Mark Drever is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Xcelerate Solutions, a leading national security platform. Mark founded Xcelerate on September 11, 2009, with one goal in mind: to build a company that would help make the country safer. Since then, he has led Xcelerate’s growth from a start-up with zero employees to a national organization of nearly 3,000 employees supporting some of the federal government’s most critical national security missions.
As CEO, Mark sets Xcelerate’s strategic direction and leads its growth, M&A strategy, investor relations, and overall business strategy. A cornerstone of Xcelerate’s success has been Mark’s strategy of using inorganic growth to accelerate organic growth. Under his leadership, Xcelerate has completed a series of strategic acquisitions, including VMD Corp., GDIT’s Background Investigations business, and clearAvenue, using the capabilities, customers, contract vehicles, technology, and talent gained through those investments to create new avenues for organic growth across the enterprise.
This combination of strategic M&A and organic growth has transformed Xcelerate into a scaled national security platform with an expanding presence across the federal market while remaining focused on the mission upon which the company was founded: helping make America safer.
Under Mark’s leadership, Xcelerate has been recognized among the Washington Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Companies and Best Places to Work and has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies for eight consecutive years. The company has also earned the U.S. Department of Labor’s HIRE Vets Gold Medallion Award for five consecutive years and maintains its Virginia Values Veterans certification, reflecting Mark’s longstanding commitment to the veteran community.
Mark brings more than 25 years of experience in federal consulting, technology, and national security. Prior to founding Xcelerate, he served as an Associate Partner and Consulting Practice Leader with PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM, where he built and managed a portfolio of more than 30 federal programs supporting the national security mission space.
Mark was named the 2025 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® for the Mid-Atlantic region and was a finalist for WashingtonExec’s 2024 CEO of the Year. Earlier in his career, he was recognized as a “40 Under 40” leader by both the Washington Business Journal and the EnVest Foundation.
Beyond Xcelerate, Mark serves on the boards of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Patriot Point, a nonprofit organization supporting wounded, ill, and injured service members, their families, and caregivers. He has also twice co-chaired the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Washington, D.C. Global Gala.
Mark earned an MBA in Corporate Finance from the University of Georgia and a BA in Politics and Government from Ohio Wesleyan University.