byline: Charlotte Rene Woods

Cathy Underwood says her greatest strength is her ability to build relationships in the construction industry.

She’s done that while working her entire 22-year career for Branch Builds, a subsidiary of The Branch Group, a Roanoke-based construction company.

As president, Underwood leads Branch Builds’ commercial construction projects across Virginia and in neighboring states.

In 2000, Underwood graduated with her master’s degree in biological systems engineering from Virginia Tech. She thought she would eventually transition into an engineering role but fell in love with the construction side of the business. Ultimately, Underwood landed at the top in 2020.

“I try to show up humble, and I don’t lead with ego,” she says. “I think great leaders allow people to empower those around them to do bigger and better things.”

Many of the men she worked with took her under their wings to help her learn the industry and ultimately advance her career.

Even today, Underwood says she’s often the only woman in the room, but she doesn’t let that bother her.

“I tell women — and men, for that matter — to find a mentor,” she says. “I just believe it’s advisable to navigate one’s career with advocates and mentors along the way.”

Joanie Eiland recalls wishing she had a woman mentor in the early days of her career — so she became one.

“I think we process things differently and experience things differently. And there’s nobody to talk to,” Eiland says.

On mentoring others, she calls it a joy “to be there for the firsts — whether they are collaborations, contracts or wins.”

“It’s very rewarding to share the joy in those victories,” she says.

Eiland built her career as owner and president of John D. Eiland Co.,
a wholesaler of Anheuser-Busch beers, from 1993 until she sold the company in 2006. Since 1995, she also has been president of Elk Trucking, which she founded.

Working for her formerly family-owned company was “the foundation of everything I have done,” she says.

Community involvement matters to Eiland as much as mentorship, and she’s been a champion for business and education. She currently serves as vice chair for GO Virginia’s Region 8 council, working to support economic development backing for public and private initiatives, including workforce development, across the Shenandoah Valley.

Eiland also sponsored a capstone project for James Madison University’s computer information systems students.

“As a company I have tried to sponsor as many things as I can within the community,” Eiland says. “I feel like community involvement is critical in any business or endeavor.”

Few people can say they sing in a choir with Pharrell Williams.

Or that they’ve performed on Netflix, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Good Morning America” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

But Nakia Madry-Smith has done all those things. Yet, she still finds time to connect with the community, representing Old Dominion University regionally as director of ODU Peninsula Center. The university’s higher education center in Hampton offers undergraduate degree completion classes, graduate classes and certificate programs.

“ODU has been a blessing because they are so supportive, and I don’t feel as if I have to choose between pursuing my dreams and pursuing my goals of impacting students at ODU,” she says. “I can do both.”

Madry-Smith says she can be her authentic self while easily shifting between meetings and stages around Virginia and the globe. She is a member of Williams’ Voices of Fire and two local bands, The Fuzz Band and Rocky 7. She’s traveled to war zones on three tours to perform for U.S. troops.

Her career as a musician helps her connect with students who have big dreams of their own. “I try to live my life in a way that demonstrates possibilities for students, so that they’re not bound by misperceptions or limitations,” she says.

“It’s important for youth to see representation of themselves in leadership, so they know that they too can achieve their goals.”

Some job applicants might have been intimidated by the opportunity to integrate three information systems into one due to a massive merger of Perspecta Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp.’s federal IT and mission support services and Peraton, a national security contractor.

Not Rebecca McHale.

Helping Peraton, which is set to move to Reston in September, undergo a significant transformation motivated McHale to accept her job as Peraton’s chief information officer in July 2021, after working as CIO for Fortune 500 global management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

Under her leadership, her team at Peraton successfully brought together 18,000 employees under one virtual roof.

“What was exciting to me was the opportunity to not just work for an organization that had an important mission I’m passionate about, but that we were really building something,” she says.

McHale attributes much of her professional success to a strong work ethic and mentorship partnerships. “I get as much out of mentor relationships — if not more — than they do,” McHale says. “It fills my tank.”

McHale advises her mentees to focus on providing value to an organization rather than seeking out a dream job title. She hopes to instill confidence in the next generation of leaders that’s void of doubt.

“The biggest obstacle working as a female in the C-suite is often myself and a tendency to second guess the value of my contributions,” McHale says. “I continually remind myself that, while my experiences and perspective are unique, they are also what allowed me to be part of the conversation in the first place.”

Janet Gullickson initially didn’t think much about the importance of being named the first woman president of Germanna Community College in 2017, after having worked in higher education in Colorado, Minnesota and Washington state.

“I just thought, ‘Well, women should be in these positions,’” she says. “It shouldn’t be a big deal, but I guess it is.”

However, as a greater premium is placed on diverse leadership, Gullickson is glad to see more representation in institutions that have been historically led by white men.

Following the May 2020 murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd — which ignited activism around the nation — Germanna created a website called Black Minds Matter to connect students to resources and counseling. The college also began development on its Truth and Reconciliation Strategic Plan. “We really have made an effort in racial equity,” Gullickson says.

During her tenure, she also has helped develop partnerships with other institutions such as the University of Virginia, which waives application fees for Germanna transfer students seeking early admission. As of late May, Germanna was finalizing a similar partnership with George Mason University.

More recently, Gullickson has been involved in developing work-based learning programs for students to gain hands-on experience through paid internships. “We plan to have that rolled out for all of our students within the next year,” she says.