Inside Business annual Power List 2023: 60 power players

Inside Business creates its annual Power List to showcase who’s who in terms of moving the needle for the economy in Hampton Roads, whether they be the decision-makers, the influencers or those working behind the scenes.

This year, we organized the Top 20 by types of influence or power rather than a numerical ranking. We then listed another 60 power players from various backgrounds and sectors. In researching movers and shakers, we looked at last year’s list and then looked at the newsmakers of the past year. We tried to take into account what has been on the top of most readers’ minds.

We understand not everyone making a difference for our region is on this list, and we are open to learning more about who truly wields the power in Hampton Roads. Please email your suggestions to tbozick@dailypress.com or inside.business@insidebiz.com.

• Read more about the selection process in the editor’s note.
• View the Top 20 list.
• View the Emeritus List of longtime power brokers and community shapers.

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Scott Adams

Scott Adams, with more than three decades of experience in real estate, is known as a top dealmaker in Hampton Roads who has led the negotiation and investment sale closings of more than $1.8 billion in commercial properties. He recently joined Harbor Group International in Norfolk as senior vice president in investor relations after serving as executive managing director at Colliers. He previously served as regional president for CBRE. Adams will continue to build and maintain Harbor Group’s worldwide network of institutional, corporate, family office and high-net-worth investors. He had helped the firm previously with major transactions, including the sale of the World Trade Center in Norfolk in 2021.

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Javaune Adams-Gaston

Since becoming the seventh president of Norfolk State University in 2019, Javaune Adams-Gaston has led the opening of the NSU Innovation Center, a business incubator designed to establish job and training pipelines, and is working to build a joint School of Public Health with Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School with support from Sentara.

Norfolk State is also working with EVMS and Sentara in a Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium. Under Adams-Gaston’s leadership, Norfolk State has expanded its online programs, gained recognition as an academic leader in cybersecurity, developed the Center for African American Public Policy and landed a $40 million gift from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Adams-Gaston serves on numerous boards and is part of the White House advisory board on historically Black colleges and universities. Norfolk State participated in Pharrell Williams’ Mighty Dream Forum last year after hosting the celebrity’s Elephant in the Room event on campus in 2021.

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Shawn Avery

Shawn Avery, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, is coordinating regional efforts to prepare the region’s workforce for high-demand and emerging fields such as offshore wind. He successfully secured an $11 million Good Jobs Challenge grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Under his leadership, the workforce council collaborated with over 30 partners, including the Navy, to establish the Hampton Roads Regional Maritime Training System that extends to the Eastern Shore and northeastern North Carolina.

He continues his work to shore up regional talent, including helping to expand the information technology, cybersecurity and data analytics cluster with the award of a $250,000 GO Virginia grant and a health care workforce effort funded through private partners such as Dominion Energy and Bank of America. He currently serves on the boards of GO Virginia, the Hampton Roads Chamber, the Hampton Roads Alliance and Versability Resources, to name a few. Earlier this year, he was recognized as an MLK Community Leader by the Urban League of Hampton Roads.

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Ryan Banas

Ryan Banas, an associate vice president at HNTB Corp, recently took over leadership of the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project, the largest transportation infrastructure project in Virginia history. He will oversee daily management and coordinate efforts with Chris Hall, the Hampton Roads District Engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation. Banas moved to Hampton Roads in 2011 and has led or played an integral role in high-profile East Coast projects. He most recently worked on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel expansion. He will lead about 110 professionals between VDOT and consultants and has oversight of the Hampton Roads Connector Partners team, the construction joint venture that is building the project that employs roughly up to 1,000 workers at any given time. The project is slated for completion in November 2025.

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Gilbert Bland

President and CEO of the Urban League of Hampton Roads, Gilbert Bland was a commercial banker who became a successful business owner as a major regional Burger King and Pizza Hut franchisee. Under his leadership, the Urban League is partnering with Riverside Health System to tackle racial health disparities and improve access to resources in underserved communities. He is also a founding member and board treasurer of Black Directors Health Equity Agenda. He’s also worked as president and chairman of Healthy Neighborhood Enterprises, a community development corporation.

He serves on the executive committee of the Virginia Chamber, the national community advisory board for Truist and on the boards of Norfolk State, Sentara Healthcare, the Center for Excellence in Education and several nonprofits. He has received a lot of recognition for his career and community service, including Civic Leadership Institute honoring him with a Darden Award for regional leadership last year.

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Towuanna Porter Brannon

Towuanna Porter Brannon, who became the ninth president Virginia Peninsula Community College in 2021, has led the school through a rebranding while expanding its workforce development efforts with a trades center opening recently in Toano. This year, for the first time in eight years, the community college is experiencing enrollment growth and is working with Hampton and Newport News to open an early childhood education center next year. Under her leadership, the college is also expanding from three intercollegiate sports programs to nine.

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David C. Burton

David C. Burton, the managing partner for Williams Mullens’ Hampton Roads offices since 2016, has been recognized as a top lawyer numerous times among various publications over the past 20 years. He represents businesses and employers on various labor and employment and corporate governance issues. His work has included cases involving trade secrets and business conspiracies. Burton has trained directors and officers as outside general counsel to several clients.

He is active in the Virginia Bar Association, where he has served since 2014 on its Labor and Employment Council, currently as the vice chair. He has served as a member the Virginia State Bar’s Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course since 2019. In 2017, the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival awarded him the John J. Kruger Award for outstanding service to the festival and the community.

In 2018, Burton was selected as the festival’s King Neptune. Since 2019, he has served as the board chairman of the Neptune Festival. Burton is involved in transportation efforts in Hampton Roads and has served as the outside general counsel to Hampton Roads Transit since 2010. He is a member of the executive committee at the Princess Anne Country Club.

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Lindsey Carney

Lindsey Carney, one of the founding partners and managing partner of Newport News law firm Carney Patterson Meade PLC, has extensive experience as a commercial and residential real estate attorney and business attorney. Carney represents developers and other real estate owners, financial institutions and corporate tenants within Hampton Roads and has helped numerous nonprofits obtain their tax-exempt recognition from the Internal Revenue Service. She represents a variety of business and nonprofit interests before the legislative and executive branches of state government on a broad range of matters, including: developing and implementing public policy strategies, drafting legislation, lobbying state policymakers and monitoring legislation.

