Page 20 - San Diego Woman Magazine Expanded Issue

Women of Distinction

much more suited to my interests and within two years. Around this time, a friend
goals in life.” of Dev’s husband was opening his own
During her senior year she landed an firm and asked her to join. She worked with
internship with U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, him for a few years when she came upon
one of the two senators from Georgia at an opportunity that was too good to miss.
the time. Dev moved to Washington DC to With an ever-growing interest in public
intern for him, loved every minute, and was policy, Dev found out about Harvard’s
offered a staff position upon graduation. Kennedy School of Government, took the
She thrived in the position, but Dev had graduate school entrance exam, submitted
Photo Courtesy of Deval Zaveri and his staff were very supportive of her that Dev could earn her master’s degree.
an application, and was accepted. So, the
been planning to attend law school when
family temporarily relocated to Boston so
she earned the internship. Senator Nunn
Upon returning to San Diego, Dev and her
educational goals. “I was already in the pro-
cess of applying to law school and when I
husband took the leap, and opened their
was admitted to law school back home in
own law firm, Zaveri Tabb, APC.
Taking this step allowed Dev to spend
Georgia, they encouraged me to go back
more time with her children and get more
and earn my law degree. I went back to
involved in great local organizations such
Georgia and attended the University of
Chapter President. Her husband is also an
Senator in the summers.”
Deval “Dev” Georgia and continued working with the as TiE where until recently she was the
When Dev was in law school a female
active member of TiE, and her daughter is
participating in the TYE youth program dis-
Navy recruiter came to their campus. Upon
hearing the recruiter speak and seeing her
cussed in more detail below. It is through
Zaveri in uniform, it reminded Dev of how much Dev’s leadership and direction that this
she wanted to serve. She was now a citizen
organization has continued to prosper.
When Dev was a junior associate at
so she applied to become a Navy JAG.
After finishing her degree and passing the her first law firm, she was encouraged to
Past Chapter President Bar exam, she was commissioned into the attend TiE meetings. She did so and has
Navy. Being a JAG required going to officer
continued on with TiE since that very first
TiE South Coast bootcamp and then to JAG Justice school meeting in the early 2000s. She is now
where JAGs learn about military justice. At
the immediate past President and on the
San Diego first her friends and family were unhappy Chapter’s Board of Directors and is so
with her decision and almost everyone she
proud of how TiE San Diego has grown, “As
was close to tried to discourage her. She an Indian-American, I am so proud of the
was doing something unheard of in her fact that people who were new immigrants
Deval Zaveri was born in a tiny village culture. Women did not join the military. to this country were able to establish such
in India, a few hundred miles north of Nevertheless, Dev felt compelled to give a successful organization after having
Mumbai. Deval (Dev for short) joined her back and serve. It wasn’t until her parents been in the U.S. effectively for only 20
family in the U.S. when she was just five visited her at Naval Station San Diego years. When I was invited to be President,
years old. Her new home was in Chicago, where she was stationed upon graduation I accepted because I wanted to support
where she attended school. Her father, from Justice School, and saw her in uni- that and continue to support this cause.
who was an engineer, lost his job during form and realized how happy she was, that It's a way to give back, and while TiE is and
the recession in the early eighties and the they understood her desire, and felt great always will be open to everyone, I think the
family moved to Georgia. In high school pride in their daughter’s choice. fact that it was started by Indian-Ameri-
Dev became intrigued with the military After her time in the military, Dev cans and still has a lot of Indian-Americans
and pursued a dream to attend West joined the prestigious law firm of Morrison involved, is a way of giving back to this
Point. “I actually received a competitive and Foerster, an international law firm country that is now our home.”
nomination to West Point, but my parents with a thousand-plus lawyers. “It was a With a busy work schedule and two
were very concerned about my being in progressive firm that took on challenging young children, Dev still finds a large
the military, and since I was not as of yet public policy and pro bono cases. It was a amount of time to constantly work to help
an American citizen, I did not yet meet great experience for me, very demanding TiE live up to its mission statement. Thank
the admission requirement to attend. So and very gratifying. I went on to work at a you, Dev, for taking the time to help such a
instead I went to Georgia Tech. My parents few other well-respected law firms in San wonderful organization continue to grow.
had dreams of my becoming a doctor, Diego, including Bernstein Litowitz, where
so I initially majored in applied biology. I worked on some groundbreaking cases.
After about a year, I decided that medicine It was at this time that Dev and her
was not for me and I switched majors to husband, whom she had met in law school,
International Affairs, with dual minors in decided they wanted to start a family. She
economics and Spanish, a course of study was blessed to give birth to two children

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