I do? And I just say, show up. You might not be able to do anything. I’m going to try not to cry all the way through this.
(06:40):
It’s okay.
(06:41):
It’s not something you can fix, but you can show up and you can just sit in it, sit in it with them. And there’s definitely,
Brad Burrow (06:50):
Just by being there,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (06:51):
Practical meant something to you. Yeah, it really did. And I dunno if that’s just me, but just to know people were just there and there were a lot of, and then I do say, don’t ask what you can do. Just do something. If you feel an urge to maybe go do their laundry or just deliver some groceries or don’t ask, go watch their kids. Don’t ask. Just show up and say, Hey, I’m going to give you an hour while I take your kids outside for a bed. And that means the most because when you’re in the midst of total just trauma and chaos and mystery, I mean, just nothing makes sense in that moment. You can’t make decisions. I couldn’t make decisions. And so to have so many people, my whole family flew out and they were just there and they just did whatever needed doing.
Brad Burrow (07:39):
Yeah.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (07:40):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (07:41):
That’s great advice. I mean, you of all people can talk to
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (07:46):
That
Brad Burrow (07:46):
Better than anybody. So I’ve already got a bunch of extra questions that are popping into my mind. How did you end up in Kansas City?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (07:55):
So like I said, grew up in Texas, but my parents had moved here around 2006, I think. And so they’d been here about 10 years already. They had moved up with their work. And so we had visited and we knew the area, but it wasn’t necessarily home. But my parents were home. And it was interesting, actually, maybe a few months before the crash, we had had a conversation which came about because we were always getting tsunami warnings when we lived in Hawaii. And so every week or so you’d get a tsunami warning, and at some point we just kind of had an offhand conversation, what would we do if our house was wiped out, if we had to leave and evacuate? And it was just kind of a no brainer. Well, we’d go to Kansas City, we’d stay with mom and dad, we’d be fine, and then we’d figure it out. And it was such a kind of casual conversation, but it came back to me and I just realized that’s what I need to do in that moment. I could have stayed on the island for a while. I didn’t want to leave. Our friends were there,
(08:57):
But I knew we wouldn’t stay forever. And so it was just, what do you do? And so we ended up moving pretty quickly here, moved in with my parents. They had plenty of space, and we just sort of rode out the storm from here in a safe place, and it worked out great. And now we’re still here because Kansas City turned out to be an amazing place
Brad Burrow (09:18):
To be. Yeah, that’s awesome. So I want to go down a little bit of a faith track
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (09:23):
With you.
Brad Burrow (09:24):
You mentioned God was with you. Do you look back and we will talk about the things that are happening with valor, but do you look back and look at that situation and say, God was preparing me to help other people?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (09:41):
Oh, definitely, definitely. Yeah. I remember just feeling so overwhelmed with help and support and like I said, things I didn’t ask for or didn’t know to ask for, and I wanted to say thank you. I remember specifically praying, God, I don’t know how to say thank you. And I think it worried me. I don’t want anyone to feel like I don’t appreciate this. Every little thing, a random Facebook message I would get or a text or a gift in the mail, just everything meant so much. And I wanted to not forget that feeling. So I remember just thinking, I want to be able to say thank you, and it wasn’t much. It wasn’t very long after that I was asked to speak on behalf of recipients of scholarships, a charity that had helped my family, and my first reaction was, no way. Absolutely not. I’m not a
Brad Burrow (10:36):
Speaker. That would be tough.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (10:37):
No, I mean, number one, I weasel my way out of public speaking all through college. I managed to do it, and it was just something I never wanted to do. And then number two, especially not about this, no, I’m going to get up and cry in front of people. I don’t want to do that. But at some point I just realized, okay, they’re giving me a chance to say thank you, so it might be awful, but I’ll do it. I’ll say thank you. And it was awful. It was terrible.
Brad Burrow (11:05):
Do you remember the first
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (11:05):
Feeling? I do. I do. Oh, vividly. And my son was there, and we actually drove out to Wichita and we spoke at this little event, and I just remember thinking, what in the world am I doing? And I did cry in front of people and I did just sort of ramble through my story, but I said, thank you. And that it meant so much. It meant so much to
Brad Burrow (11:25):
Them. Was that healing for you to be able to say that?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (11:26):
Very. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect just saying the words out loud and telling my story out loud to be that healing. But then as I continued just more and more healing and more and more processing happened, I actually have been a part of a ministry to widows. And there the first thing we do when we have widows, new young widows gather is have them tell their story out loud. And some have never said certain out loud, and you don’t realize how healing it is to have to just share your story, get it out, and it’s like it releases something. And so I realized through that ministry, well, that’s what I had done. Without knowing it, I had been allowed to heal. And so I kept doing that for years and it led me to where I am today. But it’s been really rewarding.
