The IT Services Report is pleased to announce The Top 25 Government IT Executives of 2020. These exceptional individuals were selected after thorough evaluation of their career accomplishments and demonstrated leadership capabilities over a sustained period of time. We paid particular attention to senior executives who dedicated themselves to developing deep domain expertise in the technology needs of federal, state and local governments while in parallel leading organizations or groups of high integrity. Candidates were also evaluated based on cultivating an innovative culture, company milestones achieved, and growing successful practices. Please join us in congratulating this year's awardees.

1. Craig Abod, Carahsoft

Craig Abod is the President and Founder of Carahsoft Technology, a trusted solutions provider of IT hardware, software, and consulting services to federal, state, and local governments as well as educational institutions. Founded in 2004, the Reston, Virginia-based company has established long-term strategic relationships with industry-leading software companies while serving as a master aggregator for VMware, Adobe, Symantec, EMC, HP Software, F5 Networks, SAP, and Red Hat, and others. In 2018, under Abod’s leadership, the company booked over $5 billion in sales and expanded its team to more than 1,000 employees. His continued dedication to modernizing IT and growing the company’s revenue has seen Abod secure major contract awards while developing close partnerships within the sector. Most notably, he led Carahsoft through the 10-year, $820.4 million Enterprise Software Initiative blanket purchase agreement in 2019. He’s also driven company revenue through numerous IT service contracts, including the $247 million BOA to provide cloud migration and IT modernization to the US Army. This is in addition to Abod spearheading Carahsoft’s collaboration with Qualys, to offer IT asset discovery and inventory tools to public sector operations. Prior to founding Carahsoft, Abod was the President of DLT Solutions for ten years.

2. Tim Hurlebaus, CGI Federal

As President of CGI Federal, Time Hurlebaus leads the subsidiary of CGI Group, serving the company's clients across the civilian, defense, and intelligence sectors of the US federal government. For Hurlebaus, supporting the government means touching the lives of citizens every day, a task he treats with the attention it deserves. Jumping into the industry straight out of college, he joined American Management Systems where he would spend 15 years leading various IT systems design and integration projects throughout the US for commercial and government clients. In 2004, American Management Systems merged with CGI where Hurlebaus managed an extensive portfolio of programs. He briefly left the company and spent eleven months with Touchstone Consulting Group before joining CGI in 2005. Under his leadership, CGI supported the Agriculture Department in migrating to a cloud-based shared-services platform called Momentum. Most notably, he led CGI's acquisition of Annams Systems as Sunflower Systems, a provider of assets management products and services in 2019, strengthening the company's position to service the needs of commercial entities and government agencies.

3. Robert Howard, GovConnection

Robert Howard began his tenure at GovConnection as Director of Sales, before being appointed the company's President in 2007. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Howard has a proven track record across commercial and public sectors of information technology as well as in the services industry. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, GovConnection provides IT products and solutions to federal, state, and local government agencies and educational institutions. GovConnection is one of three sales companies owned by PC Connection, a Fortune 1000 company. Howard was previously Vice President of Sales for the public-sector subsidiary of parent company PC Connection, its original business, and its largest subsidiary. During his sales management tenure, Howard provided sound leadership while GovConnection expanded its marketing and sales programs, and added new customers. Prior to this, he spent a decade as the Group Sales Director at Micro Warehouse, one of the largest and longest established direct resellers of branded IT products and services to business in the United Kingdom.

4. Nazzic Keene, SAIC

Nazzic Keene, a respected IT industry leader with over 30 years of diverse experience, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of SAIC in 2019. Founded in 1969, SAIC provides scientific, engineering, and systems integration as well as technical services and solutions for defense, space, federal, civilian, and intelligence markets. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.1 billion. Since joining the company in 2012 as President of Global Markets and Mission Sector, Keene has played a pivotal role in its success, ascending to Chief Operating Officer in 2017 before taking over as CEO. In this role, Keene focuses on strengthening SAIC’s mission-critical solutions and services that include IT modernization, digital engineering, space, and intelligence capabilities. Notably, she’s been praised for her continued prioritization of customer relationships and developing the talent management strategy. Before SAIC, Keene was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of CGI, Senior Vice President and Managing Executive Director of American Management Systems, and Regional Vice President of Global Telecommunications Business for twelve years between 1984 and 1996.

