Lorna Mae Devera, United States Navy Veteran, member of the American Legion Post 20, National Press Club; America's Founding Fathers: A Legacy of Service.

Lorna Mae Devera, the youngest of six daughters, was born in Oakland, California, and raised in Hayward by her parents, Leonardo and Felipa (Naparota) Devera, emigrants from the Visayan Islands, Philippines.

After graduating from high school in 1991 at just 17 years old, she broke from cultural expectations and moved to San Diego to pursue college. While there, she continued forging her own path and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1993 through the Sea Air Mariner program as an undesignated Seaman Recruit. Her service not only funded her education but also provided opportunities to travel extensively.

During her two decades in the Navy Reserve, Lorna Mae was commissioned as a Public Affairs Officer in 2008 and served in a range of challenging and austere environments, including Lomé, Togo; Freetown, Sierra Leone; and both Helmand Province and Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (2011–2012).

She retired in 2018 as a Lieutenant after 24 years of honorable service. She then transitioned to the private sector, working at Lockheed Martin before being recruited by Perspecta (now Peraton), where she supported U.S. government in the information technology and services space. She continues to contribute to the field of information technology and digital modernization as a government contractor with a leading federal services firm.

A proud lifetime member of American Legion Post 20, Lorna Mae remains a dedicated and vocal advocate for inclusiveness.