Brad Burrow (12:15):
I think that God has such a unique way of taking pain
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (12:21):
And
Brad Burrow (12:22):
Taking things that we’ve gone through and using it to help other people. Just a little point of transparency here. My wife and I became Christians in 99 through losing a child, and we look on that. I mean, it was incredibly tough and he was stillborn. He’s full term stillborn child, but we look at that as he had a purpose and he changed the direction of our family to be quite frank. And so we always looked at that as God was going to use us to help other people that have gone through those situations. And so I see that with you too. I mean, incredibly painful, tough thing to go through, but you are using that in such a powerful way to help other people. That’s amazing.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (13:15):
Nothing is wasted. I think about your son, and a lot of times people will say, well, God has a plan. And that’s something I try to never say to someone in the midst of tragedy because that’s not part of his plan. Death and dying is not part of his plan life, but he uses that. He brings good from that, and he can do that for anybody. I just think that’s beautiful. And so I can’t explain it and we can’t fix it and we can’t change it, but we can know that we know the end of the story.
Brad Burrow (13:56):
A lot of hope in that isn’t there.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (13:58):
Yeah,
Brad Burrow (13:58):
I feel the same way. It’s like we’re going to see him.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:01):
Yeah,
Brad Burrow (14:03):
That reuniting, I’ve thought about that moment a lot. That’s going to be an amazing moment, and
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:11):
You
Brad Burrow (14:11):
Can’t even imagine how great that’s going to be.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:13):
Yeah. Yeah. My husband now, I remarried in 2020 and he lost a daughter at birth in the womb as well. And so yeah, we think about that all the time that she’s up there with Sean.
Brad Burrow (14:25):
Yeah, they’re hanging out together.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:27):
They’re
Brad Burrow (14:27):
Doing great things. Yeah, it’s awesome. That’s going to be neat. So I don’t want to go into my story that much, but anyway, I just thought about that. We talked about how you came through in 2018, so that happened in 2016. In 2018 you get involved with Folds of Honor,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:45):
Right? Right.
Brad Burrow (14:46):
Yeah.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:46):
And so that was like I said, the request. I was like, no way. I will.
Brad Burrow (14:51):
Did they reach out to you and say, Hey, we’d love you to be a part of what
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (14:53):
We’re doing? It was a really neat how it happened Very soon after getting here to Kansas City, I had been homeschooling my kids all through. And so
Brad Burrow (15:03):
Even in Hawaii?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (15:04):
In Hawaii, yeah. Really we had chosen to homeschool just because of the moving around and I was going to stay at home and give them something consistent. The
(15:14):
Aviation world is anything but consistent through deployments and moves and all that. And it really was a great choice for our family. But we got here and in my parents’ basement and all our stuff is in storage. And the accident happened the day we were supposed to go back to our little co-op. We had a weekly group we met with, and it was just after Christmas break. And so the kids hadn’t been in school since November. And they’re young, they’re all in elementary school. But I started to kind of have this panic moment about March, and that’s when a good friend of mine found a school here in Kansas City that was the same classical Christian model and curriculum we’d been using. And then knowing that’s expensive, she found Folds of honor and said, I think this could help you. And so at the same time, those two things were handed to me and the kids started school and I applied for these scholarships and then found out they could stay well.
(16:12):
Then through the school, I met a friend who invited us out to a 5K run one day. This was kind of the next fall, so a few months later, and she said, it’s for a military charity or something. I think she didn’t really know. She said, oh, I think it’s called Folds of Honor. And I just went, wait, that’s why I know you. Those scholarships were the reason to wear friends. And so we just showed up at this little 5K and turns out there was a local volunteer board and people involved. And so I was again able to say thank you to someone in person, and I just didn’t know they were here, and it meant a lot to them to meet us and know who they had helped. So that just kind of took off from there, got more involved. And then that was when they asked me to speak and I said, absolutely not.