5. Tony Jimenez, MicroTech

President, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of MicroTech, Tony Jimenez established the company in 2004. After spending more than two decades in the military, serving in combat zones, Jimenez embarked on a new adventure right from his kitchen table. That idea has since grown into a multi-million dollar company, which operates in over 40 states, supporting more than 100 contracts with the federal government and numerous Fortune 500 companies. At MicroTech, he has been responsible for leading the company's strategic development, revenue, profitability, and growth for fourteen years. As an industry thought leader, Jimenez is celebrated for his profound understanding of technology and technology diffusion. At the heart of what makes him an industry thought leader is his knowledge of the advantages of utilizing new technologies in an industry defined by change. Notably, Jimenez is an advocate for the Latino, veteran, minority, and small business communities. In addition to his work with MicroTech, he is on the National Small Business Association Leadership Council, the University of Richmond Customer Experience Advisory Board, and is the Vice-Chair of the American Film Institute Corporate Council.

6. Mike Canning, Deloitte

Mike Canning is the Government and Public Services Industry Leader and Vice Chairman of Deloitte. In his prior role as the company's Global Managing Director and Principal, he oversaw the client programs of the consulting firm's global network. In his current role, he oversees a team of more than 15,000 people delivering consulting, financial, and risk advisory services to federal and state government agencies, higher education, and non-profit organizations. Headquartered in New York City, Deloitte has provided auditing, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and taxation service to clients since 1845. With over 30 years of experience with Deloitte, starting as a Research Analyst in 1988 right out of college, Canning's diversified expertise spans strategic planning, mergers, acquisition activities, business transformation, and the implementation of large scale projects. In addition to this, the Boston-based executive previously advised health plan organizations as part of the leadership team for Deloitte's Life Sciences and Health Care industry practice and the Strategy & Operations practice. He is also a former board chairman for Stepping Stones, the non-profit child adoption and family services organization based in Maine.

7. Vicki Schmanske, Leidos

As the President of Leidos’ Intelligence Group, Vicki Schmanske is tasked with providing solutions and services to intelligence community agencies. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos is the leading provider of scientific engineering, systems integration, and technical solutions. Schmanske joined the company in 2016 as Deputy President and Chief Operations Officer for Leidos’ Health Group, before ascending to Chief Administrative Officer where she managed key centralized business functions. During her tenure, Schmanske’s most notable work includes spearheading the implementation of the Next Generation Identification System for the FBI and leading the team that operates the Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research. An accomplished executive with over 35 years of experience, she has held roles spanning intelligence, defense, civil, and health markets. In addition to her work at Leidos, Schmanske is an advocate for youth in science, technology, engineering, and math as the Education Vice President for the Board of Directors of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association’s Bethesda chapter. Before joining Leidos, she was the Vice President of Operations for Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions, overseeing programs in the civil, defense, and intelligence solutions sectors of the business.

8. Hugh Barrett, Telos

As Vice President of Technical Solutions for Telos, Hugh Barrett is responsible for managing cybersecurity solutions for federal, defense, and intelligence agencies. Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia Telos is a leading provider of continuous security solutions and services for the world’s most security-conscious agencies and organizations. Barrett has been with the company for more than 20 years, bringing over 30 years of experience in software engineering and product development. While he’s spent the last four years dedicated to consulting and product development in support of the Risk Management Framework (RMF) transition, Barrett first joined the company in 1999 as Vice President of Product Development. He rose through the ranks to become the Vice President of Product Development and General Manager of Teloworks Philippines and then Vice President of Technical Solutions. In 2000, he co-founded and architectured Xacta, Telos’ advanced IT governance, risk, and compliance (IT-GRC) platform. In addition to this, Barrett has five patented technologies regarded as top security solutions within the federal government and commercial sector. Before joining Telos, Barrett was the Senior Product Manager at Information Builders, a software solutions provider.

