Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Ultra I&C’s Amanda Rudolph
Amanda Rudolph Vice President of Strategic Communications, Ultra I&C Amanda Rudolph led Ultra I&C through a comprehensive corporate rebrand that repositioned the company externally to reflect the defense technology innovator she said it has always been at its core. Her team orchestrated a complete transformation, capturing thousands of new assets through in-field video shoots around
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: GRVTY’s Ben Ingham
Ben Ingham Vice President, Marketing and Communications, GRVTY When Ben Ingham launched the GRVTY brand, it wasn’t only about messaging but about leadership. Collaborating closely with the CEO and leadership team, Ingham and his team created a compelling and solutions-focused storytelling platform that rapidly grew awareness, ultimately increasing brand recognition with customers, attracting more talent
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Koniag Government Services’ Eleanor Shelton
Eleanor Shelton Director, Marketing and Communications, Koniag Government Services When Koniag Government Services launched two new enterprise systems in 2025, Eleanor Shelton’s team helped ensure the hard work of building and deploying was met with success. To support the continued growth and evolution of KGS, the company invested in and deployed a Human Resources Management
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Riverside Research’s Ellen Bjork
Ellen Bjork Head of Marketing and Communications, Riverside Research Ellen Bjork’s biggest recent achievement wasn’t a single project but a collection of smaller goals that advanced a modern marketing and communications function to consistently enable enterprise growth and mission impact. “Ellen combines strategic judgment with exceptional execution,” said Dr. Steven Omick, president and CEO of
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Nokia Federal Solutions’ Jacqueline Lampert
Jacqueline Lampert Chief Marketing Officer, Nokia Federal Solutions Jacqueline Lampert’s biggest recent achievement has been elevating Nokia Federal Solutions’ visibility and credibility in defense and federal markets through strategic, high-impact communications. Lampert led press efforts for major milestones like Nokia’s 5G collaboration with Lockheed Martin and Verizon; selection for a federal spectrum-sharing demonstration; and the
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Zscaler’s Josie Smoot
Josie Smoot Senior Director, U.S. Public Sector and Healthcare Marketing, Zscaler For the third straight year, Josie Smoot’s team executed a premier cybersecurity event that draws professionals in federal, state and local government IT along with industry leaders. The Public Sector Summit in Washington, D.C., has grown significantly in size and scale each year, she
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: SAIC’s Marni Puente
Marni Puente Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, SAIC In 2025, Marni Puente advanced SAIC’s enterprise growth strategy across all markets while transforming the marketing department into a more strategic, integrated and AI-enabled function. Her key accomplishments included: launching a defining Mission Integration brand campaign that exceeded benchmarks and strengthened company relevance
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: ICF’s Matt Maurer
Matt Maurer Chief Marketing Officer, ICF One of Matt Maurer’s team’s most significant 2025 achievements was the launch of ICF Fathom, a suite of advanced AI solutions and services built specifically for federal agencies. ICF Fathom helps agencies do everything they need to do right now: improve service delivery, drive cost savings and produce measurable
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Amentum’s Roela Santos
Roela Santos Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Amentum As Amentum recently celebrated its 1-year anniversary as a newly merged public company, Roela Santos was right there with her team marking the capstone and highlighting what she said has been an “amazing year” for the company and her team. “The team worked hard on preparing for
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Nightwing’s Michelle N. Lammers
Michelle N. Lammers Vice President of Communications, Nightwing Michelle N. Lammers led her team through the full standup of Nightwing’s brand following the company’s 2024 launch, reshaping how the organization tells its own story. The effort spanned internal culture alignment, an external brand voice and modernized storytelling. “One example of this storytelling included our 2025
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: ECS’ Shab Nassirpour
Shab Nassirpour Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, ECS A major highlight of Shab Nassirpour’s year was a campaign showcasing ECS’ role as the AI Interoperability Integrator for the NGA Maven Program. Through articles, videos and ads, her team generated millions of impressions and hit top engagement metrics on LinkedIn. “Shab is a trusted
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: MANTECH’s Sheila Blackwell
Sheila Blackwell Chief Marketing Officer, MANTECH The 2025 refresh of the MANTECH brand was one of Sheila Blackwell’s most rewarding challenges. Leading the 15-month strategic process was a transformative, all-of-MANTECH effort rooted in honoring the legacy of a well-established brand while reshaping it for the future. Blackwell and her team conducted interviews, roundtables, surveys and
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: RELI Group’s Stephanie Ellis
Stephanie Ellis Marketing & Communications Director, RELI Group, Inc. Stephanie Ellis led the establishment of RELI Group’s updated solutions and services framework and brought it to life through new brand messaging and a redesigned website. This work focused on simplifying complex offerings, improving accessibility and ensuring RELI Group’s story clearly reflects real mission needs. The
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026: Optiv + ClearShark’s Tom Mahoney
Tom Mahoney Vice President, Marketing, Optiv + ClearShark Tom Mahoney and his team are continually modernizing the Optiv + ClearShark marketing engine to better support cybersecurity solutions and professional services teams. Their recent work included refreshing the website, integrating Marketo with Salesforce, capturing over 6,000 net new leads year-over-year, and mapping those leads to defined
Top MarCom Execs to Watch in 2026
In the competitive and fast-changing world of government contracting, companies need to stay ahead of trends to grow, win and deliver on mission goals for both internal teams and customers. The leaders behind these efforts shape marketing and communications strategies grounded in industry knowledge, strategic discipline and execution expertise. The executives named to the Top
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