July 17, 2023 – Fairfax, VA – Highlight Technologies, a leading federal IT services government contractor, has hired Aarish Gokaldas as its new CEO, starting immediately. Mr. Gokaldas is a government contracting industry executive with two decades of experience serving national security and federal civilian clients. Mr. Gokaldas succeeds Highlight’s founder and current CEO Rebecca Andino, who has served in this role for the past 15 years. Ms. Andino will continue serving as Highlight’s Chairperson of its Board of Directors.
Mr. Gokaldas is the founder and former CEO of The Eclipse Network, a firm providing growth strategy and business development consulting to firms in the defense and intelligence sectors. He also recently served as the Chief Growth Officer for Applied Information Systems, delivering cloud adoption, application modernization, and data intelligence to commercial and federal clients. Prior to that, Mr. Gokaldas served as the CEO and Chief Growth Officer of OGSystems, an intelligence and defense contractor known for its rapid growth and transformation from a small to a large company through performance on MOJAVE and other Intelligence Community contracts. Aarish created and implemented a long-term strategy to continue OGSystems’ growth in a sustainable and focused way without sacrificing its commitment to culture or employee welfare, culminating in its acquisition by Parsons in 2019. At Parsons, he served as EVP of its Space and Geospatial Solutions Business Unit, where he led the P&L of a $300M portfolio, as well as the capture, proposal, and award of a 10-year, $300M security services contract within the IC. Prior to joining industry, Mr. Gokaldas served as an Intelligence Officer supporting the Defense Intelligence Agency.
“I am thrilled to join Highlight,” said Mr. Gokaldas. “Rebecca and team have done a phenomenal job on building this company the right way – with a three-part focus on client mission, employee well-being, and an infrastructure built to accommodate rapid growth. I look forward to working with the leadership team and employees as we continue to put our clients’ missions front and center.”
The Highlight independent Board of Directors selected Mr. Gokaldas for his successful track record driving growth in the mid-tier space and increasing corporate value for the firms he has served. The Board is looking to leverage Mr. Gokaldas’ knowledge and relationships in the defense and intelligence communities, his experience using acquisitions for strategic growth, and his business development experience as a former Chief Growth Officer.
Highlight’s Board of Directors includes Paul P. Peou, Elma Levy, and Nancy Peters, industry veterans in the government contracting community, in addition to Ms. Andino.
“We are excited to have Aarish join the Highlight team as our new CEO. Under his leadership, Highlight will continue delivering excellent service and innovation to our federal clients while expanding to new clients, particularly in the defense and national security markets,” said Ms. Andino. “Aarish shares our passion for Highlight’s entrepreneurial, customer-focused, and diverse and inclusive culture, which is foundational to Highlight’s identity and brand.”
Highlight Technologies was founded in 2008 to provide information technology and mission support services to civilian, federal, healthcare, and national security agencies. The company uses its HI-WAY™ delivery framework including seven industry best practice certifications to deliver quality, innovative tailored solutions to meet the needs of its federal customers. The Digital Government business unit provides federal agencies software development and digital transformation support services, including agile systems development, DevSecOps, and data management and analytics. The Mission Solutions business unit delivers financial services, policy support, and strategic communications to federal agencies.
In 2021, the company established its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), giving the employees ownership of the company’s financial success and creating a vehicle for employee financial security and wealth creation. As a 100% ESOP-owned company, Highlight is now eligible for federal procurement incentives such as DoD’s Section 874 pilot program, which allows DoD customers to award sole-source follow-on contracts to 100% ESOPs.
About Highlight:
Highlight Technologies (“Highlight”) is an award-winning, employee-owned, ISO® 9001, ISO® 20000, ISO® 27001, ISO® 44001, ISO® 56000 certified, CMMI-DEV Level 3, and CMMI-SVC Level 3 appraised federal contractor that provides Digital Government and Mission Support services across the federal government. Highlight delivers federal loan services, grants management, strategic communications, international development, conference and event support, program management, administrative support, agile systems development, DevSecOps, data management and analytics, cloud services, web services and automation services to National Security and Intelligence (DHS, DoD, State, DOJ, IC), Health IT (USAID, NIH, HRSA), and Citizen Services (FCC, EPA, GSA, HHS, SBA, Education) agencies. For more information, visit www.highlighttech.com.
