100 people to meet in 2026: Contractors

Federal funding is the fuel that primes Virginia’s economic engine, and these government contracting executives are the drivers directing major projects for civilian, defense and intelligence agencies.

GREG CRADDOCK

CEO, PATRIOT GROUP INTERNATIONAL, WARRENTON

Patriot Group International prefers to be discreet about much of its work in the national security and intelligence spheres, but that hasn’t stopped its CEO, Greg Craddock, from grabbing a few headlines.

A former U.S. Army Ranger who later worked in the intelligence community and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan during combat in the early 2000s, Craddock won an Ernst & Young Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year award this year. EY cited Craddock’s “resilience and growth in a competitive govcon sector.”

Craddock, a Ferrum College graduate who also has an MBA from Liberty University, bought Patriot Group with private investors in 2009, five years after it was founded. The firm has landed on the Inc. 5000 list four times.

MARK DREVER

CEO, XCELERATE SOLUTIONS, McLEAN

Mark Drever planned to attend the U.S. Naval Academy but lost sight in one of his eyes in an accident. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University who also earned an MBA from the University of Georgia, Drever still found a way to serve through government consulting. He helped launch Xcelerate Solutions in 2009, building on 15 years of management consulting experience, including more than 11 years at IBM.

Ernst & Young awarded Drever a Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2025, citing his leadership in cybersecurity consulting and safeguarding federal clients. The owner of a small farm in Leesburg, Drever serves on the advisory council for Patriot Point.

A McNally Capital portfolio company, Xcelerate has grown through acquisitions. In September, the company acquired General Dynamics Information Technology’s background investigation assets, and in October it bought Maryland-based clearAvenue. The company announced in November that it will expand its headquarters in Tysons and double its 1,400-person workforce in 2026.

HALEY ESSER

CEO, BLACK CANYON CONSULTING, FAIRFAX

A 1987 graduate of William & Mary, Haley Esser leads government contracting firm Black Canyon Consulting, which landed on this year’s Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing privately held U.S. companies at No. 162 after posting 2,439% three-year growth. The woman-owned contractor ranked the third highest among the 277 Virginia-based companies on the 2025 list.

Founded in 2017, Black Canyon specializes in program and IT management support services for the IT and engineering, life sciences, AI and data analytics industries, as well as others.

Formerly CEO and president of Medical Science & Computing, Esser has been leading work on a noninvasive device that tracks impairment from PTSD, concussions and other disorders through retina measurement.

She credits her company’s growth to employees interested in career building, business development and interfacing with clients who may be more accustomed to traditional business development teams.

ANDY GREEN

PRESIDENT, MISSION TECHNOLOGIES; EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES, McLEAN

Andy Green graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served as a nuclear engineer and strategic weapons systems officer aboard the ballistic missile submarine USS Tecumseh. After leaving the Navy, Green spent time at Eaton, Celanese and Wells Fargo, where he was a managing director covering the defense and aerospace capital markets, before landing at Huntington Ingalls Industries in 2011.

Green has led HII’s Mission Technologies division since 2016 and oversees 7,000 employees developing sensitive national security solutions, including unmanned systems, electronic warfare, AI, C5ISR and more. The division posted $2.9 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue, up 8.8% from the previous year.

A seven-time winner of Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 Award recognizing leading government contracting executives, Green told Axios he can play “anything” on his 1950s Les Paul electric guitar, a range that includes Led Zeppelin, Drowning Pool, and worship music. He earned an MBA from Duke University.

KEVIN HAMER

CEO, AKIAK TECHNOLOGY, ALEXANDRIA

In 2018, longtime federal government employee Kevin Hamer visited his wife Sharon’s family in Akiak, Alaska. It sparked the couple’s decision to start IT services and consulting company Akiak Technology two years later. Sharon Hamer is a member of the Akiak Native Community, one of 56 federally recognized tribes in Southwest Alaska, and the company is owned by the tribe.

