They might be new to their positions, but they bring decades of experience and new vantage points to the table. Here’s a sampling of Virginians — some fresh faces, some familiar — who are taking on significant new roles.
Jody Alexander
President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Richmond Richmond
Jody Alexander was only 5 when she began swimming lessons at a YMCA in Ohio, but that first dip in the pool sparked a 34-year career. In June, Alexander took the reins at the YMCA of Greater Richmond, where she oversees 17 branches serving more than 200,000 residents.
The Y was central in Alexander’s childhood, so her first job as a swim coach while a student at the University of Toledo was a natural fit. “It’s been full circle, from taking swim lessons to becoming CEO,” she says. The largest provider of child care in Virginia, the YMCA is also a major employer for first-time job seekers ages 16 to 22. “Even if our employees don’t make a career of the YMCA, we can launch them on a great trajectory.”
Jeremy Bridges
President, Hampton Roads Shipping Association Norfolk
Jeremy Bridges started at the HRSA in May, succeeding Roger Giesinger, who led the Norfolk-based trade association for 28 years. The Chesapeake native returned to Hampton Roads after spending years in Southern California working for shipping giant CMA-CGM America as vice president of labor relations and also as an area managing director of the Pacific Maritime Association.
A James Madison University alum with a degree in finance, the former linebacker and tight end on the school’s football team maintains a strong interest in rooting for the Dukes and enjoys home gardening.
Dr. John Jane Jr.
Neurosurgery chair, Carilion Clinic Roanoke
In June, Dr. John Jane left his hometown of Charlottesville — where he spent all but six years of his life — and moved west, becoming Carilion Clinic’s first head of neurosurgery and chair of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine’s new neurosurgery department, which is pending state approval. In these positions, he’ll be working closely with researchers at Virginia Tech and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Although Tech already had a small neurosurgery program, the new department will provide training for more new neurosurgeons, who are in high demand, Jane notes. “We are actively training residents and hoping to grow the program and train more neurosurgeons, and those are among our aspirational goals,” he says. “It is a gem of a department, and I am one of the blessed people on this planet.”
Tyrone Noel
Hampton Roads market president, Bank of America; greater Virginia market executive, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Williamsburg
As Virginia market executive for Merrill Lynch, Noel’s territory covers Charlottesville to Virginia Beach. In September, he was named the Hampton Roads market president of Bank of America, where he leads 500 employees across eight business lines, while continuing with Merrill Lynch. His strategy for both positions remains the same: delivering for the community and making Hampton Roads a great place for employees through recognition, mentoring and promotions.
Noel is passionate about helping people realize their abilities: “We do noble work. We really do help clients change their lives, whether it’s as simple as saving for their first car or something more profound like selling their business.”
Helping the sick, giving the disadvantaged hope and protecting the environment, these Virginians put others’ needs ahead of their own, making the commonwealth a better place.
Dr. Victor Agbeibor
St. Francis Family Medicine Residency Program director, Bon Secours Midlothian
Dr. Victor Agbeibor has trained 300-plus residents over his career. In June, he also started consulting for the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Residency Program Solutions, helping to develop new residency programs.
A Ghana native, Agbeibor completed medical school in Russia, participating in a Soviet Union scholarship program for people from developing countries before completing his residency in Oklahoma, choosing a program focused on medical missions training. He then completed general surgery training in Nashville, Tennessee.
Now living in Williamsburg, he and his wife met during their residencies. In 2005, they founded their Amani Medical Foundation, through which they’re building a not-for-profit 125-bed children’s hospital in Ghana. In October, Agbeibor took eight Bon Secours doctors and residents on a medical mission to Ghana.
In 2024, he will lead the St. Francis program’s expansion into Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital, and he plans to lead missions to Bolivia and Haiti.
Maureen McNamara Best
Executive director, Local Environmental Agriculture Project Roanoke
Maureen McNamara Best has been interested in all aspects of the food system since she gardened alongside her mother as a child. Today, as executive director of Roanoke nonprofit LEAP, she focuses on how people interact with food availability and how to nurture an equitable food and farming system that prioritizes health and abundance for everyone. A Bloomberg Fellow, Best studies food, community and health at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her organization runs a mobile farmers market that stops in 16 area neighborhoods that have limited access to fresh produce, offering 50% discounts for SNAP and Medicaid participants. “With more visibility in the community,” she says, “we finally have space to grow.”
Dr. Neal Kassell
Founder and chairman, Focused Ultrasound Foundation Charlottesville
Previously neurosurgery co-chair at the University of Virginia’s medical school, Dr. Neal Kassell created the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in 2006 to advance the development and adoption of focused ultrasound, a noninvasive medical treatment that has more than 180 clinical uses, including treating Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer. By the end of 2022, the foundation provided $14.9 million for 131 completed preclinical studies, and as of 2022, it had 24 research partner institutions and organizations across seven countries.
In 1988, Kassell operated on future President Joe Biden’s two life-threatening brain aneurysms. In 2016, the University of Pennsylvania double graduate joined the Blue Ribbon Panel for Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, and in 2019 declared his former patient was “every bit as sharp as he was 31 years ago.”
Amy Sampson
President and CEO, Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters Norfolk
Although she is CHKD’s new CEO, Amy Sampson is no stranger to the children’s hospital, having worked there 34 years. In 2024, her priorities include four key areas, she says: quality and safety, workforce development, growth and innovation and financial stability.
In 2022, the pediatric hospital system opened its Children’s Pavilion in Norfolk, a 60-bed inpatient mental health facility for children and adolescents. It’s the most important effort she’s been involved with in recent years, Sampson says: “That is really going to transform mental health services for children in our region and beyond, and I think we’re going to become a beacon for mental health care for children around the United States.”
Mark Uren
President and CEO, United Way of South Hampton Roads Norfolk
Although he’s a newcomer to Hampton Roads, Mark Uren has been with the United Way since 2013, previously serving as vice president of resource development in Forsyth County, Georgia, in the exurbs of Atlanta. Over the next several months, Uren’s plans include examining how the organization can focus on kids and education, as well as making a bigger regional splash. “What are the needs in the community where are we best positioned to make an impact? And how can we really double down in those areas?” he asks. Away from work, Uren has been a daily runner for the past 20 years, noting that it’s not only how he decompresses; it’s also when he does his best thinking.
Nourishing and delighting us, these Virginians welcome us to their communities through food, hospitality and entertainment.
