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Recent Articles from Kate Andrews
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Rahni N. Jenkins
Jenkins has led the Geller Law Group’s operations and human resources since 2023, but she worked with the firm as a contract consultant beginning in 2020. Before that, Jenkins held leadership roles at the March of Dimes and advised Microsoft and other organizations. She holds DEI credentials from Cornell and is a doctoral candidate at […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Dana Weston Graves
In 2020, Graves joined Sentara as president of its Princess Anne Hospital, an acute-care facility in southern Virginia Beach. She was previously president and CEO of UNC Rockingham Health Care in North Carolina and has degrees from the University of North Carolina and Emory University. Graves also serves on the YMCA of South Hampton Roads […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Myra Goodman Smith
Last July, Smith announced her plans to retire in 2025 after 15 years at the helm of LMR, which among other programs offers an annual leadership training course known as Leadership Quest. A Richmond native, Smith spent more than two decades at United Way and is immediate past chair of the Jenkins Foundation, which funds […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Clyde Clark Jr.
In addition to serving in Blue Ridge Bank’s middle market banking group, Clark is assistant treasurer of the Virginia Maritime Association board, board chair of the Urban League of Hampton Roads and past chair of the Chesapeake Economic Development Authority. Clark has worked in community banks for more than 30 years. FIRST JOB: Bagger/cashier at […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Zenith Barrett
Since 2010, Barrett has worked in business and community engagement in western Virginia, both on the Western Virginia Workforce Development Board and at the regional Goodwill. In 2024, she became vice president of advancement, leading the nonprofit’s philanthropy, government affairs and engagement activities. FIRST JOB: I worked in my hometown for the Mayor’s Summer Youth […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Jennifer V. Montague
In 2023, Montague was named president and COO of Columbia Gas, after serving as parent company NiSource’s senior vice president and chief customer officer. Her time in the energy industry goes back decades, having previously worked at BP and Commonwealth Edison. Montague also serves on boards for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, UNCF Richmond and […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Benita Thompson-Byas
Thompson-Byas joined the company started by her brother Warren Thompson right at its launch in 1992. Over the past three decades, Thompson Hospitality has grown from a group of 31 Big Boy restaurants to become the nation’s largest minority-owned hospitality business. Thompson-Byas is in charge of the company’s partnership with Compass Group, including more than […]
2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Deirdre C. Gonsalves-Jackson
Trained as a biologist, Gonsalves-Jackson leads Virginia Wesleyan’s online, Japanese, evening and weekend programs under the umbrella of the VWU Global Campus. She’s been recognized for STEM outreach and has received multiple teaching and community engagement awards. In 2024, she was promoted from dean to vice president. FIRST JOB: My first job after graduating college […]
White House decisions weigh heavily on Va., Hampton Roads economies, experts say
While federal workers ponder taking a buyout offer from President Donald Trump and a now-rescinded federal funding freeze memo caused confusion and worry over the status of major economic development projects in Virginia, economists at Old Dominion University say uncertainty in Washington, D.C., is the major factor affecting the state’s and Hampton Roads’ economic futures […]
Fairfax casino bill moves forward in Va. Senate
A Virginia State Senate bill that could bring a casino to Tysons won a vote in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, pushing it forward to a full Senate vote later in the Virginia General Assembly session. If passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Fairfax County voters would have the […]
