2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Dana Weston Graves

In 2020, Graves joined Sentara as president of its Princess Anne Hospital, an acute-care facility in southern Virginia Beach. She was previously president and CEO of UNC Rockingham Health Care in North Carolina and has degrees from the University of North Carolina and Emory University. Graves also serves on the YMCA of South Hampton Roads board.

WHY I CHOSE MY PROFESSION: I always knew I wanted to work in health care but had no knowledge of jobs outside of physicians and nurses. My junior year at Emory, I heard a senior mention health administration. I decided to apply to programs even though I didn’t really know what it was! And I fell in love with the field. I get to combine business acumen with improving health, a dream come true.

HOW I GIVE BACK: “Be who you needed when you were younger” is the phrase that guides me. I actively mentor young leaders, especially women from underrepresented backgrounds, so they feel supported in their career journey. I also serve on boards and organizations that are committed to those who need it most, including the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, United Way Women United and Alpha Kappa Alpha.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE MY MENTOR GAVE ME: As a child, I would sometimes go with my dad to clean buildings. One evening, he said to me, “This company has both a CEO and a janitor. If both of them don’t come to work for three days, which one will they miss? Don’t you ever look down on any job.” That advice rooted me.