Besa Pinchotti.

Besa Pinchotti is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Military Family Association (NMFA), an organization that works with families to identify and solve the unique challenges of military life. Drawn to NMFA’s mission of supporting the families who serve alongside those in uniform, Besa has held leadership positions at the Association since 2013.

In 2025, Besa was named to The Mighty 25, a national recognition honoring leaders driving meaningful impact in their fields. NMFA’s Chief Operating Officer, Raleigh Duttweiler, was also named to the 2025 Mighty 25, reflecting the strength of NMFA’s leadership team and the organization’s growing national influence.

An award-winning journalist and marketer, Besa’s passion for supporting military families began during her career as a reporter and television news anchor. From Jacksonville, North Carolina, to Austin, Texas, and across Eastern Europe, her assignments exposed her to the lived experiences of service members and their families. She covered post-9/11 deployments, war casualties, and highly contentious Congressional hearings examining the unanticipated impacts of military life, including the lasting effects of toxic exposure on military bases.

Now a nationally recognized expert on military families, Besa speaks across the country and internationally about the military family experience. She has been featured on CNN, CBS News, NBC News, Military Times, Military.com, NPR, and other national outlets. In 2021, she was named a Military Spouse Influencer to Watch by Military Spouse Magazine. In 2022, she spoke at the First Lady’s Luncheon and launched a partnership with the Congressional Club to support military spouses pursuing careers in public affairs and government. She has also co-chaired The Military Coalition’s Communications Committee, representing 35 organizations advocating for service members, veterans, and their families.

During her tenure at NMFA, the Association expanded programming for military children, incorporated Bloom: Empowering the Military Teen into its portfolio, and provided feedback to the Quality of Life Panel of the House Armed Services Committee.

To amplify NMFA’s work, Besa collaborates with leaders around the world to recognize the service and sacrifice of America’s military families. Most recently, she met with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, who publicly thanked American military families for their role in ensuring his country’s freedom and independence. While in Eastern Europe, Besa was honored with the Elena Gjika Award for her philanthropic work and the Madeleine Albright Award for her support of military families in the United States and for advancing freedom abroad.

During the five years she spent reporting in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Besa met and married a Marine who would later medically retire from service. Through that experience, she began her own journey as part of a military family, a perspective that continues to shape her leadership and advocacy.

Besa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Journalism and a minor in Business. She also earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, focusing on the social, scientific, and humanistic dimensions of today’s world.

Besa lives in Washington, D.C., and is the proud mother of three children, including one currently attending Tulane University.