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ALEXANDRA CUNNINGHAM | Partner and head of litigation team, Hunton Andrews Kurth
Alexandra Cunningham’s litigation and risk management practice focuses on product liability, toxic tort and environmental litigation, food contamination claims, and wrongful death and personal injury defense, including mass torts, class actions and multidistrict litigation. She defends Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation nationally and has led arbitrations before the Internationa[...]
KIM DAVIS | Executive director, Friends of Southwest Virginia, ’Round the Mountain Artisan Network and the Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Foundation
Building an inclusive creative economy in 19 counties, four cities and 53 towns requires more than vision — it demands the ability to unite communities around shared goals and to secure multimillion-dollar investments. Named executive director of a trio of entities that promote Southwest Virginia’s creative economy and tourism in 2021, Kim Davis has worked […]
DORRIE FRANZELLO-KURTZ | Principal and client accounting and advisory services practice lead, Yount, Hyde & Barbour
With more than two decades of accounting experience, Dorrie Franzello-Kurtz focuses on attest and tax engagements for the construction industry and small businesses. She takes a strategic, forward-looking approach to her work, according to her nominator. Whether advising a client on accounting software transitions, improving workflows or guiding long-term financial strategy, Franzello-Kurtz “bri[...]
DEBORAH GANDY | Senior managing director and wealth advisor and relationship manager, Chevy Chase Trust
The first Black cheerleader for her middle and high schools in Greensboro, North Carolina, Deborah Gandy knows a thing or two about blazing trails. In 1998, U.S. Trust (now Bank of America Private Bank) hired Gandy as a business development officer, making her the first Black person in that role in the wealth management firm’s […]
CHRISTINE GUSTAFSON | Vice president of marketing and public relations, The Breeden Co.
In 2020, Christine Gustafson joined Breeden as the first female on the real estate development company’s executive team. “That milestone wasn’t just symbolic — it marked a shift in how we approached leadership, communication and visibility as an organization,” she says. Gustafson was also the company’s first executive-level marketing expert. “The company’s philosoph[...]
JULIE H. GUSTAVSSON | Partner and chief operating officer, Keiter
When Julie H. Gustavsson made partner at Keiter in 2015, she was the first nonpracticing accountant to hold that role since the firm was founded in 1978. At Keiter, Gustavsson oversees the firm’s day-to-day operations and the development, planning and execution of its strategic plan. She manages Keiter’s information technology, marketing, human resources and office […]
EMILY HARTMAN | North America general manager, Allianz Partners
Eight years ago, Emily Hartman joined Allianz Partners, a travel insurance and assistance company that’s a unit of German financial services company Allianz. After starting out as director of strategic partnerships, Hartman was later named head of e-commerce. In 2021, she became chief of Allianz’s USA business teams. Three years later, Hartman was elevated to […]
NIKKI HASTINGS | Co-founder and executive director, CvilleBioHub,
Co-founded in 2016 by Nikki Hastings, CvilleBioHub works to accelerate the life sciences sector in the region by supporting biotech startups, facilitating strategic connections and building infrastructure to commercialize academic research. Hastings, who has a doctorate in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia, has served as the nonprofit’s executive director since 2018. Thr[...]
CAROLINE LAWSON | Director of M&A and corporate development, Air Control Concepts
Early this year, Caroline Lawson joined Air Control Concepts, a Norfolk-based company that partners with and supports commercial HVAC solutions providers. In that short period, Lawson executed multiple strategic acquisitions that expanded Air Control Concepts’ presence across the United States and Canada, according to her nominator. One of Lawson’s first efforts was working to optimize[...]
CATHERINE MCGHEE | Chief deputy commissioner, Virginia Department of Transportation
Catherine McGhee was appointed chief deputy commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation in May 2022. She is the first woman to ascend to this level at the state agency. McGhee has more than 30 years of experience in traffic engineering and system operations, intelligent transportation systems and data and performance measurement. Prior to her […]
DR. THUY-ANH MELVIN | Northern Virginia physician in chief, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente
The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente appointed Dr. Thuy-Anh Melvin, a head and neck surgeon, to be its Northern Virginia physician in chief in 2023. In this role, she is responsible for a roughly $350 million budget and oversees about 550 physicians across 13 medical office buildings in Virginia, in addition to seeing […]
DELCENO C. MILES | President and CEO, The Miles Agency
Delceno C. Miles launched her communications and community engagement firm in 1989. These days, The Miles Agency continues to serve a diverse stable of clients from public agencies, municipalities, nonprofits and businesses, providing services like media outreach, stakeholder engagement, digital marketing and crisis communications. “The majority of our clients are repeats or referrals,” Miles [...]
