Veteran’s Day Spotlight: Isra Pananon Weeks, MSW ’21

Isra Pananon Weeks, MSW ’21, spends some of her days working with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) where she’s Chief of Staff and Interim Chief Operating Officer. The non-profit focuses on reproductive justice in the AAPI community. On other days, she’s an U.S. Army Reserve Civil Affairs Officer, and Company Commander of a 163 person unit. 

“We have soldiers stationed overseas, soldiers getting ready to go overseas, and day to day reservists who are training for our annual training mission,” she said.

It’s a big job, and one that Pananon Weeks doesn’t take lightly. Her career in the Army began 14 years ago and she’s since held on to its values – loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, integrity, and personal courage. As a Veteran-student at NYU Silver, she learned that social work and the Army have some overlapping values, including service and integrity, as well as unique ones, like social justice. She leads according to those combined values every day.

Military Service Through a Social Work Lens

“I feel a big responsibility to make sure that people feel seen and heard because they make so many sacrifices for their country,” said Pananon Weeks referring to her role as a commander. Her social work education equipped her with that lens on which to view her military service. “I try to lead with equity in mind.” 

Pananon Weeks understands first-hand the unique needs of the civilian soldiers she works with. In addition to dealing with the physical and emotional health toll that the Army can have, reservists are constantly moving back and forth between the military and civilian worlds, which can feel complicated and disorienting. Sometimes support looks like encouraging officers to create safe spaces by sharing about their own mental health struggles; and sometimes, it looks like checking in and leading with genuine curiosity.

“You have jobs, you have kids, you have demands, and the world can be unkind. It’s [dealing with] food insecurity and health care. Everything else the world’s going through exists here as well because we are part of the population,” Pananon Weeks said. “Social work school taught me to take a step back, take a breath, and really listen to what someone is telling me. Then the most valuable thing is to ask, ‘Do you want me to listen, or do you want me to act?’”

Reimagining the Veteran

“There are not many women in leadership positions [in the Army Reserve], and certainly not many people that look like me who are majors,” said Pananon Weeks.

As an LGBTQ Asian woman in military leadership, Pananon Weeks is aware of the rarity of her position. Although she has always been ambitious, giving herself the permission to take up space and lead took time and confidence. Simultaneously, Pananon Weeks is acutely aware and bothered by the stereotypes that come with being a veteran. Yet, she challenges this story through her own leadership and sees it reflected back to her through the diversity among her colleagues. 

“The Army looks different today than it did 20 years ago,” Pananon Weeks said. “I look around my unit and there is so much diversity.”

Serving in Other Realms As Well

Pananon Weeks is proud of her work in the Army Reserve, and she’s proud of her work NAPAWF. She doesn’t find them to be too dissimilar.  

“I work for an organization that cares for all kinds of people and I’m bringing that, full force, here,” Pananon Weeks said about NAPAWF. “When I look at a soldier in a formation who signed up because they really felt like they had no choice, I know that I’m going to support them all the way to the top.”

As dedicated as Pananon Weeks is to her work, she said her most important job is being mom to the baby girl that she and her wife welcomed into the world 16 months ago. Balancing two big jobs and being a parent isn’t easy, but Pananon Weeks has figured out how to manage it. “I use another social work school lesson to get through: leaning on community.”