Carey Smith

Chair, President & CEO, Parsons

The executive whose backlog keeps setting records and whose quarter still printed a loss. The discipline she is testing is whether a contractor can decline revenue that does not pay.

Based: Chantilly, VA
Company: Parsons
Known for: Leading Parsons through record contract awards, while walking away from work whose economics stopped adding up.

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Money

Parsons keeps winning contracts. Keeping the profit is harder.

A $1.9 billion quarter of contract awards arrived with a $15 million net loss. The backlog is real; whether the cash behind it is has to be proven quarter by quarter.

September 14, 2026 · 6 min read