2023 Halo Awards Winners
Dr. Edward H. Bersoff
Chairman, Greenwich Associates, LLC
Chairman, Parabilis, LLC
Chairman, Top Aces Corporation
Dr. Edward H. Bersoff is the Chairman of Greenwich Associates, LLC, a business advisory firm located in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition he is the Chairman and founder of Parabilis, LLC a business finance company located in Northern Virginia. He was formerly the Chairman and CEO of ATS Corporation, a publicly traded (NYSE-AMEX) Northern Virginia based company serving the information technology needs of the Government and private sectors. ATSC was acquired in March, 2012. Dr. Bersoff was previously Chairman, President and CEO of BTG, Inc., an information technology firm he founded in 1982. BTG was named to the Inc. 500 list of fast growing private companies for three years and the Washington Technology “Fast 50” for four years. The company’s common stock was listed on the NASDAQ National Market. In November 2001 BTG was acquired by the Titan Corporation, a NYSE listed company. Dr. Bersoff was elected to the Board of Titan in February 2002. Titan was sold to L-3 Communications in August, 2005. Dr. Bersoff now serves or has served on the boards of several other public and private companies. During his business career, Dr. Bersoff has served as the CFO of a public company, served as Lead Director of three public companies, chaired the audit committee of two public companies and has served on the audit, governance and compensation committees of other public companies. Dr. Bersoff is deeply involved in business, community and professional activities. He was the first Chairman of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, a past Chairman of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, and a former director of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He is a former director and Chairman of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation. Dr. Bersoff is a past National Chairman of the American Electronics Association, a former member of the Board of Directors and past Chairman of the Professional Services Council, and a former Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He served on the Boards of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology and the 1998 World Congress on Information Technology, and was a founder and the first Chairman of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. He is a past Chairman of the Virginia Business Council. He was previously appointed by Virginia’s governor to serve on the Board of the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan, where he recently completed his service as its Chair. Education and health care are Dr. Bersoff’s primary outside interests. He was a member, and a past Rector (Chairman), of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University, a former member of the Board of Trustees Lasell College and New York University, and is a past President of the Northern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation. In addition he served VCU as Chairman of its Presidential Search Committee and as a member of the VCU Health System Board of Trustees. For many years Dr. Bersoff served in a variety of governance capacities for the INOVA Health System. He first served on the Board of Fairfax Hospital and then subsequently on the INOVA Health System Board. During his over 20 year association with INOVA, he chaired its Foundation Board, its Health Care Services Board (the credentialing and quality body), and its Academic Advisory Committee. He was also a member of the INOVA Management Company (IMANCO) Board. He was elected to the Board of Directors of Holy Cross Hospital of Silver Spring, Maryland in 2010 and now is its Past Chair. He is currently a Trustee and Chairman of Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Dr. Bersoff holds A.B., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from New York University and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management Program. His academic honors include membership in MENSA and Phi Kappa Phi. He was selected Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist for 1999 by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Science Museum of Virginia, and was presented the 1999 Distinguished Leadership Award by the Washington Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. In 1996, he was selected to the Fed 100 by Federal Computer Week newspaper and AFCEA, honoring 100 technology professionals from government and industry, and was chosen from industry representatives to receive the Eagle Award for his role in the federal government’s effective use of information technology. Also in 1996, the Federation of Citizens Associations and the Washington Post named him the Fairfax County Citizen of the Year for his contributions to education. In 1995, the Northern Virginia Community Foundation presented him with its Founders Award for outstanding community service. In 2007 he was awarded the Association for Corporate Growth National Capital Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2008 he and his wife were honored by the Hospice of the National Capital Region for their work in support of the area’s hospice program. In 2014, Dr. Bersoff was recognized as an Outstanding Director by the Washington Business Journal and the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2015 he was granted The Fairfax Chamber Lifetime Achievement Award. Also in 2015 he received the Cornerstone Award for his service and philanthropy to the Holy Cross Health System. In 2016 Dr. Bersoff and his wife were recognized for their philanthropic support of the Virginia Community College System. In 2019, he was elected to the Government Contractor Hall of Fame and in 2020, he was elected to the Washington Business Hall of Fame. Prior to founding BTG, Dr. Bersoff was President of CTEC, Inc.; earlier, he was Director of Engineering Operations for Logicon’s Washington division. Previously, as an officer in the U.S. Army, he was assigned to the NASA Electronics Research Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also taught mathematics at New York University, Kingsborough Community College in New York, Northeastern and Boston Universities in Massachusetts, and American University in Washington, DC. Early in his technology career, Dr. Bersoff coauthored the first textbook in the Software Engineering discipline of Software Configuration Management.
David M. Evinger
President & Chief Credit Officer, Director & Secretary
Chain Bridge Bank, N.A.
President, Director and Corporate Secretary
Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc.
