byline: Virginia Business

After starting her career as a middle school math and science teacher, Gray’s interest in coding led her into the IT field, where she worked as a software developer. A former executive at Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, Gray has won the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association International Women’s Appreciation Award for promoting STEM and women in the workplace. In 2024, Gray appeared for the eighth time on Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 list of top government contracting executives.

Gray joined CACI in 2017 as president of its U.S. operations, then was president of business and information technology solutions starting in 2019. In August, CACI announced she would once again be president of U.S. operations. The company employs roughly 23,000 people and generated $6.7 billion in 2023 revenue.

Last year, despite protests from other government contractors, CACI won a $5.7 billion contract to modernize IT service delivery for the Air Force. In April, CACI announced it won an up to $1.3 billion defense contract supporting the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command. In June, CACI announced it had secured a $2 billion NASA contract to streamline and centralize 11 IT services across the agency.

Parks joined Hunton & Williams, Hunton Andrews Kurth’s predecessor, after graduating from law school at the University of Virginia in 1988. He has served as the chair of the state’s second largest law firm’s executive committee since 2022. 

With 35 years of experience under his belt, Parks handles complex corporate transactions, especially information technology and outsourcing transactions, as well as corporate governance, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. He advises on projects involving topics such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and complex data protection. Parks has also negotiated dozens of large-scale commercial and technology transactions worth billions of dollars for multinational companies. 

Parks, who also earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and English literature at U.Va., previously was co-chair of the firm’s corporate team and its retail and consumer products industry group, and head of the global technology and outsourcing practice group. In June, Parks was named to The Legal 500’s international Hall of Fame for the outsourcing practice area and was a recommended lawyer for technology transactions.

He sits on the board of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. 

Benjamin D. Leigh, the immediate past president of the Virginia Bar Association, administered the oath of office to Snow in January, installing him as the 136th president of the voluntary organization composed of Virginia-based lawyers, judges, law school faculty members and students. The VBA was founded in 1888 and advocates for legislation, offers continuing legal education and hosts political debates.

In July, however, the organization canceled a debate between U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and his Republican challenger, retired Navy Capt. Hung Cao, at the Omni Homestead Resort when Cao’s campaign did not commit to the debate by an early July deadline.

At Crenshaw, Ware & Martin, Snow chairs the business disputes, construction law and government contracting practice groups. He was managing partner of the Norfolk firm from 2012 to 2020. Snow also serves as a local Virginia counsel in patent and other federal court litigation.

After majoring in government at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, Snow earned his law degree at Washington and Lee University.

As leader of competitive retail pricing data provider RetailData, its parent company RD Holdings, and sister retail intelligence and consulting firm Intrics, Blondin has a lot on his plate.

After seven years with RetailData, serving as chief operating officer and vice president of strategic initiatives, Blondin was tapped to become CEO in 2020. The following year, RetailData acquired e-commerce data extraction and software development company Loginworks. Blondin launched Intrics that same year.

RetailData provides market intelligence and analytics to e-commerce and brick and mortar retailers by analyzing real-time, shelf-level pricing and promotions and developing proprietary data validation tools that allow retailers to respond quickly to competitive trends.

Blondin holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northeastern University and an MBA from Arizona State University. He previously served as general manager of Biomass Energy, executive director of engineering and operations for The Earth Partners and vice president of business development for International WoodFuels.

In July, Lahti succeeded Navy Rear Adm. Wesley McCall as commander of the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, a group of 13 installations from Illinois to North Carolina, including Naval Station Norfolk. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate who most recently was commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan/Navy Region Japan, Lahti has studied alternative energy strategies for the Navy. He was director of the military branch’s Energy and Environmental Readiness Division.

A Buffalo, New York, native, Lahti is the third new commander of the mid-Atlantic region in the past three years. He followed McCall, who assumed command of the region in May 2023, and according to a Navy spokesperson, planned to retire, and Vice Adm. Christopher ‘Scotty’ Gray, who was promoted to lead the Navy Installations Command.

Lahti’s assignments have included commanding a submarine squadron and serving as commanding officer of Naval Submarine Base New London. He also was commander of the USS Nebraska. Lahti has earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.

In 1989, Foster bought Foster Fuels from his father, the late Watt R. “Bobby” Foster Sr. The younger Foster marks the third generation to run the family business, which was founded in 1921. With about 240 employees, the company in fiscal 2023 had $215 million in revenue.

