Deb Violette

Deb Violette serves as founder and president of Free Me from Lung Cancer, a Maine-based nonprofit that raises funds for research while assisting high-risk uninsured patients with early lung cancer screening, providing radon air abatement systems to single-family low-income homeowners, and offering financial support for transportation and lodging to improve healthcare access in rural communities. A lung cancer survivor given a 10 percent chance of living two years in 1998, she underwent treatment including resection of her right lower lobe at Brigham and Women's Hospital before returning to work. She began her professional career after graduating from Cony High School, working in restaurants and then joining the state of Maine at the Department of Education, later moving to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor for a total of 14 or 15 years, where she advanced to the role of unemployment tax auditor conducting payroll compliance audits. While employed she earned an accounting degree from the University of Maine in Augusta. Motivated by the lack of lung cancer-specific support organizations in Maine, she started Free Me from Lung Cancer in 2012 after years of advocacy work with national groups, and she continues to lead the organization from her base in Augusta.