Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce Kay Sears, vice president and general manager of the space, intelligence and weapon systems sector at Boeing, as a 2023 Wash100 winner for her leadership in efforts to accelerate critical hardware production for various government programs. Sears has been selected two times to the annual Wash100 list in its 10-year history.
Sears assumed her current role in November 2022 as part of a reorganization within the Boeing Defense, Space & Security division and has served as an independent director of satellite communications company Iridium since May.
Boeing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Jan. 23 to mark the opening of its expanded center of excellence in Huntsville, Alabama, where the company produces seeker electronics for the U.S. Army's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile system.
“The circuit card assembly done at the center helps keep our men and women in uniform safe from an array of threats in an increasingly complex world,” Sears told The Huntsville Times.
Last month, Sears joined other Boeing executives and NASA officials at the Exploration Upper Stage Gray Box Area launch event inside the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. The new production area houses tooling needed to build the key Space Launch System component that will power future Artemis missions.
Boeing brought in Sears as VP and GM of autonomous systems in February 2022 after her six-year career at Lockheed Martin, where she previously oversaw Lockheed's military space portfolio and strategy and business development functions.
The 33-year aerospace, defense and satellite industry veteran initially landed a spot on Executive Mosaic's list of influential leaders in the government contracting arena in 2016, when she was still president of Intelsat General.
She led Intelsat's U.S. business operations from 2006 to 2016 and was a longtime President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee member. Earlier in her career, Sears held leadership roles at PanAmSat and Verestar.
The National Defense Industrial Association previously recognized her contributions in the space technology industry with its Honorable Peter B. Teets Award.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Kay Sears and the Boeing team for their selection to receive the 2023 Wash100 Award. Don't forget to vote for your favorite awardees at Wash100.com!