Chris Albrecht
Senior vice president and general manager, Caesars Virginia Danville
In May, the temporary Caesars Virginia casino opened in Danville, led by General Manager Chris Albrecht. A Florida native, Albrecht has worked for Caesars Entertainment for 18 years and is also overseeing the construction of the $650 million permanent casino resort underway in Danville’s Schoolfield neighborhood, formerly a hub for textile manufacturing. “We’ve had really strong demand” for casino jobs, Albrecht says, adding that when the permanent casino opens in late 2024, “we’ll have three times as many table game dealers” — 400 to 500 employees serving 90 poker tables. Albrecht earned his MBA from UCLA and his bachelor’s degree in finance at MIT, but joining a poker club in business school made him take notice of the gaming industry, he says.
Ann Butler
Owner, 21 Spoons Chesterfield County
Ann Butler opened her small, local cuisine-focused restaurant in a Midlothian shopping center in early 2021, mainly to fill unused space while the pandemic forced her to put on hold Edible Education, her business offering cooking classes to kids. So, she started 21 Spoons as a pop-up, and then in March, Southern Living magazine named it Virginia’s best locally owned restaurant — a pleasant surprise for Butler. “I’m not a 27-year-old male chef opening a restaurant.” Indeed, she is 61 now, and recommends, “Just really do follow your passion.” Butler, who also sells “Kitchen a la Cart” portable teaching kitchens, has put Edible Education up for sale so she can focus on her 21 Spoons and Kitchen a la Cart businesses.
John Haggai
CEO and president, Burtons Grill & Bar Richmond
If you’ve eaten at an Outback Steakhouse in Virginia, chances are John Haggai was behind its opening. He started working at the Australian-themed restaurant as a busboy in 1989 while still in high school and worked his way up to management, becoming a partner before he left in 2010. He then co-founded Richmond’s Tazza Kitchen, which now has six locations throughout Virginia and the Carolinas.
Haggai took over as CEO of the growing Boston-based Burtons Grill chain in 2022, setting as a parameter that he would stay in Richmond instead of moving north, and now there’s a Burtons location in the city’s Carytown shopping district. Though it specializes in American fare, Burtons is also committed to allergy-free offerings.
“It’s food people crave and love,” Haggai says, “and it’s warm hospitality. It’s reliable.”
Caitlin Horton
Head winemaker, Horton Vineyards Gordonsville
At 29, Caitlin Horton is Virginia’s youngest head winemaker and one of a minority of women to hold that title. “Grandma grows the grapes, and my mom is vice president and general manager. I didn’t realize it was special until later in life, to be a female-run winery in an industry that is mainly a boys’ club,” she says. Under Horton’s direction, her 40-year-old Orange County family winery yields 400 tons of grapes annually, including 18 varietals ranging from Virginia classics like viognier to lesser-known grapes like the Portuguese tinta cão. As a third-generation vintner, Horton is influenced by tradition but also driven to innovation, introducing experimental wines such as her steampunk-themed Gears & Lace line.
These Virginians are building the future in bricks and mortar with major development projects in communities across the commonwealth.
Duke Dodson
CEO, Dodson Cos./Dodson Development Group Richmond
A Richmond native, Duke Dodson grew up vacationing in Colonial Beach. “It was a mini-Atlantic City then, but legal changes forced casinos out of business,” says the developer. When Dodson saw an opportunity to invest in reviving the downtown waterfront, he was all in.
Dodson’s $25 million Colonial Beach mixed-use development, which includes a hotel and a wine and cheese shop, is expected to create 250 jobs.
Dodson founded his company in 2007, and although Colonial Beach is a major focus, he has Richmond projects as well, including a group of mixed-use properties on East Broad Street. In 2024, Dodson has plans for a baseball card shop and sports bar in Scott’s Addition.
Mike Hopkins
Managing director, Fairwinds Landing Norfolk
Mike Hopkins got a glimpse at seeing projects through from start to finish as a general counsel for international shipping giant Maersk Line. It’s proved to be good experience for his current job, leading the development of Fairwinds Landing, a $100 million maritime operations and logistics center at Lambert’s Point Docks in Norfolk supporting Hampton Roads’ offshore wind, defense and transportation industries.
Development partners The Miller Group, Balicore Construction and Fairlead Integrated broke ground on Fairwinds Landing in June. Tenants so far include Newport News Shipbuilding and Dominion Energy. Dominion will monitor and coordinate construction of its $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm from its operations center there. It’s been “the best kind of job of my life so far,” says Hopkins, adding it’s exciting to be on the ground floor of a new endeavor.
Whitson Huffman
Co-CEO, Capital Square Glen Allen
Whitson Huffman has been real estate firm Capital Square’s co-CEO for a bit longer than a year, but he’s not new to the industry. Before joining his father-in-law Louis Rogers’ firm in 2018, Huffman made his bones at Ernst & Young and JBG Smith.
A graduate of Georgetown University and a Washington, D.C., native, Huffman says he expects Capital Square, which specializes in sponsoring tax-advantaged real estate investments and developing high-end multifamily properties across the nation, to continue growing its institutional real estate business in 2024 with new Class A properties with top amenities and prices to match. Capital Square is the largest multifamily housing developer in Richmond’s trendy Scott’s Addition neighborhood.
Huffman serves on the board of the Maymont Foundation, which oversees the popular, 100-acre Richmond public park and former Victorian estate, where he enjoys taking his three young children.
Shawn Tibbetts
Chief operating officer, Armada Hoffler Virginia Beach
As COO for the commercial real estate giant behind Virginia Beach’s Town Center, Shawn Tibbetts aims to “servant lead” — acting as a team captain instead of coach. “When a team sees that the leader is in the game with them and playing the game with them — win, lose or draw — that’s powerful.” Tibbetts also focuses on providing healthy returns for Armada Hoffler’s shareholders while coping with changing demand for office space. A graduate of William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business, Tibbetts was previously the Port of Virginia’s COO and president until 2019, when he joined Armada Hoffler.
“This was a heck of an opportunity and awesome company with foundational elements that I believe are going to propel us into the next level in the future,” he says.
Ed Walker
Developer Roanoke
Ed Walker estimates he’s built more than 500 apartments and helped redevelop several neighborhoods over the past two decades, but he doesn’t consider himself a developer.
“I think of it as community investing,” he says. “I’ve been a catalyst, but the colleagues I’ve worked with have made these projects reality.”
To date, Walker has been involved in multiple redevelopment projects that have transformed Danville and Roanoke, where he maintains two residences. He started The Bee Hotel and revived Roanoke’s historic Grandin Theatre. This year, Walker came back from the brink of retirement for his final act: redeveloping the sprawling campus of a former rayon factory in Roanoke. Dubbed Riverdale, the industrial property is set to include 375 apartments and a commercial building in phase one, and Walker is partnering with the City of Roanoke on the $50 million project.
When Hollywood productions like “Dopesick,” “Cold Mountain,” “Wonder Woman 1984” and others want to film in Virginia, they come to Edmunds to get the ball rolling.
