2025 COO of the Year Awards – Winners Announced
Chicago, IL—February 2, 2026—Winners of the 2025 COO of the Year™ Awards have been selected after a nomination period and judging process that began in October 2025. The annual program is produced by the Operations Council, a community and platform focused on best practice resources, career development and training, strategic research and information, peer networking and recognition.
Chief Operating Officers (COOs), Vice Presidents of Operations, and related titles were eligible to enter. Applicants were self-nominated or nominated by a colleague via a brief online application form that requests anonymous information on 2025 financial performance, work experience, volunteer or philanthropic activities, and educational background.
All nominations were screened by an algorithm and then judged by Operations Council board advisors. Winners and Runners-Up are announced for 7 categories based on size and type.
| Category/Classification | 2025 Winners | Company/Org | Title |
| 2025 National COO of the Year | Vivienne Wei | Salesforce | COO of Salesforce’s Unified Agentforce Platform |
| Enterprise/Public/Winner | Jennifer Kaiser | Marex | COO, Capital Markets US & Swap Dealers |
| Enterprise/Public/Runner-Up | Vijay Srivastava | Jubliant Ingrevia Limited | COO |
| Enterprise/Private/Winner | Samya Mogalli | Pioneer Specialty Hospital | COO |
| Medium/Public/Winner | Ryan Mayes | FIT House of Brands | COO |
| Medium/Public/Runner-Up | Amit Agarwal | Tracxn | COO |
| Medium/Private/Winner | Brian Singleton | Connell Foley LLP | COO |
| Medium/Private/Runner-Up | Gabriel Papa | New York Life Southern California | COO |
| Small/Private/Winner | Beau Schwieso | Caf2Code LLC | COO |
| Small/Private/Runner-Up | Matt Scaffa | Schmidt National Law Group | COO |
| Small/Private/Runner-Up | Eric Dowsland | CyFlare | COO |
| Not-For-Profit/Winner | Donna McCullough | Alzheimer’s Association | COO |
| Not-For-Profit/Runner-Up | Katonya Hughey | Hedco | COO |
| Not-For-Profit/Runner-Up | Barry Howard | The New America Foundation | COO |
| Government/Winner | Levente Klimits | Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority | VP and COO |
| Startup/Winner | Koren Grinshpoon | echo3D | COO |
From the category winners above, a 2025 National COO of the Year Award winner was selected based on the same criteria. Congratulations to Vivienne Wei, Salesforce.
“Chief Operating Officers continued to demonstrate their significant contributions in 2025, and the COO of the Year Awards brings recognition to these hard-working individuals”, states Neil Brown, COO, Operations Council. “We wish the winners of the COO of the Year Awards continued success and hope their examples can help others excel.”
All winners and runners-up will be notified by email and receive a frame-quality Certificate. Applications and registration for the 2026 COO of the Year Awards will begin in October of 2026 at the following link: www.operationscouncil.org/COO-awards/
ABOUT the Operations Council
Operations Council™ is a community and platform for COOs and operating professionals focused on career development and training, best practice information and resources, peer networking and recognition. Programs include a national Operations Career Center, the COO Insights™ Interview Series, and the annual COO of the Year™ Awards. Publishing includes webcasts and roundtable panels, informative articles and whitepapers. Strategic research studies include the annual Operations Outlook & Sentiment™ Study, Operations Talent™ Study, and the upcoming COO 2030™ Predictions Panel. For more information, visit www.OperationsCouncil.org, or contact COO Neil Brown at 630-710-4710.
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