Mr. Evinger joined the Company and Bank as an Organizer in 2006 and currently serves as President, Chief Credit Officer, Director, and Secretary of Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. as well as President, Director, and Corporate Secretary of the Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc. He has over 25 years of commercial banking and risk-management experience, including at James Monroe Bank as Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer. During his career, Mr. Evinger has focused his efforts on credit, lending, and risk-management strategies for a private investment fund, institutional lenders, and commercial banks. Mr. Evinger serves on the Advisory Board for Marymount University in Arlington, VA where he received his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees. Chain Bridge Bank, N.A. is a nationally chartered but privately held bank with $1.4 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2022 whose mission is to combine attentive personal service with leading-edge technology and a fortress balance sheet. The bank serves commercial, non-profit and individual clients nationwide and offers both traditional deposit, mortgage and loan services as well as wealth and investment management, financial planning and fiduciary services
Michael D. Smith
CEO of AmeriCorps
Michael D. Smith is the eighth CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for service and volunteerism formerly known as the Corporation for National and Community Service. Smith was nominated by President Biden in June 2021; confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2021; and officially started in January 2022. Smith has dedicated his career to social justice and public service in underserved communities like those where he grew up. Most recently, he served as executive director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and director of Youth Opportunity Programs at the Obama Foundation. In these roles, Smith led the foundation’s efforts to reduce barriers and expand opportunity for boys and young men of color, their families and other underserved youth. Smith was part of the team that designed and launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative in the Obama Administration, and was appointed special assistant to President Obama and senior director of cabinet affairs, managing the initiative and interagency task force at the White House. My Brother’s Keeper led to new federal policy initiatives and grant programs; tens of thousands of new mentors; more than 250 MBK communities in most states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and 19 tribal nations; and, more than $1 billion in private sector and philanthropic investments. Prior, Smith was a political appointee in the Obama Administration serving as director of the Social Innovation Fund, a key White House initiative and program of the Corporation for National and Community Service. He reinvigorated the initiative, managed its largest funding competition, introduced its first Pay for Success grant program, and oversaw a portfolio of more than $700 million in public-private investments in support of more than 200 nonprofits. Prior, Smith served as senior vice president of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation, where he oversaw the foundation's domestic giving and program strategy, and guided numerous global public-private partnerships. Earlier in his career, he helped build national initiatives aimed at bridging the “digital divide” at the Beaumont Foundation of America and PowerUP, served as a senior staff member at the Family Center Boys & Girls Club, and was an aide to U.S. Congressman Richard E. Neal. Smith is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity and a member of Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s Alumni Hall of Fame, the highest honor bestowed by the organization. Prior to his government service, he served on the board of directors of Results for America, Venture Philanthropy Partners, Public Allies, Idealist.org and Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement. Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Marymount University, Va., and resides in Springfield, Va.
Joseph E. Vorbach III
Superintendent of Schools
Catholic Diocese of Arlington
Dr. Joseph Vorbach became Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese on July 1, 2019. In that role, he works on behalf of Bishop Burbidge to support principals and pastors in the 41 schools of the Diocese where 18,000 students are enrolled. Prior to serving as Superintendent, Dr. Vorbach was Head of School at his alma mater, Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington from 2013-2019 and Principal there from 2008 -2013. Dr. Vorbach retired from the Coast Guard at the rank of Commander in 2008. During his time in the Coast Guard, he served as operations officer on a 180-foot oceangoing buoy tender and as commanding officer of an 82-foot coastal patrol boat. He was on the faculty of the Humanities Department at the Coast Guard Academy from 1995-2007 where he taught international relations and national security courses. From 2007-2008, he was a Department of Homeland Security Chair at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, DC. Dr. Vorbach earned a Master of Arts in Education from Marymount University in 2013. In addition, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (1987), and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (1995) and Ph.D. in International Relations (2001) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Dr. Vorbach and his wife Colleen just celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary. They have two children:son Dylan is 29 and daughter MaryFrances is 25.
Dr. Rita Wong
Associate Vice-President for Research
Marymount University
Dr. Wong serves as the Associate Vice-President for Research, overseeing both external and internal research funding, strategic initiatives related to research, and faculty growth and development as researchers. She came to Marymount in 1995 as the founding Director of Marymount’s Physical Therapy program where she served in a leadership role from 1995 until 2013. In 2013, she transitioned into an academic affairs administration role overseeing graduate education. In that position she formalized structures to support graduate education and expanded and improved support for graduate students to serve as graduate assistants. This provides graduate students with much needed financial support while providing unique work-based learning opportunities. In 2017, oversight of research activities was added to her responsibilities with an immediate role to build an office of sponsored programs to grow the externally funded research activity of faculty and research portfolio of the university. Since that time the office has grown from one part-time person (10 hours per week) and 1-2 external grants to a staff of 4 managing about 35-40 grants annually. Dr. Wong has been a long-standing champion for research growth of the university and led the most recent efforts to establish three research Centers: the Center of Optimal Aging, the Center for the Innovative Workforce and the Center for Professional Ethics and Social Responsibility. All three Centers are now in place and serve as hubs for interdisciplinary research, education, and community-service initiatives that enhance the life and well-being of our local to global community. In her professional world as a physical therapist, Dr. Wong has over 40 years of academic and clinical experience in physical rehabilitation and health promotion for older adults. She is a co-editor of a nationally recognized textbook on Geriatric Physical therapy, now in its 4th edition; and a founding member of the Professional Council that established and currently oversees the Geriatric Physical Therapy Clinical Specialist Certification process. Her own research has focused on preparing health care students to work with older adults, falls prevention, and health and wellness of older adults. Most recently, Dr. Wong has served as the principal investigator for two Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of Community Living (HHS: ACL) grants (@ 1 million dollars) to embed evidence-based falls prevention programs into the Northern Virginia Community. In that role, and with a great team of Marymount professionals, the fall prevention programs have reached over 5000 older adults, providing programs that decrease risk of falling. Preventing falls in older adults is a major CDC priority. Falls are the leading cause of accidental death among older adults. Falls often result in debilitating injuries such as hip fractures and brain injury. Dr. Wong is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) as well as a Joan Mills and Lucy Blair Service Award recipient from the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy, both the highest honor awarded by those professional groups.