The Christopher Newport University alumna, who played for the women’s basketball team as an undergraduate, serves as rector of the CNU board of visitors and as co-chair of CNU’s Athletics Advisory Council. As rector, she helped to find CNU’s sixth president. Carney also serves as chair of the Peninsula Airport Commission, working to help find a path forward for Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport amid headwinds.

She is board president of James River Country Club. Carney is of counsel and on the board of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg and on the board of Newport News Green Foundation. She is a past board chair of LINK of Hampton Roads and a past board president of United Way of the Virginia Peninsula, having also served on the boards of Trinity Lutheran School, Peninsula Fine Arts Center and CNU’s Alumni Society.

She has received a number of career honors and awards, including CNU’s Distinguished Alumna of the Year in 2018 and Influential Women of Virginia in 2015.

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Christy S. Coleman

Christy S. Coleman, executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation since January 2020, ensures Jamestown Settlement and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown bring awareness to the role history plays in U.S. democracy and civic institutions. She is preparing for America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 and continues to advocate for the power of museums, narrative correction, diversity and inclusiveness. In April, she was honored with the David McCullough Prize for Excellence in American Public History from the Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia. She also served as the historical consultant for the award-winning film “Harriett” and Showtime’s “Good Lord Bird.”

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Michael Coleman

Mike Coleman serves as president and CEO of CV International and Capes Shipping Agencies, a family-owned, global logistics and vessel agency service provider. The Norfolk-based company has office locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast serving the needs of exporters, importers and other shipping interests around the world. Coleman serves as chairman of the Virginia Maritime Association and a board member of the Hampton Roads Shipping Association. He was recently elected as president of the Virginia Board for Branch Pilots, which oversees the licensing and regulation of harbor pilots in the commonwealth. Coleman is on the board of the Virginia Port Authority and serves on Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s international trade advisory committee.

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Marcia Conston

Marcia Conston, the sixth permanent president of Tidewater Community College, collaborates with local businesses, workforce partners, higher education institutions and others to increase the success of economic growth and a skilled workforce in the region. She is working to position TCC as the region’s first choice for education, opportunity, partnership and innovation. The college is adding new programs to train students for high demand and emerging fields such as offshore wind. She leads four campuses serving about 25,000 students.

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Pat Davis-Hagens

Pat Davis-Hagens, who became president of Bon Secours Hampton Roads market in October 2021, is helping Bon Secours move forward with innovation while focusing on quality care. Under her leadership, Bon Secours broke ground last year on a roughly $80 million Bon Secours Harbour View Hospital in North Suffolk. Bon Secours was the first health system in the region to respond to the population growth in western Hampton Roads by establishing the Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View in 1999. The hospital will be the system’s fourth in Hampton Roads. Bon Secours also operates Mary Immaculate in Newport News, Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth and Southampton Medical Center in Franklin. With close to 5,000 employees, 16 primary care and 25 specialty care practices, 20 physical therapy and sports performance centers and ambulatory care center, Bon Secours is the second-largest of the four health systems in the region.

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Capt. Janet H. Days

Capt. Janet Days became the first Black female commanding officer of Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base, in February. The Old Dominion University alumna is the 51st commanding officer of the 106-year-old installation that employs 55,000 military and 15,000 civilian personnel.

She reported to Naval Station Norfolk as executive officer in September 2021 following a tour as the executive officer of Surface Warfare Schools Command in Newport, Rhode Island. Days’ awards include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (seven awards), Army Commendation Medal (two awards), Army Achievement Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and various other medals, unit awards and campaign ribbons.

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Neel Desai

Neel Desai is a managing principal for LTD Hospitality Group, which owns and operates franchise hotels and restaurants in Hampton Roads and Maryland. He used his 25 years in the hospitality industry to cofound S2K Hospitality to expand fast-casual dining restaurants in the region. Desai encourages the success of other leading executives through his involvement in YPO, Vistage and past involvement on various owners’ advisory councils for the hotel franchise community, including Starwood Hotels and Marriott International. He is a board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Virginia.

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Rick Dreiling

Rick Dreiling is executive chairman and CEO of Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree. The former chairman and CEO of Dollar General Corp. has more than 50 years of retail experience on all operating levels. He also serves on the board of Lowe’s Companies Inc. Dollar Tree, ranked No. 137 on the Fortune 500 list, operates more than 16,000 stores across the 48 contiguous states and five Canadian provinces and employs more than 200,000 workers. The company continues to develop the mixed-use community of Summit Pointe around its headquarters in Greenbrier.

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Blair Durham

Blair Durham is co-founder and president of Black BRAND, Hampton Roads’ regional Black chamber of commerce. Durham has worked hard to build partnerships to address the regional wealth gap, support business and nonprofit growth, promote diversity and inclusion in the region and foster economic growth for the Black community over the long term.

Black BRAND’s collaboration with Truist, Dominion Energy, Ikea, LISC Hampton Roads and the Urban League of Hampton Roads has provided more than $400,000 in grants for Black-owned businesses since 2020. In 2021, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded Black BRAND $750,000 in support of Black and Latino businesses. Durham leveraged those funds for an additional $2 million in funding support. Black BRAND’s Impact Collective, with support from United Way, helps Black-led, Black-facing nonprofits improve access to funding and strengthen their programs.

Black BRAND supports the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through its B-Force Accelerator, and in 2022, during a time of economic uncertainty, the organization reinvested over $340,000 into Black-owned businesses while issuing an additional $100,000 in grants. Black BRAND recently announced a partnership with Norfolk State University to produce a multiweek, minority-focused accelerator that provides skills building and network development for the working poor. “Women Who Lead,” with the goal of reducing brain drain in Hampton Roads, launches this fall.

Durham founded both the “Black Wall Street Today” podcast (that also airs weekly on Hot 91.1 FM) and Black Diamond Weekend, which convenes Black business owners across the state every November, as additional platforms to elevate thought leadership and knowledge and social capital in the Black community. Durham serves on a number of boards, including The Virginia Zoo, Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, Volunteer Hampton Roads, Retail Alliance Foundation, Startwheel, Virginia Beach Vision and the I. Sherman Green Chorale. She serves as an adviser to TCC’s business management programs and Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic and Community Engagement.