Kevin Hamer retired in 2020 after 34 years as a civil servant, having spent most of his career in digital transformation, experience that is paying off. Akiak Technology has brought broadband service to the tribal community and offers a range of IT services as a government contractor. Starting with $4,000 in revenue in 2020, the company ranked No. 106 on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, with between $25 million and $50 million in revenue. It was the second highest ranked of the 277 Virginia-based companies that made this year’s Inc. 5000 list.

ANDREA INSERRA

PRESIDENT, GLOBAL DEFENSE SECTOR, BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON, McLEAN

Andrea Inserra joined Booz Allen Hamilton in 1998, starting as an associate and advancing through a variety of leadership roles during that time. In April, she became president of the Fortune 500 government contractor’s global defense sector, the federal contractor’s largest business unit, with more than 16,000 employees. In this new role, Inserra directs the company’s advanced technology work for the Pentagon.

Inserra previously spent nearly seven years as executive vice president of the global defense sector, leading Booz Allen’s aerospace business. In 2025, she won her first Wash100 Award from Executive Mosaic, recognizing her leadership in government contracting.

Inserra serves on the board of directors for the Armed Forces YMCA as well as on the board of Haskell, the global architecture, engineering and construction firm.

JOSH JACKSON

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, ARMY BUSINESS GROUP, SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORP., RESTON

Josh Jackson joined Fortune 500 contractor SAIC in 2002 and has led the company’s 3,500-employee Army business group since December 2023. He’s responsible for helping the service with critical needs, including AI, systems engineering and integration, cloud and enterprise IT. For the past two years, Jackson received Wash100 awards from Executive Mosaic.

Jackson previously led SAIC’s Navy business and also launched the firm’s first digital solutions organization focused on transformation for government customers, and views speed in getting new technology into warfighters’ hands as a high priority. “Our soldiers can’t afford decade-long development cycles anymore, so we’re leaning into open architectures, model-based design and rapid prototyping to keep pace with emerging threats,” Jackson told ExecutiveBiz.

Jackson earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from William & Mary. He serves on the advisory board of George Mason University’s Center for Government Contracting.

SHUBHI MISRA

CEO AND FOUNDER, RAFT, McLEAN

Shubhi Misra describes herself as a “government technology disruptor.” She founded Raft, a digital engineering consultancy working in the defense industry, in 2018 to solve data and software problems she discovered while consulting with the National Institutes of Health.

“I saw a big disconnect between what was getting promised and actually being delivered in the end,” Misra wrote on LinkedIn.

A lawyer and data scientist, Misra’s work is paying off. She was named an Ernst & Young Mid-Atlantic Entrepreneur of the Year this year, as well as landing on Inc.’s Female Founders 500 list and winning a Wash100 award.

Alongside some large contract wins, Raft has partnered with SAIC and Appian on military projects. Misra has advocated for the government to overhaul defense contracting to enable access for smaller companies.

LEIGH PALMER

VICE PRESIDENT, GOOGLE PUBLIC SECTOR, VIENNA

In August, Leigh Palmer’s team at Google Public Sector — the arm of the tech giant that provides secure access to the company’s cloud technologies to government and education clients — announced the launch of Gemini for Government. A partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration, Gemini is an AI platform that aims to advance adoption of the technology across the government and is offered to government agencies at $0.47 apiece for the first year.

The tool incorporates strict data security and compliance standards, and helped Palmer earn a nod from Washington Exec as a top public sector leader to watch in 2025.

Palmer joined Google in 2022 after working for contractors like General Dynamics Information Technology, BAE Systems, Northrup Grumman and others. A 1991 graduate of Virginia Tech, Palmer is an AI advocate who believes the technology will redefine, not replace, jobs. She received a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

KEVIN PLEXICO

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, DELTEK, HERNDON

Kevin Plexico serves as senior vice president of information systems for Herndon-based software company Deltek, where he manages the research, analysis and delivery of the firm’s expert industry insight and intelligence to government contractors as well as architecture, engineering and construction firms. That includes managing delivery of GovWin IQ, a platform that helps more than 6,000 users find and win government contracts.

