The world’s largest tech diversity awards event today reveals the finalists for its inaugural USA program, which will gather top leaders from America’s technology sector to further efforts to tackle the industry’s diversity challenges.
The Women in IT Awards is the technology world’s most prominent and influential diversity program. Held for the last four years in London, the most recent event on 31 January 2018 was attended by 1,200 business and tech leaders.
On 22 March 2018, the event will come to the US for the first time, taking place in one of the world’s most prominent business cities – New York – at the grand Gotham Hall in Manhattan. The Women in IT Awards USA marks the event’s first expansion out of Europe.
With just 25% of computing jobs in the US held by women – and much fewer at senior and executive levels – the event seeks to tackle the industry’s gender imbalance by showcasing the achievements of women in technology, identifying new role models and promoting constructive dialogue around diversity among key industry leaders.
>See also: Women in IT Awards 2018 – winners revealed
Organised by business-technology magazine and website Information Age, the Women in IT Awards has gathered resounding support from trade associations, politicians and companies of all sizes and sectors since launching in 2015. Through a series of 16 awards, the event acts as a flagship and high-profile platform for the industry’s wide-reaching diversity efforts.
The awards, which attracted over 400 nominations, are sponsored by premium partner BMC Software, as well as AT&T, Bluewolf, Equinix, FireEye, Frank Recruitment Group, Neustar, Rolls-Royce and Zayo.
“We were blown away with the incredible volume and standard of nominations for an event landing in the US for the first time,” says Ben Rossi, editorial director at Information Age and founder of the Women in IT Awards. “It’s been a privilege to watch the Women in IT Awards grow over the last four years as people from across the technology world have embraced it as the platform for identifying female role models in the industry and shining a light on their innovation and achievements.
“As tech companies continue to disrupt industries and business models with new innovation, platforms like the Women in IT Awards that ensure the workforces behind this innovation are diverse and inclusive are absolutely critical. Congratulations to all of the finalists.”
Advocate of the Year
- Kristy Wallace, Ellevate Network
- Anita Khandekar, Enova
- Bianca Jackson, JAX Digital
- DeLisa Alexander, Red Hat
- Selina Suarez, Salesforce
- Hala Hanna, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Marta Zanchi, Stanford University
- Elizabeth Hunter, T-Mobile
- Carita Marrow, UNCF
- Ronni Eloff, Women in Technology International
Business Leader of the Year
- Kate O’Keeffe, Cisco
- Lisa Stanton, InAuth
- Brynne Kennedy, MOVE Guides
- Candice Corby, Cobra Legal Solutions
- Nancy Harris, Sage
- Meredith Whalen, IDC
- Trish Thomas, TEEM
- Kristel Lataste, Amadeus North America
- Paula Hunter, NFC Forum
Business Role Model of the Year
- Rebecca Parsons, ThoughtWorks
- Heather Wilde, WithMe
- Margaret Dawson, Red Hat
- Rebecca Wynn, Matrix Medical Network
- Teena Piccione, Fidelity Investments
- Donna Wells, Mindflash Technologies
- Brenda Peick, Thomson Reuters
- Liz Tinkham, University of Washington
- Priyanka Vasudevan, Morgan Stanley
- Nabila Aydin, FDM Group
CIO of the Year
- Marykay Wells, Pearson
- Kristy Simonette, Camden Property Trust
- Sherry Aaholm, Cummins
- Paula Tolliver, Intel Corporation
- Kimberly Ingram, Lansing Board of Water & Light
- Nancy D’Amico, LeasePlan
- Janice Withers, TD Bank
- Nicole Raimundo, Town of Cary
- Michaele James, CSAA Insurance Group
- Sandi Mays, Zayo Group
Data Leader of the Year
- Sangeeta Krishnan, Asembia
- Olisa Stephensbailey, Booz Allen Hamilton
- Valerie Logan, Gartner
