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SHAZA ANDERSEN | Founder and CEO, Trustar Bank,
Shaza Andersen could have opted for early retirement in 2018 when the holding company of the first bank she founded, WashingtonFirst Bank, was acquired by Sandy Spring Bancorp in a deal valued at $447 million. Instead, Andersen decided to do it over again and founded Fairfax County-based Trustar Bank, which opened in 2019 with n[...]
HEATHER ARMENTROUT | President and general manager, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace,
In early 2024, Heather Armentrout left Northrop Grumman to run the U.S. subsidiary of Norway-based Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. Armentrout describes the business, which represents the Norwegian contractor’s activities in the United States, as “a startup operation inside a 211-year-old company.” Under her leadersh[...]
NUPUR SIDHU BAL | Vice president and managing partner, Bowen Ten Long & Bal
At the annual meeting of the Virginia Bar Association in January, Nupur Bal became chair of the association’s board of governors — historically, the first step on a three-year path to serve as its president. At the same event, the VBA also presented Bal the Young Lawyers Division Mentor of the Year Award for going [&hell[...]
NANCY BARKER | Senior vice president, federal market leader, mid-Atlantic regional manager, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB)
Nancy Barker made a bold move in 1989 when interviewing for a position at VHB’s Rhode Island office. She proposed that the Massachusetts-based civil engineering consulting and design firm launch a Virginia office. They took her up on it. “What started as a three-person operation has grown today into a vibrant mid-Atlanti[...]
BARBARA A. BLAKE | Executive director, Office of Monarch Internships and Co-Ops, Old Dominion University
In 2023, Old Dominion University launched the Monarch Internship and Co-Op Office and tapped Barbara Blake as its executive director to meet a goal of 100% student participation in work-based learning. “I view internships as more than résumé-builders,” Blake says. “They are launchpads for career confidence and financial [...]
CORRIE TEAGUE BOBE | Director, Danville Office of Economic Development & Tourism
For several months after Telly Tucker stepped down as Danville’s director of economic development in 2020, Corrie Teague Bobe stepped up as interim director. Following a competitive national search, officials decided they’d already found what they were looking for and hired Bobe for the permanent role. Since then, Bo[...]
ANNA BONET | CEO, Elizabeth River Crossings and Abertis USA
Anna Bonet moved from Barcelona to Virginia in 2021 to lead Spanish toll-road management company Abertis’ first U.S. company, Elizabeth River Crossings, which operates the downtown and midtown tunnels that run between Norfolk and Portsmouth through a public-private partnership with the Virginia Department of Transportation[...]
SHARON BRICKHOUSE MARTIN | Vice president of health services integration, VHC Health
After serving on the VHC Health Board of Directors, Sharon Brickhouse Martin joined the not-for-profit, 537-bed health system as its vice president of health services integration in March 2023. Her responsibilities include leading and coordinating strategic initiatives and ensuring successful project completion. Collaborating wi[...]
DENISE CHADWICK WRIGHT | CEO, Birmingham Green
In an industry plagued by workforce shortages, Birmingham Green, a nonprofit operating senior living facilities in Northern Virginia, enjoyed a 94.9% staff retention rate in the first quarter of 2025. In a 2025 article for McKnight’s Senior Living, Denise Chadwick Wright, the organization’s CEO since 2017, explains t[...]
ANDREA COPELAND | President and CEO, Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce
In May, Andrea Copeland became the first Black president and CEO in the 112-year history of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. The day Copeland learned she would be the chamber’s leader, she sat in her office “wearing the weight” of the news. “That mantle is major, and I don’t take it lightly,”[...]
KELLY ROENKER CORDOVA | Chief of staff and vice president for strategic initiatives, Virginia Wesleyan University
Since taking her current role in 2022, Kelly Roenker Cordova has guided major efforts at Virginia Wesleyan University, including the $200 million “Transformation Now!” capital campaign, the relocation of the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art to VWU’s campus and the integration of Sentara College of Health Sciences in[...]
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 [...]
