Kathleen Hildreth is the co-founder of M1 Support Services—a military aviation services company she has grown 100 percent organically to over 7000 employees with nearly a billion dollars in annual revenue. M1 has supported the Department of Defense in over 70 domestic and overseas locations.

Throughout her 40-year career, Hildreth has gained national attention and accolades for her government and management expertise. In 2019, she became the first and only Veteran named to the Forbes list of “American’s Richest Self-Made Women”—a list she has remained on since. She was also recognized by Forbes in its coveted “50 Over 50” list in 2023. In 2024, Hildreth was selected as a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Hildreth graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1983 and was commissioned as an Aviation officer—flying VIPs in Korea then serving as a Maintenance Test Pilot at Hunter Army Airfield before removing the uniform as captain in 1988. Hildreth served in positions of increasing responsibility with Fortune 500 companies before co-founding M1 Support Services headquartered in Denton, Texas.

Since 2020, she has served on the board of Wounded Warrior Project. Passionate about a wide variety of Veteran causes, she has supported the Medal of Honor Museum, Military Women’s Memorial, numerous military family scholarship funds, and many other local and national charities serving Veterans and their families.

In addition to a B.S. from West Point, Hildreth also earned a Master of Education degree from Georgia Southern University.