Charles Lyons-Burt
The Alaska Native Chenega Corporation is dedicated to preserving national security through its wide array of business with the U.S. military, the Intelligence Community and various civilian agencies. Sonia Mundra, who currently serves as president of Astraeus Operations — a Chenega subsidiary primarily focused on IT, cybersecurity and engineering — is deeply rooted in the business. She was director of operations and controller for Chenega Applied Solutions and, later, president of Chenega Analytic Business Solutions, before being appointed to her current role in April.
Mundra’s roots are in finance: she was a chief financial analyst at Accenture in the early- and mid-2000s and was subsequently an associate at PwC prior to joining Chenega. She is highly skilled in managing P&L and in all aspects of the government contracting process. Mundra is passionate about the place she’s called home, in one way or another, for a decade now and discussed Chenega’s efforts to support the American mission in this Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz.
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ExecutievBiz: What are Astraeus’ core values? How do you think these values translate into continued success and growth in the GovCon market?
Sonia Mundra: Astraeus Operations, a Chenega company, was created for one reason — to support the warfighter. As a subsidiary of Chenega’s military, intelligence and operations strategic business unit, or MIOS SBU, our leadership team has been supporting Department of Defense and Intelligence Community missions since 1998, and prior to that, through their personal service as retired veterans of the Army, Navy and Air Forces. We are heavily focused on vetting our current and future personnel and partners to ensure they are capable, prepared and possess the appropriate technical, program management, and communication skills needed to survive and thrive in today’s VUCA environment. Although our core capabilities center around IT, cybersecurity and engineering professional support services, we know that we are ultimately in the people business; and we know that people do business with people they like and trust. Through the power of such relationships, we are interested in creating and retaining our customers for life.
As an Alaska Native-owned company, Astraeus Operations is heavily focused on community engagement and outreach in the local communities where we do business. Our parent organization, Chenega MIOS, donated over $250,000 alone to charitable causes last year. One of our most important causes is the support we provide the Navy SEAL Legacy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports Gold Star families. We also recently supported a girls’ volleyball team in the National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, Florida; as well as local churches, private and public schools, and senior living communities in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Last year we were voted a top 10 military-friendly employer and a top 10 military spouse employer, for the fourth year in a row, in addition to winning the Washington Post’s Top Workplaces 2024 award for the sixth year in a row.
ExecutiveBiz: What’s the most impactful trend you’re currently seeing in the GovCon market? How are seeing GovCon organizations respond to the trend?
Sonia Mundra: We have been doing business with the federal government and the DOD for a while now, and it feels like every year comes with increased challenges and uncertainties. This is particularly being felt in an election year. We are often seeing that DOD uses our 8(a) Alaska Native direct award capability to create a “best in class” contract; the high ceiling we provide offers maximum flexibility to the government without locking them into long-term level of effort commitments.
We have the ability to respond to and execute rapid task orders, which allows our customers to surge up and surge down as needed. We have been very successful in executing this type of contract due to the depth and breadth of professional services and products that we offer, and our ability to recruit “unicorn” personnel. We are supported by a massive recruiting team and an investment in state-of-the-art recruiting software that leverages artificial intelligence to source passive candidates in today’s competitive environment. As threats to our way of life continue to increase at home and abroad, Astraeus Operations is prepared and ready to engage as a partner with our customers.
ExecutiveBiz: What do you think is the biggest threat facing U.S. cyber systems today, and what can be done to protect against that threat?
Sonia Mundra: Bad actors who want to destroy our freedoms and way of life are using cyberspace technology to augment traditional methods of intelligence-gathering. Phishing, disinformation, ransomware attacks and social engineering are just a few of the threats today that are used to co-opt unwitting victims, and gain access to insider information. In our post-Covid world, it is often much easier for perpetrators to create havoc through the use of cyber threats in lieu of traditional methods. Education and awareness of proper cyber hygiene is critical to ensure that our confidential information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. People’s lives depend on it!
ExecutiveBiz: In your opinion, what will zero trust success look like, and what is Astraeus doing to help federal customers achieve that success?
Sonia Mundra: At the end of the day zero trust success comes down to reducing the attack surfaces. Sensitive data must be secured through continuous verification, ensuring even internal systems are treated as potential threats. This includes strict access controls and minimal trust across all users and devices. This practice will enhance compliance with defense regulations and increase resilience against cyber threats.
As a Chenega MIOS company, Astraeus Operations has access to an extensive array of capabilities via its sibling companies. One of those companies is Chenega Analytic Business Solutions, a.k.a. CABS, which currently is the only 8(a) Alaska Native-Owned company to hold the GSA Multiple Award Schedule Hyper Adaptive Cybersecurity Services Special Item Number. After a rigorous down-select process and oral-technical evaluation, CABS is now able to support all five subcategory groups: cyber-hunt, high-value asset assessments, incident response, penetration testing and risk and vulnerability assessments. This enables proactive and reliable cybersecurity services, streamlining ordering procedures and reducing procurement lead times while minimizing cyber threats through a zero trust architecture and application security testing.
