Andra Shavone Homer will receive a Career Achievement Award at the 2022 Women of Color STEM Conference this fall.

In 1997, she joined the United States Navy. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) South Pacific Division (SPK) Sacramento District, Andra was one of the first women to be integrated onto a ship as well as one of the first African American women to deploy internationally.

She spent eight years in Japan before separating from the Navy in 2005. After becoming a first-generation college graduate and getting married, Andra’s journey took her to rural Georgia to be close to her husband’s family. Georgia is where Andra’s civilian federal service would get its start.

In the end, Andra turned down a position with the IRS in Georgia, but within a few weeks, USACE’s Savannah District came calling. A supervisory position with the Department of the Interior became available in California.

By the time she applied for a job in the Programs and Project Management Division (PPMD) with Sacramento District, she had a good understanding of not only how USACE operated but also how they assisted other agencies and the military, and what it was like to be on the receiving end of USACE services. She worked her way from PPMD to Resource Management.

In March 2020, Andra was named acting chief of the resource management division, which manages finance and accounting, manpower, and budget branches, oversees the operating budget, oversees manpower allocation and resources, and the execution of payroll.

Her team of 25 handled $900 million in programs, $66.5 million in an operating budget, and $28 million in labor and payroll during the 2020 fiscal year. She was formally named chief of resource management in the fall of 2020.

“I’m a first-generation college graduate," she told USACE Sacramento District. "Just becoming the Finance and Accounting Chief was a dream to me," adding that she also had pinch me moments when she's in complete awe. "I so often feel like Cinderella at the ball and like maybe my carriage is going to turn back into a pumpkin.”

In addition to becoming a division chief, Andra also serves on the 14-person Corporate Board, which exists as an advisory board to the Commander. Sacramento District’s Corporate Board is made up of the 11 division chiefs as well as the deputy district engineer for programs and project management, the deputy district commander, and the district commander.

Andra is the first African American female to serve on the board. (Photo courtesy of Sacramento District’s Chief of Resource Management and SPK Corporate Board). She will receive her Career Achievement Award at the 2022 Women of Color STEM Conference this fall.