Brad Burrow (16:57):
So you started out as a board member, so I’m looking at your LinkedIn profile.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (17:01):
I started as a board member volunteer, and then part-time just working for the local chapter and it just snowballed and as a speaker. And so I traveled around the country to,
Brad Burrow (17:12):
So by then you’re getting used to speaking a lot more probably.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (17:15):
Right. And so it was just like a snowball. It just kept getting bigger and more and healing and meeting people. And it connected me back to the military community. I’d had to leave and gave me a chance to just give back. And so yeah,
Brad Burrow (17:32):
That probably felt good.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (17:33):
It really did. Yeah, it did. And I realize now what a blessing it was to be able to meet other Gold Star families through that. And we just have had so many opportunities because of that. Because
Brad Burrow (17:46):
Do you see God’s hand in
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (17:48):
Completely
Brad Burrow (17:48):
In of getting you that 5K and
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (17:50):
All of it? All of it, yeah. There’s no accident there because for the last 10 years, I feel like every step I’ve taken has just kind of been like, oh, this is in front of me. Okay, I’ll do that next. It’s just been when everything is lost, our whole future and all our plans were gone, I just kind of surrendered and said, I don’t know what to do or where to go or where to live. The Marine Corps has always told us what to do, and so I just kind of said, okay, Lord, I don’t know what to do or how to be a mom now or anything, but I’ll just do the next thing. And he just kept giving me the next thing and the next thing, and it’s led to the thing I’m doing now one step big time, right? Yeah,
Brad Burrow (18:32):
Yeah, yeah. That’s amazing. So you were the development director and then Corporate impact officer. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but working one, his
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (18:43):
Big title for something I was making up as I go, so I ended up working directly for the national office, the headquarters, which is in Oklahoma, but I was remote here. And so it just means I would travel nationally and fundraising. So whether I was speaking at an event or meeting with corporate donors, and it is crazy to think too, I was a parks and rec major and outdoor ed back at a and m 30 years ago. So I never saw myself in a role like that, but I just learned as I went and loved it. I loved it because the people, I love that part.
Brad Burrow (19:23):
By the way, I saw that you were into photography.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (19:26):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (19:27):
Are you still doing that?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (19:28):
I am determined to find my way back
Brad Burrow (19:31):
When
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (19:31):
I have time for hobbies. Again, that’s something I’ve kind of lost over the years and want to regain. My son is now a communications major and using camera, he would love this room. He’s learning cameras,
Brad Burrow (19:44):
We’ll show him around.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (19:46):
And so it’s something I see him doing now and it’s fun.
Brad Burrow (19:49):
Yeah. Well, I noticed that your profile picture is very well shot. Whoever did the profile picture
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (19:54):
Well, that’s Brian Galey. I’ll put a plug and print. He’s on LinkedIn, does amazing work. And he is the father of a Marine, and so he actually
Brad Burrow (20:02):
Is that right.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (20:03):
And was just really generous in helping me get those and it was good to meet him. Yeah,
Brad Burrow (20:10):
Yeah, yeah. That’s awesome. So you get that creative background a little bit that
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (20:14):
Probably
Brad Burrow (20:14):
Serves you well and in
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (20:16):
Some things you’re doing. I think so, because when you’re working for a small nonprofit with few resources, you have to do it all yourself. And so it’s just enough to be dangerous though. It’s just enough to get me down a lot of rabbit trails. I can’t put something there there quickly, but I enjoy it. Our new website and trying to figure out social media and telling stories, I like that
Brad Burrow (20:39):
Part. That’s a whole nother discussion. It’s changing by the minute.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (20:43):
Exactly. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (20:45):
Even we’re working, I’m doing another podcast with a gentleman that owns a digital marketing company, and that’s all we talk about on the podcast is like, what are people doing now?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (20:56):
Yeah, my dinosaur of a camera. I had this really nice camera 10 years ago, and when I think about doing photography again, I’m like, pull, my iPhone is a better camera now, so
Brad Burrow (21:07):
I
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (21:07):
Wouldn’t even know where to begin.
Brad Burrow (21:09):
Yeah, technology’s changed a lot. It’s amazing. And challenging.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (21:14):
Yeah, it goes too fast sometimes.
Brad Burrow (21:16):
So talk about, let’s switch gears to Valor. Valor Partners. Tell me what is Valor Partners? There are some things I wrote down, but just give me your kind of elevator speech about in
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (21:26):
A nutshell.
Brad Burrow (21:26):
Yeah.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (21:27):
Well, I came on board two years ago as their first paid employee as executive director. So
Brad Burrow (21:33):
It was already
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (21:35):
Going, so since 2012, and they had been called the Heart of America Patriot Foundation based here,
(21:42):
Kansas City. That
(21:42):
Is a long name isn’t Kansas City. It’s a mouthful. And that was one thing I realized when I came on board, the first thing I started to learn was nobody can remember or say it and we’re doing really good work, but our strongest supporters can’t say our name.
(21:58):
And so we started talking about potentially, and also the program had kind of changed. So for the first 10 years, it was basically an annual golf tournament in Overland Park and they would raise money and then give it out to various veteran charities in the area, so five or six different organizations would benefit, and then they’d give away all their money and then hit reset. And so after about 10 years, they identified a particular need for, and that’s what we’re doing now. And so they kind of made that pivot to one program that we were running in partnership with colleges. And so just through those changes, I came in and said, it might be time to do a little rebranding here and the final ation your side
(22:44):
Coming out
(22:45):
Probably. But then the final confirmation, I was invited to beat the drum at a chiefs game New year a few years ago. And so I’m up there and I’m excited because they’re going to say our name and get the word out. And they said my name, and then they said American Heart Association.
