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Women of Distinction
Maggie Young

Making Fleet Week a Reality

Photo By Dawn Nicoli/Nicoli Productions not surprising that Maggie would move on we have about 4,000 students who come
By Judith A. Habert

With a heart for the military, it was
down to the pier on field trips. These field
to a job focused on honoring our military.
trips include elementary to high school-
Maggie has been volunteering in the com-
age students. We pay for buses to bring
these students to the festivities, and we
munity for over 20 years. She is currently
include many students from underserved
a Life Member of the Holiday Bowl Red
neighborhoods in the county. So, in our
Coat Committee “I also volunteered for
Fleet Week from its early beginnings but
wasn’t until 2013 that I became an employ-
for the events and the busing to get as
ee.”
many San Diego students as possible to
I asked Maggie to tell us a little about nonprofit capacity, we raise funds to pay
attend the events and learn more about
Maggie Young was born at the Naval Fleet Week; as San Diego Residents, we are the amazing work that our military does.
Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island, per- familiar with it, but not necessarily its ori- We have about 12 events during a 10-day
haps an early predictor of a future geared gins. “Fleet Week San Diego was started by period, which runs from November 1st
towards military life. “My dad was in the a group of community and business lead- through Veteran’s Day, November 11th. I
military, so we moved quite a bit. We first ers to recognize and honor the contribu- am extremely grateful to our board and a
came to San Diego when I was in the first tions of active-duty military in the region. committee full of a lot of great volunteers,
grade. We remained here through 11th Fleet Weeks all over the country but we are as we only have a handful of employees
grade, and the summer before my senior not all the same. In other regions, such as responsible for Fleet Week.
year of high school, we relocated to South Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, I was curious how many volunteers it
Carolina. After some time in Charleston, San Diego is home to the largest military took to actually pull off such an amazing
South Carolina, we moved to Hawaii.” Af- concentration in the country, and Fleet event. “Our main group of volunteers
ter her family’s stint there, Maggie decided Week is here to bring the community and includes our board and committee, which
to remain in Hawaii and did so for another the military together. It was back in 1997 comprises about 30 individuals. But we are
five years. Maggie felt it was too expensive that the local Chamber of Commerce start- also lucky to have many public and mili-
to remain on the Island, so she made her ed holding Fleet Week, but it soon grew, tary volunteers, which brings our volunteer
way back to San Diego. Maggie graduat- and in 2001, it became a private 501 C 3.” toll up to at least 150.”
ed from San Diego State with a degree in So, what happens during Fleet Week? Maggie’s job involves the extensive
English and an additional certification in “We have multiple events in November to planning that goes into each of these
accounting. honor our active duty. We have an enlisted events. She is also tasked with raising the
As with most young college graduates, recognition luncheon. We have a military money to ensure that these events can go
Maggie worked in restaurants for years. concert with both the Navy Band and on and be visited by school children in San
Soon after, she met her first husband and Marine Corps bands. Our main events Diego.
gave birth to three beautiful children. She are held down on Broadway Pier, north of With all that it entails, Maggie and her
divorced several years later and left the the Midway. We have a Navy ship, Coast crew have a short Christmas break, and
restaurant industry for a position with Guard ships, and Marine equipment. We they are right back at planning for next
DRS Technologies, a government con- have a big Innovation Zone where we year’s Fleet Week. Knowing how much
tracting company, where she worked in bring together the technology commands work is involved to ensure all the moving
accounting and contracting. of the military, the local tech companies in parts come together, it is obvious that
“When I left DRS, I went to work for San Diego, and many small tech busi- Maggie is a very structured and detail-ori-
Booz Allen Hamilton, which also supports nesses. This gives the public a chance to ented individual who realizes the impor-
the military. A big part of my job included get hands-on experience seeing what the tance of providing the amazing events that
supporting the modernization of military military does and what the companies that comprise Fleet Week.
ships. After leaving this position, I moved support San Diego and the military do as I asked Maggie what her favorite part
to my current job as Vice President and well. We also have a two-day long Student of Fleet Week was. “We have a golf tour-
COO of San Diego Fleet Week.” STEM event in the innovation zone, where nament in September prior to Fleet Week.

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