She has received a number of accolades for her work, including being named 2021 Workforce Champion of the Year by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. She is also this year’s recipient of the Virginia Tech Influential Black Alumni Award for Social Justice. Durham and Black BRAND also received the Hampton Roads Chamber’s Small Business Champion Award earlier this year.

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Dawna Ellis

Dawna Ellis, chief financial and operating officer of Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, focuses on daily operations and overall company vision and strategy. The Old Dominion University graduate serves on the university’s real estate advisory board and accounting advisory board to develop future professionals in both fields.

She promotes regional economic development on the RVA757 Connects Board. She serves on the Civic Leadership Institute board and volunteers with nonprofits to purposefully develop multigenerational leadership. In 2023, she was inducted as a laureate into the Junior Achievement Hampton Roads Business Hall of Fame.

She regularly speaks throughout our region on leadership and the importance of community engagement. She serves on the advisory board of Virginia Martial Arts Center in Chesapeake, where she is an instructor.

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Timothy Faulkner

Under CEO Tim Faulkner’s leadership, The Breeden Co., a real estate development company and industry juggernaut, continues to expand into new markets. He manages all operating aspects of the company, including its construction, property management, development and commercial realty divisions and its 5,000 associates.

Breeden boasts a portfolio of over 25,000 apartments and 2 million square feet of retail and office space that have been owned, managed and developed by the company. As of the first quarter this year, the company had 6,737 apartments under construction or in the design phase across 28 projects. It’s currently building The Pinnacle at 31st Street at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and Lake Taylor Pointe in Norfolk. Breeden Construction is also working on the continuing Marshall-Ridley Choice Neighborhood in the Southeast Community of Newport News.

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Johnny Garcia

Johnny Garcia is the founder and CEO of multiple business — SimIS Inc., SimIS Holdings LLC, Nimbus Health Systems, Cativa Health, Prasili LLC, Sticks Golf, Garcia ES LLC and Health Care Simulations LLC — and is an investor in numerous other businesses. He mentors new small businesses and nonprofits and encourages STEM program development.

He is known as an entrepreneur and innovation leader in modeling and simulation, including an appointment to the state’s advisory council. He serves area youth through robust internship programs. He is president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Coastal Virginia and serves on numerous boards, including as vice chair for the Hampton Roads Chamber; the Hampton Roads Workforce Council; president of ODU’s College of Engineering executive advisory board; ODU’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center; Portsmouth Partnership; Begin Again Foundation; Boys & Girls Clubs; Starbase Victory; Communities in Schools; Portsmouth Athletic League; First Chesapeake Robotics; and many others.

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Greg Garrett

Greg Garrett has been in the real estate business since he was 19. He became the top agent on the Peninsula by 25 and started his realty firm, now garrett Realty Partners, at 26. As a top agent and broker with more than four decades of experience, he is often called upon to help incoming executives moving to the area and works with major employers. The firm, with Newport News, Norfolk and Williamsburg offices, continues its expansion in South Hampton Roads with a new relocated office in Virginia Beach. Garrett has founded and leads seven companies in real estate, mortgage, yachting and now a wellness company with an IV Nutrition franchise recently opening in Suffolk. These companies have roughly 150 partners, employees or team members.

While raising a family of four, Garrett has led or participated at a leadership level in multiple nonprofit and charitable organizations locally and abroad. He is the founding president of the Southeast Virginia chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization and the founding chairman of the Virginia chapters of the Young Presidents’ Organization and the World Presidents’ Organization. He is past president of Greater Peninsula NOW, a group of Peninsula CEOs and business leaders.

In 2000, he founded Orphan Helpers, an international ministry that has helped thousands of orphaned, abused or incarcerated children in Central America. He’s been recognized for his humanitarian efforts, including by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities in 2012 and with a Kauffman Social Entrepreneur Award. Volunteer Hampton Roads honored him with the Lenora Mathews Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year.

He is on the boards of the Hampton Roads Chamber, RVA757 Connects, Hampton Roads Workforce Council and 200+ Men. Garrett is a member of Langley Air Force Base Civic Leaders Association, Academies of Hampton steering committee, Newport News Public Schools Business and Workforce Development steering committee, Riverside Health System Foundation campaign cabinet and Semilla, a Hampton Road-based Latin American Christian leadership development organization.

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Dawn S. Glynn

Dawn S. Glynn, a founding officer of TowneBank, is the leader of the bank’s new corporate services group. As president and chief experience officer, she has companywide responsibility for executive oversight of human resources, marketing, private banking, retail banking, product development and process improvement along with setting the standards for member and employee experiences. TowneBank, with about $16.7 billion in assets, is one of the largest banks headquartered in Virginia with more than 45 banking offices from Central Virginia and Hampton Roads to Northeastern and Central North Carolina.

Glynn has more than 36 years of experience in banking. She is a board member with many local organizations, including United Way of South Hampton Roads and its Women’s Leadership Council, Suffolk Women’s Impact, Hampton Roads Chamber, EVMS Foundation board of trustees and Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

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Sharon S. Goodwyn

Sharon Goodwyn, an attorney in Hunton Andrews Kurth’s labor and employment practice group, provides strategic advice and counseling to employers on compliance with federal and state employment laws, represents employers in administrative proceedings before federal and state agencies and in employment mediations and litigation. She has been included in The Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and was recognized for five of those years as a Norfolk Lawyer of the Year in several practice areas.

Goodwyn is active in the community. She serves as board chair of Hampton Roads Community Foundation, the largest grant and scholarship provider in the region, and is the first woman and African American to do so. She is also a member of the GO Virginia Region 5 Council, the Virginia Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section Council, the board of visitors of Eastern Virginia Medical School, the University of Virginia Law School Foundation board of trustees, the board of trustees of Virginia Wesleyan University, ACCESS College Foundation board and the University of Virginia Walentas Scholars Selection Committee. She is a past president and board member for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore and St. Mary’s Home.