As director of the Virginia Film Office since 2011 — and the office’s locations manager for 14 years before that — Edmunds helps productions access economic incentives and works to ensure that filmmakers have positive experiences that make them want to return to the commonwealth. He’s worked with directors Steven Spielberg, Terrence Malick, Ridley Scott, Clint Eastwood and a score of others. Although he can’t yet reveal details, Edmunds anticipates a “major musical motion picture” will be in production later this year, the first musical feature ever filmed in Virginia. A possibility is “Atlantis,” a musical inspired by Pharrell Williams’ childhood in Virginia Beach, set to be directed by Michel Gondry.
A Virginia native who studied music at Virginia Commonwealth University, Edmunds was introduced to show business in the 1980s, when the music video he produced for a song he wrote and performed was aired on Nickelodeon and MTV. He serves on the Virginia Film Festival’s advisory board and the Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival’s board.
PERSONAL MOTTO: Optimism is free.
FIRST JOB: Taking tickets at my small-town movie theater at the age of 12
They might be new to their positions, but they bring decades of expertise and new vantage points to the table. Here’s a sampling of Virginians — some fresh faces, others familiar — who have recently taken on significant new leadership roles.
Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose
Chief climate scientist, Science Applications International Corp.
Reston
Hurricane Agnes slammed the Washington , D.C., region in June 1972, fueling Stephen Ambrose’s interest in climate and weather. Ambrose kept an amateur weather station at his parents’ home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He later worked in meteorology, physical sciences and satellites at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before following his passion for space and astronomy to NASA, where he worked for a dozen years, including as a disaster manager during Hurricane Katrina. In his newly created role at SAIC, Ambrose expects to tackle solutions to climate’s impact, including incorporating data, to “develop an enterprise solution to contribute to society,” he says. When he’s not working, Ambrose enjoys riding his Harley Davidsons, exploring his family’s genealogy and volunteering with Team Rubicon, a nonprofit disaster response organization.
Burcham
Erin Burcham
Executive director, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council
Roanoke and Blacksburg
In June, Erin Burcham became the first woman to lead the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council. She’s hoping one of her early wins in the post will be to secure a regional grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which would be used to develop commercial wet-lab space in Roanoke for the biotech industry. “Fralin Biomedical Research Institute is producing multiple teams of researchers that are ready to commercialize,” she says. “They just need some wet lab space to stay in the region.” Burcham, who grew up in Galax and has worked in the New River Valley for the last 15 years, previously led and managed two GO Virginia grants totaling $280,000 as director of talent solutions at the Roanoke Regional Partnership.
Castellanos
Frank Castellanos
Hampton Roads region president, Bank of America
Williamsburg
Frank Castellanos has lived and worked around the globe. In his first career as a foreign service officer, he spent 20 years working for the State Department, serving six tours in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia and holding command positions in war zones and other hostile environments. He was an associate with the National Intelligence Council and served on several interagency boards, guiding U.S. policy and investments, and protecting American interests abroad. Castellanos says his time living in different places gives him great perspective in business. About five years ago, the Cuban native returned to his first love: finance. In September, Castellanos was named Hampton Roads market president for Bank of America, replacing retiring president Charlie Henderson.
Ferguson
Rodney E. Ferguson
Executive vice president, Pamunkey Indian Tribal Gaming Authority
Norfolk
Next year, Rodney Ferguson will be focused on developing the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino in downtown Norfolk, a project anticipated to generate about 2,500 full-time jobs and as much as $30.8 million in local annual tax revenue. He left a “wonderful” job as CEO and general manager of a large Milwaukee casino because this was an amazing opportunity, he says — and it didn’t hurt that he was raised 30 miles from the proposed Norfolk casino and still maintains a home there, which will cut his commute from 1,000 miles to 10. Over the past three decades, Ferguson has worked for casinos all over the country, from Atlantic City to Wisconsin, “[learning] to respect and adapt to various cultures.” Establishing a culture of diversity and inclusion is a primary goal for the new venture, he adds.
Fletcher
Paul Fletcher
Executive director and CEO, Virginia Bar Association
Richmond
For 33 years, Paul Fletcher covered Virginia’s legal scene as editor and publisher of Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Now he’s leaning into the broad network of connections he built as the new executive director and CEO of the commonwealth’s largest voluntary organization of lawyers, judges, law school faculty and students. Previously active as a Virginia Bar Association volunteer, Fletcher now manages the association’s professional staff. He also served as statewide and national president for the Society of Professional Journalists. “I think having the extensive run with SPJ, both at the state level and national level, has really helped to inform my view of association work,” Fletcher says.
Heytens
Toby J. Heytens
Judge, Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Richmond
When he was state solicitor general, Toby Heytens helped represent Virginia in the two lawsuits that challenged Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to take down the Robert E. Lee statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue. In the case brought by the original landowners’ descendent, Heytens argued that “no court has ever recognized a personal, inheritable right to dictate the content of … government speech about a matter of racial equality, and this court should not be the first one ever to do so.” He has argued successfully twice before the U.S. Supreme Court and also was a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. On Nov. 1, the Senate confirmed Heytens for a judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
Kirkwood
Amir Kirkwood
President and CEO,
Virginia Community Capital
Arlington
Amir Kirkwood’s career has evolved from his passion for financing community development. Formerly with Opportunity Finance Network, in September he was named president of Virginia Community Capital, a nonprofit community development financial institution and for-profit bank that funds and promotes job creation, affordable housing, food access and health care initiatives in underserved areas of Virginia. “I was most impressed by [VCC’s] commitment to build direct connections with communities,” he says. “It’s a lot different than a larger bank. Here, people get to know their customers, their communities.” In his new role, Kirkwood helps economically excluded communities by expanding on tools such as the innovative Community Investment Guarantee pool, a $33.1 million national pool fund established in 2020 to catalyze community investments in small businesses, climate change mitigation and affordable housing efforts nationwide.
Pocock
Tessa Pocock
Chief science officer,
Soli Organic
Harrisonburg
Tessa Pocock grew up digging up plants and replanting them around her childhood home in Canada. This summer, the Ph.D. expert in plant biology and lighting was hired as chief science officer for indoor agriculture producer Soli Organic (formerly known as Shenandoah Growers). She’s in the process of relocating to Harrisonburg from Laramie, Wyoming, where she grew stalks of corn at 7,200 feet above sea level in Wyoming. “Everybody said, ‘You cannot go grow corn in Laramie,’ and I said, ‘Hmm, I’ll take that on,’” she says. In her 40-year career, Pocock has never used pesticides, which makes her a good fit at Soli Organic, which produces indoor-grown herbs and lettuce. Naturally, once she settles in, she plans on starting a garden.