Foster held the titles of CEO and president until January, when the company named a new president, Will Rohrig, who has been with Foster Fuels since 2009 and most recently served as director of emergency services. The change will allow Foster to concentrate more on his family’s land conservation efforts and The Foster Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children, scholarship funds and local charities. Foster, who also serves on the Bank of the James Financial Group’s board, has placed more than 2,000 acres of land under conservation easements.

Foster Fuels holds the prime contract for emergency fuel delivery with the federal government, receiving in May the latest iteration of the contract, worth up to $442 million over five years. Through its Mission Critical division, the company has responded to relief efforts, including Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, Texas ice storms and Hurricane Ian.

Since Cassaday founded his Northern Virginia firm in 1993, it has grown from $40 million in assets under management to $5.5 billion. Today, Cassaday & Co. has 86 employees who work with more than 3,000 investors. The firm is ranked No. 42 on Barron’s Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams list for 2024. 

A Radford University graduate who grew up in Northern Virginia, Cassaday and his wife, Mary, are heavily involved in their community, making donations to local charities addressing hunger and poverty. In October 2023, HopeLink Behavioral Health, a mental health nonprofit in Northern Virginia, announced the creation of the Cassaday Hope Award, which recognized the couple for their “unparalleled support” of HopeLink. The couple’s three sons, Chad, Kyle and Chris, all work at Cassaday & Co.

THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE ME: Grateful, fair and happy

HOBBIES/PASSIONS: I enjoy cycling, golf, pickleball, working out and playing my drums.

A native of Brazil, Evangelista had 20-plus years of experience in hospitality and gaming around the United States before leaving Penn National Gaming operations to join the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol in early 2022.

Hard Rock opened a temporary casino in Bristol in July 2022, with plans to open the approximately $515 million permanent casino in July 2024. But earlier this year, the company pushed back the opening of the permanent casino until late fall in order to open the full casino resort at one time.

When fully open, the resort will have about 1,400 employees, a 303-room hotel, a 2,000-seat indoor entertainment venue, more than 1,500 slots, 75 table games and multiple dining options.

Evangelista has master’s degrees in business administration and human resources management. She serves on the executive committee of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce’s board.

HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER: No one chooses the casino industry. I was blessed to have a job opportunity that led me to a career I love.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE I’VE FACED: Moving to the USA alone with one suitcase in the name of love. Everything else was a piece of cake after that!

President and CEO of security and defense contractor QinetiQ US since February 2022, Purvis previously worked at Northrop Grumman, where she was enterprise services sector president and a corporate vice president. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman in 2012, Purvis worked for Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), where she was senior vice president of its intelligence systems unit.

Purvis holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Hampton University, a master’s in information systems from George Mason University and a certificate from Yale School of Management’s Accelerated Management Program. In 2024, she received her fourth consecutive Wash100 Award, recognizing leading government contracting executives.

In August 2023, QinetiQ US won a $224 million contract to provide systems engineering and technical assistance for the Space Development Agency. In October 2023, QinetiQ US won an $84 million Army contract to produce 700 bomb suits for use by explosive ordinance disposal soldiers. The following month, QinetiQ US was awarded a $170 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security contract for the Tethered Aerostat Radar System surveillance system.

Its United Kingdom-based parent company, QinetiQ Group, reported about $3.5 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2024, up 21% from the prior year.

Inglima has been at Willcox & Savage for more than a quarter of a century. In 2021, he was named managing partner of the firm. 

Inglima’s practice centers around mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and securities transactions, intellectual property, licensing and technology transfers, and general corporate work, including advising executives about corporate governance. After beginning his career at McGuireWoods’ McLean office, Inglima joined Willcox & Savage in 1995 and became a partner in 1999. 

Inglima was lead counsel to Landmark Communications in several major sales, including Landmark’s sale of The Weather Channel to NBCUniversal Media. He also was lead counsel to Dominion Enterprises in the sale of ForRent Media to CoStar Group, which was announced in 2017. 

In December, Inglima oversaw the opening of an office in Tysons. Willcox & Salvage has more than 60 attorneys practicing in over 30 areas and is the 10th largest law firm in the state. 

Inglima sits on the advisory council of Horizons Hampton Roads, a nonprofit that provides academic and social opportunities to school-age children living in families with limited income. He was in the 2007 class of the Civic Leadership Institute.