Ensuring Business Community Representation

Vice Chair Rick Wagner

Rick Wagner has served on the board since November 2020. He is the Chief Executive Officer for Agile Defense, an innovative IT services and solutions provider based in Fairfax County.

He formerly led Microsoft Federal, a $5B P&L supporting federal agencies of all sizes and scopes as they deliver mission-critical work and embrace technology to achieve objectives and serve citizens.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Wagner was president of ManTech Mission, Cyber & Intelligence Solutions Group, dedicated to advancing technological services to the United States government’s intelligence and defense communities.

Before joining ManTech in 2015, Mr. Wagner was chief strategy officer at TASC, Inc., where he led growth strategy and business development. Over his 16 years at TASC, he rose from program manager/systems engineer to senior vice president of the company’s Defense Group. Earlier in his career, he held management positions at Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and worked as a software engineer and project manager for the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

Mr. Wagner has been selected to Executive Mosaic’s Washington 100 for three consecutive years and was selected as 2019 Intelligence Leader of the Year. He is a member of the Intelligence & National Security Alliance board of directors and the board of Fairfax Futures.

Mr. Wagner earned a master’s degree in engineering management from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Secretary Ronald C. Johnson

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed Ronald Johnson to the FCEDA Commission in November 2001. He currently serves as secretary of the Commission, and chairman of the Diversity and Small Business Committee. He is chairman and CEO of Solutions4Change, LLC, an advisory and strategic planning firm in the utility and communication industries. Previously, he founded and operated businesses that provided engineering, logistics and infrastructure services for telecommunication companies.

Dr. Johnson is a past rector and member of the Board of Visitors at Virginia State University, and board member and past president of the university’s foundation. He has served five governors of Virginia in other appointed positions that include vice chairman of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, member of Virginia Highway Transportation Advisory Board, co-chair of the Governor’s Alliance for a Drug-Free Virginia, and Virginia’s citizen representative on the six-state Southern Technology Council. Currently, he is serving his third appointment to the Federal Communication Commission Advisory Committee on Diversity, and chairs and serves on the board of various other non-profit and religious organizations.

Assistant Secretary Pallabi Saboo

Pallabi Saboo is the CEO of Harmonia Holdings Group, LLC. She has an extensive track record of building/operating successful technology related companies. She co-founded Harmonia in 2006 and has grown it aggressively as it seeks to develop specialized technology-enabled services. She is an entrepreneur with a unique understanding of technology as well as business/strategic issues.

Among her many honors, Ms. Saboo serves on the boards of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce, TiE DC and the Army Science Board, and she serves on Northern Virginia Technology Council’s executive circle. She also has served for eight years on the Virginia Governor’s Board for Small Business Financing Authority.

Ms. Saboo has received much recognition in the business world for her accomplishments, including including being named Asian Business Leader of the year (2020), Women Who Mean Business (Washington Business Journal 2020), CEO World Award (2020), VA Business Women in Leadership (2021), and U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award (2021).

Under her leadership, Harmonia has enjoyed many honors as well, including the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies (2009-2019, 2021), Virginia’s Fantastic 50 Companies (2019, 2020), Northern Virginia Technology Council Tech 100 company (2018-2020), Moxie Award (2021), Asian-American Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year (2021), Certified Great Place to Work (2019-2021), Virginia Values Veterans Certified Organization, and awarded the prestigious Tibbett’s award for innovative technologies commercialization three times one of which was in the White House (2020).

Ms. Saboo is an electronics engineer and has an MBA, with a specialization in marketing, from Virginia Tech, where she was awarded a Cunningham Fellowship. Virginia Tech has also honored her as a Lifetime Golden Hokie, a distinguished alumnus, and a member of the Ut Prosim Society. A philanthropist, she is a Paul Harris Fellow as well as a member of Arch Klumph Society of highest donors of the Rotary Foundation supporting social causes worldwide. She also supports veterans’ employment and training services via the NVTC and children’s education via Pratham.

Board Members

Linnie Haynesworth

Linnie Haynesworth was appointed to the FCEDA Commission in July 2016. She is sector vice president and general manager of Cyber and Intelligence Mission Solutions for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, with executive responsibility for the overall growth and program activities within the division’s business portfolio.

Ms. Haynesworth has held numerous business development, functional and program positions of increasing responsibility in multiple sectors at Northrop Grumman, which is based in Merrifield. She has served as vice president and general manager within the Information Systems sector, vice president for aerospace products within the Aerospace Systems sector and vice president and program manager of that sector’s Defense Weather Satellite System.