In 2016, Goodwyn was recognized as a YWCA of South Hampton Roads Woman of Distinction, and in 2020, received the Humanitarian Award from the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (Tidewater). She is married to S. Bernard Goodwyn, of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

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Rear Adm. Christopher “Scotty” Gray

Rear Adm. Christopher “Scotty” Gray, a Virginia Beach native, assumed command of the Navy’s Mid-Atlantic Region in June 2022. He leads all Navy shore activity at 14 installations in 20 states, including six major Navy installations in Hampton Roads. Among them is Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval station. The Navy is a major contributor to the regional economy, spending nearly $15.8 billion in the region in fiscal year 2020. The Navy boasts a military population of more than 279,000 (including students, reservists, retirees and family members) and more than 52,000 civilian employees in the region.

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Brian O. Hemphill

The ninth president of Old Dominion University, Brian O. Hemphill, took the helm in July 2021 and has been working to create new opportunities to advance the university, Hampton Roads and Virginia through entrepreneurial and innovative approaches. Under his leadership, ODU is building a joint School of Public Health with Eastern Virginia Medical School and Norfolk State with support from Sentara.

The university’s first Black president is guiding work on a merger with EVMS to establish the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center, as a combined institution could more effectively address growing public health needs, such as the shortage of health workers and disparities in care. ODU is also working with EVMS, Norfolk State and Sentara in a Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium, which opened a facility in ODU’s Tri-cities Center in Suffolk in April.

Hemphill recently launched a $500 million, five-year capital campaign to further university goals in scholarships, attracting faculty, improving public health, adding a data science facility and supporting research on coastal resilience, cybersecurity and data sciences, maritime and autonomous systems. The university achieved Research 1 classification, meaning it’s ranked among the nation’s top elite research institutions. Hemphill is also a published author and highly sought-after keynote speaker.

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Stuart Henderson

Stuart Henderson, an internationally recognized expert in particle accelerators with a doctorate in physics from Yale University, has been director of Jefferson Lab, a world leader in nuclear physics research, since 2017. The Department of Energy national lab features a large-scale superconducting accelerator that enables the research of more than 1,850 scientists worldwide.

Henderson is working with scientific and industry partners to expand and diversify the lab’s scientific mission. Earlier this year, Jeff Lab established a Biomedical Research and Innovation Center to boost collaborative research to further biomedical, human health and environment applications. Its Research and Technology Partnerships Office aims to work with community partners in Hampton Roads to expand the lab’s unique benefits to local organizations and interest groups.

Jefferson Lab scientists are also helping in the design and construction of the electron-ion collider to be built at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven Lab in New York. Henderson is the governor’s distinguished CEBAF (Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility) professor at Old Dominion University and advises facilities around the globe.

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Terrence “Terry” Horan

As president and CEO of Stihl Inc. in Virginia Beach, Terrence “Terry” Horan is responsible for leading overall management of the U.S. operations for the Stihl Group’s largest market and brand subsidiary employing over 3,300 workers. He is also overseeing the company’s $49 million chainsaw guide bar manufacturing facility expansion in Virginia Beach. Stihl Inc. manufactures about 80 models of gasoline and battery-powered outdoor power equipment and exports to more than 75 countries worldwide. Horan has demonstrated proven leadership of major companies and global brands with 35 years of experience in the power tools, DIY and consumer goods industries. Horan also serves on the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute board of directors.

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Reese Jackson

Reese Jackson took over as president and CEO of Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, which employs more than 2,500 people, in 2016. The health system includes Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, the only independent, community-based hospital in Hampton Roads. Jackson has been leading $150 million in hospital renovations, including a new 72,000-square-foot critical care tower and the Priority Toyota Cancer Center. Under his leadership, the health system is expanding its cardiac program with open-heart surgical care coming in 2024. Jackson was honored by Chesapeake Rotary Club as the city’s First Citizen last fall.

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Akhil Jain

As president of the Landmark Hotel Group, a Virginia Beach hotel management company, Akhil Jain oversees all aspects of its activities, including business strategy, operations, asset management, investment policy, property development and acquisitions. Jain is chairman of the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters Health System board and serves as a director of other groups, including TowneBank, the Coliseum Central Business Improvement District and the Neptune Festival. He is a member of the Hampton Roads Community Leadership Partners, Virginia Beach Vision and 757 Angels. He is a graduate of the CIVIC Leadership Institute.

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Mark Johnson

As the senior vice president and community development manager at Truist, Mark Johnson is responsible for overseeing the bank’s community development activities across Virginia. A champion of philanthropic efforts in Hampton Roads, the Virginia Beach resident works to align the bank with charitable organizations and initiatives that promote positive change within the community.

His efforts have been recognized by the Urban League of Hampton Roads, the Hampton Roads Community Action Program and the United Negro College Fund. Nationally, he received the Association of Leadership Programs’ Distinguished Leadership Award. He was the lead visionary in the creation, planning and organization of SunTrust Bank’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Awards celebration in greater Hampton Roads. He was the first African American to work in his former role as vice president of community funding and special initiatives for the United Way of South Hampton Roads. He was co-chair of the Hampton Roads UNCF Mayors’ Masked Ball in Norfolk in 2017-2018 to raise money for scholarships.

Johnson serves on a number of boards and committees, including: Life Enrichment Center of Norfolk; American Diabetes Association; WHRO; LISC Richmond and Hampton Roads (chair) advisory boards; Tidewater Community College Education Foundation board; Hampton Roads Workforce Council (board co-chair); the VA UNCF Advisory Council; the Green Run Collegiate Foundation board; the Hampton Roads Chamber Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; United Way of South Hampton Roads (campaign cabinet co-chair); HumanKind; a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.; and a 2023 Virginia Beach Neptune Festival Triton.

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Steven Kast

After 32 years with Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula, Steven Kast became president and CEO of the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula in 2016. Under his leadership, the nonprofit organization raised more than $11 million in response to the pandemic to deliver emergency assistance for housing, food insecurity, transportation and child care. He led the consolidation of multiple offices, resulting from the Peninsula United Way’s merger with United Way of Greater Williamsburg, into one location and secured a $1 million federal grant to purchase the building.

United Way launched the Community Assistance Network that consolidated all resource and referral efforts on the Peninsula into one location with one phone number: 757-229-2222. The nonprofit is participating in the Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot and moved 9.7% of the community out of poverty or working poor status through its efforts from 2018-2023. His influence extends beyond the region as Kast led the efforts to set up United Way of Virginia as a nonprofit corporation to advocate for United Ways across the commonwealth.

