HillVets Team

Justin Brown is the Founder, of HillVets and is currently the CEO, of the Nimitz Group, a bipartisan consulting firm tackling the most difficult veteran and healthcare issues. He has nearly a decade of Veterans’ focused experience and advocacy, fighting on behalf of Veterans and their families to increase educational and employment opportunities, to expand access to benefits and healthcare, and to eliminate homelessness. He has worked for the VA, the VFW, the American Legion, and was a Staff Director for numerous Subcommittees for the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Justin began his commitment to public service at the age of 17 when he enlisted in the United States Navy. There, he completed one deployment in support of Operation Southern Watch and two deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following Justin’s service, he attended the University of Utah, graduating with dual bachelor’s degrees in three years. He became active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) where he served as the youngest All-American District Commander and Department Chief of Staff in its history.

Carrie Ann Alford joined the HillVets Foundation in July 2022 as Development Director. Carrie Ann has 20 years of experience in writing and communications, fundraising, event planning and coalition building for a variety of organizations and campaigns, as well as almost a decade of government experience in Virginia. She had a short stint as a Capitol Hill reporter, but kept getting into trouble for trying to solve the problems she was supposed to only write about. She has also worked on Capitol Hill as a staffer in both the House and Senate, and for a brief stint with the Senate Small Business Committee as a graduate fellow. In 2005, she was an Aspen Summer Words fellow and then 2006 she became a published author with the novel Click. She was a contributing author to the book Invisible Veterans: What Happens When Military Women Become Civilians Again. ​ She spent three wonderful years as aide to Virginia state senator Toddy Puller, crafting veterans and health care legislation, and then as Director of Policy & Planning for the Virginia Department of Veterans Services assisting in creating a coordinated legislative and budgetary strategy to keep Virginia the best state in the nation for military, veterans and the National Guard. She was honored to work closely with many VSOs, state agencies and localities to improve programs and services for Virginia veterans and their families, especially around employment and transition. ​ Carrie Ann lives in Alexandria, VA where she can be found walking the Mount Vernon trail with her Brittany spaniel, Goose (yes, Top Gun reference!), mixing up a good bourbon-based cocktail or refinishing furniture and treating her condo like an art & design lab.

Tessa joined the HillVets team in July 2022 as the Facilitator of Storytelling. Tessa was born and raised in the greater Kansas City area, and graduated in 2015 from The University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!) with a degree in Strategic Communication. After graduation, she worked at a social media advertising agency in Denver, CO as a part of the creative team. As the spouse of an active duty member, she took on freelancing roles in social media as she and her partner moved across the southeastern United States over the past 5 years. Tessa and her partner, Curtis, currently reside in Arlington, VA with their two rescue dogs, Bridgette and Harlow. In her free time, you can find her exploring the restaurant scene in DC, reading a good book, or keeping up with Formula 1.