Outside of Virginia, Robertson is best known for his decades-long tenure hosting the Christian Broadcast Network’s syndicated news magazine show “The 700 Club,” as well as his provocative pronouncements about LGBTQ people, Muslims and Democrats.

But the 92-year-old CBN founder is also known as the head of Regent University, a private Christian institution he founded in 1977 as CBN University. It has produced notable conservative alumni such as former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, now dean of its government school.

Robertson’s ties to the Republican Party are strong (he made a 1988 bid for the GOP nomination). Despite having supported Donald Trump’s presidency, Robertson urged Trump to accept the 2020 election results at a time when others in his party did not.

In October 2021, during the 700 Club’s 60th anniversary show, Robertson announced he was stepping down as daily host, ceding the duty to son Gordon Robertson. The younger Robertson also succeeded his father as CBN’s president and CEO in 2007.

WHAT MAKES ME PASSIONATE ABOUT MY WORK: I am passionate because I see unlimited opportunities for the organizations that I have founded.

Maximus’ president since 2014 and CEO since 2018, Caswell offers this advice: Remain open-minded and flexible, and have a positive attitude toward opportunities.

Maximus, a government services provider that operates Medicare and Affordable Care Act customer help lines, expanded in 2021 with two acquisitions and moved its headquarters from Reston to Tysons. The company reported $4.25 billion in revenue in 2021. This year, employees in Louisiana and Mississippi have protested for higher wages, but the company has said it is limited by the federal Service Contract Act.

A graduate of Haverford College and Harvard’s Kennedy School, Caswell is a vice chair of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and serves on the board of the Greater Washington Partnership.

PERSON I ADMIRE: My father, Allen. He is my North Star. My dad was a Foreign Service officer and a professor who taught French for 35 years.

MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “A Runner’s High,” by ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes. Having been fortunate enough to complete some ultra-marathons myself, I’m in awe of someone who once ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.

After spending the majority of his 45-year career in the private sector at McGuireWoods, Virginia’s largest law firm, senior partner Cullen was appointed Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s legal counselor in January. 

It’s hardly the first time Cullen has worked in the public sector — he served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia from 1991 to 1993 and was the state’s attorney general from 1997 to 1998. 

At McGuireWoods, Cullen was known for representing high-profile clients — such as former Vice President Mike Pence during special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. A University of Richmond law grad, Cullen spent more than a decade as chairman of McGuireWoods and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar.

Raised in Staunton, Cullen resides in Henrico County with his wife. He also serves as vice chair on the board of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

ONE THING I’D CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA: One-term governor

FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: Virginia Beach

Five Guys got prime exposure in June during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee festivities.

Almost every shot of famous faces like Prince William, Meghan Markle and Prime Minister Boris Johnson entering St Paul’s Cathedral included a London location of the popular Fairfax County-based hamburger chain with its sign clearly visible in the background.

“I’m now craving Five Guys fries,” one viewer complained on Twitter.

The bit of mass exposure was unusual for the fast food chain because the Murrell family, which owns the 1,700-location business, doesn’t believe in advertising, preferring to let the quality of their food do the talking.

Five Guys got its start in 1986 in Arlington when Jerry and Janie Murrell told four of their children they could go to college or start a business. They decided to open a carryout burger joint. Their younger son came aboard later, hence the restaurant chain’s name.

In 2003, Five Guys began offering franchises. In less than two years, the company sold more than 300 franchises, none of which have freezers or microwaves.

A Michigan native, Jerry Murrell worked as a financial planner before flipping burgers. He graduated from the University of Michigan with an economics degree in 1967.

Brown has spent more than four decades in the stevedoring industry. Since 2004, he has led CP&O, a partnership between Cooper/T. Smith Corp. and Ports America Inc. This year, CP&O added a new partner when it consolidated with Nashville-based Ceres Marine Terminals Inc. under the CP&O brand in a move that was expected to drive efficiency and further growth amid record demand for services.

In March, CP&O entered into a 10-year licensing agreement to provide stevedoring services at Virginia International Gateway and the Norfolk International Terminals at the Port of Virginia. The company provides services at all of Virginia’s major shipping terminals and also handles vehicles at Newport News and cruise vessels calling on the Half Moone Cruise Terminal.

Brown is also president of the Virginia Maritime Association board. A Norfolk native, he received his bachelor’s in business administration from Old Dominion University, which he attended on the G.I. Bill after leaving the Army in 1975 with the rank of sergeant. He spent a decade working as a longshoreman before moving into management.

Reiff shares the job of managing more than 45 attorneys at Greenberg Traurig’s Northern Virginia office, a regional hub for the global firm. Her practice focuses on business immigration, advising and representing companies in compliance issues and government investigations. She also co-chairs the firm’s international employment, immigration and workforce strategies group.

Reiff, who joined the firm in 1999, co-founded the Essential Workers Immigration Coalition, which pushes for immigration reform to address the shortage of unskilled, essential workers in the United States.

Recently, she’s been involved in lengthy litigation over the EB-5 program, which grants green cards to foreign investors who create at least 10 full-time jobs. The program expired in June 2021, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services deauthorized EB-5 regional centers, which meet the program’s job creation requirements. In June, Reiff was among a team of lawyers who won a temporary injunction against USCIS, forcing the agency to reauthorize the centers. “We are so happy to win for EB-5 again!” she says.

After 42 years at Sentara, Kern stepped down as the health care system’s leader in September, handing the reins to Dennis Matheis, who was previously president of Sentara Health Plans. Since 2016, Kern oversaw the $11 billion not-for-profit system with more than 1,200 physicians and 30,000-plus other employees staffing 12 hospitals in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and the Medical College of Virginia, where he earned his master of health administration degree, Kern guided the expansion of Sentara’s Norfolk General Hospital and the 2020 opening of the Sentara Brock Cancer Center. He also led the decision for Sentara not to merge with North Carolina-based Cone Health in 2021 after both systems decided they could better serve their patients separately. Kern signed an agreement last year to create an academic health center with Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical Center.

Kern serves on the Virginia Chamber’s Blueprint Virginia 2030 Steering Committee, and this year, he was reappointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to serve on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates.

NEW LIFE EXPERIENCE: Surfing

Wasson reached the top of the global consulting and digital services company in 2019, after joining ICF in 1987 as an associate. Before becoming CEO and president, he served as ICF’s chief operating officer for 16 years.

Under his leadership, ICF has acquired other companies and expanded its reach. The company has about 8,000 employees and reported $1.55 billion total revenue in 2021, securing $2.25 billion in contracts.

In late 2021 and early 2022, ICF acquired Maryland-based ESAC Inc., a data management and health care information technology provider, and McLean-based Creative Systems and Consulting, a 270-employee IT federal contractor. In July, ICF purchased Herndon-based SemanticBits for $220 million, a deal expected to move ICF further into serving federal health agencies, including Medicaid and Medicare.

A graduate of the University of California, Davis, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wasson received his second Wash100 Award in 2021 and serves on the board of the Northern Virginia Technology Council.