2019 Honorees

Jane Fairweather

Jane Fairweather

Owner of the Jane Fairweather Team

A 36 yr. veteran of the residential real estate business, Jane Fairweather is a pillar in the Maryland Real Estate community. Together with her team of highly specialized assistants and buyer agents, Jane sells an average of 100 homes per year. She has been ranked consistently in the top 10 agents in the Washington Metropolitan Area for over 10 years. Bethesda Magazine readers voted Jane Fairweather the Best Realtor 2007 – 2017. Jane’s career sales currently exceed 1 billion dollars. Jane is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery (2009). She served on Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett’s Economic Advisory Council and was invited by Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot to testify in Annapolis on the state of the real estate market. Jane has given a residential real estate “State of the Market” speech at the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce’s Real Estate Update for the last 16 years.

Jane is considered an expert in the Washington Metro Area real estate market by local media. She often appears on CNBC and Fox 5 News and is frequently quoted in the Washington Post Real Estate section, in Bethesda Magazine articles, in Realtor Magazine, and in the Washington Business Journal. Among her many honors she was recently recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential Real Estate Agents in Maryland” by Real Estate Executive Magazine.

Jane also plays an active role in the community through numerous organizations. Jane is the recent past Chair of the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce, and the current Chair of the Bethesda Metro Improvement Task Force. She is Co-Chair of the Arts and Entertainment District Council, President Emeritus of Imagination Stage and also serves on the Board of the Bethesda Urban Partnership. In addition, Jane is the recent past Chair of the Weizman Institute of Science for the Washington, D.C. Region, a world renowned research institute in Israel.

Jane also runs various programs to benefit the local community, among them the Jane Fairweather Community Service Scholarship Award. For the past 20 years this community service achievement award has been presented to one student from each of the three Bethesda area high schools who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to serve their community. Over the past several years, Jane Fairweather has also been responsible for 20,000 residents in Bethesda and Chevy Chase waking up on the Fourth of July morning to the sight of American flags lining their streets.

Bryant Foulger

Bryant Foulger

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Foulger-Pratt

Bryant Foulger serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Foulger-Pratt and is a member of the Investment Committee. Foulger-Pratt, with its headquarters in Montgomery County, has developed over 18 million square feet of office, retail, and multi-family projects. In his current role, Mr. Foulger draws on more than 40 years of real estate and management experience to provide direction and oversight of the CEO’s vision and strategy. Mr. Foulger’s development projects include the $350 million award-winning Downtown Silver Spring redevelopment project, the 1.2 million square foot headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Park Potomac, and numerous other office and residential buildings throughout the Washington Metropolitan area.

Mr. Foulger was appointed to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s transition team and has been involved with the Montgomery Business Development Corporation, the Greater District of Columbia Chapter of the Leadership Council for the Mayo Clinic, the Montgomery County Business Advisory Panel, and is a Trustee Emeritus of the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland. Mr. Foulger attended Brigham Young University and serves on numerous professional and charitable boards. Mr. Foulger has been a lifelong resident of Montgomery County.

Linda Gooden

Linda Gooden

Former Executive VP of Lockheed Martin’s IS&GS and current Chair of USM Board of Regents

Linda R. Gooden retired as the Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business area and an officer of the company after nearly 40 years working in the aerospace and defense industry. Established in February 2007 as one of Lockheed’s four principal business areas, IS&GS generated over $10 billion of sales, included 40,000 professionals, and operates in all 50 states and 20 countries around the world.

Linda serves on numerous executive boards, including Chairing Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) International; University Systems of Maryland Board of Regents; American Heart Association; GM, Home Depot, Washington Gas; and ADP, Inc. U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Gooden to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) in 2010.

Fortune magazine named Linda as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for three consecutive years. Other honors include, The Washingtonian magazine that recognized her as one of Washington’s Most Powerful Women as well as being inducted into the Career Communications’ Hall of Fame. Ms. Gooden was featured as one of Black Enterprise magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America for 2009. In 2008, Ms. Gooden was inducted into the Maryland Business Hall of Fame and named to Corporate Board Member magazine’s Top 50 Women in Technology. She was selected in 2007 as Executive of the Year by the Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards and in 2006 as Black Engineer of the Year by U.S Black Engineer and IT magazine. In 2002, she won Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100 Eagle Award, and received Women in Technology’s Corporate Leadership Award.

Previously, Linda was Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin’s Information Technology & Global Services business area and before that she was the Founder and President of Lockheed Martin Information Technology, a business unit she grew to $2.5 billion. She was Vice President of Lockheed Martin’s Software Support Services unit and earlier held other positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to Lockheed Martin, Linda worked in software for General Dynamics.

She received her degree in computer technology from Youngstown State University. She also holds a bachelor’s and master’s in business administration from the University of Maryland. She has been awarded multiple honorary degrees, including an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from the University of Maryland University College, an Honorary Doctorate in Law from Morgan State University, and an Honorary Doctorate in engineering from Drexel University.

Sophia Parker

Sophia Parker

CEO of DSFederal, Inc.

Sophia Parker has devoted her career to serving others. Her keen understanding of people and how to best take care of them has been a key success factor in her outstanding career. Sophia was born in Taiwan and attended Soochow University, where she received a B.A. in English Literature in 1979. She came to the U.S. to pursue her Master’s degree in Mass Communications at Illinois State University, and instead earned a second Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, becoming a Certified Public Accountant in 1994. After a successful career in private sector government contracting, Sophia established DSFederal in 2007 as a boutique government contractor distinguished by its sharp focus on customer service. DSFederal strives to advance our clients’ missions by delivering innovative, research-focused software, enterprise IT, data analytics, and program management solutions.

Since its inception, DSFederal has expanded, with over 160 employees in four states, a direct result of Sophia’s people-centric management style. In 2015, the U.S. Small Business Administration recognized Sophia as its Maryland Small Business Person of the Year, honoring DSFederal’s substantial growth, innovative services, and philanthropic efforts. In March 2016, DSFederal was honored again by the SBA as a “Top Woman-Owned Small Business,” an award that commended the firm’s economic contributions to its community. The award-winning trend continued in 2017, when Sophia was recognized as a Washington Business Journal “Woman Who Means Business,” a Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council “Top 100 MBE,” and as the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Leader of the Year. 2017 also marked DSFederal’s 10th anniversary, and its graduation from the SBA’s 8(a) Small Business Development Program.

Eager to serve those beyond the Beltway, in 2013, Sophia launched the IDEA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to empowering women and children worldwide through health services improvement, skill-building, and financial independence. The IDEA Foundation has benefited organizations around the world, including Soholat Health Services & Vocational Organization in Kabul, Afghanistan; the Amitofo Care Centre in Malawi, Jusoor, Doctors Without Borders, Unidos Por Puerto Rico, and the Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation. Like millions of other immigrants who came to this country to seek a better life for themselves and their families, Sophia is a true believer in the American dream. A businesswoman and philanthropist, she is dedicated to helping others to realize their dreams through the success of DSFederal.