The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 10

LUNCH WITH...

Believing in the Collective Effort
WHEN AFIRA DEVRIES strides into Beamer's 25 for our lunch, she hugs me as though
we've been friends for years. And by the time
our lunch of turkey and smokey burgers with
tater tots and onion rings is over, I feel like
maybe we have been and I just never realized
it until now.
As President and CEO of the United Way
of Roanoke Valley, DeVries is in charge of the
largest branch in our region. United Way acts
as the connective tissue for the community,
and DeVries plays a lot of different roles in her
job, including overseeing administrative work,
leading strategic direction and planning processes, and having conversations with groups,
media and other organizations to design social work.
"United Way manages a few initiatives and
programs, but we are the organization that
brings social service networks together to solve
social problems," she says. "In many respects
our organization identifies gaps in service and
figures out who should work together to fill
and solve those gaps. It's a lot of social work
crafting so that there's a much stronger, tighter
network."
DeVries has been involved with United
Way since her entry-level position after college at Averett University. The United Way's
particular mission "spoke to her soul" and appealed to her as a critical piece of the community's fabric.
On any given day, she can play with a child
in their preschool and see how they're learning
thanks to a curriculum United Way helped
establish; in that same afternoon, she can sit
with CEOs and industry leaders to discuss
philanthropic goals.
"It does not feel like a job, it feels like something I am supposed to do," she says. "Who
I am, what am I saying, if I don't have the
proximity to the actual population and community we're serving? It's important for me to
never lose touch with the product of our effort, which is a community that benefits from
10 | MARCH/APRIL 2017

LIZ LONG

Afira DeVries is not only a leader, but doing exactly what she thinks she was "meant to do."

Afira DeVries is passionate, driven and dedicated to her roles as CEO, mother and friend.

our work. Being that conduit is what I believe
I was put on this earth to do."
DeVries is a role model not just for her two
young daughters, but for the community at
large. She sees our city as "beautifully diverse"
and accepts the challenge of being a woman
of color in a unique position to be a mouthpiece of a community that needs and deserves
representation.
"I made a decision a long time ago to expect the best from people and to behave as
though that's my expectation. More often than
not, it leads to the best outcome," she says.
"If you're going to be successful and you
ever get to the place where you get to be the
example of what someone else's potential
might lead to, you have no right to turn your
back and you must embrace it. I'm proud to
be some kind of example and I hope every
day it's enough for someone. Not just for
women of color, but young women in general. There's a lot that comes with being a female leader and as a woman of color. There's
nothing else I can do but accept that and do
my best with it."

Having only been in Roanoke for two
years, DeVries has enjoyed every moment. She
remembers the weekend she and her husband
Jason visited Roanoke for the recruitment process, visiting downtown Roanoke on a cold,
drizzly day.
"We thought it had all the life of a big city,
but you could feel it was a community...it feels
good to be a part of a community that believes
in a collective effort."
When she's not working, zumba is her
happy place, as are hikes in our mountains.
When time permits, she loves to paint, but of
course being with her family is the best part
of her day. She and her daughters share a love
of fashion and shopping and she helps her
daughter, Ava Rosa, with her video journalism (see page 21 to meet this impressive kid
journalist!).
"This is my home now. My children feel
connected here, it's a beautiful city, and it really is a great place to raise a family and know
good will come of them being here."
-LIZ LONG

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The Roanoker March/April 2017

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