Brad Burrow (23:01):
Oh
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (23:02):
No. And it was like, if you watch the video, there’s this moment of stunned. And then I just had to beat the drum. My gosh, I just had to go on and it’s such a short, quick thing, but it was like, oh, what a missed opportunity. And then they actually corrected it online, but used yet another name that was still wrong. So that was, we laugh now. I feel like it was just the confirmation we needed that we’re doing the right thing, we’re doing the right thing. We need a name that people can remember, and we have this really unique program that was just starting to take off. And so it is been a good change.
Brad Burrow (23:38):
What was that like doing the beating the drum thing? We do a lot of work with the chiefs and
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (23:43):
The roles
Brad Burrow (23:43):
And stuff,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (23:44):
But
Brad Burrow (23:44):
That looks like a fun deal.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (23:45):
It’s fun up there. It’s freezing up there on that deck. Wind. Wind is blowing through. It was like zero degrees. And I’ve been up there a few times for check presentations and whatnot. But it’s a fun atmosphere and you just kind of stand there and then you wait for them to tell you to wave and smile and do whatever you’re supposed to do. It’s fun.
Brad Burrow (24:04):
Tell me about the program. What’s the main program
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (24:08):
Now?
Brad Burrow (24:08):
What is it? What do you do?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (24:13):
Like I said, heart of America was serving various charities and Al Dorothy, our current board president, as he was taking over as president, he looked around and he wanted to consolidate what they were doing and meet an unmet need. He just wanted to know they were really making an impact. And they had had some partnerships with colleges locally to set up emergency funds or scholarship funds for veterans. And so he went back to some of those relationships and just started asking questions, what do families need? What are they not getting? Who’s
Brad Burrow (24:47):
Now are these gold star families?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (24:49):
Then? Well, some, but also just veteran families. Disabled veteran families. And that was where he started to feel the pull that the disabled veteran and their children and their spouses, what are we doing for them? And that’s when he learned that the VA benefits for education for those families are different than for gold star families. And this was something when I learned it hurts to see my children have, we’re so blessed with college support, I will not have to worry about paying for their school. And it’s allowed them opportunities to go wherever they want. That’s
Brad Burrow (25:29):
Awesome.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (25:30):
It’s amazing it’s way
Brad Burrow (25:31):
It should be.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (25:32):
And I mean, I’m just so grateful for that. And then I see in the same boat, the spouse or child of the 100% disabled veteran, they get a different benefit from the VA dependents, education assistance, and it’s light years different from the post nine 11 GI Bill Fry scholarship. The Gold Star families get, it’s helpful, it gets them in the door, but it’s not enough. And so all too often those families, those children or those spouses are the ones not finishing because they find out it’s not enough and they just get this little monthly stipend and it helps you pay your rent or your tuition or your groceries, but it doesn’t cover the full cost of education like post nine 11 does. And so he saw that disparity and that was what the school started telling us. Any military and veterans office or financial aid office you talk to and you say, who’s the military affiliated student that needs the most help? They’re going to tell you it’s the chapter 35 student. Chapter 35 is the other name for dependence, education assistance or GEA. And that’s kind of how they’re identified. They all say it’s our chapter 30 fives. They need help and they’re the ones coming in and looking for it,
(26:48):
But nobody was doing it. And there are scholarships out there that apply, but that’s where our program is different in that. So for example, my son’s in college, my daughter’s on her way into college, and so I kind have a second part-time job. I feel like right now, helping them manage their finances and their scholarship applications. And I will not complain because at the end of the day it’s such a blessing to know they’re okay. But it’s a lot of
(27:17):
Work. It is.
(27:17):
It’s a lot of work. We have to fill out applications and we have to write essay. I’m having them write essays. I give them Google Docs and I’m like, just answer all these questions for me please. And we have to have paperwork submitted and answer. There’s a lot. And then you have to respond and accept, and then you have to make sure that organization is sending the check to the school and it’s going to the right place. And again, not to complain, it’s just it’s a lot. And so I think about if my kids didn’t have me helping them, what would happen? Would they be able to do this? And maybe some of it they would, but a lot of it, they would miss out on
(27:55):
A lot of it. And so I think about those families that the kids or the spouse who’s also a caregiver for her disabled husband or the child of just all kinds of situations where they don’t have that same support. They don’t know where to go for help. They don’t know what to ask for or what’s available. They’re not getting it. They’re not getting the help that’s there for them. And so my longwinded answer here, to get back to how we’re differents, we partner with the school to put that money in place for that specific student. We grant the school funding, the school matches it dollar for dollar. So now everyone’s invested. Everyone knows who this is and why we’re helping them and what we need to do. And we work together to support the highest need students on their list of chapter 30 fives. And that has looked like at one school has told us they had 10 or 15 scholarship recipients this last year. And I talked to the woman in charge and she said, we pulled the list and we looked at who was going to be dropped from their schedule that semester because they couldn’t pay the bill. They hadn’t paid. They had an outstanding balance and they were at risk of dropping out of school and they just paid their bills. And those students just got word that you just got this help and you get to stay. And it kept them in school and now they’re graduating and you hear stories like that
Brad Burrow (29:15):
Changing life right there.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (29:16):
They wouldn’t have stayed in. And then what happens then? What’s the trajectory of their life? And so we are literally changing their path. We’re helping them. These families who have through service and sacrifice have been kind of forced onto a new path, forced to find a new way forward. And I know what that feels like. And so to have someone just come in, like I said, just to show up and say, Hey, I see you. I see that need and I’m going to meet it. And you keep going. It’s amazing. I’m getting emotional. The part of my job I love.