9. DeEtte Gray, CACI

DeEtte Gray is the President of Business and Information Technology Solutions for CACI International, a global provider of unique technologies for enterprise, mission defense, intelligence, and federal civilian government customers. Gray started her career in education as a North Carolina middle school math and science teacher. Five years later, she’d leave that behind for the private industry. The decision eventually led to her rise to joining the CACI leadership team in 2017 as President of US Operations. In her current role, Gray delivers offerings that modernize and enable government agency operations. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, CACI is a Fortune 1000 company with over 18,000 employees worldwide. In 2018, Gray was appointed Chair of AFCEA International’s Board of Directors, a non-profit membership association dedicated to increasing knowledge through the exploration of issues relevant to its members in information technology, communications, and electronics for the defense, homeland security, and intelligence communities. Before joining CACI, Gray served as President of BAE Systems’ Intelligence & Security sector, and as Vice President of Enterprise Information Technology Solutions for Information Systems & Global Services-Defense at Lockheed Martin

10. Ashley Chen, ActioNet

Ashley Chen is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of ActioNet, an HDI-certified, woman-owned IT engineering services firm. Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, the company was founded in 1998 by Chen "with no money [and] very few contacts." It all started with buying a $35 domain and securing ActioNet.com. In October 1998, ActioNet landed its first contract, a five-month project worth less than $50,000 from the Department of Transportation. Now the DOT and the Department of Energy, the company's first two clients are its biggest customers. Since then, she had helped grow the company into one of the fastest-growing tech firms in Virginia, present in 40 states and around the world. With over 25 years of experience, Chen provides a vision for the company's day-to-day activities and operations, which has ultimately led to double-digit annual growth every year since it was established. Today, the company is a leading provider of cloud-hosting, software engineering, and cybersecurity services. In addition to her role at ActioNet, Chen actively participates in numerous professional organizations and local community groups as an advocate for women in tech.

11. Yvonne Vervaet, ManTech

Yvonne Vervaet is the Senior Vice President of Growth and Capabilities of ManTech, a provider of innovative technologies and solutions for mission-critical national security programs. She first joined the company as Chief Growth Officer in 2013, playing an instrumental role in driving major contract awards, including a $668 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security for CDM and a nearly $1 billion deal with a major defense agency for secured enterprise IT. As the driving force behind the company's growth, Vervaet has negotiated almost $4 billion of new business deals during her five years in business development. With over 25 years of experience, Vervaet is responsible for setting ManTech's growth strategy by aligning business methods and capabilities while enabling technologies to federal budgets and the company's business opportunity pipeline. Before joining ManTech, she was the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Strategic Intelligence Group and the Vice President of Business Development at SpecTal. She has also held senior positions at Northrop Grumman/TASC, Electronic Data Systems, and CSC.

12. Chris O'Malley, Compuware

Christopher O'Malley is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Compuware Corporation, a recognized industry leader in enterprise software and IT services. Here, he is tasked with setting the company's vision, mission, and strategy. Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, Compuware was founded in 1973 and is now a $1 billion company. Though, when O'Malley joined in 2014 as President, the company was in critical shape as systems like the cloud were taking the place of mainframe software popularity. At the heart of what makes O'Malley a great executive is his vision for the future and his ability to make fearless changes, like holding weekly town hall sessions. Since joining, the company was acquired by Thoma Bravo for $2 billion. O'Malley has been pivotal in implementing changes and rolling out products related to source code management and application visualization. With over 30 years of experience in IT, O'Malley is best known for his advocacy of the mainframe platform as well as his expertise in enabling agile software development and DevOps toolchains in managing the mainframe. Prior to joining Compuware he was the CEO of Nimsoft, General Growth Manager of CA Technologies, and CEO of VelociData.

13. Greg Blue, ASRC Federal

Greg Blue is the interim President for the Information Systems and Technology operating group at ASRC Federal. Since its inception in 2003, ASRC Federal has provided mission-critical services to federal government agencies dedicated to defense, civil, and intelligence support. Senior leaders are tasked with guiding business activities and the strategic direction of the operating groups adding a level of programmatic and technical leadership to ensure customers receive timely responses to issues and challenges. In his current role, Blue is responsible for programmatic and technical oversight for the operating group. He also focuses on delivering mission-enabling IT, data analytics, and business solutions to federal agencies in the national security and defense, health, intelligence, and civil markets. Blue joined the company in 2013 as Assistant Controller and rose through the ranks to become Vice President of Finance and Business Operations and then Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Pricing. Before joining ASRC Federal, Blue was a CPA with Ernst & Young providing both consulting and auditing services in the commercial and government sectors.

14. April Chen, Iron Mountain

April Chen is the Director of Strategic Solutions and Government Services at Iron Mountain, a leading provider of digital business solutions including cloud storage, workflow automation, and migration services to all industries. Founded in 1951, the Boston-based company has spent over 70 years developing technology in the background for logistics, routing, and mobile apps. Chen joined the company in 2012 as Senior Product Manager and was responsible for managing Iron Mountain's federal records management and document conversion solutions. Notably, she managed numerous projects facilitating the success of thought leadership within an organization, including Iron Mountain's Federal Information Asset Framework. Before joining Iron Mountain, Chen was a Product Marketing Summer Associate at iContact where she developed a broader strategy to establish the company's presence as an industry thought leader. Prior to this, Chen was a Manager of Business Development at Stat Revenue, Vice President of Education at Toastmaster International, and a Student Director at UC Berkley.

15. Lola Jordan, Companion Data Services

Lola Jordan is the President of Companion Data Services, a provider of secure data center hosting services as well as health information technology hosting solutions to government and commercial entities. She was appointed President in 2012 after joining the company two years prior as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President. She was accountable for revenue growth, executive liaison, strategic planning, and operation aspects of growing the business. With over 30 years of experience in healthcare and IT, Jordan has brought this expertise to developing the solutions Companion provides. Founded in 2005, the Columbia South Carolina-based company offers its clients data hosting, application hosting, data center replacement, and secure health care cloud offerings. As a pioneer in healthcare and IT, Jordan uses her insight and vision to build relationships with organizations like the Centers For Medicare, Medicaid Services as well as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Before joining Companion, Jordan was Account Executive at Electronic Data Systems, the Indiana Medicaid Account Executive at EDS, National Customer Service Director at EDS/National Heritage Insurance company and a Systems Engineer in Development at EDS Medicare.

16. Ryan Oakes, Accenture Public Service

Ryan Oakes is the Senior Managing Director of Strategy and Consulting for the Global Public Service line of Accenture. He joined the company as a new college graduate in 1997 and has played a pivotal role in leading the health and human services industry practice for over two decades. Founded in 1989, Accenture is the global provider of professional services, with solutions spanning strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations. During his tenure at the company, Oakes has worked with a wide range of city, county, and state clients on administrative, organizational, and technology transformation projects. With his expertise, Oakes can help clients form a deeper knowledge of their needs and reimagine how they can address those demands in the digital age. Widely respected by his peers for his excellent business and people development skills, Oakes has an unparalleled work ethic as he strives to do the right thing by his clients, colleagues, and his team. Armed with a strong point of view, he is determined to build a better future by tweaking outdated approaches within government agencies and educational institutions.

