Jennifer Devany was born and raised in the Philippines by her grandparents before she joined her mother and new family in Dallas, TX at the age of eight years old. She was adopted by her step-father who became a monumental inspiration and mentor to her life and well-being. Simultaneously she took on the role as a big sister to her younger half-sister and half-brother who she grew to love and adore.

With Jennifer’s step-father’s influence, she developed and honed in on her God-given gift to compassionately give and help others; to love the arts; to be a leader; and to impact her community. She is doing just that to this day. She has volunteered her time to children’s charities such as The Dallas Margarita Society, Love for Kids, the Police Athletic League of Dallas, and Big Thought. She has volunteered her time as an Ambassador for the Dallas Arts District, and the Green Bandana Group as part of her passion for the arts, music, and dance; and she has also volunteered her time with reTreet America in an effort to replant communities and bring awareness to riding bicycles.

After obtaining her AAS at Colorado Technical University and pursuing her major in HR Management, Jennifer found her calling in Human Resources. Working for FGR Food Corporation and Kenexa, supporting UnitedHealth Group in the Human Resources department, aided in her desire to work not just in any HR field, but to work for a non-profit where she is impacting lives of others. This desire brought her to work with Methodist Health System (a non-profit hospital) where she obtained a position as HR Specialist, and was quickly promoted as Benefits Specialist. She is currently a Human Resources Generalist at Diagnostic Assessment Services.

From 2008 through 2010, Jennifer traveled throughout Europe and some parts of The Middle East where she quickly got to know herself, where she was able to grasp the meaning of truly living life to its fullest and how huge of an influence different cultures shape people.  She was a co-founder of a German-American Women’s Book Club of Bitburg.  In addition, Jennifer started a wandergruppe (hiking group) in Bitburg, DE in an effort to get to know local Germans and learn about their culture, and vise-versa for them. In all that does, she sees the importance in others’ culture and to respect it. Lastly, to complete her stay in Germany, she and a few military friends participated in a salsa dancing performance during two culture events in Germany and The Netherlands.

Upon returning to the U.S., a life changing event occurred that tested her friendships, her family, her strength, and her faith. She was diagnosed with a Psuedopapillary tumor and had a Whipple surgery on October 2010 where she remained in the hospital for approximately a month while she recovered. After her surgery, her outlook on life changed and she continued living her life helping others, assisting in making a difference, and living a holistic lifestyle. She has volunteered any of her spare time to helping the community. She also became a Pescetarian (fish vegetarian) that year of her surgery, and still continues to live that lifestyle today.

Jennifer has served as ATG’s Secretary, Co-Director of Community Outreach, Co-Director of Programming/Events and now Ambassador. When she’s not working, she thoroughly enjoys mountain and road biking, and educating herself on God and leadership. Jennifer is a mother to a three year-old beautiful daughter, Valery.  With her involvement with ATG and other non-profits, she would like to be an example and leave a legacy to her daughter, just as her step-father had done for her.

What does going Against The Grain mean to you? “Being comfortably uncomfortable with being and thinking deeper than the norm, pushing the boundaries, taking life to the edge, and questioning normalcy.”

Quote to live by: “You can’t make footprints in sands of time by sitting on your butt. And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time.” – Bob Moaward
Passionate about: Faith, family, serving others, traveling, thoughts and ideas by others, writing, and my constant desire to want something more out of life.
Sign: Gemini/Boar
Favorite food: Anything Filipino to bring me back to my roots, Korean food, crab legs, sauteed garlic and onions (weird)
Can’t live without: My family (particularly my daughter), my faith and outdoor sports
Color Personality: True Blue