Louise Schelhammer
Chief Operating Officer
Louise grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and spent much of her adult life in Raleigh before ultimately following her family west to a place she had loved since childhood. She has been grateful to call Montana home ever since.
She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Textile and Apparel Management from North Carolina State University and her Master’s degree in Advertising from Southern Methodist University. Louise began her career in the advertising industry, where she spent six years honing her strategic thinking and creative problem-solving skills. She later transitioned into the tech sector, working across Customer Success, Implementation, and Sales Engineering. These roles deepened her passion for building effective systems, solving complex challenges, and supporting people through thoughtful execution, experiences that would ultimately prepare her for the work she leads today.
As Chief Operating Officer at Big Sky Bravery, Louise oversees the internal execution of the organization’s mission. She leads operational infrastructure, process improvement, and cross-departmental coordination, ensuring teams operate with clarity, alignment, and purpose. Her work is grounded in building a strong, values-driven culture that enables Big Sky Bravery to deliver world-class programming in support of the active-duty Special Operations Forces community.
Louise’s dedication to this mission is deeply rooted in her upbringing. Her grandfather served 27 years in the United States Army, and the pride he carried, along with the stories he shared, left a lasting impression. Family road trips from Greensboro to Emerald Isle often passed through Jacksonville, North Carolina, home of Camp Lejeune. In the years following September 11, banners stretching for miles sent service members off to war or welcomed them home. Those images shaped her understanding of service and sacrifice at an early age.
She believes wholeheartedly that the SOF community deserves exceptional care and unwavering support, and she considers it a privilege to play even a small role in giving back to these warriors, their spouses, and their families. Their resilience, selflessness, and willingness to carry extraordinary burdens inspire her daily. It is their profound sense of duty that fuels her commitment to building programs and systems that protect their time, honor their experiences, and offer the restorative space they so rarely receive. Louise approaches this work with deep humility, gratitude, and an unwavering sense of responsibility.