In his role on the board of visitors of Christopher Newport University, he has advocated for enhanced mental health services for the students and helped in the presidential transition and search. He has won awards for professional excellence, leadership and humanitarianism and serves on the Virginia Peninsula Chamber board.

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Angela R. Kerns

Angela R. Kerns is managing shareholder of accounting firm Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer in Norfolk. With more than 20 years in public accounting, she has focused her expertise on serving not-for-profits in the fields of health and welfare, members organizations and foundations. She’s been involved with Rotary Club of Norfolk, Women United leadership society, the Young Philanthropists of the United Way of South Hampton Roads, the Master of Financial Analysis Partners Council at Christopher Newport University, the real estate advisory board for Samaritan House and The Planning Council. She is also a board member of the Western Branch Little League.

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Stephen Kirkland

Stephen Kirkland serves as executive director of Nauticus — a campus consisting of an interactive maritime museum, the historic Battleship Wisconsin, Virginia’s only cruise ship terminal operation and a sailing academy for area students. He also serves as president and CEO of the Nauticus Foundation, an education-focused nonprofit organization.

Kirkland is responsible for attracting the world’s largest cruise ship companies to Virginia and recently announced Carnival Cruise Line will double its sailings from Nauticus in 2023. This represents the largest passenger commitment in program history, with more than 200,000 unique visits from vacationers beginning and ending their cruise from Downtown Norfolk. Most significantly, Carnival will begin year-round, weekly sailings in 2025, positioning Virginia as a major Mid-Atlantic hub for the cruise industry.

Kirkland is also spearheading a complete redesign of Nauticus. The interactive maritime discovery center is undergoing a $21.5 million transformation of its entire visitor experience, including the addition of five state-of-the-art exhibit galleries, new aquarium features, a STEM discovery lab and a refreshed entrance pavilion. The ambitious Reimagine Nauticus project will be completed in 2024 and is the largest enhancement and investment in the organization since it opened in 1994.

Kirkland previously worked as a cruise director with Carnival Cruise Line. He currently serves as a board member for Visit Norfolk and Old Dominion University’s Maritime Advisory Council, and as a committee member for both the Norfolk Arts Consortium and Virginia Maritime Association’s Education and Training Committee. He is a member of the Norfolk Rotary Club.

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Barry D. Knight

Del. Barry D. Knight, a Virginia Beach Republican who resides in Pungo, wields some clout as chairman of the House appropriations committee. He’s been a conferee to the state’s budget for years. He recently helped garner lawmaker support for the planned integration of Old Dominion University and Eastern Virginia Medical School and pushed for Virginia to get sites ready for economic development prospects.

He also serves on the general laws and rules committees. Knight has been named a “Champion of Free Enterprise” several times, including the Chairman’s Award by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. The statewide chamber named him Legislator of the Year in 2021. He had ventured into agribusiness as a hog farmer starting at age 26.

He served on the Virginia Beach Planning Commission, including two years as chairman, before his election to the House of Delegates in 2009. Knight also serves on the School Readiness Committee and GO Virginia board.

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Kevin Lembke

As president of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA, Kevin Lembke continues to oversee new investment in the parks, including the new indoor DarKoaster attraction at Busch and the new Riptide Race at Water Country opening this year. He previously led the rollout of the Pantheon roller coaster at Busch Gardens and Aquazoid Amped at Water Country. This year, he is also helping both amusement parks go to cashless transactions. Under his leadership, Busch Gardens has expanded year-round events, including Mardi Gras. The parks are a major employer and help attract visitor spending to the region. Lembke is on the board of the Williamsburg Tourism Council.

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Scott D. Miller

Scott D. Miller, starting his 33rd year as a college president this year, has been president of Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach since 2015. His accomplishments include transitioning Virginia Wesleyan to university status and elevating its reputation nationally, establishing the Batten Honors College, adding a campus in Tokyo, more than doubling the endowment and more than $110 million in capital improvements.

In 2022, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities named him as a Humanitarian of the Year for his efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion at Virginia Wesleyan and throughout higher education. He expanded the university’s partnerships with the surrounding communities, including partnering with the city of Virginia Beach to offer free online professional development courses to residents. Miller also developed a partnership with Virginia Beach Police Department to help officers continue their education, awarding credit for some of their initial recruit training and allowing cohorts of police officers to complete studies together.

He is the board chair of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia and serves on the boards of Virginia Beach Vision, the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center and the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education.

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Dr. Juan Montero

Dr. Juan Montero, the founder of Chesapeake Care Clinic in 1992 and Montero Medical Missions in 2011, is a true global humanitarian and an advocate for health care reform. He came to the U.S. from the Philippines in 1966 as a young doctor and made Chesapeake his home. He founded a mobile clinic project to help migrant workers on the Eastern Shore in 1978. He got deeply involved with Physicians for Peace and founded a new branch of the organization dedicated to work in the Philippines. He practiced general and thoracic surgery for 35 years until 2007, but by no means retired from health care. He organizes teams of retired doctors for missions that can help reverse the brain drain that occurs in their home countries and works to create sustainable health care projects in the U.S. and abroad.

The Chesapeake clinic has become a lifeline for patients who can’t afford medical and dental care. Montero partners with the clinic to offer veterans’ dental services through the medical missions nonprofit.

Montero was the founding president of the Asian Business Association of Hampton Roads. He was a founding director of TowneBank in 1999 and continues to serve on its corporate board. He is a longtime board member of the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation in Norfolk. He also brokered the sister city relationship between Norfolk and Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, in 2008.

He’s received many accolades for his volunteerism, was the 1991 First Citizen of Chesapeake and was honored at the annual Chesapeake Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast last year. In 2022, Montero Medical Missions received the coveted Philippine Presidential Kaanib ng Bayan Award.

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Petula Moy

Petula Moy, who was born in Hong Kong, is the founder of Asian American Alliance, which aims to bring together professionals and leaders to engage with multiple cultures and influence diversity and inclusion efforts through civic involvement. This organization was the voice of the Anti-Asian Hate Movement in Hampton Roads in 2021.