17. Bob Donahue, By Light

Bob Donahue is the President and Chief Executive Officer at By Light Professional IT Services, a provider of hardware and software engineering services to defense, civilian, and commercial customers worldwide. Leading the company through its recent acquisition spree, Donahue has played a pivotal role in the purchases of government IT services contractor Phacil, cyber training services contractor Metova Federal, and Axom Technologies. In 2019, By Light announced it had entered into a $100 million five-year contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where it will provide a range of enterprise services for the identity and access management program. Donahue has been lauded as the driving force behind the company's rapid growth with in-depth expertise in the government telecommunication sector. Before establishing By Light, he served as an Active Duty Army Officer, where he had extensive experience with tactical and strategic communication units. Donahue's last assignment was as Program Manager for the DISN Expansion Program (DEP) at DISA, delivering critical infrastructure to the Department of Defense.

18. Bekim Veseli, Longview International Technology Solutions

Bekim Veseli is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Longview International Technology solutions. Founded in 2005, the Herndon Virginia-based company delivers IT systems integration, secure software lifecycle development, intelligence community support, and a full range of program management services to federal agencies. Today, Longview International Technology Solutions is estimated to generate $100 million in annual revenues and employs around 52 people at its Herndon, Virginia headquarters, and 275 total employees across all its locations. Veseli joined the company in 2012 and has since founded National Geographic Fine Art Galleries. He is also the current CEO and Founder of Trusted.com, a provider of authenticity verification and anti-counterfeiting solutions. Prior to establishing Longview, Veseli was the CEO and Founder of Advanced Programs Group, one of the leading providers of Oracle consulting services to the federal government, which was sold to CACI in 2011. Before this, between 1999 and 2003 he was a consultant for Oracle and a consultant at PwC.

19. Andrew Conn, National Government Services

Andrew Conn is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of National Government Services. The national health care company focuses on delivering solutions that enable its clients to operate sizeable federal health care programs in stable, secure, and efficient environments. Lauded for his operational excellence, Conn utilizes almost 30 years of experience in health care, as well as more than 23 years in Medicare administration to drive the company’s deep policy, program, and technical processes. Notably, Conn is the longest-tenured Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) project manager in the country, leading several of the highest performing MACs in the history of Medicare contracting reform to achieve exceptional program performance. Founded in 1966, National Government Services, a subsidiary of Anthem Federal Government Services (FGS), is a leading health care solution provider serving federal health care agencies. Before joining National Government Services in 2018 as Staff Vice President, Conn was the Program Director at HP for over eight years.

20. Jim Monopoli, Quantech Services

Jim Monopoli is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Quantech Services. In this role, he’s responsible for leading the professional consulting company, which provides technical and acquisition support services to the Department of Defense as well as other government agencies. Monopoli founded Quantech in 1999 and has since led the company from a two-person startup to a mid-size firm with seven locations and a workforce spanning 14 states. Armed with over 30 years of experience in programming, financial, and cost management, he has held senior management positions in government and private industries. For more than 21 years, Monopoli has ensured that Quantech provides its clients with a corporate commitment to excellence with his innovative vision. He started his career as a federal employee and dedicated more than 13 years of service to the US Air Force. There, he led multi-billion-dollar life cycle cost estimates for weapons system milestone reviews, budget management, hardware and software estimating, as well as managing system execution.

21. Chris Wilkinson, DLT Solutions

Chris Wilkinson is the President of DLT Solutions, the premier government solutions aggregator. Since joining the company in 2017, he has climbed the ranks to become Senior Vice President of Sales and was named President in April 2020. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, DLT Solutions has delivered technology solutions to federal, state, and municipal governments and businesses for almost 30 years. The information technology industry veteran has played a pivotal role in transforming DLT into a leading cloud and software aggregator in the public sector market. Under his leadership, Wilkinson has expanded the subsidiary's capabilities across cloud, cybersecurity, big data, and analytics, among other tech domains. Wilkinson is lauded for understanding complex technical concepts, public sector market dynamics, and capacity to translate that into key business results. Prior to joining DLT, Wilkinson was responsible for immixGroup's cybersecurity capabilities, big data and analytics, cloud computing, enterprise mobility, IT infrastructure, and business and operations applications. He was also tasked with enhancing technical fluency among immixGroup's employees and managing the company's lead generation and new client acquisition efforts.

