Meet John Goodman, NVC’s 2026 Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards® (GovCon Awards) LaFleur-Chason Hall of Fame Inductee.
If you’ve spent time in Northern Virginia’s business and government contracting community, there’s a good chance you’ve crossed paths with John Goodman. A respected business leader, former government official, author, educator, and community advocate, John served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of Accenture Federal Services (AFS) from 2017 to 2024, where he led the organization through a period of significant growth and workforce development, including championing apprenticeship programs and career opportunities for veterans and military spouses.
Former Accenture Federal Services CEO John Goodman posing with his Executive of the Year award at the 2018 GovCon Awards Gala.
NVC is proud to announce that John will be inducted into this year’s LaFleur-Chason Hall of Fame, one of the region’s highest honors for government contracting leaders. Selected by the GovCon Awards Selection Committee, the Hall of Fame recognizes one individual each year whose career exemplifies exceptional professional achievement, industry leadership, and lasting contributions to the community.
John’s career spans leadership in business, government, academia, and the nonprofit sector. Before becoming CEO of AFS, he served as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Defense Portfolio Lead, and Management Consulting Lead, following his arrival at Accenture in 1998.
Prior to Accenture, John served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Industrial Affairs & Installations) and as a Senior Director at the National Economic Council. He also served in the faculty of Harvard Business School as an associate professor.
John earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Middlebury College and a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University. He is the author of Monetary Sovereignty, as well as numerous articles and Harvard Business School case studies.
Today, he continues to support the region through his service on the boards of the Atlantic Council, the Urban Institute, Goodwill of Greater Washington, and Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former chair of both the Defense Business Board and the Executive Committee of the Professional Services Council. This spring, he will teach a graduate course, Leadership, Ethics, and Decision-Making, at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Throughout his career, John has earned some of the industry’s highest honors, including two Fed100 Awards (2015 and 2024), seven consecutive Wash100 selections (2018-2024), and the Greater Washington Government Contractors’ Executive of the Year award in 2018. He has also received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, and the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.
For NVC, this recognition is especially meaningful. John was previously honored as the 2018 GovCon Awards Executive of the Year in the over-$300 million category, and his influence continues to be felt through the organizations he has led, the leaders he has mentored, and the communities he has served.
We recently sat down with John to reflect on his career, discuss the lessons he’s learned along the way, and hear his advice for the next generation of government contracting leaders.
Read our conversation below:
What does being inducted into the Hall of Fame mean to you, both personally and professionally?
Working in the government contracting industry is incredibly rewarding because, together. We are making government work better. We support our clients who are making our country safer or working to improve the lives of our fellow citizens. We compete with each other, and we also team to deliver better solutions and solve more challenging problems. I have had the opportunity to get to know many great leaders in other companies, and I am honored to be recognized by this community by being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I’m also grateful to my former colleagues at Accenture Federal Services, whose ability to innovate and execute at scale has delivered transformative outcomes for clients.
How has the government contracting industry changed since you began your career?
Since I began my career, technology has become an increasingly important component of government services, and government clients have increasingly turned to the private sector to help them design and implement innovative solutions. I entered the industry when we helped clients address the Y2K challenge and implement ERP solutions. Now, of course, they are capitalizing on the next wave of technology including agentic, quantum, and robotics. All of this has meant that the companies across the government services industry have had to become increasingly innovative in using these technologies to deliver ever better solutions.
What is the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned, and what advice would you share with the next generation of govcon leaders?
Early in my career, a wonderful leader told me to always ask for help when I needed it and to offer help when asked for it. She said that if I did that, the problem would be our problem, but if I didn’t ask for help, the problem would just be “my” problem. I took this advice to heart, and I am sure that it saved my job on more than one occasion. The problems we work on are challenging and complex and very rarely can be solved by one person alone. This matters more than ever now as government and industry tackle the next generation of challenges. We need to collaborate with others who bring different skills and experiences to figure things out.
What excites you most about the future of government contracting?
I’m excited by the opportunity to reinvent government services using AI and other new technologies. With new approaches and solutions, the government can meet the growing needs and expectations of our fellow citizens and improve trust in government itself. And trust in government, I believe, is a mission-critical requirement for a well-functioning democracy.
We invite our business community to join us in celebrating John and all this year’s finalists at the 2026 Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards®.
Connect with more than 1,000 industry leaders at the Awards Gala on Thursday, November 5, 2026, from 5:30-9:30 pm at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. Registration ends on Friday, October 30, 2026. We look forward to celebrating with you!
