We’re thrilled to unveil the finalists for the 2026 Chief Officer Awards — a premier recognition of the executives shaping the future of government contracting.
From groundbreaking innovators to steadfast mission leaders, this year’s finalists represent the very best in federal leadership across industry and government.
Join us June 2, 11:30 a.m. at The Hilton in Tysons Corner, Virginia, for an in-person event and luncheon. In the coming weeks, we will be posting Q&As with some of the finalists, so keep your eye out for that.
Below are the industry finalists.
Private & Public Company
Artificial Intelligence Executive of the Year
- Vishal Deshpande, Unissant
- Rod Fontecilla, Revolutional
- Mike Pansky, Agile Defense
- Kathleen Featheringham, Maximus
- David Larrimore, Amivero
- Brandy Durham, MANTECH
Private Company
CEO of the Year
Annual Revenue Less than $100M
- Warren Kohm, Aurex
- Shawn Gundrum, CATHEXIS
- Robert Miller, Future Technologies Inc
- Irina Denisenko, Knox Systems
- Chad Kim, B/CORE
- Bob Etris, Evans Inc
CEO of the Year
Annual Revenue Greater than $100M and Less than $500M
- Richard Pineda, CALIBRE Systems, Inc.
- Mark Drever, Xcelerate Solutions
- Katie Selbe, GRVTY
- Julie Myers Wood, Guidepost Solutions
- Jon Rucker, Ultra I&C
- David Popelier, Acclaim Technical Services
Private & Public Company
CEO of the Year
Annual Revenue Greater than $500M
- Kevin Kelly, Arcfield
- Jonathan Dalrymple, Chugach Alaska Corporation
- John Wasson, ICF
- John Steckel, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
- Bruce Caswell, Maximus
- Adel Al-Saleh, SES
Private Company
CFO of the Year
Annual Revenue Less than $100M
- Michael Cavalier, Victory Solutions
- Bob Deegan, Unissant
- Alvin Church, Chartis Federal
CFO of the Year
Annual Revenue Greater than $100M and Less than $500M
- Sarah Otchet, GRVTY
- Matt McElroy, B&A
- Jon Meyer, Entarian
- Jackie Adams, PingWind, Inc
- Chuck Hicks, Thomson Reuters Special Services
- Angela Rothwell, Precise Systems, Inc.
Private & Public Company
CFO of the Year
Annual Revenue Greater than $500M
- Shawn Mural, V2X
- Ryan Garner, Everforth ECS
- Jeffrey MacLauchlan, CACI
- Gordon Foster, Serco
- David Mutryn, Maximus
- Darin Cabral, Constellis
CGO or BD Executive of the Year
Annual Revenue Less than $100M
- Rob Bocek, Virtualitics
- John Moberly, Ibeos
- Jason Souza, Alluvionic
- Curt Hall, Aretec, Inc.
- Brian Westhoff, Gunnison
- Alexander Forti, Olympus Solutions Inc.
CGO or BD Executive of the Year
Annual Revenue Greater than $100M and Less than $500M
- Thomas Fogarty, Kentro
- Ray Holder, Capgemini Government Solutions
- Oliver Sadorra, Dark Wolf
- Jennifer McCollough, Thomson Reuters Special Services
- Greg Bitel, Two Six Technologies
- Christopher Rodriguez, Entarian
CGO or BD Executive of the Year
Annual Revenue Greater than $500M
- Richard Caputo, V2X
- Paul Aronhime, Peraton
- Kent Wilcher, KBR
- Henry Meyer, CGI Federal
CHRO or HR Executive of the Year
- Tanja Guerra, Alpha Omega
- Nicole Peace, Applied Information Sciences
- Marissa Holdorf, Constellis
- Madelyne D’Angelo, Riverside Research
- Donna Diederich, LMI
- Christina Payne, Precise Systems, Inc.
CIO of the Year
- Steve Hittle, Everforth ECS
- Srinivas Rautwar, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
- Raj Badhwar, Systems Planning & Analysis
CISO Executive of the Year
- Shane Barney, Keeper Security
- Ron Bushar, Google Public Sector
- Michael Baker, DXC Technology
- Jennifer Roberts, FGS-LLC
- Fouzan Pal, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
Public Company
CMO or Marketing Executive of the Year
- Shab Nassirpour, Everforth ECS
- Roela Santos, Amentum
- Marni Puente, SAIC
- Eliot Hamlisch, Amtrak
Private Company
CMO or Marketing Executive of the Year
- Tom Mahoney, Optiv + ClearShark
- Michelle Lammers, Nightwing
- Joy Jarrett, Guidehouse
- Ben Ingham, GRVTY
- Amanda Rudolph, Ultra I&C
- Alex Bender, Core4ce
Private & Public Company
CSO Executive of the Year
- Mario Orsini, Nightwing
- James Kennedy, The Boeing Company
- Isaiah Rivers, Astranis
Public Company
CTO of the Year
- Mike Raker, Maximus
- Marshall Thames, Everforth ECS
- Kyle Tuberson, ICF
- Eric Moore, Leidos
Private Company
CTO of the Year
- Peter O’Donoghue, Tyto Athene
- Nitin Vartak, Alpha Omega
- Kimberly Sablon, Riverside Research
- Eric Brown, MANTECH
- Christopher Hein, Google Public Sector
- Abir Ray, Expression Networks, LLC
Private & Public Company
Cybersecurity Executive of the Year
- Tim Miller, Dataminr
- Steve Hoffman, Fortinet Federal
- Douglas Norton, Everfox
- Curtis Arnold, Core4ce
- Cindi Bassford, Guidehouse
- Chris Townsend, Elastic
DOD Executive of the Year
- Young Bang, Two Six Technologies
- Vincent DiFronzo, SAIC
- Terry Benedict, Systems Planning & Analysis
- Glenn Hickok, Noblis
- Debbie De La O, Leidos
- Cedric George, MetroStar
Executive Assistant of the Year
- Nancy Edwards, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
- Jenae Shank, DDC
- Catherine Pikula, AmeriTech Contracting
General Counsel and / or Compliance Executive of the Year
- Ryan Litrakis, B&A
- Jim Rittinger, Empower AI
- Hilary Hageman, SAIC
- Adam DeJulio, Epoch Concepts
Healthcare Executive of the Year
- Tammy Czarnecki, Aptive
- Jerry Hogge, Claritev
- Eugene Sayan, Softheon
- Dr. Fredrick Hauser, HSG, LLC
Space Executive of the Year
- Vir Thanvi, Entarian
- Tom Hendricksen, HSG, LLC
- Pete Rodriguez, Victory Solutions
- Audrey Schaffer, Slingshot Aerospace
- Travis Dawson, GDIT
Government
CIO of the Year
- Shantrell (Nikki) Collier, DOJ
- Pavan Pidugu, Transportation
- Kirsten Davies, DoW
- Keith Hardiman, Air Force
- Dustin Goetz, ICE
- Doug Cossa, ODNI
CTO of the Year
- Sunil Madhugiri, CBP
- Justin Fanelli, Navy
- Joy Angela Shanaberger, CENTCOM
- Emil Michael, DoW
- Carlos Azuero, DOJ
Government TEAM Project of the Year – IT
- Tracey Quamie, IRS
- Nael Samha, CBP
- Jaspreet (Jas) Dhillon, OUSW
- Howard Osborne, DOC
- Caleb Judy, OPM
Space Executive of the Year
- Peter Atkinson, Army
- John Riordan, Space Force
- Jessica Powers, Space Force
- Heather Campbell, SDA
- Chris Povak, NRO