Executive Mosaic is honored to present John Zangardi, CEO of Redhorse Corp., as an inductee into the 2022 class of the renowned Wash100 Award. Since 2014, the prestigious distinction has recognized the top 100 most elite executives in the government contracting community for their influence, vision, achievements and impact across the federal landscape.
This year, Zangardi receives his first Wash100 Award to recognize his extensive history of previous service within the federal government, his notable contributions in the private sector and his potential future impacts in his role at the helm of Redhorse.
Visit Wash100.com to cast your vote for John Zangardi, read about this year’s Wash100 Award class and learn more about the nine-year history of the prestigious distinction.
“John Zangardi has consistently, over his career, demonstrated a ‘high-altitude’ perspective and capability for seeing the big picture,” commented Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award. “Whether he was acting as a squadron commander for the U.S. Navy or presidentially appointed CIO of DHS, acting CIO of DoD or now as CEO of Redhorse, John is clearly, for those who know him, the consummate big picture guy.”
Garrettson continued, “Having served in a mosaic of various positions in government and in the private sector, John possesses a keen ability to assess and relate as a leader across vast organizational layers of technology. Based on John’s consistent history of achievement, leadership, broad intellectual aperture and extensive experience, John’s CEO role at Redhorse is the horse to bet on in 2022.”
Zangardi, a cybersecurity industry veteran and retired Naval Flight Officer, was appointed to lead Redhorse as CEO in January 2022, after a year and a half of service as the company’s president.
During his tenure as president, Zangardi was responsible for organizational changes, structural shifts and notable hires, including Bryan Pruden, former vice president of finance and accounting who was tapped to serve as Redhorse’s chief financial officer in a series of Blue Delta Capital Partners-backed leadership changes.
“I am excited for this tremendous opportunity to collaborate across the portfolio of Blue Delta companies,” Zangardi told GovCon Wire in regards to his promotion and Blue Delta’s minority investment. “This investment will accelerate our mission to deliver data analytics and AI-based solutions to our national security and federal customers.”
In his one month as Redhorse CEO, Zangardi has continued his strategic hirings. He named Nancy St. Louis as chief operating officer and elevated Colleen Lavery as director of environmental capture for the company’s energy and environmental practice.
Currently, Zangardi serves in an advisory capacity for several industry organizations. In February 2021, Zangardi joined the advisory board for LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, and two months later, he was added to the board of directors for cybersecurity company Forcepoint.
He also sits on the advisory board for zero trust-focused company Absolute Software, United Kingdom-based threat detection company Symetrica and cloud security firm Qualys.
As a thought leader in the cybersecurity industry, Zangardi has been a vocal proponent of diverse information technology ecosystems to combat the rising threat of cyber attacks.
“Cybersecurity is, at its core, about risk management,” Zangardi wrote in an opinion piece for C4ISRNET. “It is imperative for both the Defense Department and the federal government that resiliency based on blended offerings be built into IT solutions to deliver a layered, diverse and secure IT defense.”
Prior to his time at Redhorse, Zangardi was a senior vice president for Leidos, where he was responsible for the emerging technology and innovation pipeline, as well as overseeing strategic areas including digital transformation, logistics and security products.
Jim Moos, president of Leidos’ civil group, described Zangardi as a “transformational IT executive and leader who has been instrumental in advancing cybersecurity and digital modernization across DHS and DOD.”
Before joining Leidos, Zangardi had an extensive 30-year public sector career, capped off by two years of service as chief information officer for the Department of Homeland Security – a role to which he was appointed by the President. In this capacity, he was known for transforming the DHS into a leading agency in federal IT through implementing technologies and approaches like cloud computing, data analytics and identity management, among other initiatives.
Zangardi joined DHS from the Department of Defense, where he served as acting chief information officer after being promoted from principal deputy chief information officer. At the DoD, he spearheaded landmark modernization initiatives, migrated over 4.5 million users to modern operating systems, implemented two-factor authentication cybersecurity and initiated a department-wide move to cloud-based systems.
His service for the U.S. Navy included posts as deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information Operations and Space as well as acting CIO and director of program integration.
Executive Mosaic congratulates John Zangardi and Redhorse Corp. for their first Wash100 Award selection. Zangardi continues to influence cybersecurity across government and industry, and his future impacts in this space are highly anticipated.