In 2022, the alliance worked with Binchmark LLC and ENTR Entrepreneur Advancement Program to launch the first Asian Food Month Campaign in celebration of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The campaign continues again this year. Moy, a serial entrepreneur and public speaker, is also the founder and president of Moy Capital, a financial and insurance firm, and a public speaker. She serves as a director on the Virginia board of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

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Kevin Murphy

Kevin Murphy is group CEO of Ferguson plc, the parent company of Newport News-based Ferguson Enterprises. The leading North American plumbing supplies company employs about 1,200 people in Hampton Roads and recently built an eight-story, $82.8-million headquarters campus in Newport News City Center at Oyster Point. Ferguson also gives to local nonprofits and efforts through its Ferguson Cares program and invests in entrepreneurs through Ferguson Ventures. Murphy is on the board of Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters.

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J.D. Myers II

J.D. Myers II, Cox Communications’ senior vice president and East Region manager, is responsible for leading employees and day-to-day operations from Massachusetts to Florida. The Virginia Beach resident and Army veteran is a member of the company’s National Diversity Council and serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications, where he is a national career mentor of future business leaders.

He is board vice chair of the Hampton Roads Alliance, on the board of RVA757 Connects and a trustee of the Hampton Roads Chamber. Myers has received numerous industry awards and honors, including one of the Top Minority Executives in Cable Communications and Top 100 list by CableFAX. He was inducted into the 2019 Hampton Roads Business Hall of Fame and received the 2018 Community Builders Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Glenn Oder

Glenn Oder has served as the executive director of Fort Monroe Authority for nearly 12 years, and is a board member for the Partnership for a New Phoebus as well as the Fort Monroe Foundation.

He is responsible for 30 employees and numerous contractors who manage about 565 acres of land and almost 2 million square feet of existing buildings. Fort Monroe is undergoing a $100 million redevelopment in various projects with hundreds of families living in historic homes on the property and over 300 employees working for private businesses there.

Oder retired as a state delegate to help the authority preserve the historic and natural resources of Fort Monroe while attaining economic sustainability and promoting public access of the former Army post.

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Mark Perryman

In May 2022, Mark Perryman became the president and CEO of the Norfolk Airport Authority, where he oversees the operations and development of Norfolk International Airport. He helped lead the airport to record passenger growth last year and, with over 38 years of airport planning and development experience, is preparing the airport for its largest reconstruction program in its history.

He and the authority are also pursuing the development of a hotel. The planned half-billion-dollar capital program over the next five to seven years positions the airport for more growth. Perryman previously worked as president and CEO of Landrum & Brown Inc., an international airport consulting and design firm, before retiring from the company after 31 years.

He has been an active member of the American Association of Airport Executives and Airports Council International as well as the Airports Consultants Council since the early 1990s. He is also an associate member of the American Institute of Architects. Perryman, a veteran, had served as a base community planner and architect in the Air Force and lives in Norfolk.

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Angela Reddix

Angela D. Reddix, CEO and founder of health care management and technology firm ARDX that’s expanding in Norfolk, empowers women to have a balanced life and focuses on closing the gender and minority wealth gaps from the cradle to the grave. Reddix invests expertise, coaching and capital into women of color-owned businesses through her Reddix Rules Fund program. Reddix and her husband committed $1.1 million to support the Reddix Center for First Generation Students at James Madison University, her alma mater.

A mentor and adviser to the next generation, Reddix founded Envision Lead Grow, a Norfolk-based nonprofit designed to enable aspiring girls of all ages to chart their destinies by teaching them the critical skills and dedication to accomplish their dreams through entrepreneurship. The three-time bestselling author and TEDx speaker also recently launched the CEO of U TV streaming network.

Reddix serves as the board chair for the YWCA of South Hampton Roads and on the boards of TowneBank Norfolk, 757 Collab, United Way of South Hampton Roads Foundation and the Hampton Roads Chamber. She is a member of Civic Leadership Institute, the Women Presidents Organization, JMU Women for Madison Executive Advisory Council, Norfolk State’s School of Business advisory board, Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., Links Inc., Jack and Jill of America Inc. and Forbes Business Council.

She has received numerous awards, including being named in the 2021 Ebony magazine’s Power 100 List, Top 30 Influential Female Leaders Impacting Virginia, the Old Dominion University Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame and as a 2023 United Negro College Fund honoree. Other recognition includes Federal Health IT Women in Leadership Award; the Finney Foundation Visionary Leader Award; the JMU Alumni Association 2022 Presidential Award; the Women Presidents Organization 2021 Women of Color Achievement Award; the Urban League of Hampton Roads’ Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leader Workforce Award; the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities’ Humanitarian Award; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Big Blue-Ribbon Award; the Pepsi Historically Better Award; and the Hampton Roads Community Builders Award.

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Gordon P. Robertson

Gordon P. Robertson is president and CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Network, which his father, Pat Robertson, founded in Portsmouth in 1960.

Its trademark TV show “The 700 Club” — for which Gordon Robertson serves as executive producer and occasional host — purports to have 650,000 U.S. households watching each weekday. He is also executive producer of CBN Films. CBN International says its programs, broadcast in 138 countries, have an estimated yearly viewing audience of 360 million people.

Robertson also is a board member for Virginia Beach-based CBN and president of Operation Blessing, CBN’s humanitarian organization that provides disaster relief, medical aid, clean water, hunger relief, community development and orphan care. Operation Blessing has been providing crisis relief to Ukrainians since the Russian invasion.

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Dr. Cynthia Romero

Dr. Cynthia Romero is the director of the M. Foscue Brock Institute for Community and Global Health at Eastern Virginia Medical School. In that role, she works to improve the health of all people in Hampton Roads through collaborative education, clinical care and research activities focused on addressing health disparities and eliminating health care inequities.

Romero previously served as Virginia’s state health commissioner and as the chief medical officer for Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. She is the chairman of the Council of United Filipino Organizations of Tidewater overseeing the Philippine Cultural Center of Virginia. She is a board member for the Bon Secours Hampton Roads health system, Hampton Roads Community Foundation, Physicians for Peace, Virginia Beach Vision, Philippine Medical Association of Southeastern Virginia and Virginia Early Childhood Foundation.

She received the 2022 MLK Community Leaders Health Award from the Urban League of Hampton Roads.

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Katherine A. Rowe

Katherine Rowe, the first woman to lead the College of William & Mary as president, is known as an innovator in higher education.

