2019 WINNERS

Advocate of the Year

A company or person that has gone out of its/her/his way to support the cause of getting more women in IT in the last 18 months.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Jill Sweeney, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 

FINALISTS 

Candice Benson, Benson Consulting Inc 
Elizabeth Bramlage, Behalf 
Debbie Forster, Tech Talent Charter
Netta Jenkins, The Mosaic Group and Ask Applications 
Amanda Keleher and Emily Mourad, Index Exchange 
Tarsha McCormick, Thoughtworks 
Marie Myers, Uipath Inc.
Limor Sinay, Akamai Corp
Jill Sweeney, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company 
Jennifer Warawa, Sage 

Business Leader of the Year

A female leader of a technology company, or a business leader within a large technology company, who has demonstrated outstanding business leadership in the last 18 months.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Nancy Harris, Sage

FINALISTS

Jennifer Artley, BT 
Elena Avila, Amadeus
Nicola Buckley, Park Place Technologies 
Shilpa Bhandari, NTT DATA Services 
Nancy Harris, Sage
Susan Marshall, Torchlite Technologies Inc
Sheela Ramamurthy, Virtual Health 
Lisa Walker, Fuze Inc. 

Business Role Model

A female business leader in technology who has been an effective role model to other women in the last 18 months. Judges will examine demonstrations of leadership and business achievements, as well as examples of being a role model and inspiring other women to succeed in technology.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Elena Kvochko, Bank of America 

FINALISTS

Shellye Archambeau, Formerly at MetricStream
Kim Curley, NTT DATA Services 
Jennifer Deutsch, Park Place Technologies 
Elena Kvochko, Bank of America 
Michelle Massey, Dewpoint Inc
Sarah Malcolm, The Content Funnel
May Mitchell, Cylance
Meghan Norwood, Amadeus North America Inc
Heather Schollenberger, Atos 
Ricky Trigalo, Controlup Inc

CIO of the Year

A female CIO who has demonstrated particular innovation, IT excellence and leadership in the last 18 months.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Eileen Mahoney, PVH Corp

FINALISTS

Monica Eaton-Cardone, Chargebacks911
Cynthia Fortlage, GHY International 
Marcia Ford, Rolls-Royce North America 
Leah Kraus, North Carolina Central University 
Eileen Mahoney, PVH Corp
Audrey Parks, Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System
Rhonda Vetere, Santander Bank

CTO of the Year

A female CTO who has demonstrated particular innovation, IT excellence and leadership in the last 18 months.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Tendü Yoğurtçu, Syncsort Inc

FINALISTS 

Barbara Bickham, Trailyn Ventures 
Julie Iskow, Medidata 
Frankie Jackson, TheKI2CTO
Jenai Marinkovic, Beyond 
Rebecca Parsons, ThoughtWorks 
Jen Rudman, VirtualHealth 
Vanessa – Fernandes Silva, Itau
Tendü Yoğurtçu, Syncsort Inc
Heather Wilde, Roceteer Inc 

Data Leader of the Year

A female IT, technology or business leader who has demonstrated successful results in the area of data technology in the last 18 months.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Yasaman Hadjibashi, Citi

FINALISTS

Terri Adkins, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc
Yasaman Hadjibashi, Citi
Gladys Kong, UberMedia
Heidi Lanford, Red Hat Inc
Katrinka McCallum, Red Hat Inc 
Kjersten Moody, State Farm
Kate Gajda, Symphony Talent
Anuradha Gali, Uber Technologies Inc.
Rekha Venkatakrishnan, Walmart Labs

Digital Leader of the Year

A digital or business leader who has demonstrated successful results in the area of digital innovation in the last 18 months.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Saskia Steinacker, Bayer

FINALISTS

Nicole Raimundo, Town of Cary
Diana Rudha, Coyote Logistics
Ann-Marie Russell, IAC Apps
Saskia Steinacker, Bayer
Mia Vetter, Gensuite LLC
Lisa Woodley, NTT DATA Services
Kristina Villarini, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund Inc.

Diversity Initiative of the Year

This category focuses on a specific diversity initiative or project that has been established to promote diversity in IT: in a specific company or for the wider community. 

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Denise Reed Lamoreaux, ATOS

FINALISTS

Danielle James, MongoDB
Denise Reed Lamoreaux, ATOS
Kami Richey, Fastly
Limor Sinay, Akamai Technologies Inc.
Steph Smith, FeMake
Judith Spitz, WiTNY
Kimberly Vivas, Beyond

E-Skills Initiative of the Year

This award category is open to organisations that have undertaken an initiative that encouraged and helped women and girls to improve their digital skills and consider a career in the ICT sector.

WINNER

Tracey Welson-Rossman, TechGirlz

FINALISTS

Ilona Budapesti, 1 Million Women to Tech
Logan Cohen, KUDZOO
Renée La Londe, GLAM (Girls Leadership Academy Meetup) Tech Education Group
Tracey Welson-Rossman, TechGirlz
Kesha Williams, Chick-Fil-A Inc.

Editor's Choice of the Year

A woman who has achieved something exceptional in the IT industry, chosen by Information Age’s editorial team. 

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Shantha Mohan, Carnegie Mellon University

FINALISTS

Catherine Allegra, IHS Markit Digital
Shantha Mohan, Carnegie Mellon University
Yana Nigen, JobDiva
Rachel Neasham, Lola.com
Terri Roeslmeier, Automated Business Designs Inc.

