Yvonne Hodge, a nationally recognized technology executive and transformational leader in aerospace, defense, telecommunications, and commercial sectors, passed away tragically this week. She was widely respected for her visionary leadership, operational rigor, and lifelong commitment to advancing enterprise technology at scale.
Hodge was a retired senior vice president and global chief information officer and was named among Forbes’ Top 50 CIOs for her impact on digital and enterprise transformation. Over a distinguished career spanning decades, she became known for leading complex organizations through modernization while maintaining a sharp focus on people, performance, and mission outcomes.
A 24-year veteran of Lockheed Martin, Hodge held numerous senior leadership roles and ultimately led digital and enterprise transformation initiatives that empowered tens of thousands of employees to connect, collaborate, and innovate with speed and agility. She oversaw a global organization of approximately 5,000 technology professionals, managing the company’s multi-billion-dollar internal technology infrastructure supporting one of the world’s largest aerospace and defense enterprises.
Among her most significant contributions was her leadership of the OneLM Transformation Program, a sweeping effort to streamline and modernize Lockheed Martin’s business processes and systems. The initiative leveraged digital technologies to improve efficiency, enhance collaboration across teams, standardize processes, reduce costs, and improve cycle times and quality outcomes across the enterprise.
In 2020, Hodge was promoted to senior vice president of enterprise business transformation, reflecting her central role in shaping the company’s long-term operational strategy. Until her passing, she served as vice president of business innovation transformation and enterprise excellence for Lockheed Martin’s space business area, where she continued to drive innovation, operational excellence, and customer and employee satisfaction.
Throughout her tenure at Lockheed Martin, Hodge held several key leadership positions, including vice president and chief information officer for space and vice president of technical operations for enterprise business services. Her expertise spanned information technology, business process redesign, quality management, competitive and data analysis, statistical process control, and large-scale process re-engineering.
Before joining Lockheed Martin, Hodge spent 24 years at AT&T, where she rose through managerial and executive ranks. Her roles included vice president of operations for business customers, further establishing her reputation as a leader capable of managing complex operations and delivering results in highly competitive environments.
Hodge earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Montclair State University, a foundation that informed her analytical approach to leadership and transformation throughout her career.
Remembered as a principled, decisive, and people-centered leader, Yvonne Hodge leaves a lasting legacy across industries she helped transform. Her influence continues through the systems she modernized, the organizations she strengthened, and the many professionals she mentored and inspired over the course of her career.