CEOs You Should Know - Washington DC

Christopher Bruch
As the President & CEO of Donohoe, Chris Bruch assumes the critical role of directing the company’s vision and mission. Leading Donohoe’s executive team, Chris is instrumental in developing and executing the company’s long-term strategic plans.

Since assuming the position of President & Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2017, Chris has taken on the responsibility of guiding Donohoe’s six operating divisions, managing a team of 1,800 employees, handling over $1 billion in annual operating revenues, and overseeing all real estate joint venture interests.

Chris’s journey with Donohoe commenced in 1988 as a Project Manager in Donohoe Construction. Over the years, he has contributed his expertise to four of the six operating divisions. Following his tenure in Donohoe Construction, Chris spent four years with Donohoe Real Estate Services (now Donohoe Commercial Real Estate), followed by nine years with Donohoe Development. In 2006, Chris played a pivotal role in establishing Donohoe Hospitality Services and was subsequently appointed its President. His extensive experience across multiple divisions has provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the company’s operations.

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John Spencer-Taylor
John Spencer-Taylor, known as "Spence," is the co-founder and visionary force behind BrainGu. With his rich blend of technical prowess and business acumen, he's dedicated to creating solutions that address complex organizational challenges. As CEO, Spence's diverse technology background and innovative leadership drive BrainGu's commitment to delivering cutting-edge advancements, including Structsure ®, BrainGu’s flagship internal developer platform.

Spence's career journey began as a systems specialist in 2001, highlighting his early technical skills. Progressing into roles as an ethical hacker and security architect, he showed a keen aptitude for cybersecurity. His experience spans from managing security teams to providing strategic tech solutions. This rich history of diverse and challenging roles underpins his leadership at BrainGu, blending deep technical knowledge with strategic vision.

Beyond the office, he's a music enthusiast and hobbyist musician, often found at live concerts or belting out Queen's greatest hits at karaoke, all evidence to his dynamic personality and passion both inside and outside of BrainGu, exemplifying his unique approach to technology and leadership.

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Bryan Myers
Bryan is the President & Chief Executive Officer for [solidcore] boutique fitness and a trained [solidcore] Coach. In his role as CEO, Bryan is responsible for setting and executing strategy focused on growth and building a strong, inclusive, and nationwide community of clients and employees.

Prior to joining the [solidcore] team as COO in 2018, Bryan was a member of the leadership team of sweetgreen, the national leader in the healthy fast casual category. He joined sweetgreen in 2014 as Director of Finance and, over the course of 4 years, wore many hats including his final role as VP of Development, helping the company grow from a regional chain of 22 restaurants to 90 locations nationally. Bryan began his career as a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group, providing strategic advice to Fortune 500 companies on topics of growth, organizational design, and operational transformation.

When Bryan isn’t sweating it out on [sweatlana], you can find him immersed in the performing arts and attending shows at the many, amazing performance venues in the DC area. Bryan is also passionate about finding ways to give back to the community and currently serves on the Board of the Ridley Scholars Foundation, an organization that provides financial and mentorship support to high-achieving African-American students.

In 2020, Bryan was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a Minority Business Leader honoree.

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Mark Hetfield
Mark Hetfield first joined HIAS in 1989 as a caseworker in Rome, Italy. He has worked for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a large law firm as an immigration attorney, and has held multiple roles at HIAS over the years. Since being named HIAS’ President and CEO in 2013, Mark has led the transformation of HIAS from helping refugees because they were Jewish to helping refugees because we are Jewish.

Mark is proud of HIAS’ role in assisting and resettling refugees of all faiths and ethnicities and as a major implementing partner of the United Nations Refugee Agency and the U.S. Department of State. He is a frequent commentator and writer on refugee issues on television, radio, newspapers, and other media outlets. Mark holds both a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University.

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Caroline Woods
Caroline Woods joined Girls on the Run of NOVA in March 2020. Caroline has a long-standing history with the Girls on the Run, serving as a volunteer, co-founder, and board chair of a council in New Haven County, Connecticut. She is a mission-driven leader with an established career of successfully building and leading effective programs that ensure the social, emotional, and physical health and safety of children. Prior to GOTR NOVA, Caroline was the National Human Trafficking Hotline Director at Polaris where she was responsible for providing strategic oversight and management of the program. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Duke University and a Master of Science degree in Child Life from Bank Street College of Education.

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Caleb Vuljanic
Caleb provides various assurance services to clients in the technology, private equity, and professional services industries in addition to serving as a partner for Metro D.C. He also has significant experience with complex entities and accounting issues from his role in the firm’s professional standards group (National Office).

Prior to joining the firm’s D.C. Metro market, he was a member of the professional standards group, where he was a technical resource for complex accounting and auditing matters. In this role, he provided guidance on the application of recent accounting and auditing pronouncements, was a key presenter and facilitator for various firmwide trainings and presentations, and performed technical reviews of various consultations and U.S. GAAP reports. Caleb has worked with clients and management teams based in Israel, the U.K., France, and Germany. He previously completed a secondment program with a Praxity, AISBL firm in Sydney, Australia. In addition to audit services, he has provided consulting services, including merger and acquisition assistance and various internal control and accounting services to large banks and insurance companies with domestic and international operations. Caleb has also conducted training internationally in connection with consulting services.

Caleb is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants, and Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a B.S. degree in business administration and an M.Acc. degree.

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Mandeep Singh
As the COO/CTO of A Square Group (ASG) since 2011, Mr. Singh has played a pivotal role in shaping our journey in healthcare and technology. With over 26 years of experience in various sectors, he has consistently delivered innovative solutions, strengthened client relationships, and improved operational efficiency.