Employer of the Year

Either a tech firm that has demonstrated a great desire to attract and retain more women, or a company from any other industry that has demonstrated a great desire to attract and retain more women in its IT and/or digital department.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

ThoughtWorks

FINALISTS

Sherry Aaholm, Cummins Inc
Behalf
Beyond
FDM Group
Autumn Manning, YouEarnedIt
ThoughtWorks
Priyanka Vasudevan, Morgan Stanley
Marykay Wells, Pearson Plc

Entrepreneur of the Year

Open to any female who is influential as a technology business owner or main shareholder in ensuring the company meets its goals, irrespective of size. 

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Michelle Wilner, Virtis-Us, LLC

FINALISTS

Ishveen Anand, OpenSponsorship
Adrienne Garland, She Leads Media
Cynthia Hetherington, Hetherington Group
Marti Hedge, Edge Solutions and Consulting Inc.
Alexis Kashar, AlertBOSS
Patricia Lopez, NotesFirst Inc.
Suuchi Ramesh, Suuchi Inc.
Erika Weinstein, gighire
Michelle Wilner, Virtis-Us, LLC
Valerie Mackey, Wrightnow Solutions LLC
Alexandra Zatarain, Eight Sleep

Future CIO of the Year

A woman who has shown outstanding IT excellence and innovation in the last 18 months and demonstrates signs that she will one day become a successful CIO.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Rachana Kumar, Etsy Inc.

FINALISTS

Melanie Dauber, IBM
Meghan Gill, MongoDB
Rachana Kumar, Etsy Inc.
Monica Moore, Elavon
Cassandra Shum, ThoughtWorks
Kimberly Wood, SmartBear

Innovator of the Year

A technology company that has demonstrated outstanding innovation, customer wins and deployments in the last 18 months, in which a woman was integral to that success.

SPONSORED BY


WINNER

Cooper Harris, Klickly

FINALISTS

Elina Berglund Scherwitzl, NaturalCycles
Lauren Aaronson, NYC Department of Social Services – AccessHRA
Cooper Harris, Klickly
Julie Herd, Formerly E8 Storage
Lauren Hasson, DevelopHer

IT Team of the Year

An IT team, led by a woman, that has delivered real value – with tangible business results – to a company. 

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Kristin Wisnewski, IBM

FINALISTS

Jane Connell, Johnson and Johnson
Anna Harrison, Morgan Stanley
Sapna Sardana, Barclays Capital Inc
Tanya Strong, BP Corporation N.A. Inc
Kristin Wisnewski, IBM
Kimberly Wood, SmartBear

Rising Star of the Year

A woman who began a career in technology in the last five years and has shown great promise that she will go on to achieve great things in the industry. 

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Kavya Pearlman, Linden Lab

FINALISTS

Mylea Charvat, Savonix Inc
Carly Devlin, Clark Schaefer Consulting
Jennifer Fernick, NCC Group
Kavya Pearlman, Linden Lab
Melissa Pisaniello, New Jersey State Police Cyber Threat Intelligence Unit
Jennifer Rock, The Skin Nerd Ltd
Divya Sridhar, Morgan Stanley
Susanne Tedrick, International Business Machines Corporation
Sabrina Tharani, Mastercard

Security Champion of the Year

A female IT security professional who has demonstrated outstanding work in progressing the industry and/or protecting the company from cyber threats.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Julie Fergerson, Ethoca

FINALISTS

Didi Dayton, Cylance
Deneen DeFiore, GE Aviation
Julie Fergerson, Ethoca
Charlotte Jupp, Panaseer
Olga Mack, Quantstamp
Sagit Manor, Nyotron
Srii Srinivansan, Chargeback Gurus
Lauren Zink, Amtrust Financial

Transformation Leader of the Year

An organisation that has undergone a major, and successful, IT or digital transformation in the last 18 months, in which a woman has played an integral part.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Melissa Stevens, Fifth Third Bancorp

FINALISTS

Melanie Dorn, Morgan Stanley
Michelle DeCarlo, Lincoln Financial Group
Debra Gill, Red Hat Inc.
Lee Ann Murray, Manulife / John Hancock
Yasmine Rodriguez, Onesource Virtual Inc.
Melissa Stevens, Fifth Third Bancorp
Tanya Townsend, LCMC Health
Kristin Wisnewski, IBM

Woman of the Year

A woman who has demonstrated the highest degree of IT excellence, innovation and leadership in the last year, and shone a light on the great things women in IT can achieve.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Serena Sacks, Fulton County Schools

FINALISTS

Jennifer Artley, BT
Julie Albright, University of Southern California
Jane Connell, Johnson and Johnson
Cristina Dolan, InsideChains
Serena Sacks, Fulton County Schools
Jennifer Steffens, IOActive Inc.
Vivienne Wei, Salesforce.com Inc.
Mylene Yao, Univfy

Young Leader of the Year

A female IT, technology or business leader under the age of 35, or someone who turns 35 in 2018, who has progressed rapidly though their career and demonstrated business value and innovation through the use of technology.

SPONSORED BY

WINNER

Alicia Tambe, Facebook

FINALISTS

Clena Abuan, BP America
Emily Cole, FireEye
Megan Geyer, NTT DATA Services
Milanpreet Kaur, Microsoft Corporation
Molly Lisenco, Braze
Amanda Petzinger, Gensuite LLC
Omika Suryawanshi, Leap Into Technology
Aishwarya Srinivasan, International Business Machines Corporation
Alicia Tambe, Facebook
Kristina Villarini, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc.