Taking the reins

42 women execs who set the standard for leadership

Published June 28, 2022 by Alissa Skelton / Charlotte Rene Woods / M.J. McAteer

To quote the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”

In Year Two of our Virginia Business Women in Leadership Awards, we received more than 300 nominations — exceeding last year’s nominations by more than 100 — making it even more difficult to choose our honorees from among a host of qualified executives. Ultimately, we selected 42 women leaders from large, midsize and small businesses and nonprofit organizations across Virginia to honor in 2022.

This year’s winners include executives in traditionally male-dominated industries — engineering, construction and maritime — as well as fields encountering staffing or financial challenges, such as health care and higher education. Some of these leaders have overcome challenges to achieve success, and all this year’s winners have made time for mentoring other women along the way, making sure that the doors they’ve walked through remain open to future generations.

To qualify, nominees must be based in Virginia and hold C-suite or equivalent positions at for-profit businesses, nonprofits or educational institutions. In deciding our winners, Virginia Business’ editor and publishers considered overall career accomplishments, community engagement and mentoring work with women and girls. We divided the list by workforce size — small employers of 99 or fewer employees, midsize employers of 100 to 499 people, and large employers of 500 or more workers. Past winners were not eligible for consideration.

We congratulate this year’s field of honorees and look forward to recognizing a new crop of women leaders in 2023.

Please click on their name to read more about them. 

Large Business

NANCY HOWELL AGEE
President and CEO, Carilion Clinic, Roanoke

BUFFY BAREFOOT
President — Virginia Beach, TowneBank, Virginia Beach

BECKY BAREFORD
First vice president and chief operating officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Richmond

IRMA BECERRA
President, Marymount University, Arlington

BARBARA D. BOYAN
Executive director of the Institute for Engineering and Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond

JESSICA BUTTERWORTH
Director of engineering services, REMS and Government Solutions Group, Colliers International Virginia, Richmond

MARCIA CONSTON
President, Tidewater Community College, Norfolk

KATHRYN FALK
Vice president, Cox Communications Inc. Northern Virginia, Herndon

TRACY FITZSIMMONS
President, Shenandoah University, Winchester

MARY ANN GILMER
Chief strategy and people officer, Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, Roanoke

DeETTE GRAY
President of business and information technology solutions, CACI International Inc., Reston

LYNN CROWDER GREER
Founding partner, BrownGreer PLC, Richmond

JANET GULLICKSON
President, Germanna Community College, Fredericksburg

CECILIA HODGES
Regional president for Virginia and Greater Washington, M&T Bank Corp., Vienna

WENDY HORTON
CEO, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville

JENNIFER HUNTER
Senior vice president, corporate citizenship, and chief sustainability officer, Altria Client Services LLC, Henrico County

JYLINDA JOHNSON
Vice president and general manager for government operations, commerce and global citizen service, General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Falls Church

NAKIA MADRY-SMITH
Musician; Director, Old Dominion University Peninsula Center, Hampton

LATITIA McCANE
Director of education, The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News

REBECCA McHALE
Chief information officer, Peraton Inc., Herndon

CONNIE CONNELLY O’BRIEN
Senior vice president of marketing and digital operations, PRA Group Inc., Virginia Beach

KIM ROY
CEO, Hitt Contracting Inc., Falls Church

CATHY UNDERWOOD
President, Branch Builds, Roanoke

DENISE VAUGHN
Vice president of environmental, social and governance, Ferguson Enterprises LLC, Newport News

CATHIE J. VICK
Chief development and government affairs officer, Virginia Port Authority, Norfolk

KAREN WIGGINTON
Chief marketing officer, Sunnyside Communities, Harrisonburg

AMY McDANIEL WILLIAMS
Partner, structured finance and securitization, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Richmond

Midsize Business

CAROLYN BISHOP
Chief operating officer, Virginia529, Chesterfield County

LORETTA CATALDI
Principal and managing broker, Divaris Real Estate Inc., Richmond

JEN FLINCHUM
Partner, Keiter CPAs, Glen Allen

TRACY GREGORIO
CEO, G2 Ops Inc., Virginia Beach

DIANNE JEWELL
President and CEO, Sheltering Arms, Richmond

BRENDA ELLIOTT KARP
Vice president of business development, The Breeden Co., Richmond

JAYME SWAIN
President and CEO, VPM Media Corp. and Virginia Foundation for Public Media, Richmond

Small Business

JOANIE EILAND
Owner, Elk Trucking Inc., Staunton

LORI GARRETT
President and senior principal, Glavé & Holmes Architecture PC, Richmond

SUSAN HORNE
President and CEO, Lead Virginia, Richmond

GWEN HURT
Founder and CEO, Shoe Crazy Wine, Petersburg

DEBORAH JOHNSTON
Owner, Serenity First Hospice, Richmond

LAUREN SWEENEY
CEO, Dotted Line, Richmond

JENNIFER TAYLOR
President and CEO, Northern Virginia Technology Council, McLean

JENNIFER WAKEFIELD
President and CEO, Greater Richmond Partnership, Richmond

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