Brad Burrow (29:51):
Do you ever get to follow up with the kids that are getting help like
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (29:53):
That? I do, yeah. Favorite part of my job.
Brad Burrow (29:56):
That’s got to be an amazing
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (29:57):
Meeting. Meeting. Yeah. Excuse me. There’s days when you just get bogged down in the admin of it, and I don’t do well sitting still at my desk, but I have been able to visit some of our schools and sit down in some of our military veteran centers and meet students and just amazing, amazing people and such a unique, I asked some people recently, when you think about what we do, when I tell you our mission, who do you picture? And they all said, 18-year-old kid going to college.
(30:32):
And then I told them the stories about the 45-year-old spouse raising four kids and caring for her disabled husband and going back to school to get a master’s degree because she needs to get that better job to support her family. I told him about a woman I met who also caring for her husband who can’t work anymore. He’s a amputee and dealing with seizures and all kinds of effects of TBI. She also has special needs kids because they were born with genetic issues related to toxic exposure. And you just see all these things happening as a result of service. It’s the whole family. The whole family has made sacrifices. But then you have these students who are moms and wives and kids who have been through all that, but they’re trying to do something to push their family forward. They haven’t given up. They’re not just looking for handouts, and in fact, they’re not asking because they don’t know to ask. And so everyone I get to meet, and we recently got some surveys back with just story after story of I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought I was going to drop out. This has helped so much because now I don’t have to work two jobs. And to hear that we know we’re making a difference. It keeps me going
(31:55):
For sure.
Brad Burrow (31:56):
Is that one of the challenges you have is it sounds like a lot of those types of stories is getting those stories out to people. I feel like those are the things that move us to action.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:08):
Yes. Yes.
Brad Burrow (32:09):
We get asked a lot to do videos for, my wife is the CFO of Kansas City Christian School, and they have an auction.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:17):
Your wife is Tracy?
Brad Burrow (32:19):
Tracy Burrow. Yes. My
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:22):
Wife. My kids go to Kansas City Christian, my gosh. And Tracy handles our scholarships every year. I’m emailing with her about, oh my gosh, how did I not put this together’s amazing. Oh my gosh. Oh, this is hilarious. That is crazy. I cannot believe it didn’t even occur to me. Wow. We have a whole other conversation to have.
Brad Burrow (32:40):
Yeah. Yeah. Well,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:42):
That is funny. So Tracy knows all about the scholarships and the process my kids
Brad Burrow (32:46):
Go through right now. She kind of leads that part for cancer and
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:49):
Christian. Oh my gosh,
Brad Burrow (32:50):
Lovely. Our kids have been there since, well, my youngest just graduated. He goes by puppy.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:56):
My son graduated with puppy.
Brad Burrow (32:57):
Did he
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (32:58):
Really? Tristan Campbell. He only went to KCC for one year his senior year, and he graduated. I cannot believe we haven’t met. This is amazing.
Brad Burrow (33:06):
Well, he’s that
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (33:06):
We have to have crossed paths at events and graduations and all the things.
Brad Burrow (33:11):
That’s crazy.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (33:11):
Oh my goodness.
Brad Burrow (33:12):
All right. Well, that’ll be an interesting part of the podcast.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (33:14):
Okay. There’s a whole other podcast there.
Brad Burrow (33:17):
Yeah,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (33:18):
Funny connection.
Brad Burrow (33:18):
So where I was going to go is like, well, you’ve been to the auction.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (33:23):
That’s right. That’s right.
Brad Burrow (33:24):
So the thing is that I get asked to do the video for the auction almost every year,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (33:29):
And
Brad Burrow (33:29):
We’re happy to do it. But the thing is, the first year that I did the auction video, and this was before we started going to school there, the chairman at the time said, Hey, we need to really emotionally impact people. And so I’m like, okay. Well, it was the stories, people telling how their kids’ lives have been changed. Our kids’ lives were changed at that school. I mean, it’s an amazing school, but that’s the thing that impacts. And I think about, I mean, as if you want to get people to actually donate and get involved and you got to touch ’em emotionally, and you have some incredible
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (34:15):
Stories
Brad Burrow (34:16):
That people are like, I need to support this. I want to
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (34:20):
Help.
