Banking | Finance 2024: CECILIA A. HODGES
Hodges has worked in the banking industry for more than 37 years. Leading the greater Washington, D.C., and Virginia regions since 2018, Hodges manages teams in more than 60 branches, and she’s also well known for her community service, including for the Washington, D.C.-area Easterseals chapter and Women Giving Back, wh[...]
Nonprofits | Philanthropy 2024: TRAVIS STATON
The United Way of Southwest Virginia named its president and CEO, Staton, to lead Endless Opportunity, or EO, in February. EO is a new nonprofit, spun off of the United Way chapter, focused on workforce development programs. As EO’s leader, Staton manages a $10 million portfolio of grant-funded economic development, workfo[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: CHRISTOPHER D. KASTNER
A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Pepperdine University, Kastner was tapped as Huntington Ingalls Industries’ president and CEO in March 2022. HII reported revenue of $11.5 billion last year, a 7.3% increase from 2022, and a total project backlog of $43.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023. The Fortun[...]
Economic Development 2024: STEPHANIE LANDRUM
Landrum has led the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership since 2015. She joined the partnership nearly 20 years ago, serving as acting executive director for two years before stepping up to senior vice president. Before coming to AEDP, Landrum was a project coordinator at Southeast Fairfax Development Corp. The site of Al[...]
Economic Development 2024: CAREN MERRICK
Years before she was appointed to serve in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, Merrick and her husband, Phillip Merrick, founded webMethods, a software company that helped businesses connect data from disparate systems via the web. The company grew steadily from the mid-1990s tech boom until the business sold to Software[...]
Telecommunications 2024: J.D. MYERS II
Myers joined Cox Communications in 2006 as vice president of the company’s business services, steadily ascending through the ranks to his current position as senior vice president and region manager, east region. He leads the home and business telecommunications and cable TV provider’s day-to-day operations for much [...]
Banking | Finance 2024: MARK A. FRANTZ
Co-founded by Frantz in 2009, Blue Delta is a venture capital firm that supports growth-stage companies providing technology solutions to the federal government. In April, Blue Delta announced it had invested $25 million in Maryland’s Herrick Technology Laboratories, a provider of software-defined radio (which relies on [...]
Government | Politics 2024: DON SCOTT JR.
After bumping longtime Del. Eileen Filler-Corn from the top House role in a 2022 shakeup, Scott became Virginia’s first Black speaker in January. It wasn’t the only unexpected turn in his history: In 1994, as he was finishing up his law degree, Scott was arrested on federal drug charges. He would serve more than seve[...]
Real Estate 2024: BYRON L. BOSTON
Dynex Capital, a real estate investment trust, reported about $6.37 billion in total assets at the end of last year, compared with about $3.61 billion in 2022, with a strong fourth quarter capping a volatile year for REITs because of inflation and high interest rates. A St. Louis native, Boston joined Dynex in 2008 as […]
Law 2024: JOHN ‘JACK’ LAVOIE
Joining Cooley in 2008, Lavoie leads the firm’s real estate practice group. His practice centers on real estate transactions, including buying, selling, developing and leasing office, industrial and retail properties. Lavoie represents landlords, tenants, lenders and borrowers in the leasing, financing and repositioning of[...]
Government | Politics 2024: JASON MIYARES
Miyares, the son of a Cuban refugee, became the first Hispanic elected to statewide office in Virginia after voters backed his attorney general bid in 2021. Along with Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, he is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2025. As attorney general, Miyares has touted successes in r[...]
Retail 2024: GEOFFREY POHANKA
Pohanka’s family has been selling cars since Frank Pohanka opened a Washington, D.C., dealership in 1919. Today, the family’s business, headed by Frank’s grandson Geoffrey, has 20 locations in Virginia, Maryland and Texas, and is the third largest Virginia-based auto dealership. It had revenue of $1.8 billion a[...]





















