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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: ANGOLD, RYAN

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Navy SEAL, Angold leads a company that was named the 24th largest federal contractor in 2019.

Angold left the military in 2005 and joined Blackbird Technologies, a solutions provider for the intelligence community that’s now part of RTX. After a stint at VP Expeditionary Programs in 2010, Angold joined ADS. He was promoted to CEO in 2022.

ADS started as a small dive shop, Lynnhaven Dive Center, in . The son of the company’s founder created an offshoot in 1997 to manage federal contracts and supply military divers. ADS now offers more than 50,000 products to more than 10,000 customers.

In May, ADS was among several companies named by the Defense Logistics Agency to share in a contract worth up to $5 billion to supply integrated weapons systems equipment and services in support of Virginia-class submarines and active surface ships.

Government Contractors | Technology 2025: ABOD, CRAIG P.

Since Abod founded Carahsoft in 2004, the privately owned IT and cybersecurity solutions provider has grown to land the No. 26 spot on Forbes’ 2024 list of the nation’s largest private companies, with more than $15 billion in revenue and 3,200 employees.

In January, Abod, a University of Maryland graduate, was named for the 11th time to Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 list of top contracting executives.

Abod’s company has notched several large contract wins in recent years, including a spot announced in 2024 on an Air Force contract worth up to $975 million to optimize the operational readiness of deployed weapons systems.

Bloomberg News in February reported that the Department of Justice and Securities Exchange Commission are investigating a $32 million deal between Carahsoft and CrowdStrike to provide cybersecurity tools to the Internal Revenue Service, but the IRS never purchased the items. That comes amid a separate probe into whether the firm conspired with German software company SAP to fix prices on sales to the U.S. military and government customers. Law enforcement agencies raided Carahsoft’s Reston headquarters in 2024. SAP said the raid was unrelated to that business.

Education 2025: FLEMING, SCOTT

Named to lead SCHEV in 2024, Fleming was serving his first term on the council’s governing board when he was hired.

SCHEV is a coordinating body for the state’s , implementing statewide policies set by the General Assembly and the governor, suggesting policies and funding, and conducting research. Fleming replaced interim director Alan Edwards, who served after longtime SCHEV director Peter Blake stepped down in 2023.

With two degrees from Brigham Young University, Fleming previously worked with Scantron, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Strada Foundation, and he was a staffer for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

In a presentation this year to the state Senate Finance Committee, Fleming said SCHEV’s priorities include getting enrollment back to pre-pandemic levels, addressing accessibility and affordability, and aligning more programs to workforce demands in Virginia.

ADVICE FOR NEW COLLEGE GRADS: Don’t fall into the trap of believing every decision is final. Almost every decision can be done over again.

MUST-LISTEN PODCAST: I’m among the “Huberman Lab” listeners but also enjoy “Church History Matters” and the “Come Back” podcast, both of which are faith-oriented.

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Government | Politics | Lobbying 2025: KILGORE, DEL. TERRY

In an unusual Republican party leadership vote in June, Del. Terry Kilgore was voted in as the GOP’s House minority leader, succeeding Del. C. Todd Gilbert, who stepped down to become U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia. Kilgore, who has served in the House since 1994, unsuccessfully challenged Gilbert for the position in 2021 and held the House majority leader post during Gilbert’s term as speaker in 2022-24.

If Republicans win back control of the House this fall, Kilgore is poised to become the next speaker. Part of a prominent political family in Scott County, Kilgore is the twin brother of former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore. He is a criminal defense attorney at Mitchell Kilgore, a law firm with offices throughout Southwest Virginia.

In the House, Kilgore has advocated for redevelopment of abandoned coal mines in his home district and its surroundings, as well as building small modular nuclear reactors. He is the former chair of the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and still serves as a commissioner, and he helped launch InvestSWVA, a marketing campaign to attract business to Southwest Virginia.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: CALIO, CHRISTOPHER T.  

Calio became president and CEO of Fortune Global 500 aerospace and defense contractor RTX in 2024. Previously known as Raytheon Technologies, the company moved its headquarters to Arlington in 2022. At RTX, Calio, who previously served as chief operating officer, leads 185,000 employees.
Calio also was president of RTX subsidiary Pratt & Whitney, which designs and manufactures aircraft engines. He joined United Technologies Corp. in 2005 as an assistant counsel.

RTX reported $80.7 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024, up from $68.9 billion from the previous year. The company continues to rake in big projects; its Raytheon subsidiary won a $1.1 billion contract modification from the U.S. Navy in June. That’s the largest contract modification for the program so far.

This year, RTX said it expects to take an $850 million hit from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, but Calio said in July he expects the company to have sales of $84.75 billion to $85.5 billion in 2025.

