Board Member
Kris Cotariu Harper has been an Army wife for 30 years. Throughout that time she has been an advocate for the military family, serving in various positions to advance their welfare.
As assistant coordinator for the Army Family Advocacy Program in the Republic of Panama, she promoted community education and awareness of domestic violence and worked in conjunction with Army Community Services to identify young victims. She directed the “Kids on the Block” puppet program designed to sensitize school-age children to the harsher realities of life. In Virginia and Washington state, she delivered classes in Anger and Stress Management, and Parenting Education Programs to military families involved in domestic violence. At Fort Lewis, Washington; Virginia and Bayonne, NJ, she was a Girl Scout leader.
Kris is a master trainer with Army Family Team Building, a program designed to empower military spouses to help themselves and each other. As a Family Readiness Group leader, she provided both physical and emotional support to military families during national, local and personal crises. She led family support groups during Operations DESERT STORM and RESTORE HOPE and personally supported family members of a murder victim, suicides, and train-pedestrian accident casualties.
Kris co-authored “The Impact of the Military Lifestyle on Classroom Behavior and Achievement” which she presented at professional development workshops for educators working with military children in Europe and the United States.
Professionally, Kris is a high school social studies and behavioral sciences teacher and has worked with incarcerated adults and youth-at-risk. She has been an historical interpreter at Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center. Kris earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Santa Clara and a Master of Education (curriculum development) from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She has been working with Olive Branch International since 2000 and has participated in over a dozen programs, leading groups at a Women’s Conference and English Camp.
Kris lives in Charleston, SC with her husband, Brigadier General Gil Harper (US Army-Retired). They have three children, two of whom have participated in Olive Branch programs in Ukraine.
