NDIA honors Donna Huneycutt, 2020 Sridhar small-business award recipient

Donna Huneycutt (center) of WWC Global, this year's Sridhar Award recipient, with Arnold Punaro (left) NDIA board chairman, and Hawk Carlisle (right) NDIA's president and CEO.

ARLINGTON, VA – Donna Huneycutt, co-founder and president of WWC Global, is the 2020 recipient of the Kathleen Sridhar Small-Business Executive of the Year award, presented by the National Defense Industrial Association. She was recognized at a presentation at NDIA’s Arlington, Virginia, headquarters Nov. 16, during its fall board meeting.

“Donna Huneycutt’s leadership in leveraging the enormous talent pool available in the military spouse and veteran community is exceptional and is a proven example for us all to follow,” said Hawk Carlisle, NDIA’s president and CEO. “She has grown a small business that employs 270 employees on four continents in support of the labor demands of several federal agencies, including the Defense Department; in the process, she has demonstrated the power within our military veteran and spouse community.”

Huneycutt was chosen for the award in part because her business aligns with the U.S. defense mission by supporting military spouses. In 2004, during another permanent change of station move for her and her husband, Huneycutt cofounded WWC Global, a government consulting firm located with military installations. The company is staffed primarily with military spouses and veterans and serves a dual purpose: support federal agencies in their work and employ the professional talent base among the spouses deployed with their active-duty partners.

The Tampa, Florida-based company focuses on federal contracting with clients that include the departments of Defense, Energy and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The company is ranked in the top 65 of woman-owned contracting firms among U.S. federal agencies. 

Huneycutt also cofounded In Gear Career, now part of the Military Spouse Professional Network that assists military spouses in applying for government jobs. She promoted executive orders issued by presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump to support military spouses for general service roles, highlighting the lack on meaningful career opportunities for military spouses and the resulting troop retention challenges. The network has more than 60 chapters, some with thousands of members. 

Huneycutt has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law. Her expertise has led to her testify on Capitol Hill, particularly to the House Small-Business Committee and to improve and reform defense acquisition rules. She has lectured on small-business procurement at the National Defense University. 

The award is named for Kathleen Sridhar, CEO of INDUS Technology, who died in March 2004. Sridhar was very active in NDIA conferences and events and was president of the San Diego Chapter. She was considered an inspiration who mentored others to successful leadership positions in small business in defense and advocated for a robust small-business sector in the defense industrial base. NDIA bestows the honor yearly upon an executive who best reflects Sridhar’s example. 

For information, contact Evamarie Socha, NDIA communications director, esocha@ndia.org