Roussos
Michael Roussos
President, VCU Medical Center
Richmond
It’s a busy time for Michael Roussos. He and his wife, a trauma surgeon, had their second child in November (the couple also have a 20-month-old), and Roussos is set to start his new job as VCU Medical Center’s president in late December. He previously served as lead administrator at University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he spearheaded the facility’s COVID-19 response and migrated medical records to Epic, an electronic system that VCU is also implementing. At VCU, Roussos plans to emphasize the importance of getting a COVID vaccine, which is now available for everyone ages 5 and older. “We know how fast the delta variant spread through the world, and that could happen again with a new variant,” he warns.
Vincent
Richmond Vincent
CEO, Goodwill Industries of the Valleys
Roanoke
Richmond Vincent sees a more expansive role for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, which aims to empower people and eradicate poverty in the Roanoke, Shenandoah and New River valleys. The organization, which employs more than 1,400 workers across 35 counties and 14 cities, provides services ranging from workforce training programs for teens and adults to employment and support services for people with disabilities. In October, the nonprofit installed one of the region’s largest rooftop solar panel arrays at its Roanoke Jobs Campus headquarters, which will generate about 90% of its power needs. Vincent played football for Arizona State University and worked in banking before starting with Goodwill in 2010, where he served as senior vice president for workforce development in Arizona. He came to Roanoke in March after four years leading a Goodwill branch in southern Mississippi. “I really love Goodwill because of our entrepreneurial spirit.”
Saving lives, feeding the hungry or helping those most in need, these Virginians make the commonwealth a better place through their passion, dedication
and sacrifice.
Chung
Dr. Sandy Chung
CEO, Trusted Doctors; IT Medical Director, Pediatric Health Network; 2022 president-elect, American Academy of Pediatrics
Fairfax
Multitasker extraordinaire Dr. Sandy Chung is driven by her desire to improve children’s access to care, including mental health care. After one of her teenage patients with bipolar disorder shot and killed a man during a monthlong wait to see a psychiatrist for a prescription refill, she worked to establish the state-funded Virginia Mental Health Access Progam. It trains primary care providers to better manage psychiatric conditions, offering phone consultations with psychiatrists and helping families find mental health care. Now the 2022 president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Chung wants to focus her term on continuing to improve access to care by optimizing health data and helping health care workers avoid burnout.
Jackson
Shanteny Jackson
Senior health educator,
Richmond Health Department
Richmond
Shanteny Jackson works at the Richmond Health Department’s resource centers, clinics embedded within neighborhoods, which makes them more accessible for residents without reliable transportation. “It’s very important to reach [clients] where they are,” she says, guidance that also applies to her role as a dual Spanish- and English-speaking public health employee. Her skills were key in improving Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccination rates among Latinx residents, a population that was more likely to contract the virus due to crowded working and living conditions. This summer, then-National Public Radio host Lulu Garcia-Navarro interviewed Jackson about the state’s success, which she attributed in part to those established resource centers. “We have to care and know about our communities,” she told Garcia-Navarro.
McGee
Tiffany McGee
CEO, Survivor Ventures and Chelsea Consulting Group
Norfolk
Tiffany McGee was a Department of Defense intelligence analyst and served on anti-trafficking task forces in embassies throughout Africa and Europe. Now, she helps survivors of domestic human trafficking. McGee started her nonprofit in 2018 to help survivors of human trafficking get past barriers to success, such as finding jobs and affordable housing. Survivors to Entrepreneurs, a program within her Survivor Ventures nonprofit, connects survivors with jobs at startups in Hampton Roads. Survivors to Entrepreneurs pays 100% of a trafficking survivor’s salary for the first three months, then 50% and so on, until the business can take on the pay. The nonprofit has a similar model for offering rental assistance and helping survivors build up their credit. Survivor Ventures landed a federal grant to expand, and she plans to expand the program throughout the mid-Atlantic region starting in 2022. McGee also helped establish the Hampton Roads Human Trafficking Task Force.
Meng
Charles Meng
CEO, Arlington Food Assistance Center
Arlington
With a law degree from Georgetown University, Charles Meng has tackled a little bit of everything over the course of his career — working as an administrator at Georgetown and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and as executive director of human resources at American University. Meng even designed and sold ornate gravestones. About 13 years ago, he noticed the Arlington Food Assistance Center was seeking a director of operations. The center “was very screwed up at the time,” he says bluntly, “but it had a lot of potential.” Then, the AFAC had assets of about $1 million. Today, the organization’s assets total about $10 million, allowing it to provide 2,100 needy area families with groceries each week.
Montgomery
Jennifer Montgomery
President and CEO, Loudoun Hunger Relief
Leesburg
In the nation’s wealthiest county as determined by median income, Jennifer Montgomery saw Loudoun Hunger Relief’s food recipients quadruple at the pandemic’s height. “We went from serving … 250 families a week to a height of 1,000 families a week for a while there,” recalls Montgomery, who was promoted as the nonprofit’s CEO in February after serving as executive director since 2014. Today, the food pantry serves about 600 families a week. Montgomery, who also chairs the Loudoun Human Services Network board and co-chairs its strategic plan committee, has long been focused on aiding people in need. The pandemic has been the most challenging time of her career, but also the most rewarding, she says, “because of the unbelievable support that the community has given here in Loudoun.”
Sprague
Rebecca Sprague
Youth and employment program coordinator, Church World Service Harrisonburg
Harrisonburg
After returning from studying dance in India, Rebecca Sprague volunteered as an English teacher in New York about
20 years ago before being hired at an adult education public school. That started her on the path to her current work as she saw the need for career development training, particularly for women and young adults. Church World Service Harrisonburg helps refugees settle in Harrisonburg and the Shenandoah Valley, assisting newcomers — currently mainly composed of recent Afghan refugees — with finding housing, enrolling children in schools, applying for Social Security cards and locating employment, in addition to providing cultural orientation training, adult education and other services. Demonstrating the scope of the agency’s work, Harrisonburg City Public Schools’ students speak more than 60 languages altogether.
Toscano
Nancy Toscano
President and CEO,
United Methodist Family Services
Richmond
Nancy Toscano knew early on that she’d dedicate her life to service. “Probably since birth, I was built to be a helper,” she says. In April, Toscano became president and CEO of United Methodist Family Services, a 121-year-old statewide nonprofit that serves at-risk children and their families. A licensed clinical social worker, Toscano has worked for the organization since 2007. Currently, she is leading UMFS’s $8 million fundraising campaign to construct a new residential treatment building and make improvements to the organization’s school and campus. While she doesn’t work as closely with clients as she did earlier in her social work career, Toscano likes the challenge of tackling big-picture problems. “I do feel like I can make a bigger impact.”