Brad Burrow (34:20):
And so I think from a marketing standpoint, not that we needed to go down that trail, but lady, you have this gold mine of
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (34:29):
Impact. We do. And lemme tell you, that is the biggest struggle I think for any nonprofit because you’re under such scrutiny for spending, right? Everything has to go to program, program, program. And I agree. I agree. We want every dollar, and that’s why we created a program where our money is matched. I mean, we want to multiply, and yet you can’t do good work without good people and without the resources. And so we have to balance how do we pay for a marketing contract? We went through a whole rebrand, and that was a big, big investment and a scary investment. But we are starting to see it pay off. And then the payoff is slow. And if you’re a startup for-profit company, you’re expected to go into the red and do everything you can and then you spend to make money. If you’re a nonprofit, that’s not how it works. So you’ve got to get people to catch the vision and invest with you from the start, make this happen. And that’s what we’ve seen. It’s slow going. But yeah, I could spout off the numbers of students and the need and the amounts of, I could give you numbers all day, but you’re not going to remember that. You’re going to remember the story of the wife raising her kids and going back to school to help other families like hers.
Brad Burrow (35:44):
Exactly. Right. And as the younger, that’s how the younger generation actually,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (35:50):
They don’t
Brad Burrow (35:50):
Read
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (35:51):
No. Yeah. They need a quick story.
Brad Burrow (35:53):
And so
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (35:54):
To me, fast,
Brad Burrow (35:54):
You kind got to meet ’em where they are. And I think that’s kind of, but the impact of what’s really cool about what you’re doing is just seeing somebody’s life change.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (36:06):
Yeah,
Brad Burrow (36:07):
That’s really
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (36:07):
True. It’s true. It’s true. And we are, I think not changing their life. They’re changing their life, they’re taking the steps and they’re pressing forward and they’re battling all kinds of things with resilience and just incredible courage. And we just get to help. We get to say, I see you and I’m grateful for you. And that’s part of our vision, is uniting grateful Americans to support our military and because that’s something everybody can get behind. I think I saw a survey, nine out of 10 Americans are, I think highly of the military family. It’s like the most respected institution in America. Everybody, no matter, no matter your politics, that doesn’t matter because they have all signed up to volunteer to serve no matter who’s in leadership. That doesn’t matter. It’s what they do. And then the whole family serves alongside. And that’s something we should be grateful for.
Brad Burrow (37:05):
Yeah, it’s not just the person in the military. It is the whole
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (37:09):
Family.
Brad Burrow (37:10):
I mean, think about all the moving that you did. That’s an incredible sacrifice.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (37:16):
And I’m grateful and I’m proud to have done it. I don’t regret anything. And I think most military families would tell you that. Yes, it’s hard, but it’s worth it.
Brad Burrow (37:27):
Yeah, that’s amazing. So I wrote down the vision. It says the honor sacrifices of veterans and families. That’s kind of the vision. That’s really cool. I don’t know if you want to comment on that, but the thing I wrote down about the mission, uniting,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (37:44):
Gratitude,
Brad Burrow (37:45):
Hope and opportunity, but gratitude, I underlined. And you’ve really hit on the gratitude side of it. I mean that’s really important is when it comes to the mission, and I can hear that in you, is just thanking.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (38:01):
Yeah. And it’s putting action behind the words. I mean, we all say thank, when you see someone say, thank you for your service, but we can back that up. There are things we can do. And you don’t have to be super wealthy and write a big check. You can just volunteer or you can provide services. Whatever it is, there are ways we can show up to be thankful.
Brad Burrow (38:27):
So moving forward, what are the big challenges? I mean, I also have goals, but what are the big challenges that you have right now?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (38:36):
Fundraising, obviously, just as I said, our schools match every dollar we give them. And we have schools on a waiting list that want to partner with us. This program is that right? In the collegiate world has taken off.
Brad Burrow (38:50):
So is it like in the area type schools? All over the country.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (38:53):
All over the country. So we started here locally with five schools that said yes to this kind of bold ask, Hey, match our money and we’re not going to pay you any fees and we’re going to all be all in. And five schools said yes, the first year and 12 the next year. And you on the map, you see it expand. And now we are, as of June, it’ll be official. We’ll be in 15 states, 41 partners. One of those partners is the Kansas Independent Colleges Association. So they umbrella 21 small schools. And so we know we have students from three of those schools this coming year. And so any school you can think of in the metro area, we’re probably a partner with, but also Georgia Southern and Hawaii Pacific and Chapman University in California. I mean, we are coast to coast. So that’s huge to have become this national nonprofit with that kind of presence on campuses. And yet still really no one knows who we
(39:52):
Are.
