Maria Demaree
Vice President & General Manager, Special Programs
Lockheed Martin Space
A proven transformational leader with 30+ years of experience at Lockheed Martin, Maria has held critical positions across all major business areas. As Vice President and General Manager (VP&GM) for the Special Programs line of business within Lockheed Martin Space, Maria oversees a multibillion-dollar portfolio with a primary focus on delivering high-performance systems and innovative concepts integral to national security space applications. With a customer-centric, people-first mindset, Maria manages multiple developmental programs, operations and maintenance contracts as well as critical research and development (R&D). Furthermore, she advocates within the legislative and executive branches for Lockheed Martin programs of record as well as pertinent policy objectives that directly impact the direction of future space architectures.
Previously, Maria was the VP&GM of Mission Solutions, a dynamic line of business within Lockheed Marin Space that provides both DoD and Intelligence communities with mission-critical intelligence solutions through the optimization of satellite constellations, life-cycle data processing technologies and resilient systems infrastructure that enables rapid information exchange across a global network. As the VP&GM of Mission Solutions, Maria led 4,500+ employees and achieved an annual sales base of $1.7B+. Additionally, under her charge, Mission Solutions delivered enterprise cloud and application-based solutions for mission management, command and control (C2), collection orchestration and tasking, processing, and data analytics as well as premier operations and sustainment of mission critical space-based programs.
Prior taking on her executive role as a VP&GM, Maria was Vice President of Engineering, Mission Systems and Operations, for Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Company where she was responsible for leading 5,000+ engineers, engaged in programs ranging from satellite ground systems and flight software to detailed mission analytics and operations.
Across the aerospace defense industry, Maria is a sought after thought leader in Software-defined Satellite architectures, Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2), Software Factory and digital transformation, remote workforce initiatives, classified workplace transformation and the pursuit of space-based 5G. Moreover she is a fierce advocate of digital and business transformation, workforce engagement, technology methods evolution and integration (Agile, A.I., cyber), and embodies an unwavering commitment to the Customer Mission. Additionally, Maria is an executive champion of diversity and inclusion, recently completing a lengthy term on the LM Corp Executive Inclusion Council.
Outside of her primary leadership roles, Maria serves on the Board of Directors for Zeta Associates (Chairman), the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), the National Space Security Association (NSSA), as well as the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.
Maria is a March of Dimes Heroine in Technology Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and was named to FedScoop’s Top Women in Tech in 2018. Maria was recently named to the Wash100 class of 2023 by Executive Mosaics, and was also recently selected as Pennsylvania State University’s, Eberly College of Science Outstanding Science 2023 Alumni Award recipient.
Maria earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Master’s in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the proud mother of three and currently lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado with her husband.