With a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, she has extensive government, commercial and international partnership experience.

Catherine Lange

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed Catherine Lange to the FCEDA Board in November 2009. Ms. Lange was elected chair in January 2017. She is a partner with Human Capital Advisors, a strategic human capital consulting firm. Previously she was the founder, president and CEO of BusinessWorks of America, Inc., a management consulting and leadership development firm formed in 1995. Ms. Lange has more than 35 years of business experience, with more than 20 years at two Fortune 500 technology companies – Digital Equipment Corporation and Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) – followed by nearly 15 years as a small business owner.

Ms. Lange serves on a number of business and nonprofite boards. She serves as a board member of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Committee, and she also founded the chamber’s Women’s Business Council. As chairman of the board for Fairfax Futures, she guides a non-profit dedicated to preparing pre-kindergarten children for educational success.

Ms. Lange is an alumnus of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia board, and she is a member of the 2011 class of Washington Business Journal Women Who Mean Business. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, and has lived in Fairfax County for nearly 40 years.

Roderick (Rocky) Mitchell

Roderick (Rocky) Mitchell was appointed to the FCEDA board in June 2016. Mr. Mitchell is executive vice president, global fixed assets, for Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed). He is responsible for real estate strategy and acquisition to meet business unit requirements for PenFed and its affiliates. He previously served as CFO, COO and chief administrative officer of PenFed, which is based in Tysons.

Mr. Mitchell was the founding CEO of the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting financial literacy and the well-being of soldiers and their families, especially those wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. Prior to joining PenFed, Mr. Mitchell was president and CEO of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in New York, one of the nation’s largest community development corporations.

Mr. Mitchell obtained his bachelor’s degree in economics from University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA in finance from Columbia University. He is a 1999 Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient and is on the board of directors of the Armed Forces YMCA, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, and the National Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Steven Partridge

Steven Partridge was appointed to the FCEDA board in July 2019. He is vice president of strategic partnerships and workforce innovation at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), leading collaboration between the College and the community. He manages the College’s corporate and workforce engagement, government relations, marketing, communication, and workforce programming and events.

NOVA’s Workforce division has implemented labor market-intelligence capabilities, led the Tech Talent Pipeline Initiative, launched a first-ever apprenticeship program with employers including Amazon Web Services, and built employer relationships to address regional talent demands.

Mr. Partridge has testified before Congress and the U.S. Senate regarding the national skills gap and regularly consults with congressional and Administration staff on workforce issues.

Prior to joining NOVA in 2016, Mr. Partridge served as president and CEO of Charlotte Works, the workforce development board for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C. He also held executive positions at the Charlotte (N.C.) Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Department of Commerce.

He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Arizona.

D. Jermaine Johnson

D. Jermaine Johnson was appointed to the FCEDA board in October 2023. He  is regional president for PNC Bank, Greater Washington and Virginia. Johnson is responsible for overseeing all aspects of PNC’s operations in Greater Washington, including Retail Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Private Banking and community-based activities.

Prior to being named to his current role in July 2020, Johnson was an Executive Vice President and Market Leader of PNC’s Corporate Banking business for the Greater Washington and Greater Maryland markets. In this role, he led PNC’s middle market, government contracting and large corporate banking segments.

Johnson started his career in banking as a management trainee with Bank of America. During his nearly 25 years in the industry, he has served in a variety of positions in Corporate Banking. He has a general corporate background with companies across a wide-range of industries in-need of cash flow and asset-based financing. Prior to joining PNC in 2005, Johnson was a Vice President and portfolio analyst for GE’s Healthcare Financial Services—a commercial finance unit of GE Capital that provided asset-based lending to healthcare facilities throughout the United States. Previously, Johnson was a Vice President at Bank of America within the Commercial Banking Group.

Active in the community, Johnson is an executive committee member and Chair of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the region’s premier business organization that has represented all industries for over 130 years. He is a board member of Guest Services, Inc, a private hospitality management company located in Fairfax, VA. He is a board member of Venture Philanthropy Partners, a non-profit organization investing in the education of our youth in Greater Washington. He also serves as audit committee Chair of the March of Dimes, as well as a member of Leadership Fairfax and The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. He previously served as executive committee member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Ball, was the treasurer at Catholics for Housing, an executive committee member of Teach For America and the First Tee Program in Greater Washington.

He is a graduate of James Madison University, with a bachelor’s degree in Finance. Johnson is a graduate of the 2011 class of Leadership Fairfax.