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Health Care 2025: LUTES, MICHAEL

Lutes joined Bon Secours in 2022 as Richmond market president. The health system created his state president role this year; he now oversees the Richmond and Hampton Roads markets, including about 14,000 employees across the state.

In May, the health system opened its approximately $80 million, 100,000-square-foot Harbour View Center in Suffolk. The same month, Henrico County supervisors approved a permit for Bon Secours’ planned $370 million renovation and expansion of St. Mary’s Hospital, which will include a 200,000-square-foot tower. Construction is expected to begin this year.

Meanwhile, the hospital system started construction on a new medical office building in Chesterfield County, set to include an outpatient surgical center. The project is expected to be finished in late 2026.

Before joining Bon Secours, Lutes served in leadership roles for Atrium Health in North Carolina. He’s served on the Virginia Hospital & Association’s board since 2022.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University and a master of health administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.

FIRST JOB: Worked at a movie theater in concessions

TRAITS I ADMIRE: Honesty, work ethic, humor

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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: KAINE, U.S. SEN. TIM

Labeled by supporters as “America’s Dad” for his level-headed, folksy and sometimes wonky demeanor, Democrat Kaine has been a fixture in Virginia since his 1994 election to Richmond City Council. From there, he became Richmond mayor, then Virginia’s lieutenant governor and governor. His 2006-10 term in the Executive Mansion was marked by both the Great Recession and the Virginia Tech shooting that left 32 dead.

The Kansas City native and attorney became Virginia’s junior senator in 2013 and was re-elected for a third term in 2024. In 2016, Kaine was Hillary Clinton’s running mate in her unsuccessful presidential bid.

In the Senate, Kaine serves on the Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations, and Health, , Labor, and Pensions committees. With fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, Kaine has taken aim at President Donald Trump’s proposed tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, as well as federal employee layoffs and cuts to services, including Medicaid. In May, Kaine’s resolution that would have blocked Trump’s global tariffs narrowly failed in the Senate.

A Catholic, Kaine has said he is personally against abortion but has voted to support women’s reproductive rights.

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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: CULLEN, RICHARD

Richmond insider Richard Cullen was an early pick by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to serve on the political newcomer’s cabinet when he took office in 2022, and he has remained a prominent figure in the executive branch since.

Before joining the Youngkin administration, Cullen was a senior partner at McGuireWoods, Virginia’s largest law firm. There, he served as chairman for more than a decade and represented a slate of high-profile clients, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former Gov. Doug Wilder, former

Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones, and Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the businessman whose relationship with former Gov. Bob McDonnell led to a federal corruption conviction later overturned by the
U.S. Supreme Court.

Cullen’s service hasn’t only been in the private sector, though. From 1991 to 1993, he was the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and he spent seven months as attorney general of Virginia in the late 1990s after then-Attorney General Jim Gilmore stepped down to run for governor.
A graduate of Furman University and the University of Richmond School of Law, Cullen is the immediate past board chair for the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: SCOTT JR., DEL. DON

After bumping longtime Del. Eileen Filler-Corn from the top House role in a 2022 shakeup, Scott became Virginia’s first Black speaker in 2024 when Democrats retook the chamber. 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 seven years in prison. In January, he received a pardon from outgoing President Joe Biden.

While Scott, now a well-regarded defense attorney, has faced sporadic attacks from Republicans over his criminal record, he is forthright about his past and has made criminal justice reform a priority.

First elected to the General Assembly in 2019, he quickly got attention for his progressive and sharp tongue. As speaker, he has negotiated a working relationship with Gov. Glenn Youngkin, although Scott criticized the governor for not standing up to President Donald Trump over federal job cuts.

A former executive at KRA, Scott is a partner at the law firm of Breit Biniazan. He is seeking his fourth term in the House of Delegates.

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Energy 2025: HEWA, JOHN D.

In 2017, Hewa joined the member-owned utility as vice president and chief operating officer. Three years later, he took the helm of the Rappahannock Cooperative following the retirement of Kent Farmer, who’d worked there for more than four decades.

In addition to leading the cooperative that today provides electricity to nearly 182,000 connections across parts of 22 Virginia counties, Hewa is also CEO of Hyperscale Services, an REC affiliate that serves large data center members, and president and CEO of BrilliT, an REC subsidiary that provides cybersecurity, data analytics and IT services to REC and other cooperatives.

Earlier in his career, Hewa worked at cooperatives in Florida and Texas. He also served as the vice president of research, engineering and technical services at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in Arlington County.

In addition to an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Tennessee, Hewa earned a doctorate in engineering from George Washington University.

