Ventera Leadership Team
Members of Ventera’s Leadership Team average more than twenty years of experience in their respective areas of expertise. Together, they set the strategic direction for the company and provide ongoing leadership and direction to the company's senior managers.
Robert Acosta
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Acosta founded Ventera in 1996 and today serves as the company's President and CEO. Robert is a visionary leader with an entrepreneurial spirit. He has set the tone for the company's success, stressing long-term relationships with customers, taking care of employees, and always doing the right thing. Prior to founding Ventera, Robert worked in the Technology and Finance Practice of Coopers & Lybrand Consulting. Robert felt that larger organizations like Coopers did a great job attracting the best and brightest professionals, but that these firms typically were not able to retain most of these people for the long-term.
In starting Ventera his goal was to create a company where outstanding people would want to come, work hard together, and stay – which is exactly what has happened. Robert has used his casual, easygoing nature to draw in talented people, who enjoy working together to serve Ventera’s customers. His emphasis on doing the right thing has garnered numerous awards for Ventera, including awards for providing an exceptional place to work, for corporate ethics, and for serving the community.
Robert sits on the Board of Directors of The Neediest Kids, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to disadvantaged youth in the Washington DC area. He received a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA from George Mason University.
Chris Ford
Executive Vice President – Commercial Services
Mr. Ford’s consulting and communications career has spanned over twenty years. He has been leading the Commercial Services unit in Ventera since 2000 and is responsible for the overall operations for the business unit. His responsibilities encompass business development, operations, to participating in defining Ventera’s strategy. Mr. Ford’s proudest accomplishments include his participation in many successful activities that have impacted customer engagements.
Prior to joining Ventera, Mr. Ford was the Director of Client Services with Doceus, a small local consulting firm. Mr. Ford elevated the market segment that Doceus was targeting, strengthened existing alliances with AT&T, and developed partnerships with other leading technology firms. Earlier in his career, Chris served as an Account Executive and Internet Specialist with AT&T.
Chris holds a BBA from James Madison University.
Jeff Smith
Executive Vice President – Government Services
Mr. Smith is an accomplished business leader with over twenty-three years of experience providing business and information technology consulting services. Jeff focuses on Ventera's Government Services practice that provides consulting and IT solutions to Federal, State, and Local Government clients. Throughout his career, he has worked to solve business problems for large client organizations using creative application of technology solutions.
As part of Ventera's executive management team, Jeff helps to set the company's strategic agenda and corporate objectives for solution delivery and sales. Prior to joining Ventera in 1999, Jeff worked with several boutique consulting firms, Coopers & Lybrand, and IBM.
Jeff received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University and later returned to Auburn to earn his MBA.
Joe McMahon Jr.
Executive Vice President – Business Development
Mr. McMahon is an accomplished executive manager with 30 years of experience as a business owner, business developer, senior executive, and advisor to senior management. He is an Executive Vice President with Ventera, with corporate-level responsibility for sales and marketing to both the commercial and Federal sectors. Immediately prior to joining Ventera, Joe was the Director of Marketing and Business Development with Perspective Technology Corporation, where he was responsible for all new business capture strategies and for managing, mentoring, and motivating the business development team.
Prior to that, Joe was a Senior Manager and Director at Coopers & Lybrand Consulting, where he sold and delivered value-added solutions to executive management in both the commercial and government sectors. Joe also spent over eight years with McLean Group, where he rose from Associate to Vice President/Principal-in-Charge of the New York practice and was instrumental in facilitating the sale of the company to a Big-6 consulting firm. Earlier in his career Joe was the co-founder and President of The Virginia Brewing Company, where he managed the profitable day-to-day operations of the company.
Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Washington and Lee University.
Amy Angelides
Vice President – Finance
Ms. Angelides has been the Vice President of Finance for Ventera Corporation since joining the company in June 2010 and is responsible for the entire finance, accounting and contracting functions within Ventera.
Amy has over 13 years of corporate financial experience. Prior to joining Ventera Corporation, Amy spent ten years at Accenture, primarily in their Federal Government practice. She had various responsibilities, but was in charge of managing the P&L Statement for the Federal Government Client Service Group. Prior to Accenture, Amy worked as a financial analyst at a commercial real estate company as part of their Asset Management team. Amy graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and plans to go back in the near future to get her Executive MBA.
Christina Pritchett
Director – Human Capital Management
Ms. Pritchett joined Ventera in 2005 and has served as the Director of Human Capital Management since October 2008. She has responsibility across all Human Resources functions including Staffing and Recruiting, Employee Relations, Training, Compensation, Benefits, Team and Leadership Development, and Performance Management. In addition, Christina serves as the Facility Security Officer.
Prior to joining Ventera, Christina spent over 5 years at Booz Allen Hamilton where she served as a lead recruiter for the Organizational and Change Management Teams.
Christina serves as the Nominating Chair for the Northern Virginia Family Service CARE Awards Advisory Committee. This awards program recognizes companies in Northern Virginia who are leaders in providing innovative and supportive, family-friendly policies, programs, and services. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the College of Human Resources & Education at Virginia Tech and holds a PHR certification.