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 litigation nationally and has led arbitrations before the International Chamber of Commerce and the American Arbitration Association. She also has led and argued multiple appeals before the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Additionally, Cunningham provides strategic pre-market litigation risk and avoidance advice to product, equipment and chemical manufacturers. She also speaks and writes about PFAS’ environmental risk and other topics.

As head of the litigation team at Hunton Andrews Kurth, Cunningham leads more than 250 attorneys across offices nationally and worldwide. Before becoming team head, she was co-head of the firm’s product liability and mass tort litigation practice group.

Cunningham’s expertise has earned her numerous recognitions including Virginia Lawyers Weekly naming her on a list of “Go To Lawyers” for negligence law in 2024. In August, she was named to the Best Lawyers in America 2026 list. The Virginia Law Foundation inducted her as a fellow in 2021.

After earning a degree in psychology at the University of Virginia, Cunningham completed her law degree at Emory University, where she served as managing editor of the Emory Law Journal. In 1999, she was elected to the Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society for law students.

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Building an inclusive creative economy in 19 counties, four cities and 53 towns requires more than vision — it demands the ability to unite communities around shared goals and to secure multimillion-dollar investments. Named executive director of a trio of entities that promote Southwest Virginia’s creative economy and tourism in 2021, Kim Davis has worked to elevate the region’s visibility. She also elevates the community.

“Whether leading regional recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene, launching the Blue Ridge Rising Action Plan or cutting ribbons on inclusive public spaces like the Haysi Riverfront Park, Kim’s work centers people,” Davis’ nominator says. “She understands that tourism isn’t just about attracting visitors — it’s about building pride, creating jobs and preserving the cultural and natural assets that define Southwest Virginia.”

Prior to her current job, Davis was marketing director for the Birthplace of Country Music, a Bristol-based nonprofit that runs a museum and annual music festival. “That experience taught me the power of authentic storytelling and how creative branding can drive cultural and economic transformation,” Davis says.

In addition to her degree in communications and public relations from the University of Tennessee, Davis has an MBA from Louisiana State University Shreveport. She was one of 40 fellows selected for the 2022-23 class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a nine-month economic development training program. She’s also a member of the 2025 Lead Virginia class.

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With more than two decades of accounting experience, Dorrie Franzello-Kurtz focuses on attest and tax engagements for the construction industry and small businesses. She takes a strategic, forward-looking approach to her work, according to her nominator. Whether advising a client on accounting software transitions, improving workflows or guiding long-term financial strategy, Franzello-Kurtz “brings a rare blend of deep technical expertise and business savvy,” the nominator says.

As the first practice lead for client accounting and advisory services at YHB, Franzello-Kurtz built a service area from the ground up, ensuring its culture developed into one valuing innovation, collaboration and inclusivity.

Franzello-Kurtz joined YHB in 2016 as a supervisory senior. By 2020, the firm had named her a principal.

Previously, Franzello-Kurtz worked for more than eight years as an accountant at Woodcock & Associates, a Fredericksburg accounting and consulting firm specializing in medical practice and construction clients. YHB acquired the firm in 2020.

Working with the construction industry, a traditionally male-dominated industry, Franzello-Kurtz says, has given her the opportunity to challenge assumptions “about who belongs in leadership roles and about what success looks like in our profession.”

“I have demonstrated that expertise, resilience and vision can redefine expectations,” she says.

Franzello-Kurtz graduated from George Mason University with a degree in accounting. She later earned a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Phoenix.

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The first Black cheerleader for her middle and high schools in Greensboro, North Carolina, Deborah Gandy knows a thing or two about blazing trails. In 1998, U.S. Trust (now Bank of America Private Bank) hired Gandy as a business development officer, making her the first Black person in that role in the wealth management firm’s history. In 2023, she became the first Black woman to chair the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

“Breaking barriers is one thing,” Gandy says. “Ensuring there are others to follow you is another. I consider it my responsibility to ensure … diversity in the workforce.”

Gandy has more than three decades of experience in investment management. She joined Chevy Chase Trust, an investment management firm overseeing more than $42 billion in assets, in 2009 as a managing director. She’s held her current role since 2023.

Previously, Gandy was a director and private banker at Citi Private Bank. She’s also held positions with Wachovia Bank & Trust and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

In the community, Gandy sits on the boards of Arlington County’s Signature Theatre, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the VHC Health Foundation, as well as the dean’s advisory board of George Mason University’s Honors College. She is vice chair of the Arlington Community Foundation.

Gandy earned a degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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In 2020, Christine Gustafson joined Breeden as the first female on the real estate development company’s executive team.

“That milestone wasn’t just symbolic — it marked a shift in how we approached leadership, communication and visibility as an organization,” she says.

Gustafson was also the company’s first executive-level marketing expert.