Under Rowe’s leadership since 2018, William & Mary saw its endowment reach its highest level at $1.3 billion in 2021 and exceeded its fundraising goals again, raising $77.4 million, in 2022. Rowe is also ushering in an era of change for the campus.

This past year, William & Mary broke ground on the The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts, which will house the expanded Muscarelle Museum of Art, and is also undergoing a 10-year modernization and revitalization of its residential and dining facilities. It plans to open its new performing arts facilities this fall. The college is also expanding the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point with a $74 million research building. During Rowe’s tenure, the university has created a central entrepreneurship hub and a universitywide approach to diversity and inclusion.

Rowe serves on the board of RVA757 Connects, the GO Virginia Region 5 Council and the Virginia Business Higher Education Council.

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Manan Shah

Manan Shah is the founder and CEO of Pashm Global, which owns and operates hotels, convenience stores and other businesses from Virginia Beach to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He serves as sponsorship chair for the annual Taste of India festival, as secretary of the Hindu Temple of Hampton Roads, as an ambassador of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in Washington and as vice president of the Virginia Asian American Store Owners Association. He helped raise money for COVID relief in India.

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Bruce Smith

The former Virginia Tech and NFL Hall of Famer known as “The Sack Man,” Bruce Smith lives in Virginia Beach as a business owner and motivational speaker. He started his commercial real estate development company, Bruce Smith Enterprises, in 2005 after being mentored by Dan Hoffler of Armada Hoffler. Since then, he has completed projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic and has been an advocate for equal opportunity in the business. He is working to build an apartment complex across from the Scope arena in downtown Norfolk called 78 at St. Paul’s, a reference to his jersey number.

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Ramsay S. Smith

Ramsay S. Smith, as president of Pembroke Commercial Realty LLC, is leading the $200 million multiyear redevelopment of Pembroke Mall, the region’s first suburban shopping mall. The project will introduce an independent senior living community managed by Beth Sholom, a Hilton dual-branded 14-story hotel and a 12-story luxury apartment building.

Smith joined the company in 2003 and has over 30 years of experience in the industry. He is responsible for sourcing, conceptualizing and implementing all new commercial real estate development opportunities. The company’s portfolio includes more than 2.5 million square feet of retail and office properties encompassing 60 properties, as well as over 1,200 multifamily units. Smith is a member of the Virginia Beach board of TowneBank, the International Council of Shopping Centers and Virginia Beach Vision.

He is a past Virginia Beach chair of United Way and has been a member of the Royal Order of the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, vice chair of the Virginia Beach Central Business District Design Review Committee, a legislative affairs committee member for the Central Business District and president and treasurer of the Virginia Beach Forum.

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Shane Smith

Shane Smith, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods since 2021, guides the Smithfield-based global food company’s vision and strategic direction across operations in the United States, Europe and Mexico.

He takes seriously the company’s mission to produce “good food responsibly” by taking care of its animals, the environment and local communities. Under Smith’s leadership, the company remained on track to achieve carbon-negative status in all company-owned U.S. operations, reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its U.S. value chain by 30% and obtain 50% of its electricity needs from renewable resources by 2030.

The company also achieved its goal — eight years ahead of schedule — to increase the racial diversity of its leadership team by promoting and hiring Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented groups to reflect at least 30% of supervisors and above. Smithfield Foods employs nearly 60,000 people in seven countries and is a major donor to food banks.

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Michael Laurence Sterling

Attorney Michael Laurence Sterling is a principal of Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, a combination of longtime law firms Woods Rogers in Roanoke and Vandeventer Black in Norfolk. His practice focuses on complex construction and government projects and disputes for international, national and local clients.

He is on the boards of WHRO, Eggleston Services and Barrier Islands Center. He has served on the boards of the Red Cross of Southeastern Virginia and the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association. He has been chairman of the Virginia Bar Association Construction and Public Contract Law Executive Council and the Vandeventer Black Foundation.

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Brian T. Schools

Brian Schools, president and CEO of Chartway Credit Union in Virginia Beach, oversaw the $2.6 billion credit union’s rebranding last year. He leverages over three decades of leadership experience in shaping the financial institution as one that puts people first with a responsibility of financial soundness.

His collaborative approach has elevated Chartway as a top workplace with various accolades. Under Schools’ leadership, Chartway was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of “Virginia’s Best Credit Unions” for 2022 and received an honorable mention for the Dora Maxwell Award for social responsibility and community service from the Credit Union National Association.

Schools serves as board vice chair of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions. He is on the board of the Chartway Promise Foundation, the credit union’s charitable arm, which has raised nearly $14 million to provide medically fragile children and their families memorable experiences that bring joy, hope and smiles. He also serves on the board of managers of the newly formed Chartway Ventures LLC, which invests in highly innovative organizations that complement the credit union’s strategic goals for the benefit of its members and the credit union industry at large.

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Rony Thomas

Under the leadership of president and CEO Rony Thomas, LifeNet Health, Virginia’s federally designated organ procurement organization, saved a record number of lives for its fifth consecutive record year for organ donors in 2022. LifeNet coordinated 636 lifesaving transplants for 562 patients, some of whom received multiple organs, from a record 247 donors. The number of organ donors has increased by 89% in LifeNet’s service area since 2016. Fostering strong partnerships with more than 70 hospitals and transplant centers was instrumental to the progress. Thomas is leading the Virginia Beach-based group to new advances in medical, organizational and outreach capabilities and research and development of biomaterials. He also serves on the boards of RVA757 Connects, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, the Chrysler Museum of Art and VirginiaBio.

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Clayton P. Turner

Clayton Turner, director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, is leading a team of scientists, researchers, civil servants, engineers and support staff in helping NASA enter the next era of space exploration with its Artemis program, which is committed to landing American astronauts, including the first woman and first person of color, on the moon by 2025. The lunar program is seen as a way to prepare humans to go to Mars, and NASA Langley is developing a heat shield that could be used in a mission to Mars in the mid-2030s. Turner serves as the NASA Langley participant on the Virginia STEM Education Commission and has received many awards, including: The Presidential Rank Award; NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal; the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal; and the Paul F. Holloway Non-Aerospace Technology Transfer Award.

