HERNDON, Virginia, United States, February 2026 – Akima, a leading provider of mission-focused solutions to the federal government, announced the appointment of Lauren Cates as Vice President of Business Development for its Emerging Markets Group (EMG).
Akima’s EMG delivers advanced technologies and digital solutions that enable federal clients to achieve peak performance. In this role, Lauren Cates will drive growth strategy and execution, expand Akima’s market presence, and deliver innovative, mission-critical technologies to government and military customers.
Cates brings more than 15 years of experience in federal contracting, with a proven track record of leading high-performing teams, implementing scalable business development strategies, and delivering measurable growth. “Lauren’s expertise in federal business development will be instrumental as we expand our capability offerings and strengthen our market position,” said Mike Alvarado, Chief Growth Officer at Akima.
Previously, Cates led Indigo IT’s Growth team, securing major wins in cybersecurity, cloud, and enterprise IT services. She also spent more than a decade with the Bowhead Family of Companies, managing billion-dollar pipelines and consistently exceeding growth targets.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Florida and has completed Shipley training in federal proposal management.
About Akima
Akima is a global enterprise with more than 11,000 employees delivering solutions to the federal government across advanced training and readiness, information technology, aerospace solutions, protective services, systems engineering, mission support, facilities and logistics, FF&E, and construction. As a subsidiary of NANA, owned by more than 15,000 Iñupiat shareholders, Akima’s mission is to enable superior outcomes for customer missions while creating long-term value consistent with Iñupiat values. In 2025, Akima ranked #31 on Washington Technology’s Top 100 list of government contractors.
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