Traci Scott, communications strategist, author and public speaker, started her broadcasting career at just 16 years old with the Far East Network (FEN) in Japan. Since then, her career path has taken her from CBS News, Capitol Hill, and the Pentagon to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan and advising more than a dozen Army generals and a cabinet secretary. She joins program host Dr. Chris Meek to describe how her love of country inspired her to go to Iraq in 2003, where she served as a civilian press officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority and later wrote a book, “Take Off Your Hoop Earrings Before Putting on your Gas Mask: A Civilian Chick’s Guide to Surviving a War Zone,” about how coping with daily attacks, the loss of friends, and unideal living conditions, among other life lessons, taught her how to use wit, determination and perseverance to survive. She speaks candidly about how the lessons about leadership she learned in Iraq and other areas of life led her to create and develop a non-profit, The Green Dress Project, which mentors and prepares young women from underserved communities for their future careers.

 

About Traci Scott: Traci Scott was only 16 years old when she started her broadcasting career with the Far East Network (FEN) in Japan. Since then, her career path has taken her from CBS News, Capitol Hill and the Pentagon to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most recently, she has served as a key advisor to more than a dozen Army generals and a cabinet secretary. She later decided to transition out of broadcasting, moving to Congress where she first launched a communications office for a freshman U.S. Senator and subsequently generated a similar effort for an up-and-coming political candidate.  In 2003, her love of country inspired her to go to Iraq, where she served as a civilian press officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority. Later, she was chosen to stand up the press office for the special inspector general for Afghanistan. In 2015, Scott was one of 60 leaders chosen from 1000+ applicants to participate in the first Presidential Leadership Scholars class. This prestigious program was founded by Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Those lessons in leadership led her to create and develop a non-profit, The Green Dress Project, which mentors and prepares young women from underserved communities, for their future careers. Scott was among the first to earn a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Political Management when it merged with the George Washington University in 1996. She graduated from Howard University with a degree in broadcast journalism in 1987.