LYN McDERMID

Lyn McDermid briefly debated whether she wanted to go back to work when the opportunity arose to join Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration. She had already retired twice from chief information officer jobs, first at Dominion Resources (now Dominion Energy) and later for the Federal Reserve.

But the chance to serve as secretary of administration to improve processes in the commonwealth — from state parks to mental health institutions to the Department of Motor Vehicles — was too intriguing to pass up. And “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” McDermid says. 

In a career spanning private sector and government, McDermid has always had women mentors. In fact, a woman she worked with encouraged McDermid to apply to the Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding — where she was the first woman accepted. Growing up as a self-described “Army brat” was also formative: “Moving 14 times before graduating high school,” she says, “gave me the resilience that seems to help with business.”

Be it for customers and shareholders of a Fortune 500 company or citizens of the commonwealth, McDermid says, she’s always felt a call to serve. It was “a real privilege” to work for the Federal Reserve as it navigated the financial crisis, she says, while her other personal career highlights include mentoring young women and launching the Women in Technology group in Central Virginia.

But a different feeling of responsibility defines her latest career chapter: “Having the opportunity to truly serve the public has been a pinnacle of my career and a crescendo.”

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