Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, PhD, MA

Dr. Qwynn Galloway-Salazar (Doc Q) is an Army Veteran, Designer of Compassionate Communities, and applied theatre practitioner whose work is transforming how communities care for one another through the power of story. As Founder and CEO of In Their Honor, she pioneers a story-centered approach that brings together healthcare, higher education, the arts, and community partners to strengthen support for Service Members, Veterans, their Families, Caregivers, and Survivors across caregiving, aging, serious illness, grief, survivorship, and end-of-life.

Through applied theatre, facilitated dialogue, education, and strategic community design, Doc Q helps organizations move beyond awareness toward cultures of belonging, where care is understood as a shared civic responsibility rather than the work of healthcare systems alone. Her work equips professionals and communities to build compassionate ecosystems grounded in cultural humility, human connection, and collective action.

For more than two decades, Doc Q has advanced innovative approaches that bridge military culture, healthcare, community engagement, and the arts. Her leadership has influenced national education initiatives, interdisciplinary collaboration, and emerging models of compassionate care. This includes leadership with PsychArmor, where she helped create the nationally recognized Caring for Veterans Through the End of Life educational collection, and with the International Doula Life Movement Institute, where she co-leads the world’s first Veteran-focused end-of-life doula education initiative.

As Artist-in-Residence with Grief Dialogues, Doc Q uses applied theatre to create immersive experiences that invite audiences to witness, reflect, and participate in conversations about service, caregiving, grief, moral injury, and remembrance. Productions including In Honor (2026), Grief Dialogues: Memorial Day (2025), and Can I Trust You: Supporting Veterans at the End of Life (End Well, 2024) demonstrate how storytelling can deepen empathy, strengthen civic connection, and inspire communities to become active partners in care.

A George W. Bush Institute Veteran Leadership Scholar (Class of 2025), Doc Q also serves on the Board of Directors of the Caregiver Action Network, advancing national efforts to recognize caregivers as essential partners in health and community well-being. She was named USA TODAY’s 2024 Woman of the Year for Georgia and the inaugural Georgia Woman Veteran of the Year (2022).

At the heart of her work is a simple but transformative belief: stories change systems because stories change people. When people see themselves in one another’s experiences, care becomes more than a service—it becomes a shared practice of belonging that communities create together.