Hewa serves on the boards of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: MONET, BILL

Monet leads Akima, an Alaska Native corporation that handles federal contracts for the for-profit NANA Regional business owned by Indigenous Iñupiat shareholders. Akima has approximately 10,000 employees across the world.

With more than 30 years of experience in modernizing processes for federal, state, local and commercial clients, Monet is chief operating officer of NANA in addition to his duties as CEO and president of subsidiary Akima. A Virginia Tech alum, Monet has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a master’s degree in science from George Washington University. This year, he was named to Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 list of top contracting executives for the sixth straight year.

In November 2024, Akima opened a location in Tampa, Florida, to provide support to MacDill Air Force Base, which is home to two four-star combatant commands: U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. The company also moved its Huntsville, Alabama, location to a larger office.

Energy 2025: COSBY, CHRIS

Cosby signed on to lead ODEC in February, succeeding John C. Lee, who retired after leading the cooperative since 2023. He joined the cooperative in 2018 as a director of asset manager and most recently served as chief operating officer.

Incorporated in 1948, Old Dominion Cooperative is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative owned by 11 members — like Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and Southside Electric Cooperative — serving consumers “in 70 counties along 59,000 miles of distribution lines.”

To get the job done, ODEC owns 100% of a generation facility in Maryland and natural gas peaking facilities in Louisa and Fauquier counties. Additionally, ODEC owns 50% of the coal-run Clover Power station in Halifax County and 11.6% of the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station in Louisa County. The membership cooperative has also entered into long-term power purchase agreements for wind and solar operations.

Previously, Cosby held different positions at General Electric, Dominion Energy and Alstom Power. Before launching a career in the utility industry, he served on active duty in the U.S. Navy as an officer and pilot, flying the P-3 Orion, for 10 years.

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Education 2025: HEMPHILL, BRIAN O.

Old Dominion merged with Eastern Virginia School in July 2024 to form the largest suite of programs in state higher , with 56 academic programs. Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University received a $20 million gift from Joan Brock and another $20 million gift from Dennis and Jan Ellmer for student scholarships.

This has been an equally big year for ODU, having celebrated groundbreakings for a $24 million baseball complex project, the $25 million Barry Art Museum expansion and a new $184 million Biological Sciences Building.

Under Hemphill’s tenure, which began in 2021, the university received R1 research classification, launched a $500 million capital campaign and received a $5 million Mellon Foundation Award to fund humanities internships.

Hemphill previously was Radford University’s president and led the creation of Radford University Carilion through a merger with the Jefferson College of Health Sciences. He also is a past president of West Virginia State University.

Hemphill has a bachelor’s degree from St. Augustine’s University, a master’s degree from Iowa State University and a doctorate in administration and policy studies from the University of Iowa.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: LING, CANDICE

Since taking over Microsoft’s federal arm in 2023, Ling has focused on forging partnerships and advancing artificial intelligence, cloud computing and emerging technologies for federal customers. She previously served as Microsoft’s civilian federal sector vice president and as a industry leader in Asia. She also spent 19 years with Canadian consulting firm CGI.

Microsoft competes with Amazon Web Services, Google and Oracle for tech and digital modernization task orders under the Department of Defense’s $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract. DOD has spent about $1 billion on the program; it’s not clear how that money has been divvied up.

In 2025, Microsoft handed over the reins to its U.S. Army Integrated Visual Augmentation System headset contract, valued at up to $22 billion, to Anduril Industries. Microsoft had been the prime contractor on the critical Army project, but soldiers complained of problems with the goggles.

Ling received a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She landed for the second time in 2025 on Executive Mosaic’s annual Wash100 list of top government contracting executives. She also serves on the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board.

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: RIDDLE, ADAM

In 2023, Riddle was named chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America and president of its defense division. He has more than a decade of experience with the British aerospace, defense and engineering company.

Before taking on his latest roles, Riddle headed up Rolls-Royce’s global services division. Previously, he was director of strategy and future programs. Before coming to Rolls-Royce, Riddle worked for Boeing in defense operations. He is a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer.

In 2024, Rolls-Royce Holdings reported more than $23 billion in underlying revenue, up from $19.75 billion in 2023. The company has 34 U.S. locations across 26 states and over 5,000 employees, while in Canada, it employs nearly 700 people across three provinces.

In July, the company completed the sale of its naval propulsors business to Canada-based Fairbanks Morse Defense, which is also purchasing Rolls-Royce’s naval handling business.

Rolls-Royce announced in July a $75 million investment into its Aiken, South Carolina, engine plant to expand manufacturing. Shortly beforehand, in June, the company announced a $24 million investment to expand operations in Mankato, Minnesota, where it manufactures backup power systems for data centers.