Lisa Marie Riggins: Regional President
Lisa Marie Riggins is Regional President for the USO Southeast Region, she is responsible for USO operations and fund development in ten states: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Lisa Marie has deep connections with the military and was born into an Army family in Bremerhaven, Germany. Her career path spans that of an actress in New York City, a criminal defense attorney, a state prosecutor, a personal injury attorney and the founding President of the nonprofit Fairness for Athletes in Retirement (FAIR).
Lisa Marie began her career with the USO in 2019 as the Executive Director for the National Capital District (NCD). Under her leadership, NCD maintained positive revenue growth during the COVID pandemic, renovated six centers and all staff offices, and opened four new locations. She proactively fostered relationships with base commands and senior leadership in her district, increasing military engagement while enhancing mission delivery for the USO.
Before joining the USO, Lisa Marie practiced law as a defense attorney, a state prosecutor and personal injury attorney. She founded her own non-profit, Fairness for Athletes in Retirement (FAIR) in 2017. Lisa Marie began her career in New York city, where she lived for 25 years before relocating to Washington D.C.
Lisa Marie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Major in History from American University in Washington D.C. She earned her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in New York City and is barred in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. Lisa Marie grew up in an Army family and many of her family members continue to serve.
Download Lisa Marie Riggins’ Bio -HERE-
Sarah Kemp: Director of Operations
Sarah Kemp is the Director of Operations for the USO Southeast Region where she manages the operations, programs, budgets, and personnel for the region in ten states, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Sarah’s responsibility is to continually adapt and innovate USO services to support 33% of our nation’s active-duty military, 30% of the National Guard and Reserve forces, to include over 530k military dependents that reside in the Southeast region through their 44 locations that made nearly 1.6 million service connections in 2022 with a troop satisfaction rate of 4.93 out of 5.
Sarah’s work with the USO has spanned over 12 years. She started her career with the USO as a duty manager in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Following her assignment in Kandahar, she worked at USO headquarters in volunteer operations where she was responsible for identifying the best digital platform for a new USO volunteer database, and training 600 staff and 30,000 volunteers around the world to migrate onto the new Digital Cheetah platform.
After her time at USO Headquarters, Sarah held the position of center manager at USO Stuttgart, Germany supporting a military community of 23,000 with 15 units and two combatant commands where she increased total service instances 33% in two years. Most recently, Sarah was the Regional Operations Manager for the USO Southeast Region before assuming her new leadership position as Director of Operations.
Sarah has earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a master’s degree in leadership studies from Marshall University where she also serves on their Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. Her writing has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Military Families and On Patrol, Outside and Marie Claire magazines.
Additionally, Sarah is passionate about volunteering within her local community and serves as a coach with Girls on the Run and is a fierce advocate for Down Syndrome Awareness.
During her time with the USO, Sarah has been awarded (2) USO President’s Awards, (8) USOvations, (5) USO Kudos, and the USO Rhein Main Area Innovation in Action award.