22. Nadeem Butler, Technatomy

Nadeem Butler is the Managing Director and Founder of Technatomy, a leading government IT contractor committed to meeting the mission-critical needs of their federal clients. Founded in 2000, the Fairfax Virginia-based company has focused on intimate collaboration in order to understand government IT contractors' needs. With over 30 years of experience across management and information technology, Butler also draws on his military and professional experience to propel Technatomy to the next level. Prior to establishing the company, he worked with CACI, Universal Systems, and InfoTech Enterprises, where he held the positions of Software Developer, Project Manager, and Director of Business Development, respectively. With this experience, he's gained an expert understanding of system development life cycles and various system development methodologies. Butler is a former Army Ranger and Service Disabled Veteran. Today, he is the Chair of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and raises funds and awareness for veterans who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction.

23. Aamir Saleem, Emagine IT

Aamir Saleem is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Emagine IT, a Virginia-based management consulting firm. Founded in 2002, Emagine is an accredited federal third-party assessment organization supporting companies to achieve FedRAMP compliance— an assessment and authorization process agencies use to assess security when accessing cloud computing products and services. The company also helps firms expand their federal cloud service offerings. Motivated by its mission to understand and meet the needs of its client and consultants, Emagine's solutions are designed to reduce costs, improve business processes, accelerate response time while giving its clients a competitive edge now and into the future. For the last 15 years, Saleem has dedicated his life to his clients, colleagues, and associates. Praised as the progenitor of Emagine's unique workplace culture, Saleem isn't your average executive, often making time to play tennis with his colleagues. Prior to establishing Emagine, Saleem was a Consultant at RSIS, Senior Consultant at Accenture, and began his career as a Consultant at ATF.

24. Ram Mattapalli, Zolon Tech

Ram Mattapalli is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zolon, a rapidly expanding IT and managed services company providing federal and commercial customers with innovative solutions. Established in 1998, the Herndon, Virginia-based company has garnered a reputation for meeting the most demanding requirements from agile application development and big data collection to analytics, everything as a service, mobile integration, as well as staffing and vendor management. Ram has been crucial in managing the development of all products and services, applications, bid and proposal writing, and pricing. Under his leadership, Zolon is one of the few firms to be SCAMPI A-appraised at the Systems Engineering Institute’s (SEI’s) Capability Maturity Model Integrated Maturity Level 3. This rating places the company among the top 5% of IT services firms worldwide. Before founding Zolon, he was a Senior Consultant at Accenture and the Systems Engineer at EDS, an HP company. In addition to his current role, Ram is a Board Director of Macro Hospitality Services, an Investor at Powerhouse Ventures, and a Board Director at Sports365.

25. David Phelps, Merlin International

David Phelps is the Founder of Merlin International and currently serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Responsible for defining the company's direction and strategy, Phelps has set the corporate culture while also leading the senior executive team. Founded in 1997, the Englewood Colorado-based company is one of the fastest-growing information technology solutions providers in the country. Since its inception, Merlin has provided next-generation cybersecurity solutions that protect government and commercial organizations. Notably, the company offers a broad portfolio of solutions that secure enterprises from endpoints to networks, from governance to risk management and from infrastructure to information. By consolidating his extensive background in satellite command and control, ground systems design and development, as well as high-performance computing with a remarkably innovative business model, Phelps has played a pivotal role in turning Merlin into a dedicated and dynamic organization. Prior to founding Merlin, Phelps served in the US Navy and held varying industry roles with Ford Aerospace, Martin Marietta, Loral Aerospace, and The Aerospace Corporation.