Women Veterans have a voice at VA

Women’s History Month 2026: Leading the change: Women shaping a sustainable future

During Women’s History Month, we proudly recognize the women Veterans who not only served our nation in uniform, but who continue to serve by shaping the future of Veterans’ health care and policy.

At VA, Women Veteran leaders are not symbolic voices—they are institutional leaders. They bring lived experience, military culture and a deep understanding of our sister Veterans directly into the rooms where decisions are made.

As we honor this year’s theme, we highlight one such servant leader whose walk of scholarship, selflessness, reverence and purpose propels a long legacy of service in women’s history.

Boots and roots

Dr. Sundonia Wonnum was born on Langley Air Force Base and raised in neighboring Newport News, Va., nestled in a region richly rooted in our national history and decked with shipyards and military installations of every branch. Growing up in such a place means understanding early that service is more than a vocation—it’s a way of life.

Her mother wore the uniform, first in the Army and later in the Air Force Reserve. Her father built the battleships and submarines that carried generations of service members across oceans. Her early learning included studying the work and innovations of NASA, where Katherine Johnson’s legacy as a human computer was launched. She marveled in musical theory and performance, like that of Newport News native Ella Fitzgerald. She roamed local historic battlefields, where many who served in the Revolution and Civil War now solemnly rest. An atmosphere of structure and commitment established her view of the world around her, while exploration and ingenuity shaped the future field ahead of her.

Through it all, Wonnum was the free spirit. She danced and cheered. She competed in track and field, performed in bands and orchestras, and moved through the world with boundless energy and ambition. The idea of confining that spirit in a uniform once felt impossible. When she graduated high school, she didn’t envision a military future. She planned to study dance, to perform, and to eventually enter the health care field.

It wasn’t until her second year at Pennsylvania State University that she began asking herself deeper questions: Who am I? Who and what shaped me? How do I want to show up in this world? A common answer, quietly persistent, was service.

With encouragement from mentors and the steady support of her parents, she joined Air Force ROTC. She earned a commission as a second lieutenant, beginning a journey that would span 24 years and, ultimately, in national leadership at VA Women’s Health.

Along that winding path, with many stops along the way, what became clear to her was this: Service does not diminish a free spirit—it offers opportunities to connect spirits, energize spaces and grow through challenges.

Quiet work, profound impact

Over the course of her Air Force career, she served first as a logistics officer, then as a clinical social worker in the Biomedical Sciences Corps. She orchestrated deployments, managed complex systems, directed clinics and oversaw national programs.

While serving on active duty, she earned a Master of Social Work from Valdosta State University and later completed a Ph.D. at Virginia Commonwealth University, beginning her doctoral studies the day after delivering her first child. Three years later, she graduated, flanked by a toddler holding her right hand and an infant hugging her left hip. That moment was not simply personal triumph, it was generational testimony of her parents, her ancestors, her mentors and her children. Wonnum knows she didn’t achieve that milestone alone. She carried her children, held her parents’ hopes, and wore the weight of the work of the valiant servants before her. She bore the torch of responsibility to widen the path for those who would follow.

Her journey—from a free-spirited child to Air Force officer, clinician, researcher—and now chief officer of Women’s Health—was not linear, it was purposeful.

But the achievements that matter most to her will not stand out in her résumé.

They are found in the service member who chose to live one more day. In the family restored after crisis. In the Veterans who regained their voices long muted by trauma. In the silent, sacred trust of those who allowed her to sit beside them in their most vulnerable moments. Success in service, social work or otherwise, is rarely loud. It is steady. It is sacred. It is measured in healing that can no longer be seen once it’s achieved.

From service member to system leader

After two decades of active research leadership and health policy work—including service at the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities—Wonnum was appointed chief officer of the Office of Women’s Health at VA on Dec. 15, 2024.

She knows that women comprise approximately 12 percent of the Veteran population—the fastest-growing group within VA health care, and that more than one million women Veterans are enrolled in VA health care.

Her mission is clear: Ensure women Veterans trust and experience timely, comprehensive, trauma-informed, high-quality, comprehensive, and well-coordinated care and services in sensitive, safe environments throughout their lives.

She doesn’t see this as an auxiliary effort. It’s not an afterthought. This is foundational to who she is.

Wonnum integrates her experiences in primary care, behavioral health, maternal-child health, suicide prevention, intimate partner violence prevention, high reliability transformation and health disparities research into her leadership. National initiatives like gynecology self-referral, enterprise-wide staffing and innovation investments, and evidence-based quality improvement programs impact system changes so that access is not complicated, care is not fragmented, and women Veterans are not navigating alone.

Why should I choose VA?

We hear it often: “VA says it has changed. Why should I give it another chance?”

• Because it is the largest integrated health care system that is designed for you and changes as your needs change.
• Because women Veterans are no longer invisible within the system.
• Because your service matters.
• Because your health matters.
• Because your life matters.
• This is not your grandfather’s VA. It is your VA.

Wonnum speaks not only as a national leader, but as a Veteran who spent 24 years both providing and receiving care within federal health systems. She understands the strengths. She’s experienced the frustrations. And she is committed—personally and professionally—to making those transitions clearer, smoother and worthy of your trust.

“If an entry point is too narrow, we widen it. If a system is confusing, we clarify it. If differences in care or outcomes exist, we mitigate them. If women Veterans are not receiving equitable care outcomes, we do not accept that as standard—we change it,” she said.

Wonnum’s story embodies the Women’s History Month theme: “She served. She leads. She listens.” Through her leadership, Women Veterans have a voice at VA, not just symbolically, but structurally.

This Women’s History Month, we honor not only history but the women actively shaping what comes next.

Standing on the shoulders of strength and courage

More than 40 years ago, visionary women fought for this moment.

In 1983, Congress passed Public Law 98-160, mandating the establishment of an Advisory Committee on Women Veterans—laying the groundwork for what would become today’s Office of Women’s Health.

Wonnum knows she doesn’t hold this seat alone. She leads from a legacy of advocates, clinicians, policymakers and Veterans who refused to allow women’s service to be overlooked. They pushed policy. They wrote. They negotiated.

Because of them, this office is not symbolic—it is legislatively mandated. And it’s enduring. Because women Veterans continue to serve, VA Women’s Health will continue to serve.

A personal commitment

Every woman who raised her right hand to serve this nation deserves a health care system that not only sees her but champions her, not only listens to her but understands her, and not only supports her but walks beside her.

“I am here because of powerful people before me created an organization to serve women Veterans’ unique needs,” she said. “I am honored to serve alongside an incredibly talented team and trusted partners, all here to meet women Veterans’ evolving needs. And we will remain here for every woman Veteran, every challenge and every opportunity to make this system stronger for tomorrow.”