100 People to Meet in 2026: Impact Makers

Whether expanding broadband access or leading celebrations of Virginia’s role in the United States’ birth, these impactful Virginians are changing the commonwealth for the better.

TAMARAH HOLMES

OFFICE OF BROADBAND DIRECTOR, COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND

Based at the state Department of Housing and Community Development, Tamarah Holmes is the state’s broadband guru, focusing on expanding reliable high-speed internet access across the entire state.

Holmes is the chief architect of the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, started in 2017 to connect remote, underserved communities statewide — a massive project that has involved providing broadband to hundreds of thousands of homes, businesses and other facilities. In 2026, Holmes expects to have connected 370,000 street addresses to the internet, and in the future, her office will focus on the remaining 133,000 unserved locations, using federal funding.

In addition to her broadband duties, Holmes is the state’s Appalachian Regional Commission program manager, representing 25 counties and eight cities in Southwest Virginia to spur economic growth there — a position she’s held for more than a decade. Holmes, who previously held administrative posts for Chesterfield County and the City of Richmond, earned her Ph.D. in public policy and administration at Virginia Commonwealth University.

STEVE HOPKINS

MAJORITY OWNER, RIVERVIEW FARMS CATTLE, LOUISA COUNTY

A retired 29-year Virginia Cooperative Extension agent, Steve Hopkins is a sixth-generation farmer whose 1,200-acre Riverview Farms Cattle operation in Louisa County annually runs 300 cows, develops 300 bulls and raises 153,000 turkeys, in addition to growing hay, corn and sorghum to feed its livestock.

In July, Hopkins was named the 2025 Virginia Farmer of the Year by the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition and competed in the Southeastern Farmer of the Year contest, although a Georgia farmer went on to win.

In 1998, Hopkins founded the Central Virginia Cattlemen Association, an organization of about 300 farmers that markets about 10,000 head of cattle annually. He continues to serve as the association’s marketing director and serves on the boards of his local co-op and Growmark.

Riverview Farms Cattle is also a nominee for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association’s 2026 Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award, the winners of which will be announced in late January.

CHERYL McLESKEY

PRESIDENT AND CEO, McLESKEY, VIRGINIA BEACH

Cheryl McLeskey wears many hats, leading her family’s Virginia Beach real estate and leasing company and as a health care philanthropist.
She’s also a licensed pilot, champion fisher and accomplished swimmer who inherited her love of adventure and the ocean from her father, a World War II frogman.

She assumed leadership of McLeskey in 2012, following the death of her husband, F. Wayne McLeskey Jr., the company’s founder and an influential developer in the region.

Five years after her husband died from lymphoma, McLeskey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. After overcoming this challenge, she donated funding this year for Sentara Health to purchase a new 3D mobile mammography van to perform tests and screen for breast cancer in underserved Hampton Roads communities.

She also co-founded the McLeskey Family Foundation, supporting organizations such as the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, JT’s Camp Grom and the Military Aviation Museum.

KAREN SCHERBERGER

CEO AND PRESIDENT, SAIL250 VIRGINIA, NORFOLK

After decades of leadership experience in tourism, special events and nonprofit management, Karen Scherberger is now in charge of a massive maritime celebration for the nation’s 250th anniversary. Scheduled for June 2026, Sail250 will attract more than 60 tall ships and naval vessels from around the world to Virginia, eventually docking in Norfolk.

Scherberger, who served as CEO of event planning company Norfolk Festevents for nearly 40 years and is now its executive chairman, is overseeing all aspects of planning, partnerships and programming for the Sail250 event, which is anticipated to draw more than 3 million visitors next summer to the Chesapeake Bay region. The fleet of ships also will come to Boston, New York, Baltimore and New Orleans next year, and
10 Virginia cities will host some of the ships.

CHERYL WILSON

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VA250, RICHMOND

Cheryl Wilson was a natural pick to lead the commission charged with celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday and highlighting Virginia’s pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. A former deputy clerk for the Virginia House of Delegates, Wilson led a similar commission that planned the state’s Civil War sesquicentennial events in 2015. She also served as executive director of the state’s World Wars I and II commission, marking the 100th and 75th anniversaries of those conflicts.

Under Wilson’s leadership, VA250 already has a mobile history museum traveling the state and is shepherding numerous exhibits and events, such as the commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the Fifth Virginia Convention, which will be held in Williamsburg on May 15, 2026.
Created by the General Assembly, the VA250 Commission will last through 2031, when Virginians commemorate events that led the British to surrender at Yorktown in 1781.

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