Lester Lumbad

Lester Lumbad

Las Vegas Program Manager

The oldest son of a retired US Navy Master Chief, Lester witnessed firsthand the opportunities that the U.S. military afforded his family while growing up in the Navy community of San Diego. Learning his dad's stories of how he immigrated from the Philippines by joining the US Navy at Subic Bay Naval Station in Olangapo City, then beginning a career as a young sailor with a family, developing into a senior enlisted leader. After transforming that initial opportunity from a different country into a 24-year military career, starting from the bottom and successfully creating a life for himself and his family. After Lester's dad retired from active duty in 1997, Lester enlisted as an active-duty member with the US Air Force a year later.

Entering active-duty in 1998, Lester served as an electronic warfare specialist, working on the B-1B Lancer bomber aircraft at Dyess AFB, TX. He then eventually completed service at the National Air & Space Intelligence Center at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio. After leaving active duty, Lester then went to work in Washington DC for the Department of Defense, as a Senior Systems Engineer for Raytheon.

Lester and his family moved to Las Vegas in 2017. In 2021, Lester founded the Southern Nevada Veterans Chamber of Commerce, where he has built an organization that not only places a heavy emphasis on plugging veterans, military family members, and veteran supporters into needed business resources and networks, but also on the highly important dimension of veteran-resource ecosystem development. When seeking resources in the areas of veteran employment, education, entrepreneurship support, or veteran advocacy resources to address the issues in our community concerning veteran mental health, physical wellness, financial literacy, veteran legislation, veteran service-connected disability claims, and more... these programs should not be as difficult as they are to connect to. Lester’s efforts are driven by the idea that available veteran programs and resources should not be as difficult locate, identify, or navigate as they typically are. Additionally, his focus in the community is centered around the concepts of promoting maximum collaboration among veteran resources, rather than working in an environment of siloed programs and resources in the community.