MEDIA & WINNERS

Contains a gallery of all photographs taken from the previous year and also lists the winners and shortlists for each category of 2018

Award winners 2018

WINNERS & SHORTLIST

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.

WINNER: Anika Balkan – Salesforce

FINALISTS

Anika Balkan – Salesforce
Pratima Rao Gluckman – VMware
Intel IT – Intel Corporation 
Joshua Krammes – StackPath
Lara Kristina – Uber 
Sandra Lopez – Intel Corporation 
Herman Radtke – Nordstromrack.com | Hautelook
Aarthi Raju – Amazon Web Services
Faye Sahai – Exponential TalentUCSF Medical Center
Mercedes Soria – Knightscope, Inc
Niharika Srivastav – Women in Technology International
Kathryn Ullrich – Odgers Berndtson
Tracey Wilen – TraceyWilen.com

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.

WINNER: Myra Nawabi – Lockheed Martin

FINALISTS

Claire Alexander – Capterra
Alyson Crafton – Intel Corporation 
Cassie Divine – Intuit 
Monica Eaton-Cardone – Chargebacks911
Stephanie Fohn – Rundeck
Priya Iyer – Vee24
Sandra Joyce – FireEye
Hannah Kain – ALOM
Myra Nawabi – Lockheed Martin
Heather VanCura – Oracle

BUSINESS ROLE MODEL OF THE YEAR

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 BMC.

WINNER: Minette Norman – Autodesk, Inc

FINALISTS

Barbara Bates – Hotwire 
Stacey Epstein – Zinc
Brandi Galvin Morandi – Equinix
Rashmi Gopinath – Microsoft Ventures
Tina Huang – Transposit 
Lovely Kaur – ShieldX
Minette Norman – Autodesk, Inc
Shannon Sigmon – Lenovo
Marianna Tessel – Intuit 
Ricky Trigalo – ControlUp
Amy Warner – Intel Corporation

CIO OF THE YEAR

A female CIO who has demonstrated particular innovation, IT excellence and leadership in the last 18 months. Judges will look at projects and achievements spanning the current organisation or others if applicable, along with examples of best practice, leadership, ROI generated and alignment to business goals.

WINNER: Paula Tolliver – Intel Corporation

FINALISTS

Julie Cullivan – ForeScout
Rand Levin – RSL Technology Associates/ Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuaries
Tammy Moskites – Accenture
Carrie Pedraza – Phoenix American Financial Services
Janet Sherlock – Ralph Lauren
Tressa Springmann – Sailpoint
Paula Tolliver – Intel Corporation

CTO OF THE YEAR

A female CIO who has demonstrated particular innovation, IT excellence and leadership in the last 18 months. Judges will look at projects and achievements spanning the current organisation or others if applicable, along with examples of best practice, leadership, ROI generated and alignment to business goals.

WINNER: Mignona Cote – AIG

FINALISTS

Mignona Cote – AIG
Ioana Cozmuta – Flawless Photonics
Isabelle Darolles – Sienza Energy Inc
Alicia Kavelaars – OffWorld
Rathi Murthy – Gap Inc.
Rebecca Parsons – ThoughtWorks
Heather Rivers – Mode Analytics

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.

WINNER: Anastasia Zamyshlyaeva – Reltio

FINALISTS

Sara Baack – Equinix
Marieke McCloskey – UserTesting
Chao Han – Lucidworks
Joanna Hu – Exabeam
Erin LeDell – H20.ai
Jayodita Sanghvi – Grand Rounds
Rania Succar – Intuit
Mona Ved Tongia – Zenefits
Ronda Yip – FireEye
Anastasia Zamyshlyaeva – Reltio

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 Airbnb

WINNER: Maricel Cabahug – SAP

FINALISTS

Ana Alessandra – Digital Shadows
Maricel Cabahug – SAP
Rand Nezha – IBM 
Rebecca Onchi – Paypal
Reena Tiwari – Symantec Corporation
Heather Williams – Ruckus

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. Judges will assess the impact of this project and how successful it has been – based on tangible results – in closing the gender gap and promoting diversity in tech.

WINNER: Lauren Hasson – DevelopHER

FINALISTS

Bev Crair – Lenovo
Julie Cullivan – ForeScout
Kamini Dandapani – LinkedIn
Diane Flynn – ReBoot Accel
Mary Hadley – MakerGirl
Leah McGowen-Hare – Salesforce
Lauren Hasson – DevelopHER
Marisa Lopez – Amplify
Ishita Majumdar – eBay
Cynthia Overton – Inclusion Clearinghouse
Scality’s Technology Education Initiative – Scality

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 Intel.

