Archives for October 2026

Washingtonian magazine’s 2026 honoree reception brought together a governor, a mayoral nominee, a U.S. attorney, judges, and some of the capital’s most influential voices for an evening worth the name.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washingtonian magazine and Ned’s Club co-hosted the reception for the magazine’s annual Most Powerful Women in Washington list this week, and the room made its own argument for the franchise.

Chef Joshua Smith sent out lobster lollipops, garden tarts, and fried chicken topped with caviar, while signature cocktails — the “Leading Lady” and the “Changemaker” — circulated through the crowd.

Washingtonian’s 2026 list spans 300 women across government, law, business, media, and public life. This year’s honorees include Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger; White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles; Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor; Maryland U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks; and D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George. Among the honorees in the Lobbying, Advocacy, and Think Tanks category is Tammy Haddad — Founder and CEO of Haddad Media and Founder of the Washington AI Network. Other women featured on the list include Anthropic Global Head of Public Sector Teresa Carlson, General Catalyst’s Maryam Mujica, Omidyar Network’s Michele Jawando, Suzanne Clark, Kara Swisher, Susie Wiles, and Jean Case.

The reception drew a cross-section of the city’s power center to match.

SPOTTED: Washingtonian Publisher Cathy Merrill, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, D.C. Councilmember and mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George, Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, Judge Ebony Scott, Gina Adams, David Urban, Jennifer Griffin, Tammy Haddad, Susan Carroll, Linda Rabbitt, Joiwind Ronen, Emma Mears, Sherene Joseph, and Alexandria Hammond.

The full Most Powerful Women in Washington 2026 list is available at Washingtonian.com.

After nearly three years building the Fiber Broadband Association’s federal policy operation into one of Washington’s most recognized voices on connectivity infrastructure, Marissa Mitrovich has joined NextNav as Vice President of Government Affairs, where she will lead the company’s strategy and engagement with Capitol Hill, the Administration, and strategic advocacy partners.

Mitrovich brought two decades of government affairs and telecommunications experience to the Fiber Broadband Association when she joined in January 2023, and quickly established herself as one of the industry’s most effective advocates. The Hill named her one of Washington’s Top Lobbyists in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and Washingtonian recognized her among the capital’s most influential figures in the sector in both 2024 and 2025 – a back-to-back recognition that reflects the reach she built for the association during a pivotal period for broadband policy.

Named a Top Lobbyist by The Hill three years running, Mitrovich brought fiber broadband to the center of Washington’s connectivity debate – and now takes her advocacy playbook to the next frontier of positioning technology.

Before joining the Fiber Broadband Association, Mitrovich served as Vice President of Federal Legislative Affairs at Frontier Communications, and earlier as Vice President of Public Policy at Verizon, where she engaged with the administration on state government affairs and corporate responsibility. She also served as Vice President of Program Development at the Wireless Infrastructure Association, with a focus on workforce development and public-private partnerships.

At NextNav, she joins a company working at the intersection of spectrum, positioning technology, and national infrastructure – bringing the same policy firepower she applied to fiber broadband to a new set of challenges with significant implications for public safety, aviation, and the future of GPS resilience.