When Ryan arrived at Langley Federal in 2012, the credit union had about $1.7 billion in assets and 165,500 members. It now boasts $5.5 billion in assets and 395,000 members.

Earlier this year, Ryan announced his plans to retire at the end of 2025. (A successor had not been named as of press time for this year’s Virginia 500.) During his tenure, Ryan played a pivotal role in the creation of the Langley for Families Foundation, a nonprofit launched in 2014 that has donated more than $7 million to local charities.

Before joining Langley Federal, Ryan spent 26 years at Massachusetts’ Digital Federal Credit Union, where he was executive vice president and chief operating officer.

In 2021, Ryan’s efforts prompted the Credit Union Executives Society to name him its outstanding chief executive of the year.

He has a degree in business management from Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts..

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Before joining Baird, Stack worked for more than two decades in the government services, aerospace and defense sector at California-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey. At Baird, Stack advises executives on mergers and acquisitions, raising capital and other corporate strategies.

Earlier this year, Baird served as the exclusive financial adviser for Kudu Dynamics, a Chantilly tech company that builds AI-powered cybersecurity tools for defense customers, on its $300 million acquisition by Reston-based federal contractor Leidos.

Baird also provided support for a $1.47 billion capital raise by AeroVironment, an Arlington County defense contractor, announced in July. “Tremendous momentum in defense tech!” Stack wrote on LinkedIn.

Another highlight of the past 12 months, Stack kicked off Baird’s 7th Annual Defense & Government Conference in November 2024. The event brought in more than 1,200 attendees.

A Duke University graduate, Stack also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She serves on the boards of Inova Health and the Northern Virginia Technology Council.

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Over the course of his military career, Schenck flew Black Hawk helicopters in Korea and trained others as a night vision goggle instructor pilot. He also worked on the Army staff in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, a post with responsibilities for overseeing the flying hour program, which makes sure military aviators receive sufficient training.

“You have an impact across the entire force, making sure every aviator had enough flying hour dollars, maintenance dollars, to train and be ready to accomplish their mission on behalf of the nation,” Schenck said on the podcast “Aerospace Advantage” in 2024.

Schenck, who earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1996, joined the PenFed executive leadership team in 2001 and was named its top leader in 2014. Under his leadership, PenFed’s assets have nearly doubled, from $17.8 billion to $31 billion, and membership has more than doubled, growing from 1.3 million to 2.8 million members.

In July, PenFed held a ribbon cutting for a new branch in Puerto Rico. The credit union has five other financial centers in the U.S. territory.

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In June, Sjolund began his tenure leading PRA Group, a global business that acquires and collects on nonperforming loans. Earlier this year, a PRA spokesperson noted that Sjolund planned to split his time between London and PRA’s Norfolk headquarters. He succeeds Vikram Atal, who retired after serving as PRA’s president and CEO since 2023.

Sjolund had previously served since 2018 as president of PRA Group Europe, where he oversaw nearly $3 billion in portfolio investment. In 2023, his role expanded to include responsibility for PRA’s interests in Canada and Australia.

He joined the company in 2014 after PRA Group acquired Aktiv Kapital, where Sjolund was director of group strategy and corporate development. From 2015 to 2018, he was PRA Group’s chief operating officer for Europe.

With more than 3,000 employees worldwide, PRA Group reported $1.1 billion in 2024 revenue, with annual portfolio purchases of $432.7 million and cash collections of $468.1 million.

Sjolund has a degree in international business from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

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Wilbanks developed an interest in stocks and bonds at the age of 14. As a 16-year-old, he formed an investment partnership with other students. “I was hooked,” Wilbanks has said of his career trajectory.

A Duke graduate, Wilbanks co-founded Norfolk’s Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management in 1990, serving as the firm’s managing principal and chief investment officer.

Last year, Clearstead Advisors, an Ohio-based financial advisory firm, acquired WST, which had more than $5 billion in assets under management at the time. The business was rebranded as Clearstead Advisory Solutions, a division of Clearstead Advisors. Wilbanks transitioned to his current role overseeing the division for the mid- Atlantic states.

A past rector of Eastern Virginia Medical School, Wilbanks serves on the boards of the Eastern Virginia Medical School Foundation, the Virginia Arts Festival and the Slover Library Foundation.

INTERESTING PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: My father was an academic physician, and he took the family to a medical meeting in Russia in 1973, which was fascinating. Our hotel rooms had listening devices, and we bartered with the locals, who were anxious to get U.S. goods.

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