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Our Panelists 

 Jocelyn Alexander
  2026 Leadership Awards Winner - Corporate Small-Market Sector Category
  ThinkTek
 
 Jocelyn Alexander is the Executive Vice President – Defense at ThinkTek, a fast-growing   government contracting firm  with over 100 employees. In this role, she drives the company’s defense market strategy, overseeing more than $30M in annual revenue and leading programs that directly support national security missions. As the senior executive responsible for defense operations, Jocelyn shapes corporate priorities, builds strategic partnerships, and ensures delivery excellence across complex federal programs.  With over 20 years of experience in defense contracting, Jocelyn has led and oversaw major IT modernization initiatives for agencies such as the Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency (DCSA), National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB), and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). She managed teams of technical subject matter experts (SMEs) to deliver secure, scalable solutions that advance mission-critical systems and improve operational efficiency. Her leadership and personal contributions include designing enterprise-level change management strategies, guiding modernization efforts, and developing communications for senior executives reaching workforces of 10,000+. She is also committed to mentoring employees and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. Jocelyn holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and certifications in PMP, ITIL v4, CSM, and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

 Rakshana Balakrishnan
 2026 Leadership Awards Winner - Trailblazer in Tech Innovation Category
 Oracle
 
 Rakshana Balakrishnan is an accomplished cloud product leader with 12+ years of experience in   designing and scaling products from 0-to-1 and 1-to-n. At Oracle, she leads the vision, development, and growth for Oracle Database@AWS, a first-of-its-kind multicloud product, enabling global enterprises to modernize applications and leverage advanced AI capabilities across Oracle and AWS clouds. Previously at AWS, she delivered a product portfolio that empowered 21,000+ global customers to optimize cloud spend, strengthen security, and accelerate GenAI value creation—influencing billions in revenue. She notably pioneered the launch of Innovation Sandbox on AWS, a transformative product that enabled customers across all industries, geographies and business sizes to run 3000+ sandbox experiments and accelerate their GenAI innovation journey on the cloud. As a recognized thought leader, Rakshana has spoken at 18+ international conferences (including UXDX, MIT CIO-Innovators, Product World) and published 12+ articles in leading forums such as Forbes, Stanford CIS, Mind the Product, and ACM. Committed to advancing diversity in STEM, she has mentored 500+ women through international non-profits (such as Develop for Good and Stemettes UK) and served as an industry judge/product advisor for programs including the Conrad Challenge, Aspirations for Women in Computing, and Products That Count.

Ratima Kataria
2026 Leadership Awards Winner - Corporate Large-Market Sector Category
ICF

Ratima Kataria is Vice President for Health IT Strategy at ICF, serving as a trusted advisor across the federal government, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and multiple civilian agencies. With over 28 years of leadership experience, she specializes in CIO advisory, enterprise data modernization, AI adoption, and large scale technology transformation initiatives that advance federal missions. During the COVID 19 pandemic, Ratima served as Deputy Chief Information Officer for HRSA, leading critical modernization efforts during one of the most demanding periods in federal service. She is a national award winner and a recognized thought leader known for driving cross government collaboration and shaping innovative approaches to improve mission outcomes. In addition to her federal advisory work, Ratima is a strategic business leader who drives market strategy, enterprise growth and aligns teams around strategic priorities that deliver clear, measurable business outcomes. A modernization strategist and influential voice in federal IT, Ratima actively engages with senior leaders across government and participates in professional Government-Industry collaboration associations to champion emerging technologies, digital modernization, and best practices. Her deep commitment to innovation and mission success positions her as a trusted partner in accelerating digital transformation across the federal government.

Aisha Niazi
2026 Leadership Awards Winner - Founder/Entrepreneur Category
Annexos LLC

I am the founder and co-owner of Annexos, a mission-driven Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) supporting multiple agencies across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). My path to government contracting has been shaped by a lifelong passion for technology, leadership, and service. I am also a proud mother of two teenage boys and two cats, roles that continually remind me of the importance of resilience, patience, and purpose. I grew up in Northern Virginia and attended Annandale High School and George Mason University. I began my career in technical delivery, working in security engineering and operations at Sun Microsystems and Oracle, where I developed a strong foundation in secure enterprise systems and hands-on technical leadership. In 2014, I joined Accenture Federal Services and worked across multiple infrastructure organizations. I later led and modernized the Identity and Access Management (ICAM) program at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and built and led the Okta program at the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). In each role, I delivered value beyond scope, strengthened customer relationships, and drove both mission impact and sustainable growth. These experiences shaped my customer-first leadership philosophy and form the foundation of Annexos today.

Naga Lalitha Sree Thatavarthi
2026 Leadership Awards Winner - Emerging Leader Category
American Physical Therapy Association

I am a Senior Full Stack Developer at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), specializing in enterprise modernization and responsible artificial intelligence. I bring deep experience across C#, .NET, SQL, Python, and modern AI frameworks to design scalable, ethical, and high-impact solutions. In 2025, I contributed to APTA’s digital transformation by engineering complex data migration pipelines and supporting AI-driven personalization that improved engagement and accessibility for thousands of members. I also led the development of the Responsible AI Tools Marketplace using LangChain, OpenAI APIs, and RAG pipelines, enabling organizations to evaluate AI tools for ethical compliance. In addition, I built DetectAI, an AI-powered misinformation detection system using Google Gemini 2.0 Flash to advance digital trust. I am an international award-winning technologist, a two-time AI hackathon winner including Google DevFest DC’s Agentic AI Challenge, and a published author and researcher in AI and software engineering. Passionate about mentorship and inclusion, I actively support women and underrepresented talent through mentoring, hackathon judging, and STEM community outreach.