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Lee Vreeland

Lee Vreeland is the president and CEO of An Achievable Dream, a nonprofit with a nationally recognized K-12 program operating in partnership with Newport News, Virginia Beach and Henrico County public school systems. With 26 years of experience in overseeing AAD’s academics and operations in various roles, Dr. Vreeland has been influential in the expansion of An Achievable Dream, overseeing efforts to expand the program in Virginia Beach and Henrico County. This summer, An Achievable Dream will open its innovative learning facility, An Achievable Dream Middle and High School at Lynnhaven, which will enhance the program’s social, academic and moral education framework.

Vreeland was also instrumental in establishing Achieve SAME Pro, a customizable professional learning solution and K-12 social and emotional curriculum for individual schools and districts, in the fall of 2020. Over the years, she has worked to bring together stakeholders from local government, nonprofit organizations and business and community members to address key issues facing the community, including housing, food insecurity, and gun violence. The community support is evidenced by the organization’s successful fundraising events, the Tennis Ball and Night to Dream.

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Tom Walker

Tom Walker is the founder and CEO of DroneUp in Virginia Beach. The company is helping retail giant Walmart enter the next era of delivery services via drones. As Walmart continues to invest in DroneUp, the 7-year-old drone delivery and flight services company continues to add jobs in Hampton Roads. Some Virginia Beach Walmart customers can now participate in drone delivery. DroneUp was also named to Fast Company’s second annual “Next Big Things in Tech” list. Walker is a recognized pioneer in military and government digital reform and was tapped as an adviser to the White House on innovative technologies and their impact on the emerging workforce. He maintains patents on mobile app technology.

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Chris Williams

Summit Pointe, a $350 million downtown-style development comprising 69 acres in Greenbrier, is attracting retailers, restaurants and office tenants. And Chris Williams, as senior vice president of Summit Pointe Realty LLC and senior vice president of portfolio and facilities for Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree Inc., is heading up the development and marketing.

Summit Pointe broke ground in 2019, and when complete, the urban plan includes 1 million square feet of office space, 500,000 square feet of retail space, 1,400 residences and 250,000 square feet of hotel and conference space. Summit Pointe is anchored by Dollar Tree, ranked No. 137 on the Fortune 500 list, with employees and a host of international business associates visiting daily.

Williams has worked with Dollar Tree for 25 years and has a long history of successful growth and expansion that now includes over 16,000 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. and Canada.

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Darrell K. Williams

Darrell K. Williams, a retired Army three-star general, took office as the 13th president of Hampton University on July 1. The HU alumnus previously worked for Fortune 250 technology company Leidos. He served in the Army for 37 years; his last leadership position was as the first Black and 19th director of the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency. Williams is committed to delivering the No. 1 student experience in the U.S. at the 314-acre private university that enrolls more than 3,200 students.

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Marcellus “Boo” Williams

Marcellus “Boo” Williams is the visionary behind the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton who helped Hampton Roads leaders see economic development opportunities in youth sports tourism. He developed the 135,000-square-foot indoor sports and event center in partnership with investors and the city of Hampton. It was the largest sportsplex between Washington, D.C., and Greensboro, North Carolina, when it opened in 2008. Sportsplex tournaments for basketball, volleyball, track and field, field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics and other activities fill up regional hotels and attract visitor spending.

More than four decades ago, the former NCAA star founded the Boo Williams Summer League, a regional Amateur Athletic Union high school basketball program, and has coached and mentored thousands of athletes since. His Summer League, sponsored by Nike, has won several national championships and attracted some of the nation’s best players. Williams was a basketball star at Phoebus High School who became a college standout at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where he was later inducted to the school’s Hall of Fame. He also played professionally in France and Ireland from 1982-1985.

Williams, a State Farm insurance agent for more than 30 years, is internationally known as an ambassador and consultant for youth basketball and youth sports. He has coached many prominent athletes, including Allen Iverson, Sugar Rogers, Alonzo Mourning, Ronald Curry, Jarrett Jack, Ed Davis, J.J. Reddick and Patrick Patterson. He is the Virginia district chairman and national chairman of boys basketball as well as co-chair of girls basketball with the Amateur Athletic Union. He is also on the McDonald’s All American team selection committee for high school boys and girls basketball.

He received the Mannie Jackson Basketball’s Human Spirit Award in 2013 and was the Disney Wide World Sports Volunteer of the Year in 2001. He was a Daily Press Citizen of the Year in 1990, was inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and received the Presidential Leadership Award from Virginia Peninsula Community College in 2015. He also received the The Ignatius Award from St. Joseph’s University, the Virginia NAACP Outstanding Service to Mankind Award and is in the Philadelphia Big Five Hall of Fame and Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame.

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Williams is also the subject of the 2022 documentary “Who is Boo? The Legend Behind the Name.” Last year, in celebration of 40 years of coaching, the city of Hampton renamed the street to the Sportsplex to Boo Williams Way.

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Barbara Wolcott

Barbara M. Wolcott is CEO of the newly formed Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty with over 20 locations and 750 residential real estate agents. A licensed real estate professional since 1970, she’s held numerous leadership positions for the industry on the local, state and national levels. She serves on the board of the region’s multiple listing service, Real Estate Information Network Inc., and has served as a mentor to others in the field.

She received the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hampton Roads Real Estate Association, having served in multiple capacities over 50 years, including as board chair. She’s also served as president of the Virginia Association of Realtors in 1996 and as a national director for the National Association of Realtors. She was inducted into the Virginia Realtor Hall of Fame in 2015 and was local Broker of the Year in 1987 and Virginia Realtor of the Year in 1988.

She has been recognized for her work with several nonprofit organizations for children with disabilities and active-duty and retired military members. She was a 2016 Inside Business Women in Business honoree. She serves on the Virginia Beach advisory board of TowneBank.

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Capt. Dianna Wolfson

Capt. Dianna Wolfson became the first woman to lead Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the fourth-largest employer in Hampton Roads, as its 110th commander in early 2021. Wolfson is at the helm of one of the oldest, largest and most versatile industrial facilities responsible for repairing, modernizing and inactivating the Navy’s warships and training platforms. She comes as the shipyard, a major regional employer, upgrades its facilities and technologies and rolls out a strategic framework with a focus on employee development and organizational culture. One of four public shipyards in the U.S., Norfolk Naval Shipyard dates back to 1767.