Christine Hopkins Wins 2025 Vistage Leadership Award for Turning Crisis into Strength

CEO of ASCI honored for bold decisions that reshaped her company and inspired a wider business community

The news broke in Anchorage, but it didn’t stay there long. Christine Hopkins, the President, CEO, and Managing Owner of the ASCI Family of Companies, has been named the 2025 Vistage Leadership Award winner for the Alaska region. The award, one of the most respected honors for small and midsize business leaders, highlights her remarkable transformation of a company on the brink into one that’s now setting the pace in federal contracting.

Hopkins didn’t just keep the doors open during one of ASCI’s most turbulent chapters — she redefined what leadership looks like in the face of collapse. Her story, and the honor it brought her, is a lesson in grit, strategy, and refusal to fold.

A Company Teetering on the Edge

It wasn’t just any client. In early 2020, as COVID-19 slammed into the global economy, ASCI lost its biggest commercial customer. That blow meant a looming 90% revenue loss. For most companies of its size, that’s the death knell.

Hopkins could’ve accepted that. She didn’t.

Instead of shutting down or retreating, she gathered her team and got to work. ASCI didn’t merely survive — it reinvented itself.

For a woman-owned small business headquartered in Anchorage, competing nationally was always a challenge. Doing it in the middle of a pandemic with nearly no cash flow? That’s something else entirely.

Pivoting to Federal Work Wasn’t a Fluke

ASCI’s pivot wasn’t some lucky break. Hopkins made tough calls.

She moved the company away from its heavy reliance on commercial logistics work and steered it toward federal contracting. That meant meeting strict government compliance standards, reworking operations from the ground up, and training staff in unfamiliar systems.

A big part of that shift included splitting ASCI into two focused arms:

• Advanced Supply Chain International LLC, continuing core supply chain and logistics services

• ASCI Federal Services LLC, taking on contracts in defense and public sector operations

In doing so, she not only saved jobs — she created new ones. Anchorage-based talent got a second chance. And federal agencies got a new, scrappy vendor willing to do things differently.

What the Vistage Award Really Means

Vistage isn’t in the business of handing out trophies for polished LinkedIn bios. The 2025 Leadership Award recognizes real-world transformation — the kind that affects teams, communities, and industry peers.

Rick Wolk, Vistage Chair for the Alaska region, put it bluntly: “Christine exemplifies what it means to lead with clarity, courage, and conviction.”

Her impact didn’t stop at balance sheets:

• ASCI now helps federal agencies manage critical logistics for emergency response, energy infrastructure, and defense readiness.

• Dozens of displaced workers during the pandemic found long-term career paths through ASCI’s upskilling and reskilling programs.

• Hopkins used her seat at the leadership table to amplify voices often left out of high-stakes government work — particularly Indigenous and women professionals.

Inside Her Leadership Style: People First, No Matter What

Christine didn’t come up through the supply chain world in the traditional sense. Her roots are in Human Resources — a field often sidelined in strategic discussions.

But that HR foundation may have been her secret weapon.

Hopkins didn’t just talk about people being a company’s greatest asset. She acted on it.

One former ASCI employee, now a federal logistics analyst, said, “Christine made us feel like we mattered even when it looked like everything was falling apart. That saved me, literally.”

Even as ASCI underwent a brutal restructuring, she insisted on transparency. Weekly town halls. Slack channels for anonymous feedback. Open books. She trusted her team with the truth, and in return, they trusted her with the rebuild.

Federal Contracts Now Make Up the Bulk of Revenue

The numbers back it up. In 2021, just months after the company’s commercial collapse, ASCI secured two multi-year logistics contracts with federal agencies. By the end of 2022, over 70% of ASCI’s revenue was coming from government contracts.

Here’s a snapshot of ASCI’s financial turnaround:

Hopkins didn’t just keep the company afloat. She fundamentally changed what ASCI does and who it serves.

Building Back Stronger — and Local

One of the lesser-known chapters of Hopkins’ leadership is how she kept ASCI’s footprint rooted in Alaska. The easy move would’ve been to relocate the company’s nerve center closer to the D.C. beltway, where most of the federal work happens.

But she stayed put. Anchorage stayed HQ.

That decision had real ripple effects:

• Local vendors were pulled into federal workflows.

• Rural logistics providers saw new contracts.

• Alaska-based STEM talent, often forced to leave the state, found reasons to stay.

She turned a regional company into a national contractor without losing the thread of where it all began.

Looking Ahead, Hopkins Isn’t Slowing Down

Christine isn’t treating the Vistage award like a victory lap. If anything, she sees it as a mandate.

“I never imagined being in this position, honestly. But now that we’re here, I feel a responsibility to show what’s possible — especially for women, especially in Alaska, especially in supply chain,” she said in a statement following the award announcement.

Her current focus? Getting more minority- and women-owned subcontractors certified for federal work. And building a mentorship network for new CEOs navigating their own pivots.

She’s also talking more openly about the toll of leadership. The insomnia. The imposter syndrome. The moments where she almost walked away.

And that, more than any stat or award, is what sets Christine Hopkins apart.