Virginia 500 Spotlight: JENNIFER CHRONIS

FIRST JOB: Retail salesperson at The Fashion Factory in Burke

HOBBY: Exercise in any form —walking, hiking, biking, swimming

PERSON I ADMIRE: Abraham Lincoln, for leading our country through one of its darkest times, ending the Civil War and signing the Emancipation Proclamation

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Stay calm and keep everything in perspective.

WHAT MAKES ME PASSIONATE ABOUT MY WORK: Serving our public sector customers and helping them perform their missions more effectively, better serve constituents and improve the quality of education through digital transformation

SOMETHING I’D NEVER DO AGAIN: Go out in a boat in the Chesapeake Bay when a storm is approaching

DID YOU KNOW? Chronis is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and combat veteran with more than two decades of service. She served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, stationed in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and Operation Enduring Freedom in Bosnia. A University of Virginia graduate, she has also worked for Amazon Web Services, IBM and Verizon. In 2015, Chronis ran as a Republican for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors against incumbent Supervisor John Foust, a Democrat. Foust won reelection, garnering 15,014 votes to Chronis’ 12,615.