- Kjersten Moody, State Farm
- Jennifer Nelson, Rocket Software
- Aimee Webster, S&P Global
- Sara Garrido, Sizmek
- Jessica Kirkpatrick, Slack
- Tendü Yoğurtçu, Syncsort
- Jacquelin Speck, U.S. Navy
Digital Leader of the Year
- Jessica Wong, Amorepacific
- Aurora Losada, Houston Public Media
- Kristina Villarini, Lambda Legal
- Jo Ann Saitta, Omnicom Health Group
- Monica Caldas, GE
- Melissa Stevens, Fifth Third Bank
- Jaime Chambron, NTT Data Services
- Daryl Drabinsky, Aetna
- Teesee Murray, Infor
- Karen O’Brien, Western Union
e-Skills Initiative of the Year
- Tracey Welson-Rossman, Chariot Solutions / TechGirlz
- Renee La Londe, iTalent Digital
- Marlin Williams, Sisters Code
- Olga Mack, ClearSlide
- Ruthe Farmer, CSforALL.org
- Judith Spitz, Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNY)
- Viola Maxwell-Thompson, Information Technology Senior Management Forum
- Women on their Way, NetScout
- Elizabeth Lindsey, Byte Back
- Diane Flynn, ReBoot Accel
Editor’s Choice
- Rina Brahmbhatt, Atos Global Consulting
- Mylea Charvat, Savonix
- Lauren Cooney, Spark Labs
- Rita Torkzadeh, The Pew Charitable Trusts
- Christina Zuniga, InTouch Health
- Winnie Cheng, Io-Tahoe
- Jane Harper, Henry Ford Health System
- Shelley Westman, EY
- Liz Rowe, State of New Jersey
- Marlene Williamson, Watermark
Entrepreneur of the Year
- Zhuo Li, AutoX
- Neha Sampat, Built.io Contentstack
- Autumn Manning, YouEarnedIt
- Jennifer Kyriakakis, MATRIXX Software
- Angela Hood, ThisWay Global
- Lora Ivanova, myLab Box
- Srii Srinivasan, Chargeback Gurus
- Mary Dee, Digital Altitude
- Meg Columbia, Walsh Wylei
- Rachel Bogan, Work & Co
Future CIO of the Year
- Julia Lomax, Tengelmann Group
- Priya Aswani, Microsoft
- Jamila Parham, City of Chicago
- Eryka Johnson, ExxonMobil
- Amber Williamson, Robert Half Technology
- Anne Mette Hoyer, SAP
- Andrea Adams, Spanning Cloud Apps
- Tracy Vo, Bank of the West
- Leslie Hielema, GuideWell
- Praniti Lakhwara, Apttus
Innovator of the Year
- Jin Zhang, CA Technologies
- Angela Nicoara, Intel Corporation
- Vicki Reyzelman, Akamai
- Rachelle Oribio, Techstars
- Jo-Anne Dressendofer, Slice Wireless Solutions
- Kristin Lovejoy, BluVector
- Natalie Gil, rational7
- Veena Gundavelli, Emagia Corporation
- Bhavini Soneji, Heal
- Sophie Vandebroek, IBM
Rising Star of the Year
- Velvet Johnson, Accenture
- Etosha Ottey, Chicago Black Women In Tech
- Jamie Migdal, FetchFind
- Robyn Gray, Otherworld Interactive
- Jennifer Perusini, Neurovation Labs
- Yana Zaidiner, Token Payments
- Margaret Gratian, US Department of Defense
- Lana Jovanovic, UBM
- Annie Eaton, Futurus
- Sarah Mogin, Work & Co
Security Champion of the Year
- Rhonda Shantz, Centrify
- Christy Wyatt, Dtex Systems
- Linda Conrad, Exelon
- Deneen DeFiore, GE
- Lila Kee, GlobalSign
- Monica Jain, LogicHub
- Julie Cullivan, ForeScout Technologies
- Sydney Klein, Capital One Financial
- Deb Briggs, NetScout
- Terri Cetera, Quest Diagnostics
Transformation Leader of the Year
- Alejandra Roslyakova, Amadeus North America
- Lisa Litherland, CDW
- Ozlem Coskun, Chubb Insurance
- Sandy Hogan, HERE Technologies
- Kelly Switt, Citi
- Barbara Morgan, FIS
- Carol Houle, Cognizant
- Chiara Bersano, LSI Consulting
- Erica Volini, Deloitte
- Kerry Small, Vodafone Group Enterprise
Woman of the Year
- Kesha Williams, Chick-fil-A
- Ishita Majumdar, eBay
- Li Lo, SPANX
- Dianne Dain, United Nations
- Mayumi Hiramatsu, Infor
- Laila Beane, Intellect SEEC
- Anita Sands, Symantec
- Karen MacKay, Rolls-Royce
- Sheela Ramamurthy, VirtualHealth
- Jeanette Maister, WCN
Young Leader of the Year
- Hannah Osborne, DXC Technology
- Miranda LeBlanc, Liberty Mutual Insurance
- Karen Parisi, Oodi
- Caitlin Burniske, Premier Logic
- Jessica Angelotta, Target Data
- Arlyn Burgess, University of Virginia
- Ali Greenwood, JLL
- Camille Stewart, Deloitte
- Ayesha Liaqat, UW Health
- Lisa Godwin, The New York Times
