Wendy Lang is the Senior Advisor for Policy and Research at Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services. In this role, she provides strategic guidance on research-driven solutions and policy initiatives that inform and strengthen our national programs. Her work ensures that our efforts are grounded in data, aligned with evolving veteran needs, and positioned to influence systems that impact veterans and their families.
Since joining Dixon Center, she has applied her expertise in education policy, veteran support services, and cross-sector collaboration to expand access and opportunity for those who have served. She is a nationally recognized leader in veteran and military family policy, known for building innovative programs and advancing practical solutions that empower veterans to thrive in their communities.
Wendy’s career began in the New Jersey state government, where she held key leadership roles in research and policy development for K-12 and higher education. She served as Senator John H. Ewing’s Chief of Staff. She was later appointed to lead the Senate Education Committee and subsequently appointed as Governor Christie Todd Whitman’s Education Policy Advisor.
Since founding OCP in 2008, she has managed all programming, staff, research, public relations, and strategic partnership development. She designed one of the first websites to serve Post-9/11 veterans, authored the nation’s first comprehensive guide for veterans’ service providers (The OCP Field Guide), and designed the Certificate for Veterans’ Service Providers (CVSP) training. In 2011 and 2013, Wendy published landmark research, “Completing the Mission I and II,” on the progress of student veterans toward degree attainment. In 2021, in partnership with the Texas A&M University System, she published a third “Completing the Mission” report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education and student veterans.
From 2020 to 2024, Wendy led the Bush Institutes’ Higher Education and Employment Task Forces, focusing on contemporary initiatives to optimize the postsecondary success of student veterans and reduce barriers to employment in high-demand fields.
Wendy regularly presents at national conferences as a subject matter expert in best practices to support the military-connected student population. Her work with OCP has been highlighted in The New York Times, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Chronicle on Higher Education, Military Times, NBC, NPR, and CNN, among others. She received her BA in Political Science and MA in International Relations from Drew University, where she co-founded the John H. Ewing Center for Public Policy.
