Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: MENGUCCI, JOHN S.

Previously CACI’s chief operating officer and president of U.S. operations, in 2019 Mengucci became president and CEO of the contractor, which made the this year. CACI has 25,000 employees worldwide and reported $7.7 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue, up 14% from 2023.
Before CACI, Mengucci was president of Lockheed Martin’s information systems and global solutions civil segment.

CACI completed its $1.27 billion acquisition of Fairfax-based Azure Summit Technology in October 2024. That month, CACI also bought Reston’s Applied Insight.

In CACI’s third-quarter earnings call, Mengucci estimated the financial impact of recent Trump administration federal cuts to be about $1 million. CACI raised the minimum of its fiscal 2025 revenue forecast, projecting $8.55 billion to $8.65 billion.

In November 2024, a federal jury found CACI liable for the abuse two decades earlier of three Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib and awarded the men $42 million. CACI’s attorneys maintained there was no evidence its workers participated in abuse. As of early August, the company had not said whether it will appeal the verdict.

A Clarkson University and Syracuse University graduate, Mengucci is vice chair of Clarkson’s board of trustees and serves on the Professional Services Council’s executive committee.

PERSONAL MOTTO: Strategy is a place we come from.

BOOK I’D RECOMMEND: “Reality-Based Leadership,” by Cy Wakeman

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: TAYLOR, JENNIFER

Since 2020, Taylor has led the Northern Virginia Technology Council, one of the largest regional technology trade associations in the nation. NVTC represents tech industry players ranging from startups to companies to and nonprofits.

Under Taylor’s leadership, NVTC has seen its membership grow by more than 85% to more than 500 companies. The organization, along with three regional chambers, published a letter in support of George Mason University President Gregory Washington in July, after the Trump administration opened four civil rights investigations into the university.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and George Mason’s business school, Taylor, an Ohio native, was vice president of industry affairs at the Consumer Technology Association and held sales, marketing and development leadership roles for Caring Village, AARP and the American Red Cross.

At CTA, Taylor launched an apprenticeship program with IBM that has created hundreds of tech apprenticeships. Taylor is a trustee for Think Big for Kids and a board member for CodeVA.

She has received three alumni awards from George Mason, as well as multiple DC Tech Titans and American Red Cross Tiffany Leadership awards.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

2025 Living Legends: UKROP, ROBERT S. ‘BOBBY’

Although his family’s eponymous grocery chain has been out of business since 2009, Ukrop has continued his family’s legacy through the Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods brand of prepared foods and bakery operations, launched in 2010.

Known for its fried chicken, potato wedges, rainbow cookies and White House Rolls, Ukrop’s products are regionally available at Kroger, Wegmans, Publix and Food Lion, as well as Ukrop’s Market Hall. The company has limited distribution nationwide, particularly along the mid-Atlantic.

In 2019, the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business inducted Ukrop into its Alumni Hall of Fame. The 1969 graduate has served on UR’s board of trustees and the business school’s executive advisory council. He is immediate past chair of regional economic development organization the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Outside business, Ukrop, an avid golfer, is heavily involved in supporting regional athletics. In the early 1980s, he rallied support for building Richmond’s baseball stadium, The Diamond, which is now being replaced by CarMax Park, scheduled to open in 2026. He also co-founded Richmond Sports Backers, the athletic organization that manages Richmond’s Monument Avenue 10K race each spring and the city’s annual marathon in the fall.

Return to the full list of this categories recipients

 

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: BELL, THOMAS A.

Formerly chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America, Bell became CEO of , and information technology firm in 2023.

Bell is a two-time recipient of a Wash100 award from Executive Mosaic. Leidos has landed some huge wins under his leadership, including a Transportation Security Administration contract awarded in December 2024 valued up to $2.6 billion.

That’s been tempered with losses, though, including a $2.4 billion Department of Homeland Security Agile Cybersecurity Technical Security contract cancelled in May. More than $250 million of Leidos’ contracts have been cut by the Trump administration, more than any other company, according to The Wall Street Journal, and it has laid off more than 100 people based in Virginia since March.

Leidos reported $16.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024 and employs 47,000 employees worldwide. In May, Leidos acquired Chantilly-based AI tech company Kudu Dynamics for $300 million.

Bell earned a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology. He serves on the Aerospace Industries Association’s executive committee.

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: WEDGE, SUSAN

After joining IBM in 2002, Wedge took on roles of increasing responsibility. In 2022, she was tapped to lead IBM Consulting’s U.S. public and federal market, a portfolio worth more than $2.2 billion that supports more than 4,000 U.S.-based consultants.

She also has served as IBM’s head of federal operational transformation practice, senior partner of its health and civilian portion of federal market business, and a senior consultant and program manager supporting an intelligence community customer. Before IBM, Wedge worked at American Management Systems, serving as a consultant, senior principal and leader of initiatives for public sector clients.

In June, IBM announced it was working with Centreville-based Parsons to build a new, state-of-the-art air traffic control system. In October 2024, IBM announced the launch of its Granite 3.0 large language model artificial intelligence tool. In April, Reuters reported that IBM shares slid 7% on news that 15 of its contracts, valued at up to $100 million, had been cut.