Mr. Singh excels in inspiring transformation, leading teams, achieving results, understanding business dynamics, and building alliances. He holds important certifications, including PMP, CISM, and a CIO certification from GSA CIO University. His educational background includes a B.E. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and an M.S. from George Washington University.

His expertise spans Cybersecurity, Agile DevSecOps, and Cloud solutions. Additionally, Mr. Singh is multilingual, speaking Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu, facilitating global communication.

His mission is to create value for ASG and its clients, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and innovation to drive ASG's continued growth.

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Christopher Bruno
Christopher Bruno was appointed Director of Economic Development for the City of Fairfax in May of 2016. He concurrently serves as President & CEO of Fairfax City Economic Development, a partnership between the Economic Development Office and the Economic Development Authority. In these roles, Christopher is responsible for coordinating the economic development priorities of the Mayor and City Council with the Authority’s efforts. A core focus since Christopher’s arrival has been cultivating and leveraging strategic partnerships with higher education, jurisdictional partners, and developing an emphasis on establishing Fairfax City as a center for innovation and business development. In 2019, following Amazon’s announced relocation to Northern Virginia, Christopher and Fairfax City Economic Development joined other Northern Virginia jurisdictions to form the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance.

Since joining, Christopher has led a substantial increase in the size and scope of the economic development portfolio. Christopher has spearheaded important economic development initiatives such as Fairfax City Restaurant Week and led ReConnected, Fairfax City’s largest small business support program, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, following the development of a new five year strategic plan, Fairfax City Economic Development began focusing on strategic business investment, including retention and attraction efforts, as a core component of its work. Simultaneously, Fairfax City Economic Development also relocated out of City Hall to class-A office space to accommodate a growing staff.

Prior to joining Fairfax City, Christopher served as Agency Counsel for the New York City Department of Small Business Services. At SBS, he was responsible for working with the City’s network of over 70 business improvement districts, and for coordinating the legal components of the commercial revitalization programs as part of the City’s community development block grant program administration. Additionally, from 2012-2014 Christopher served as a senior member of the Avenue NYC team and played an integral role in the Agency’s response to Hurricane Sandy by forming two community based development organizations in the hardest hit commercial areas of New York City.

Christopher holds an undergraduate degree in history and a master’s degree in elections and campaign management from Fordham University in New York. He obtained his juris doctor degree from New York Law School and is licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey. Christopher currently serves as a Senior Fellow for Law & Leadership at New York Law School and is on the board of the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance. He is also a member of the Fairfax City Manager’s Senior Leadership Team.

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Kelly McLaughlan
Kelly McLaughlan is the CEO and Co-Founder of KME. Digital – a digital marketing and technology agency. KME serves Northern Virginia and the entire DC region, having grown over the past 17 years with the help of the Mason Enterprise Center (MEC) business incubator and network. KME has benefited tremendously from the resources and location of the MEC – including access to a steady and growing pool of very talented, enthusiastic student interns and workforce from nearby George Mason University.

Kelly is a native resident of Northern Virginia, graduating high school, college (JMU - Finance) and building her professional career and businesses in this region. Prior to KME.Digital, Kelly has held previous professional positions as a certified Systems Engineer with EDS, and an IT Program and Engineering Manager with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Raising four children with her husband in the Dulles region of Northern Virginia, the McLaughlan family has been engaged in both the local and regional community, particularly with respect to challenges regarding STEM-centric education and the local economy.

In addition to KME, Kelly has been an active volunteer in groups including the JMU College of Business Marketing Executive Advisory Board (Chair), the Fairfax City Economic Development Authority (Commissioner), Loudoun County Joint BOS/School Board Committee Citizen’s Advisory Group, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) College Counseling Center and Crew (Rowing) Team, the McLean (BNI) Business Forum (President), the Nysmith School for the Gifted Odyssey of the Mind Teams, and the 100 Women Strong Organization under the Community Foundation of Loudoun & Northern Fauquier. In addition, she has supported her husband in his recent roles as Commissioner on the Loudoun Economic Development Advisory Council (EDAC) and Mason Enterprise Center (MEC)/SBDC IT/Digital Advisor, and has provided digital marketing strategy and technology assistance to the Loudoun Department of Economic Development.

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Andre Rogers
Andre Rogers is the founder and CEO of E3Insights LLC which empowers businesses with virtual C level expertise. E3Insights strategically guides companies at key moments in their development to a platform of growth and sustainability.

Prior to launching E3Insights, Rogers was the CFO and co-founder of Enlightened Inc. Over 20 years, Rogers grew Enlightened to a $30 million IT services and consulting firm; creating a global company with over 200 employees serving government and commercial clients. Before becoming a successful entrepreneur and business owner, Rogers leveraged his project management and IT skills to complete software integration and data projects for the Department of Defense and the financial industry.

Andre Rogers has built a legacy of leadership beyond the businesses he stewards. As chairperson of the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, he collaborated with the office of the Governor of Maryland to expand the number of small businesses in the state. For 10 years, Rogers served on the Board of The George Washington University School of Business, as well as on Leadership Maryland’s board.

This year you can find Andre Rogers on Ted Talks’ TEDxUStreet. His 30 years of accomplishments in the corporate, economic and education sectors has been celebrated multiple times. Rogers is a two-time winner of SmartCEO Magazine’s Executive Management Award. Additionally, MEA Magazine honored him with their Leadership & Excellence Award. Andre Rogers earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from The George Washington University; and a Master of Science degree from George Mason University also in Computer Science. Rogers and his family remain active in their local and larger communities.

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