Charles Lyons-Burt
The Wash100 Award has, over the last decade, staked a claim as the foremost designation of success and influence in the government contracting industry. An offering of elite GovCon events and media company Executive Mosaic, the Wash100 Award seeks out not only the most impressive individuals in the field, but those they assert will shape the market in the years to come. Winners have included Secretaries of Defense, CEOs, glass-ceiling-shattering technology innovators and more.
If you win this highly respected prize, you’re already in rarefied company. And because EM is very selective about and even actively steers away from repeat winners, receiving the Wash100 multiple times is a hugely significant accolade.
Only the most consistent drivers of change and success in GovCon have won the award for almost every year it’s been running. Let’s explore who they are and what makes them such beloved figures.
9 Wash100 Awards
Kathy Warden, CEO of Northrop Grumman
Won Wash100: 2015, 2017-2024
Warden is a noted Northrop Grumman devotee, having served in various roles at the company for the last nearly 16 years. Before rising to her current post as president and CEO in 2019, she was chief operating officer, and prior to that led the mission systems business as corporate vice president and president. She led Grumman to almost $40 billion in sales in 2023, a seven percent increase from the year before. Warden has seen the company rebound from initial doubts on its B-21 Raider strategic bomber, which is being developed for the Air Force.
Ramzi Musallam, CEO and Managing Partner of Veritas Capital
Won Wash100: 2016-2024
Over the course of his 27 years at private equity firm Veritas Capital — with the last 12 as CEO — Musallam has transformed the company from a solid organization into a GovCon investment powerhouse. He has taken the company from an estimated $2 billion in assets to close to $50 billion.
“‘Ramzi’, whose name alone has earned the recognizable notoriety of unique single word brand, is a highly motivated and driven executive identity whose commitment to leveraging technology in support of national security, healthcare and education missions is nearly unparalleled in the market,” said Wash100 Award Founder and Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson.
In 2022, Executive Mosaic personally delivered Musallam his Wash100 Award in New York City and conducted an in-depth interview with the fascinating executive.
Lou Von Thaer, CEO of Battelle
Won Wash100: 2015-2017, 2019-2024
Von Thaer has presided over nonprofit giant Battelle since 2017, but he’s a GovCon stalwart, having served at a range of important companies — Leidos, General Dynamics, DynCorp (now part of Amentum) — and cultivating a wide-ranging expertise in engineering, manufacturing, IT, process development, company integration, subcontract program management and more. He consistently brings a business-informed research and development mindset to the GovCon sphere. Recently, the company won a massive contract award from the National Science Foundation to run the National Ecological Observatory Network and has led the charge in helping to identify the presence of dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Phebe Novakovic, Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics
Won Wash100: 2014, 2016-2023
Novakovic is General Dynamics, and when you are the embodiment of a company as central and important to an industry as GD is, your efforts must be applauded. Novakovic has worked at General Dynamics for over two decades, ascending through positions like senior vice president of planning and development to executive vice president of marine systems to chief operating officer and now CEO. She keeps ramping up revenue too, most recently shepherding the company to a three percent increase from the prior year, landing at a whopping $6.81 billion.
10 Wash100 Awards
Craig Abod, President, CEO and Founder of Carahsoft
Won Wash100: 2014-2015, 2017-2024
The stunning careers of all executives represented here require a degree or two of personal drive, but no one is more of a self-starter than the founder and CEO of software reseller Carahsoft. Abod built the organization from the ground up and it has had an incredible 20-year run helping bring digital transformation to the government through its stable of cybersecurity, DevSecOps, artificial intelligence, open source and cloud products. Carahsoft nets a reported more than $16 billion in annual bookings.
“Craig continues to earn his spot on the Wash100 list by continually and reliably helping companies across the industry drive transformational growth into federal agencies and elevating government IT’s exposure to the latest entrants as well as entrenched legacy providers,” commented Garrettson.
Matt Desch, President and CEO of Iridium
Won Wash100: 2015-2024
In his almost two decades at the helm of satellite communications company Iridium, Desch has never once stagnated, ushering what was once a struggling organization out of the red and into impressive profit margins. Solidifying the company as an industry go-to for communications services, under Desch’s leadership, they continue to innovate with projects like the new 10-year Space Force contract for broadband and midband capabilities, contributions to the Proliferated Low Earth orbit Satellite-Based Services vehicle and the exciting Project Stardust — a narrowband-internet of things non-terrestrial network service founded on 3GPP 5G standards.
Roger Krone, Former Chairman and CEO of Leidos
Won Wash100: 2014-2023
Before Roger Krone’s retirement in 2023, he was the patron saint of the Wash100, a beloved figure of brilliance and unbeatable excellence in the GovCon community. Prior to his iconic stint at Leidos — where he tripled revenue and made the company a name after its split from SAIC in the early 2010s — Krone spent a decade and a half at General Dynamics and over two decades at Boeing. Krone is a word-class grower of businesses and is presently contributing his resources as CEO of the Boy Scouts of America.
Chuck Prow, Former President and CEO of V2X
Won Wash100: 2014-2015, 2017-2024
Chuck Prow retired just after Jim Garrettson presented him with his 10th Wash100 Award in early summer 2024. Prow cut his teeth at IBM and consulting juggernauts E&Y and PwC. Like several others on this list, Prow made lemonade when given lemons, combining Vectrus and the Vertex Company to form V2X and build a highly successful, impressive organization from previously unrealized potential. V2X had a banner year in 2023, reaching $1 billion in revenue for the first time — quite the high note to go out on.
