Executive Mosaic, the Capital region’s premier government contracting events and media organization, was excited to roll out its 2025 class of Wash100 Award winners. (The list compiles the most promising and impactful executives on both the public and private sector sides of GovCon.) But the company was arguably even more ecstatic to begin its yearly popular vote competition for the award. This nail-biter of a race allows the public to cast 10 votes apiece for their favorite of this year’s recipients. It begins in late January and runs through late April, before the winner is announced in May.
We’ll be bringing you weekly updates to run down who’s ascending, who’s shaping up for a comeback and who might have upset potential in this ever-fluctuating contest.
Get in early to set the stage — vote now!
Given that we are in the early stages of voting, there are still a large amount of movement and shake-ups occurring on a daily basis. In the last week, there were eight new entrants to the top 30 (which you can view on the Wash100 homepage): The Air Force’s Maj. Gen. Luke Cropsey; the Department of the Navy’s Jane Overslaugh Rathbun; General Dynamics Information Technology’s Amy Gilliland; SAIC’s Vincent DiFronzo and Josh Jackson; General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Chris Brady; and CACI’s John Mengucci and DeEtte Gray. Only the latter, coming in at number 14, was in the top half of the list, the rest are still climbing their way up the top 30 (though 30 out of 100 if nothing to sneeze at!).
In the upper echelon of the ranking, newly appointed White House Border Czar Tom Homan, a first-time Wash100 winner, climbed from number 19 to number 12, and his fellow cabinet members (and first-time recipients), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had good showings as well. Noem jumped four spots from 14 to 10 and Hegseth entered the top 10, hopping from 11 to nine.
SAIC CEO Toni Townes-Whitley, who is celebrating her second consecutive win this year, launched upward 10 whole spots from 15 to five over the course of the week. She is competing with other go-getters like: Rohit Gupta, CEO of Aretum, who hung onto his number three placement all week; Earl Stafford Jr. of Aperio Global, who steadily inched toward the top, landing at number four; and Scott Edwards, the CEO of Summit 7 Systems and first-time winner who claimed the number one spot in the last few days.
These are the executives to beat…for now! Check back next Monday to learn about the week’s progress and if these clearly popular individuals have what it takes to hang on for the next few months. And make sure to vote!
