WHO
WE ARE
TEAM MEMBERS.
Executive Director
Angela Salyer
Angela was born in the Panama Canal Zone, where her father was stationed in the Army Medical Corps. She returned to the States with her family at age 3. She and her family lived at Ft. Meade, MD and Ft. Bragg, NC until her father transitioned out of the military and moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina....
There, she was selected as one of the top 100 female athletes in North Carolina’s history. She earned a full basketball scholarship to Clemson University and as their point guard helped lead them to the school’s first ever ACC basketball tournament championship. After receiving her B.S. in Marketing, she earned a graduate scholarship and worked for the Senior Woman Administrator in the Athletics Department. She was tasked with creating Clemson’s student-athlete community outreach program, where she quickly discovered her passion for helping children in need.
After receiving her M.Ed. in Student Affairs from Clemson, Angela worked as a student advisor at Georgia and Western Kentucky Universities. Her experience working directly with students and growing up as a military kid led to her interest in joining the Comfort Crew for Military Kids.
Angela received The Comfort Crew for Military Kids “Volunteer of the Year” Award in 2011 and she joined the Crew as a staff member in 2012. She has spoken to thousands of military kids on the With You All the Way! Tour, at yellow ribbon events, youth symposiums, camps, and other special events. In Angela’s fourteenth year with the Comfort Crew, her passion to help military children continues to be fulfilled by the Crew’s mission to serve our country by strengthening military families.
Development & Grants Manager
June Harkness
Grant and Development Manager
june@comfortcrew.org
June Harkness lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana and is a proud graduate of Ball State University with a major in Entrepreneurship. From a young age she was taught about the importance of giving back and helping others and has been working to help advance various nonprofit organizations' missions since graduating college.
June loves being able to help people make an impact in the world and leave a legacy they are proud of. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), a board member of Charitable Gift Planners of Northeast Indiana, and became a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) in 2022. Over the years, she has helped raise funds for animal rescues, wildlife conservation, child abuse prevention, STEM education, and early childhood education.
Having had many family members who have served in the military and been deployed, she has seen the impact their service can have on their families and wants to help ensure that they receive as much support as possible. Parenting is the hardest job anyone will ever face and wants to make sure parents have all the tools they need to help their kids become resilient.
Director of Operations
Crystal Harmon
Crystal was born in Houston, TX, and grew up in Corpus Christi, TX. She attended the University of Texas at Austin before marrying her husband, an Active-Duty Sailor, and moving to San Diego, CA. After several PCS moves across the nation and overseas, many deployments, and the births of her daughter and son, her husband retired from the Navy and they now live in San Antonio, TX. The challenges she faced as a military spouse helped her realize the importance of organizations like the Comfort Crew for Military Kids and she wanted to get involved. Crystal has been supporting CCMK since 2018 and joined our team as the Director of Operations in 2023. Even though the military life was challenging, Crystal created amazing memories and friendships while being a military spouse and cherishes them to this day.
In addition to her role with CCMK, Crystal volunteers at her children’s schools, local children’s foster programs, women’s nonprofit organizations, animal shelters and food banks.
Director of Operations
Program Coordinator
Penney was born in Nashville, Tennessee and grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a 10-year background in Program Coordinating, Training, Volunteer Recruitment and Donor Relations. After becoming the spouse of an Active-Duty Sailor and the mother of an amazing son, she developed a passion for helping military families stay connected no matter the challenges.
Penney has been a dedicated supporter of our organization since 2018 and joined our team as a Program and Comfort Crew Station Coordinator in 2021.
Outside of her role at CCMK, she serves as a volunteer for numerous non-profits in San Diego, California and surrounding areas. She also teaches Budget for Baby classes at the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society, works with United Through Reading and has previously served as the Family Readiness Group President for her husband’s command.
Penney Leyturd
Program Coordinator
Chief Financial Officer
Tristan Pierce
Tristan joined Comfort Crew for Military Kids in March 2016 as its contracted Director of Finance. As a Partner at Accounting for Change, Tristan works with many nonprofits in Austin, TX and Washington, DC to build financial capacity. Tristan joined Accounting for Change on a full-time basis in 2016, after his tenures as Director of Finance and Administration with Bat Conservation International, in Austin, TX, and Joy of Motion Dance Center, in Washington, DC.