Wedge was named for the second time this year to Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 list of the most impactful government contracting . She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: SHAPIRO, GARY J.  

Lawyer, author and lobbyist Shapiro is the longtime leader of the Consumer Technology Association, a trade organization representing more than 1,200 consumer technology companies. CTA owns and produces CES, the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, which has been held in Las Vegas since 1978.

With more than three decades at CTA’s helm, Shapiro has increased the association’s impact and influence while also expanding CES globally, attracting exhibitors from more than 50 countries. In 2024, Kinsey Fabrizio took over as president of CTA from Shapiro.

In May, CTA hosted a “fly-in” week for company in Washington, D.C., to lobby against the Trump administration’s tariffs.

A Georgetown Law graduate, Shapiro previously worked on Capitol Hill and was an associate at the Squire Sanders law firm before joining CTA. In 2021, Shapiro received France’s Legion of Honour Award from French President Emmanuel Macron, recognizing his impact on technology.

Shapiro is an honorary member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a member of the CEO Update Roundtable, and serves on the boards of the Council of Manufacturing Associations and the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.

Education 2025: WASHINGTON, GREGORY

In 2020, Washington became the first Black president of Virginia’s largest and most diverse public university. He was previously dean of the University of California, Irvine’s Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.

A first-generation college graduate, Washington holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Mason expanded its Arlington campus with the $250 million Fuse at Mason Square building, where the Institute for Digital InnovAtion and School of Computing will be housed. In March, its new $107 million Life Sciences and Engineering Building in Manassas was opened to the public.
George Mason has received significant donations in recent years, including the $50 million bequest in 2023 by late businessman Donald Costello for the business school, and $20 million from Kimmy Duong to support the School of Computing.

This summer, Washington and GMU were the subject of federal probes by the Trump administration, which alleges women and people of color were illegally favored in GMU hiring and promotions and that not enough has been done enough about campus antisemitism. Washington, who has seen support from faculty and local business, received a raise from Mason’s board in August but still must contend with the federal pressure.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: BILLS, MICHAEL D.

The state’s biggest individual campaign donor, Michael Bills has become a lightning rod in Virginia political circles for whom he funds — candidates who pledge not to take money from Dominion Energy — and who he doesn’t.

The founder and chief investment officer of Charlottesville-based Bluestem Asset Management, Bills founded Clean Virginia in 2018 with the goal of countering Dominion’s influence in the General Assembly and advocating for clean energy policies. Since then, he’s channeled millions to candidates through the Clean Virginia Fund, including more than $12 million in the 2022-23 election cycle.

In 2024, Clean Virginia endorsed former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s bid to run as the Democratic candidate in the 2025 gubernatorial race and pledged an initial $250,000 to her campaign. This year, the fund donated $400,000 to Jay Jones’ primary campaign for attorney general, notching a win when he beat Shannon Taylor, who accepted Dominion funding.

Bills, a Charlottesville-area resident, maintains close ties to the University of Virginia, his alma mater. He previously helped manage the school’s endowment, teaches finance courses at the McIntire School of Commerce, and in 1992 helped co-found the Sorensen Institute for .

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.

2025 Living Legends: ARCHER, ROBERT A. ‘BOB’

Archer’s career began after earning a business degree in 1969, followed immediately by military service and a tour in Vietnam.

Upon his discharge in 1972, Archer was named general manager and vice president of Blue Ridge Beverage, the wholesale beer, wine and nonalcoholic distributorship his family has owned and operated since 1959. He became chairman and CEO in 2001, and in 2023, his sister, Jacqueline Archer, was promoted to president and CEO. The business, which has assets in Waynesboro, Lynchburg and Abingdon along with Salem, employs about 540 people.

A Virginia Tech graduate, Archer is also a former rector of Radford University and was inducted into the Army ROTC Hall of Fame in 2021. He serves on the board of the Virginia War Memorial Foundation and chairs the Roanoke Center Foundation board.

INTERESTING PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: New Zealand, France, Vietnam, Turkey, to name a few. Looking forward to a trip in November to Antarctica. And don’t forget: There is a lot to see in America.

BOOK I’D RECOMMEND: “American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America,” by Colin Woodard

FAVORITE TEAM: Virginia Tech for sure

 

Return to the full list of this categories recipients

Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: LaCIVITA, CHRIS

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Chesterfield County, Republican power player LaCivita is a former Marine, a Purple Heart recipient and one of a handful of insiders who has President Donald Trump’s ear, having run his 2024 presidential campaign as co-campaign manager.

LaCivita got his start as a GOP political strategist in the 1990s, working on George Allen’s successful congressional and gubernatorial campaigns.

In 2004, the Gulf War veteran became a media adviser to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a political organization that helped sink the presidential campaign of Democrat John Kerry and produced the term “swiftboating,” meaning an unfair or untrue political attack. During the Obama era,

LaCivita ran Republican congressional and state legislative campaigns.

In 2020, LaCivita joined the pro-Trump Preserve America PAC and later became chief strategist of Trump’s MAGA super PAC. After getting Trump re-elected, LaCivita chose to stay in the private sector. According to The Wall Street Journal, he is advising Sali Berisha, a former Albanian prime minister who faces corruption charges and has been sanctioned by the United States. He also is co-campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Return to the full list of this category’s recipients.