Wilkins
Joe Wilkins
President, Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center
Midlothian
As a preteen, Joe Wilkins found inspiration in the physical therapists who helped his father recover from a car wreck. “My goal was to help people walk,” he says. After working as a physical therapist, Wilkins transitioned into health care administration. A year ago, Wilkins became president of Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center, after a little more than three years as the chief executive at LifePoint Health in Wytheville. The pandemic has been a challenging time for health care workers, with many burning out and leaving hospitals for other jobs. And Wilkins, a member of Lead Virginia’s class of 2021, has pitched in as needed to fill gaps, still working occasionally as a physical therapist. “Health care is about being selfless,” he says. “It’s about taking care of the patients and those who are in front of us.”
Williams
Angela F. Williams
President and CEO, United Way Worldwide
Alexandria
Angela Williams joined United Way Worldwide in October, becoming the 130-year-old global nonprofit’s first woman and first Black leader. The organization is at a crossroads — a 2021 investigation found that United Way Worldwide should review its procedures after it received claims of sexual harassment and discrimination. Williams, the former CEO of Easterseals and a former member of the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps, says the United Way’s board is “engaged in cultural transformation. That work has started, and I’m stepping into that.” A University of Virginia and Virginia Union University graduate who is also an ordained minister, Williams is happy to be back in the commonwealth and enjoys reading, mentoring young women and solving jigsaw puzzles.
Through their efforts, these are people who attract and grow businesses and funding, making the commonwealth wealthier.
Blido
Traci Blido
Executive director, Virginia Career Works —Central Region
Lynchburg
Traci Blido hadn’t been looking for a new job. After a decade as Bedford County’s economic development director, she still found the work challenging. “When you have a small staff, you are wearing many different hats, and so I did regional marketing, workforce development and business attraction and retention,” she says. As part of her role, Blido had long partnered with Virginia Career Works, which allocates federal funding for workforce development programs in five Central Virginia localities. When Blido learned the organization needed a new leader, she could see that the skills she’d honed in Bedford, as well as through previous positions with the Central Virginia Planning District Commission, made her a strong candidate. The hiring committee agreed; Blido started her new post in July.
Brebner
Alec Brebner
Executive director, Crater Planning District Commission
Petersburg
After spending much of his adulthood working in urban design and planning in South Carolina, Alec Brebner arrived in Virginia in August 2020 with his wife and three children. As the Crater Planning District Commission’s executive director, he has multiple focuses: economic development, transportation and environmental concerns. Currently, Brebner and Petersburg-region officials are working on a coastal resilience master plan and disaster mitigation plan for weather events such as the major ice storm that hit the area last year. “I think the area has a lot of potential,” Brebner says, citing its growing pharmaceutical manufacturing hub led by Phlow Corp. A 2021 Lead Virginia class member, Brebner likes to kayak and bike, and he just hung a backyard rope swing for the kids.
Chandra Briggman
President and CEO, Activation Capital
Richmond
Growing up in a tiny South Carolina town, Chandra Briggman found inspiration in the aspirations of others who dreamed bigger, including her father. Now, as head of Richmond-region economic development organization Activation Capital, the MIT and Johns Hopkins grad is developing an unprecedented $2.5 million accelerator program to boost the growing pharmaceutical sector in Richmond and Petersburg. Fascinated by the intersection of entrepreneurship and technology, Briggman previously directed an innovation hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Though she loved the Boston area, leading Activation is a good fit. “I really leapt at the opportunity to design a model that will work in a smaller town, a town that looks more like where I grew up,” Briggman says. “Because if we can figure out how to make a model like that work in the smaller towns, then you’re talking about the potential to really transform local economies.”
Devan
David Devan
Vice president of economic competitiveness, Virginia Economic Development Partnership
Richmond
From his division at VEDP, David Devan works on economic development strategy, improving the fundamentals of business attractiveness for regional and statewide growth. After serving in the Marine Corps for seven years, Devan earned his MBA from the University of Virginia and went into investment banking, but it lacked the impact and mission orientation he craved. Now he’s growing his team, focusing on site development and capitalizing on business trends coming out of COVID-19, as well as the state’s emphasis on expanding talent for its fast-growing technology sector. “Our top priority is that all regions participate in Virginia’s growth,” says Devan, a 2021 Lead Virginia class member.
Greear
Amy Greear
Vice president of institutional advancement, Mountain Empire Community College; executive director, Mountain Empire Community College Foundation
Big Stone Gap
These days, Amy Greear stays busy trying to raise
$2 million to pay for scholarships and infrastructure improvements at Mountain Empire Community College in celebration of the school’s upcoming 50th anniversary. When Greear, a former newspaper reporter and communications director, considered taking this job three years ago, she hesitated, knowing she feels uncomfortable asking people for money. Luckily, she’s found it easier to fundraise by simply talking about how Mountain Empire improves lives. A 2021 Lead Virginia class member, Greear also runs a side business with her husband, Burke, restoring and preserving cemetery monuments. “Usually cemeteries are in the most beautiful places,” she says, “so I get to spend my weekends looking out over beautiful mountain views and reflecting on life.”
Hunter
Kalen Hunter
Program director of economic development and GO Virginia Region 1, University of Virginia’s College at Wise
Wise
After serving as executive director of the American Red Cross’ Northeast Tennessee chapter, Kalen Hunter returned to Southwest Virginia two years ago to put down roots with her husband. As a regional program director for the state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative, Hunter emphasizes regional collaboration as a means of diversifying the economies of the region’s 13 counties and three cities, as well as to retain talent through initiatives promoting affordable housing, child care and bustling downtowns. Partnerships with planning district commissions, economic development officials and higher education institutions make what the organization does possible. “We might not see it a year from now, or even two years from now, but what we’re doing today is going to make a positive impact for future generations,” says Hunter, a 2021 Lead Virginia class member.
Johnson
Kristy Johnson
Executive director, Halifax Industrial Development Authority
Halifax County
Kristy Johnson moved to Halifax County in 2008 from Georgia and immediately immersed herself in her new community, becoming the first woman to serve as mayor of the town of Halifax. In September, she became director of the county’s industrial development authority, where she’s worked in various roles since 2009, advancing business retention in the county, and making it a place where people want to live and work. Halifax County has created a Community Wide Strategic Plan, a follow-up to its previously completed Vision 2020 plan. “Halifax County has a tremendous base of community-minded, engaged citizens who have devoted countless hours to planning and working towards the goals set out in those plans, [and] I believe if we continue that work, we will reap the rewards of our efforts,” she says.