(39:53):
And so that’s the challenge now is raising the funds to meet that sudden demand we have because it’s taken off. And I have schools like Texas Tech and some in Florida and Maryland. We have schools that have said, we have money to match, we’ll do this. We want to help this student, but we can’t sign them and add them to our list yet until we have support to do that.
Brad Burrow (40:18):
So every time you get to school, you’re like, oh, I got to go out and
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (40:20):
Raise more
Brad Burrow (40:21):
Money.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (40:21):
Exactly. Yeah. It’s a good problem to have. And especially as it grows. We have so many schools here in Kansas City. I still feel like we’re a very homegrown Heart of America charity, but we also have these schools out far away where, how do I fundraise for Virginia and Florida? And so that’s
Brad Burrow (40:43):
The challenge. What the schools work with you, here’s a list of potential donors. Do they do that kind of thing?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (40:49):
It’s tough. There may be some ways where we’re able to partner or build awareness together, but the school is also fundraising. And so we have to be careful about not kind of stepping on their toes, getting into their, not to sound like it’s not a competition, but there are donors who will give to the school for this fund. And then there are donors who will give to us for the fund. And then we come together, and that’s why our partners is in our name. We are figuring out how to really partner to bring those two to together and just build awareness for this particular need. They can
Brad Burrow (41:24):
Meet Texas a m’s got to be one of ’em, right?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (41:26):
They are, of course. That was maybe my number one goal when I came on board. And for one, Texas has the highest need of any state. They have the most chapter 35 students,
Brad Burrow (41:38):
Is that right?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (41:39):
And buy a lot. Florida’s number two, and then California. And so those three states were kind of in my sights, we need to expand. And then obviously being in Aggie, Texas a and m had to be. They were actually the second though. We partnered with UTSA in San Antonio and then Texas a and m, and now we’re working on adding more.
Brad Burrow (41:59):
More for sure. I figured that was the case. We got to go after them,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (42:03):
Right? You say we like I
Brad Burrow (42:04):
Part of it. Now’s a deal. So goals for the future is just really expanding. I mean, is that, what’s your big audacious goal?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (42:11):
Oh my gosh. I mean expand, but to do so carefully. I don’t want to grow just to grow.
Brad Burrow (42:18):
You can grow too fast.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (42:19):
You can. And I’ve seen what that does. And so really, we’re being very mindful about expanding slowly. Number one, because we signed five year agreements with the schools. They’re not legally binding, but we want to know that when we partner with you, we’re going to show up for the next five years and then we’ll have a discussion if you want to continue. And no schools have backed out so far. So we’ve only had schools come back and say, we actually want to do more. Can you match more? Seeing the need grow,
Brad Burrow (42:48):
You need about three or four of you.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (42:51):
So that is the big audacious goal. We need some staff. I have two amazing part-time staff members. Alison handles admin and events. And Emma also a Gold Star daughter. She’s just came on board to help with program communicating with the schools
(43:06):
And
(43:07):
The partnerships, because that’s a big deal to us. We want to always be a partner. So I don’t want to have a school on my list where I don’t know somebody there that I can call and say, how’s it going? What else do you need? Is this working? And so one thing I love is getting all of our school partners together. We have to do that virtually now, but we will have 50 people on a Zoom call from colleges across the country, and then they’ll share best practices and how they’re managing, because we really put the burden of administration on the school as well. And that keeps our costs low because we put this in their hands to find the student, to have them fill out an application to award the money. That’s a huge part of this process that is not on our plate. And so we are trusting the school entirely. And so by maintaining communication and then getting them together, we’ve really seen how the program has evolved on some campuses, how they’re making it a prestigious thing to become Avalor Scholar. And it’s just really the community we’ve built.
Brad Burrow (44:08):
That’s really cool.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (44:09):
It is.
Brad Burrow (44:10):
Maybe you should have a Valor Scholar graduation ceremony or something.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (44:13):
We have ideas. I have ideas out. But I mean, again, that’s my problem. I’m the visionary. I have all the ideas and I know what I want this to look like, and now I need about 20 people with me to help me do it.
Brad Burrow (44:25):
Sounds like it’s coming.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (44:26):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (44:27):
I can’t imagine a school wouldn’t want to be involved in something like this.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (44:30):
Maybe there are something I haven’t one say no yet. And that’s the thing. I would love to just go out and talk to them all and get them all signed up. And I think they would. But that we need the funding to go out and do it. And so it’s this constant challenge and the schools are seeking us out now because they’ve heard about it. And so now that’s awesome. I have to say, yes, a hundred percent, we want to partner with you, but I got to put you on my waiting list. And then we have to choose, well, who can be next? And so it would just be amazing if that was not the problem.
