Key Leaders

Zona Lewis assumed the duties of director for Military Community Outreach within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy in September 2022. With more than 30 years of public affairs and military quality-of-life program management experience, Ms. Lewis directs communications, outreach and engagement across all MC&FP directorates and programs to support the well-being and readiness of more than one million military families. She is also responsible for the office’s digital platforms and online learning program, including MilitaryOneSource.mil, MilLife Learning and more than two dozen other platforms.

Prior to her appointment to director, Ms. Lewis served as an associate director for Military Community Outreach where she was responsible for outreach to the military community and stakeholders, and transformation of digital platforms to optimize program and information delivery. In this capacity, Ms. Lewis directed the development and execution of strategic communications, digital strategies, public affairs and community engagement in support of MC&FP and the Defense Department. She began her tenure with MC&FP 10 years earlier as a program analyst translating leadership and program office visions into easily consumable messages for delivery across channels and platforms.

Ms. Lewis began her support to the military community as an intern with Navy MWR at Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland. For 19 years, she worked for the Department of the Navy supporting quality-of-life programs, including guiding strategic communications for Navy Safe Harbor, the Navy and Coast Guard’s wounded warrior support program, implementing communication and marketing strategies for Navy MWR and Fleet and Family Support Programs, and as a public affairs specialist for Commander, Navy Installations Command.

Ms. Lewis is a 1991 graduate of Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science and the spouse of a retired Navy Chief. She has completed the Defense Information School Public Affairs Officer Qualification Course and the American University Key Executive Leadership Certificate Program.

The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy is directly responsible for programs and policies that establish and support community quality-of-life programs for service members and their families worldwide. This office also serves as the focal point for coordination for a broad range of quality-of-life issues within the Defense Department.