Miller
Floyd E. Miller II
President and CEO, Metropolitan Business League
Richmond
A Virginia Commonwealth University alum who hails from New Kent County, Floyd Miller has led Richmond’s small, women- and minority-owned business booster organization since 2017. “I think Richmond is really progressing and becoming one of the great places, especially for entrepreneurs,” says Miller, who was previously senior director of urban programs for Special Olympics Virginia. In his spare time, Miller is a fan of the L.A. Lakers and the New York Yankees and enjoys traveling with his wife, Holly Byrd Miller — especially to Miami. They live in Henrico County with their Maltese-poodle mix Carl. Miller’s goals for 2022 are to continue supporting local businesses by helping them get access to capital funds, as well as using technology to stay connected and working collaboratively.
Pleasant
Dan Pleasant
Chief operating officer, Dewberry
Danville
Dan Pleasant takes pride in his commitment to community engagement, especially in rural Virginia. An executive for more than four decades at Dewberry, a Fairfax-based nationwide professional services firm with roughly 800 Virginia employees, Pleasant also serves as chair of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s board of directors. The board’s longest-serving member, he will be helping choose a successor for exiting VEDP CEO Stephen Moret, who Pleasant says “transformed [VEDP] into a high-functioning organization,” landing deals such as Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters. Through his work with VEDP and the Future of the Piedmont Foundation, which supports economic development in Danville and Pittsylvania County, Pleasant is helping craft strategies to help rural Virginia communities bounce back from economic losses of recent decades.
Whether battling climate change, fighting for diversity, equity and inclusion, or volunteering their leadership skills to make a difference in their communities, it’s all in a day’s work for these impactful Virginians.
DeShazor
Traci J. DeShazor
Deputy secretary of the commonwealth, director of African American outreach
Richmond
Being a part of Gov. Ralph Northam’s push for second chances, like restoring the civil rights of 111,000 people, is what Traci DeShazor says makes her proudest of being a public servant. A two-term deputy secretary of the commonwealth and member of Lead Virginia’s class of 2021, DeShazor also served in Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration. She is entering her second master’s degree program in the spring, pursuing a degree in public administration and policy from American University to add to her liberal studies, justice and legal studies degree. As the Northam administration reaches its conclusion, she’s excited by the coming transition. Though she hasn’t settled on her next steps, she’ll be pleased “as long as justice and equity are centered in the work.”
Eige
Jasen Eige
Vice president and general counsel, The United Co.
Bristol
As general counsel for The United Co., the real estate development company for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, Jasen Eige helped lead the successful 2020 push to pass casino legislation in Virginia. A former senior policy adviser to Gov. Bob McDonnell, Eige was well-equipped for the effort. The Hard Rock casino resort is anticipated to bring 2,000 full-time jobs to Bristol, and Eige sees that as a way to give back to the community he returned to after working 14 years in Richmond. The United Co. hopes to temporarily open the casino in the former JCPenney store at the shuttered Bristol Mall, which partner Par Ventures LLC owns, in the first half of 2022 while renovating the mall and building two towers. The permanent casino will be housed in the former Sears store.
Knott
Raymond C. “Ray” Knott
Market president, Atlantic Union Bank; co-chair, Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee, PATH Foundation
Warrenton
Ray Knott was in the group that formed the PATH Foundation, a Warrenton-based philanthropic charity that focuses on improving health outcomes and disparities in Fauquier, Rappahannock and Culpeper counties. Funded through a $250 million endowment, the PATH (Piedmont Action to Health) Foundation emerged from the 2013 sale of Fauquier Health and its local hospital. The foundation has invested $50 million from its $250 million endowment in Culpeper, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties and partnered with Herren Wellness to bring a substance abuse recovery facility to Warrenton. During his term as the foundation’s chairman, he started the foundation’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiative. “On the short period of time that we spend on this Earth, we’re just stewards of where we live, and it’s our job to make it a better place,” says Knott, a 2021 Lead Virginia class member.
Kruse
Susan Kruse
Executive director, Community Climate Collaborative (C3)
Charlottesville
Susan Kruse is passionate about social justice and protecting the planet, and those two issues often intersect, she says. “When you’re addressing climate issues at the local level, it might look like advocacy for affordable housing; it might look like access to better transit systems.” In 2019, Kruse took the helm at C3, and earlier this year, the climate change-focused nonprofit launched the Green Business Alliance with 16 Virginia-headquartered businesses committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2025. A member of the state’s Clean Energy Advisory Board, Kruse previously worked as director of philanthropy for Appalachian Voices, an environmental nonprofit focusing on the Appalachian region, and as development director for Charlottesville’s Legal Aid Justice Center.
Larson
John Larson
Director for public policy and economic development, Dominion Energy Inc.
Glen Allen
One of the biggest factors that attracted John Larson to Dominion Energy in 1996 was the opportunity the company allowed to learn entrepreneurship methods. It was an era in which utility companies were starting new businesses, and Dominion ventured into new business lines unlike a traditionally vertically integrated power utility, he recalls. Later, Larson joined Dominion’s alternative energy solutions team and worked on laying the stage for the planned $9.8 billion wind farm’s two pilot wind turbines 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Now the project is progressing quickly. “It’s just exciting because every day, there’s something that comes up that you get to learn about and you get to share with others,” he says, as well as “advancing to meet that renewable portfolio standard that has been put in place with the Virginia Clean Economy Act.”
Love
Jamica Nadina Love
Chief diversity officer, Virginia Military Institute
Lexington
Jamica Love, a Boston native with more than two decades advising higher education institutions, is still adjusting to life in a small town where people recognize her in the drug store and deer show up in her backyard. Love has one of the state’s highest-profile roles, leading VMI’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts since July, after a state investigation revealed racist incidents and sexual assaults and harassment against cadets. Love has spent her first few months speaking with faculty, staff, students and alumni and building a peer-implemented program to improve safety for cadets who have been victimized. “VMI, to me, is a perfect training ground for improvement,” Love says. “We don’t bring cadets in here to fail.”
Oder
Glenn Oder
Executive director, Fort Monroe Authority
Hampton
Glenn Oder has served as executive director of the Fort Monroe Authority since 2011, when the military base at Old Point Comfort was retired and its land was divided between the state and federal governments. Previously a Republican state delegate representing Newport News, Oder reports to a 14-member board appointed by the city of Hampton and the governor. Noting that Fort Monroe is where the first enslaved Africans entered the New World in 1619, Oder says his job has “caused me to have a much deeper understanding of how complicated our society is.” During the Civil War, enslaved people sought freedom at the fort when it was occupied by Union soldiers. Aside from promoting Fort Monroe’s historic importance, Oder also is seeking development opportunities for Fort Monroe’s 1 million-plus square feet of commercial space. This year, the authority approved a lease for a $40 million redevelopment of the fort’s marina to include a hotel, restaurant and conference center.