“The company’s philosophy had long been to ‘work and stay humble,’ which unfortunately led to a persistent misconception that we were a small, ‘mom-and-pop’ operation,” she says.

Gustafson promptly launched a national marketing campaign across digital, social and print platforms. The results were dramatic: Website traffic surged about 59% and overall engagement skyrocketed by about 66% between 2021 and 2022. Her marketing mastery helped secure spots for Breeden on the Inc. 5000 list of the country’s fastest-growing private companies and Multi-Housing News’ list of top multifamily property owners.

“Today, people no longer ask, ‘Who’s Breeden?’— they recognize the ‘B’ and associate it with quality, innovation and integrity,” she says.

Previously, Gustafson worked as marketing director and print project manager at Chesapeake-based Jones Printing Service.

She was also director of marketing for Pilot Media Solutions.

Gustafson is secretary of the Virginia Apartment Management Association’s board. She also sits on the boards of the Virginia Beach SPCA and Eggleston Services, a nonprofit dedicated to the education, training and employment of people with disabilities.

Along with an undergraduate degree, Gustafson has a master’s in human development from Virginia Tech.

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When Julie H. Gustavsson made partner at Keiter in 2015, she was the first nonpracticing accountant to hold that role since the firm was founded in 1978. At Keiter, Gustavsson oversees the firm’s day-to-day operations and the development, planning and execution of its strategic plan. She manages Keiter’s information technology, marketing, human resources and office services departments.

From 2015 until now, Keiter went from $20 million in annual revenue to nearly $50 million.

“I can’t take all the credit for that growth, but many of the areas that I manage have helped make that growth possible,” Gustavsson says.

One of her proudest accomplishments at the firm, she says, was launching a top-down audit of internal systems, which resulted in new automated reporting, budgeting and vendor management as well as improvements in billings and collections. These efficiencies saved the firm more than $1.5 million annually on average.

Additionally, under Gustavsson’s guidance, the HR department was restructured to increase talent retention and recruitment, which included revamping compensation and benefit programs to include flexible work arrangements, paternity leave and other benefits, she says.

After joining Keiter in 2005 as a software support specialist, Gustavsson was promoted to IT manager the following year. She became chief operating officer in 2011.

Named among the 2018 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and CPA Practice Advisor magazine, Gustavsson earned an accounting information systems degree from Virginia Tech.

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Eight years ago, Emily Hartman joined Allianz Partners, a travel insurance and assistance company that’s a unit of German financial services company Allianz. After starting out as director of strategic partnerships, Hartman was later named head of e-commerce. In 2021, she became chief of Allianz’s USA business teams. Three years later, Hartman was elevated to the company’s North America general manager.

In her role, Hartman leads cross-functional teams responsible for end-to-end management, delivery and support for all distribution partners, including airlines like Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. She oversees about 80 employees.
Hartman was part of the successful effort in 2024 to secure naming rights on Richmond’s $30 million outdoor amphitheater for Allianz.

Early in her career, Hartman says, she put energy into developing expertise, building credibility and delivering results. Today, her focus is making “a positive impact on my company, on the people I work with and on the communities I’m part of.”

She says, “I’ve found the greatest fulfillment in seeing others thrive and in knowing that the work we do together creates lasting value.”

Hartman has served as a volunteer and foster host for Virginia German Shepherd Rescue, a nonprofit that works to rehabilitate and re-home German shepherds, for nearly 20 years. She sits on the board of the Science Museum of Virginia Foundation and is chairman of the board of Jacob’s Chance, an organization that supports people with intellectual, developmental, physical and/or complex disabilities.

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Co-founded in 2016 by Nikki Hastings, CvilleBioHub works to accelerate the life sciences sector in the region by supporting biotech startups, facilitating strategic connections and building infrastructure to commercialize academic research.
Hastings, who has a doctorate in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia, has served as the nonprofit’s executive director since 2018.

Through a collaboration between CvilleBioHub and U.Va., the Commonwealth Bio Accelerator opened on Feb. 25. Located at North Fork, a UVA Discovery Park, the accelerator offers early stage biotech companies office and lab space, equipment and mentorship. This summer, the accelerator welcomed its first cohort of six life sciences startups.

“This accelerator is already attracting high-potential companies and positioning our region as a serious contender in the biotech space,” Hastings says.

Under Hastings’ leadership, CvilleBioHub has secured millions in funding. That includes $4.3 million announced early in 2025 from the state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative. In August, the CvilleBioHub announced it had received an additional $15 million in funding from the commonwealth and U.Va. to expand the accelerator.

Additionally, Hastings is director of the biotechnology track of U.Va.’s master’s degree in commerce and an adjunct faculty member. She brings real-world experience to the classroom; earlier in her career, Hastings was vice president of operations at HemoShear Therapeutics and chief operations officer at Contraline, both Charlottesville-based biotech companies.

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