Calio has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Trinity College and an MBA and law degree from the University of Connecticut.

Education 2025: ROWE, KATHERINE A.

Rowe became president of the nation’s second-oldest university in 2018, after serving as provost and dean of faculty at Smith College. She has shepherded the creation of William & Mary’s first sustainability plan, an entrepreneurship hub and the college’s strategic plan, Vision 2026.

In July, the college opened the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics. W&M also introduced the state’s first coastal and marine sciences major this year, part of the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences, thanks to a $100 million gift from Jane Batten in 2024. In February, Dr. R. Todd Stravitz, an alumnus, donated $50 million to create a full-tuition scholarship fund for the Batten School and the Virginia Institute for Marine Science.

Rowe holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University and spent 16 years as an English professor at Bryn Mawr College. She serves on the Northern Virginia Council’s board of directors and the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission.

NEW LIFE EXPERIENCE: I spent two months learning to navigate campus in a boot this spring, following a foot injury. It also made a great, resonant boom while cheering at basketball games.

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Energy 2025: SENECHAL, KRISTEN

Following an eight-month national search, Kristen Senechal was selected to lead NOVEC, succeeding David E. Schleicher, who retired in April.

One of the nation’s largest cooperatives based on sales, NOVEC reported operating revenue of $864 million in 2023. The electric cooperative serves more than 180,000 residential and business customers in Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties, as well as Manassas Park and Clifton.

For the new job, Senechal moved to Northern Virginia from Texas, where she had worked as executive vice president of transmission for the Lower Colorado River Authority, which, among other things, produces and delivers electric power. In that role, she oversaw more than 850 employees.

Senechal has an MBA from the University of Houston. Perhaps more surprising is that she also has a degree in molecular biology from the University of Texas and a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before pivoting to the energy field, Senechal spent several years conducting research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

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Education 2025: DORÉ, DAVID

When Doré became the 10th chancellor of the Virginia Community College System in 2023, he started his tenure by traveling 3,600 miles in 36 days on a listening tour across the state.

Doré oversees 23 with 40 campuses and more than 232,000 students. The former president of Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, replaced Glenn DuBois, who was VCCS’ chancellor for more than two decades. In March, the VCCS board voted to discontinue policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion across its colleges, following an executive order by President Donald Trump.

One of Doré’s goals is to see all Virginia high school students graduate with a community college credential under their belts. In a 2024 op-ed, Doré wrote every $1 spent on community college results in $5.70 in lifetime earnings for a VCCS student.

Doré earned his doctorate in education at Pepperdine University and master’s degrees from Georgetown, Boston College and Santa Clara University.

WHAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME: I was a Jesuit seminarian.

NEW LIFE EXPERIENCE: Visited Barcelona for the first time this summer!

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Energy 2025: BROWN, CARLOS M.

Brown’s title at Dominion grows longer and longer.

After joining the company in 2007 as senior counsel, Brown steadily climbed the ranks, holding business, operational and legal roles.

In 2024, Brown became president of Dominion Services and executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Dominion Energy. In June, Brown assumed oversight of the company’s Project Construction group, which includes major generation and gas construction projects.

In a statement following Brown’s 2024 promotion, Robert M. Blue, chair, president and CEO of Dominion Energy, said, “Carlos has a depth and breadth of experience that will serve him well as he leads Dominion Energy’s law, corporate governance, environmental, IT, supply chain, corporate facilities, and corporate safety and security teams.”

As an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, Brown studied American and law and served as president of the student body. While earning his law degree at U.Va., Brown was president of the Black Law Students Association.

Brown chairs the board of trustees for the Virginia Historical Society, which owns and operates the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

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Government Contractors | Technology 2025: CALKINS, MATT

A top economics graduate at Dartmouth and a world champion board gamer, Calkins co-founded cloud computing and enterprise software firm in his basement in 1999. It grew to become the most successful software IPO of 2017.

In 2024, Appian reaped $68 million in cloud subscription revenue, up 21% compared with 2023. The company’s total 2024 revenue was $617 million, an annual increase of 13%, achieved after the company laid off 150 of its 2,243 workers to boost profits.

Calkins worked at software company MicroStrategy before forming Appian. He has served on the board of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Institute for , the Northern Virginia Council and sits on the Virginia Public Access Project’s leadership council.
Calkins has said he sees opportunity for Appian to pick up new business due to its close work with the Department of Efficiency on federal streamlining and the Trump administration’s scrutiny of larger contractors.

In March, the Virginia Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition from Appian seeking to reinstate a record $2.04 billion verdict in a 2022 corporate espionage case against rival Pegasystems that was previously overturned.