Reddix
Angela D. Reddix
Founder, president and CEO, ARDX
Norfolk
In September, Ebony magazine named ARDX President and CEO Angela Reddix to its 2021 Power 100 list, recognizing her in its Innovation Leaders category for her work supporting female small business owners during the pandemic. In 2020, Reddix launched an initiative to help 20 women-owned small businesses with $2,020 grants. A second round this year awarded $20,000 grants plus mentoring, business coaching and training. An inductee of Old Dominion University’s Strome Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame, Reddix founded ARDX, her Norfolk-based health care management and IT consulting firm, in 2006, with the company going on to land more than $178 million in government contracts. She has founded mentorship programs for women and girls in Hampton Roads and says her purpose is to transform communities of poverty into prosperity. “To whom much is given,” Reddix says, “much is required.”
Sams
David M. Sams
Executive director, Community Tax Law Project
Richmond
Five years ago, David Sams left his private practice as a tax and estate attorney to lead the Community Tax Law Project (CTLP), a nonprofit that provides free legal help to low-income individuals and families struggling with tax problems. Sams has found he enjoys the diversity that comes with working with CTLP clients across the state. “The issues facing someone down in, say, Danville are very different than the issues of a low-income person in Northern Virginia, who’s driving an Uber, versus someone who’s working as a general laborer somewhere in Southwest Virginia,” explains Sams, a 2021 Lead Virginia class member. Founded in 1992, CTLP is the nation’s oldest independent clinic serving low-income taxpayers struggling with tax disputes and served as a model for similar clinics across the United States.
Sutherland
Immanuel Sutherland
Senior manager of community impact, Altria Group Inc.
Richmond
Community involvement has been a part of Immanuel Sutherland’s life since he joined a service-oriented fraternity at James Madison University, from which he graduated in 1993. The Richmond native worked in procurement for Altria, parent company of Philip Morris USA, before moving to community impact, which oversees Altria’s corporate donations to local nonprofits. He oversees giving ranging in focus from arts and culture to affordable housing and homeownership to initiatives promoting criminal justice reform and diversity, equity and inclusion. His efforts have included bringing “The Dirty South” art exhibit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and managing Altria’s $3 million gift to the Better Housing Coalition, the affordable housing nonprofit’s largest-ever corporate donation. A member of Lead Virginia’s 2021 class, Sutherland is passionate about breaking down issues that divide communities. “Anywhere you have a community that thrives, you’ve got to have people that care about inclusion and appreciate the differences in others,” he says.
Whitehead
Jessica Whitehead
Executive director, Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience
Norfolk
Jessica Whitehead remembers waking during a tornado warning after moving to Kansas as a child. “As a kid, you can either freak out about that situation or think the clouds swirling around above you [are] really, really cool, and I was the second one.” Whitehead moved to ODU in February, where she leads its new institute focusing on the humanitarian and policy aspects of climate change, including adapting to it and building resiliency against it, passions she discovered while working on her Ph.D. at Penn State. At her earlier job as North Carolina’s first chief resiliency officer, she witnessed how devastating hurricanes can be, even far from the ocean. She also developed Georgetown University’s course on climate change and emergency management.
Representing industries ranging from retail and fitness to tech and biosciences, these creative, visionary trendsetters and entrepreneurs keep the Old Dominion new and relevant.
Alcindor
Lisa Alcindor
Program element monitor, U.S. Air Force
Alexandria
Lisa Alcindor starts rapping in the middle of the Pentagon’s courtyard: “Prepped my plane, call it Rocket Ship. I’m outer space, ain’t no stoppin’ it. Three-two-one with the blastoff!” A trained helicopter pilot, Alcindor works as a contractor in the planning, programming and budgeting department for the secretary of defense during the day, but she’s set her sights beyond the limits of the sky. An aspiring astronaut, Alcindor hopes to orbit Earth through the nonprofit Space for Humanity program, joining only a few Black women who have gone to space. Alcindor, who has also worked for NASA, considers herself a disrupter, and she’s sharing her journey on her Instagram account, @LisaTheLandstronaut, where she asks, “What do astronauts look like?”
Almomen
Serene Almomen
CEO and co-founder, Senseware
Vienna
Serene Almomen thrives on challenge. A decal on the wall of her Centreville office states her company’s principles: “Find a way, get it done, and do it right.” She leads Senseware, a tech company specializing in wireless sensor systems for commercial real estate properties, collecting data on air quality, temperature, energy and water consumption and more. She launched Senseware in 2014 with her husband after the two met at a research conference in Portugal. Health care was initially Senseware’s target industry but Almomen pivoted to the more profitable real estate market. In 2019, Forbes featured Senseware as one of 50 woman-led startups that are crushing technology. “For me, that’s where I thrive,” says Almomen, who in her free time has been perfecting her pie-baking skills. “When I have a problem, I come in and find a way to solve it.”
Cronin
Jerry Cronin
Executive director, OpenSeas Technology Innovation Hub at Old Dominion University
Norfolk
Jerry Cronin has never lived more than a mile from deep water. After growing up in Long Island and attending the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he spent time on the West Coast, then came to Virginia. He’s done consulting, started an environmental engineering company, worked for Fortune 150 companies, and most recently landed at ODU’s OpenSeas Technology Innovation Hub. “If I look at my career, it’s been having to learn a new subject matter or new nuance or new field on a pretty regular basis,” he says. The tech hub seeks solutions for the maritime and coastal arenas, focusing on commercializing and operationalizing innovation versus research.
Habenicht
Paul Habenicht
Managing partner, VetEvolve
Richmond
Before 2014, dog owner Paul Habenicht had only ever visited a veterinary clinic as a pet parent. That changed when he and two business partners launched VetEvolve, a Richmond company that manages veterinary practices. It was a new realm for Habenicht, a former college lacrosse player and Marine, seeking life after active duty. He found similarities between the military and veterinary business, such as the tenets of teamwork and service. “A lot of our people are pleasers,” Habenicht says. “It’s hard to put boundaries around that. We are constantly trying to help with that and manage the fatigue and burnout.”
After all, service is ingrained in Habenicht, who, aside from raising two adopted children, serves as a mentor at Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School in Richmond.
Hanger
Hunter Hanger
Owner and founder, Hanger Law, Talent Termite, Okie Doughkie Donuts
Virginia Beach
Hunter Hanger probably comes up with five to 10 new business ideas each week. The serial entrepreneur and Regent University School of Law grad spent about a decade practicing real estate law before hiring someone else to run his firm so he could focus on entrepreneurial ventures ranging from a termite control company to a doughnut shop to an event venue. “My real passion … is just to take people who are young and trying to figure things out vocationally, and they want to be entrepreneurs and take away the risk factor for them,” says Hanger, who also started VB Fellows, a Christian nonprofit to encourage young men starting careers in Virginia Beach to stay local. What’s next for Hanger? Slowing down, he says, laughing.
