Nancy Edwards, executive assistant to the president and CEO of AMERICAN SYSTEMS, is a Pinnacle Awards winner in the Private Company Executive Assistant of the Year category.
In its second year, the annual Pinnacle Awards luncheon was held Oct. 31 at the Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner. The luncheon drew over 525 GovCon leaders and professionals, and showcased exemplary GovCon leadership in industry and government.
Edwards, who’s been with AMERICAN SYSTEMS for 22 years and has worked as an EA to five presidents and CEOs, was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. While in high school, she worked at Mobil Oil Corp. through New York City’s Cooperative Education Program and was hired permanently after graduation.
Edwards resigned from Mobil to become the lead vocalist in a band and worked as a musician for 3.5 years until she met her future husband who lived in Virginia, which became her new home. She was then rehired at Mobil’s new Fairfax, Virginia, headquarters.
Edwards’ EA career began in 1980 when EAs were still called secretaries and trained in school to work in secretarial positions.
“The technology I used back then included an IBM Selectric typewriter, a desk phone with light-up call buttons and a buzzer, and a Steno pad to take dictation in shorthand,” Edwards told WashingtonExec in a previous interview.