As a result of his work, Plexico has won six Wash100 Awards from Executive Mosaic. In 2025, the company announced new features within GovWin IQ, including a chat to receive actionable answers as well as AI-powered proposal outlines.

Plexico earned his bachelor’s in economics from James Madison University and an MBA in information systems from the University of Maryland. Plexico spent 17 years at INPUT, an IT and software market research firm that was bought by Deltek in 2010.

EARL STAFFORD JR.

CEO, APERIO GLOBAL, RESTON

Earl Stafford Jr.’s LinkedIn biography leads with his deep faith. Not only is he guided by it, he writes, but he is also committed to following the golden rule, treating others with respect and compassion.

Washingtonian magazine named Aperio Global among the Washington, D.C., region’s top 18 places to work in June. Stafford also received his first Wash100 award from Executive Mosaic in 2025.

Stafford has led Aperio Global, a cyber, data and AI solutions firm, since 2019. Under Stafford’s leadership, the 48-person firm saw shifts in executive leadership in 2024 to help spur more market growth.

Stafford spent nearly six years as a program manager at Universal Systems & Technology, a role he held when the firm was purchased by Fortune 500 aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin in 2009.

ROY STEVENS

NATIONAL SECURITY SECTOR PRESIDENT, LEIDOS, RESTON

Fortune 500 contractor Leidos has seen $4.8 billion in new federal contracts over the past 18 months under the leadership of Roy Stevens. That includes an eight-year Transportation Security Administration contract valued up to $2.6 billion to maintain security equipment at 430 airports awarded in January, as well as a seven-year, $2.2 billion classified contract.

Stevens has served in a variety of executive roles at Leidos and became president of the company’s national security sector in 2021. He oversees more than 9,000 employees delivering work in cyber, software, AI and machine learning, CSIR4, analysis, management and more for customers including the U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the intelligence community.

Stevens spent nearly 20 years at Lockheed Martin and made the move to Leidos in 2016 when the company acquired Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems and Global Solutions business segment. He received his second Wash100 Award from Executive Mosaic in 2025. He also serves on the board for Cornerstones, a nonprofit serving families in economic need in northwestern Fairfax County.

LUKE STURGES

CEO, ARTEMIS ARC, ALEXANDRIA

After spending five years as an explosives detection canine handler, Luke Sturges started federal consulting firm Artemis ARC in 2022.

Having his own company allows Sturges, who also served in the Army as a dog handler and military police officer from 2011 to 2016, to set his own hours and “do things the way I wanted to do them,” he says.

The service-disabled, veteran-owned company ranked No. 34 on Inc. 5000’s list of the fastest growing private U.S. companies in July. Not only was 2025 the first year Artemis ARC made the list, but it was also the highest ranking among 277 Virginia-based companies. Also this year, Artemis ARC received a contract to work on a Department of Veterans Affairs dental pilot program, and the company landed a spot on a 10-year, $14 billion Veterans Health Administration integrated health care contract.

WAYNE WILKINSON

CEO AND PRESIDENT, INTEGRAL FEDERAL, McLEAN

Wayne Wilkinson joined Integral Federal as the govcon’s chief operating officer in 2021, rising to president and CEO in 2022.

A provider of IT and identity intelligence solutions to the federal and civilian national security and intelligence sectors, Wilkinson has overseen the company’s growth and a move from its former headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, to McLean, bringing it closer to customers. In November 2024, Integral Federal made its first-ever acquisition when it bought Reston-based IT solutions firm Pragmatics.

Wilkinson has served in a variety of executive leadership roles for multiple companies during the last three decades. From 2018 to 2019, Wilkinson was executive vice president and COO for Reston-based IT contractor Ace Info Solutions, which was purchased in 2019 by Dovel Technologies. (Dovel was purchased by Guidehouse in 2021.)

Wilkinson received his first Wash100 award from Executive Mosaic in 2025.

Click here to return to the 100 People to Meet in 2026 list