Horner
Ashley Horner
Owner, Ashley Horner Fitness, American Brew, American Screen Printing
Virginia Beach
Ashley Horner hasn’t met a challenge that she’s afraid to tackle. After the coffee shop in her Virginia Beach neighborhood closed, the entrepreneur opened the kind of shop she wanted to spend time in. She didn’t know anything about running a restaurant before opening American Brew, a coffee and whiskey shop in Virginia Beach, but charged ahead. When she needed a screen printer, she started her own company, American Screen Printing, instead of outsourcing the work. She did the same with her clothing line, Valkyrie. A fitness model and Instagram influencer, she has developed 20 training programs for the military, SWAT teams and others. Her outlook is, “How hard can it be?” and she learns as she goes. A quality she admires in business is the ability to hustle.
Jimenez
Ozzy Jimenez
CEO, Driven Inc.
Falls Church
Ozzy Jimenez was an ambitious entrepreneur even before he joined Driven Inc. as its chief operations officer 16 years ago. Prior to Driven, Jimenez launched and ran a custom homebuilding business. Driven, a Northern Virginia hybrid software and data management consulting company, offered him “an opportunity to get in on the ground of a budding industry that has turned out to be a big industry and continues to grow,” he says. This year, Jimenez was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the mid-Atlantic region. He’s most proud of Driven’s team, along with the company’s ability to evolve. “I have always been a team-builder,” says Jimenez, who also serves on the board of directors for the nonprofit Lee Mount Vernon Sports Club.
Johnson
Tanner Johnson
CEO, Pure Shenandoah
Elkton
Tanner Johnson was working at an auto dealership in Harrisonburg when the hemp cultivation and CBD manufacturing company founded in 2018 by some of his younger brothers started to take off. Johnson, who majored in intelligence analysis with a minor in economics at James Madison University, brought his business experience to Pure Shenandoah at the urging of his entrepreneur mother, who founded the University Outpost Bookstore at JMU. Pure Shenadoah takes a holistic approach to hemp, aiming to use the whole plant for its health and wellness qualities, as well as for fiber. The company also is positioning itself as Virginia lawmakers pursue avenues for legalizing commercial marijuana sales. “We’re learning as it goes,” Johnson says, “and we’re giving it our best shot, that’s for sure.”
Paul
Elizabeth Paul
Chief strategy officer, The Martin Agency
Richmond
Elizabeth Paul describes herself as a nonlinear conversationalist. A chat with Paul, chief strategy officer for Richmond ad agency The Martin Agency, is likely to touch on everything from pop culture and politics to art and TikTok. Last year, Paul was a finalist for ChamberRVA’s young innovator award for young professionals for helping lead Martin’s clients (which include UPS, Old Navy and Geico) to successfully transform their brands during the pandemic. Ad agency work has suited her well from her career’s start. “I loved that you’re getting to solve a lot of different kinds of problems in a day,” she says. Paul and her family also are highly involved in building community in their Church Hill neighborhood in Richmond.
Paul
Paul Robinson
Executive director, RISE
Norfolk
What do aerospace engineering and coastal resilience have in common? More than one would think, says Paul Robinson, who has worked in both fields and values cross-disciplinary approaches to problems. In 2017, Robinson started RISE, which aims to grow coastal resilience-related businesses. “This is a major issue for the whole country, if not the world, so we have the opportunity here to really make a difference, which is very exciting,” he says. In 2022, RISE will run its first Rural Coastal Community Resilience Challenge to deal with climate threats to rural communities. Originally from Scotland, Robinson came to the area in 1990 to work for NASA as an aerospace engineer. He’s also the founder and CEO of AeroTech Research, which specializes in weather hazard detection for aircraft.
Sigurjonsson
Fertram Sigurjonsson
Founder and CEO, Kerecis
Arlington
Fertram Sigurjonsson, CEO of biotech company Kerecis, was one of Ernst & Young’s 2021 Entrepreneur of the Year Mid-Atlantic award winners. But while he was in high school and college, he worked in the fishing industry in his native Iceland. Years later, he had the epiphany that human skin has similarities to fish skin. He began researching and Kerecis was born. The company takes fishing industry waste, washes it and produces it at medical grade quality for skin grafts that encourage damaged tissue to produce cells, healing itself and converting the fish skin to living tissue that never needs to be removed. In 2022, Kerecis will shift to becoming a multiproduct regenerative and cellular therapy company.
Tynan
Tracy Tynan
Director, Virginia Unmanned Systems Center
Herndon
A licensed drone pilot who oversees the unmanned systems program at the Center for Innovative Technology, Tracy Tynan spends her time spreading the word about the emerging technology, connecting academia, government, industry and the public. That means demonstrating how the tech can be used to perform “dull, dirty and dangerous” jobs safer and more efficiently, like using a drone to read water meter signals. “You could fly a drone over a building, and, with a thermal sensor, it’ll see all the heat loss coming out of the roof of the building,” she says. Once a nationally ranked diver at the University of Virginia, Tynan previously worked for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Greater Richmond Partnership.
Ungvarsky
Drew Ungvarsky
Founder and CEO, Grow
Norfolk
A proud resident of Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood, Drew Ungvarsky is proof that a marketing agency can thrive outside of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Last year, Ad Age named Grow its small agency of the year for the Southeast region, citing the “digital experiences” it crafted for clients including Adidas, Google, Spotify and Lululemon. Ungvarsky grew up in Virginia Beach and attended Old Dominion University, aiming to become a video game designer but ultimately gravitating to web design. This year, he launched Assembly, a downtown Norfolk office building with nine tenants, including Grow. With multiyear leases and custom-designed spaces, Assembly is meant to be a creative ecosystem. “I’m looking forward to the continued growth of Grow and realizing this vision for a center,” he says.
Varella
Aaron Varella
Talent acquisition specialist, Dominion Energy Inc.
Richmond
A 2019 Virginia Commonwealth University graduate, Aaron Varella stays connected to his “Z-lennial” generation through Instagram and LinkedIn. Born in Goa, India, Varella spent most of his youth in upstate New York and Virginia Beach. In his work for Dominion, one of Virginia’s largest employers, Varella focuses on new ways to attract college students and new graduates to work for the Fortune 500 utility. In 2020, he started an Instagram account known as “Cove of Advice” — a play on COVID — offering advice, interviews and other content for recent college grads. The effort made him a finalist for ChamberRVA’s 2020 Innovator Award. Varella says he’s interested in remaining in marketing or human resources, as well as pursuing an MBA.
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