Brad Burrow (45:05):
Well, I want to go ahead and wrap up here, but tell us how people can get involved. How do they reach out to you if they wanted to
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (45:13):
Give
Brad Burrow (45:13):
You want to tell somebody about
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (45:15):
Yeah. Well, to give it’s easy, go on our website, valorpartners.org, and we’re running some neat, and we have a monthly donor you can join and give a recurring every month and we’ll send you a pen. And then we’re running a campaign right now for Memorial Day, for military appreciation Month is May. And we have an event at the end of June. And so right now, if you go online and give $50, you can name your hero or you can give a hundred and name two or whatever. But for every 50, you can honor a hero. We’ll put their name on a ribbon, on a flag that will be on display at that event in June. And it’s currently serving veterans Fallen, anyone that you want to honor. And then we have obviously volunteer needs, we have needs for pro bono services and marketing and all those things. But really the best thing is just social media is such a big, just a great way to get the word out these days and share stories. And so the more stories we put out there, the more people share those.
Brad Burrow (46:25):
Are you doing much on social media right now?
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (46:27):
We have really tried. The last year we went through the whole rebrand and new website, and so we post consistently and we’ve really been working hard at working with our school partners to gather those stories and to do that carefully. I mean, I know how that is as a family who has,
Brad Burrow (46:46):
You’ve probably been asked a lot to talk about your story.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (46:50):
So I want to be sensitive to people that don’t want to do that. And that’s okay. It’s hard, or it’s just not everyone needs to share that publicly. And so I would never want to expect that of our recipients, but many are like me and they want that chance to say thank you. And so I want to give them that opportunity. And so it’s just kind of a balancing act of giving our students the opportunity to share or the opportunity to say thank you and walk away, and that’s fine. So we have a lot that are willing to share, and we’re really working on ways to get their stories out. And again, our partners are great. Johnson County Community College just recorded a couple of students sharing their stories. Oh,
(47:28):
Great.
(47:29):
We’ve got at least one online right now. So you can go to our website or our social media, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and see some of those, and hopefully you’ll see it just getting better and better in this coming year.
Brad Burrow (47:42):
So people need to go out and share that content
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (47:45):
And share it, talk about it, and talk about it. And there’s a real lack of awareness for the disparity in the GI Bill for these families. And I think there’s a misunderstanding out there that, oh, if you’re a military affiliated student, there’s so much for you. Just go apply and you’ll get all the scholarships you need. And that’s not the case for these families. We are helping the most underserved of the military families pursuing higher education. I
Brad Burrow (48:10):
Feel like to find that that would be a good time to really go after policy on some of that stuff is
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (48:14):
Yes. And so obviously we are not a policy or lobbying organization, but I know that there’s things on the table. They are trying to push for some changes to chapter 35 to increase it because this is a known problem. This is a benefit that hasn’t been improved since Vietnam except for small cost of living increases. So it’s just, it’s out there. So yes, pushing for that change, and I know that the stories we’re gathering will help speak to that need, and I know that that will help those that are out lobbying and changing policies, they will be able to see that and know, okay, this really is important.
Brad Burrow (48:55):
Yeah,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (48:56):
Yeah.
Brad Burrow (48:57):
Well, that’s awesome. So the last thing I always ask, I dunno if you saw Brian do this, but I always have people do the movie voice at the end of our
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:06):
Podcast. Oh no, the inner world. The inner world.
Brad Burrow (49:09):
Right. So you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but I think it’d be fun. But the key is you have to get really close to the mike and say in a world like that, and you could have a voiceover career after this.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:21):
I could. Yeah.
Brad Burrow (49:23):
So you could give it a try.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:24):
Okay. I just have to say in a world,
Brad Burrow (49:26):
In a World with Real Media,
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:27):
Oh, you do it so well. Okay. All right. Here I go. In a world. Perfect. That’s fine. Go. We’ll call. Good. There’s my inner world.
Brad Burrow (49:39):
Well, thank you. This has been awesome. It
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:41):
Really
Brad Burrow (49:41):
Been fun. I really have enjoyed talking to you.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:44):
Same like
Brad Burrow (49:44):
A small world.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (49:45):
I can’t believe the connections that I know your wife and we’ve met your kids and yeah, it’s amazing.
Brad Burrow (49:50):
Yeah, she’s going to be surprised. Well, thank you for joining us and thank you everybody for listening in. This is The Inner World with Real Media podcast. I didn’t really do the movie voice on that one, but thank you for joining us and share this content, share the website. We’ll have that in the description, tell people about what’s happening with Valor Partners, and we want to get the word out and get people really engaged in helping you guys get those big goals. Hit. Right.
Kelli Campbell-Goodnow (50:21):
Thank you.
Brad Burrow (50:21):
All right. Thank you. And we’ll see you next time. This has been In a World with Real Media. Thanks for joining us. And be sure to subscribe on iTunes and follow real media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So you never miss an episode.