WINNER: ALOM

FINALISTS

ALOM
Globant
Lenovo
Tesla
ThoughtWorks

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. The individual needs to demonstrate commercial success, plans for growth, how strategies were set and achieved and how innovation is encouraged.

WINNER: Maria Artunduaga – Respira Labs

FINALISTS

Maria Artunduaga – Respira Labs
Pamela Bowen – Eminence MSO
Sharde Brown – Tribe Builder Media
Gloria Chance – The Mousai Group
Dao Jenson – Kaizen Technology Partners LLC
Hillary Sinclair – Wheesearch Beauty
Rebecca Vogels – All of the Above
Jennifer Winward Ph.D. – Winward Academy
Monica Zent – FoxwordyZentLaw Group

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 Redhat.

WINNER: Rosh Dawes – Equinix

FINALISTS

Brittney Atilano – Zendesk
Rosh Dawes – Equinix
Priya Karambelkar – Rightpoint Consulting LLC
Awalin Sopan – FireEye
Cassie Shum – ThoughtWorks
Kate Terrell – Salesforce

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 Google

WINNER: Julie Fergerson – Ethoca

FINALISTS

Chen Admati – Intel Corporation
Julie Fergerson – Ethoca
Pooja Kohli – Blackberry
Vivian Lee – Petcube
Sophia Lopez – Kaleido
Jeanette Lee – Ruckus Networks
Mei Ling – Good2Go Inc
Melissa Massa – Lenovo
Tessa Westbrook – Big Data Federation, Inc

IT TEAM OF THE YEAR

An IT team, led by a woman, that has delivered real value – with tangible business results – to a company. Judges will look at projects and achievements, along with examples of best practice, leadership, ROI generated and alignment to business goals.

WINNER: Nicole Oppenheim – FireEye

FINALISTS

Uma Abhyankar – FireEye
Beatriz Jones (Sanz-Ortiz Jones) – Rare Genomics
Xochitl Monteon – Intel Corporation
Mona Nyachhyon – LogPoint Nepal
Nicole Oppenheim – FireEye
Rachael Rekart – Autodesk

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. Judges will examine the last 18 months in each candidate’s career, looking at standout achievements, contributions to successful projects, examples of innovation, and a demonstrable understanding of how technology can create business value.

Sponsored by FireEye.

JOINT WINNERS: Kristal Murphy – Intel Corporation & Stephanie Yaung – Roche

FINALISTS

Josefina Aguayo – Dev Color 
Mary Hadley – MakerGirl
Lasya Marla – Lucidworks 
Kristal Murphy – Intel Corporation 
Jessica Marie – WhiteHat Security  
Aidan Madigan-Curtis – Samsara Inc. 
Malika Mission – Workday 
Laura Norén – Obsidian Security, Inc 
Stephanie Yaung – Roche 
Wendy Zamora – Malwarebytes

SECURITY CHAMPION OF THE YEAR

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

Sponsored by Forescout.

WINNER: Sherry Ryan – Juniper Networks

FINALISTS

Núria Barceló i Peiró – NXP Semiconductors
Marcela Denniston – ShieldX
Suzanne Frey – Google Cloud
Christine Gadsby – BlackBerry
Albertina Hurst Briney (Tina Dorffler) – Global Security Lead
Teuta Hyseni – Microsoft
Sarah Katz – ServiceNow
Tammy Moskites – Accenture
Saryu Nayyar – Gurucul
Daria Poehlman – Riscure 
Sherry Ryan – Juniper Networks 
Leela Rao – Taos 
Candace Worley – McAfee

TRANSFORMATION 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.

WINNER: Mona Ved Tongia – Zenefits

FINALISTS

Erin Bergamo – Lenovo
Michelle Bockman – HP Inc
LeAnna Fries – HIMSS NorCal Chapter
Anusha Tirumal Kumar – Micro Focus International Plc 
Michelle Killebrew – CA Technologies
Teesee Murray – Infor 
April Mills – Intel Corporation 
Mona Ved Tongia – Zenefits 
Jennifer Steinmann – Deloitte

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. Candidates should have not only have demonstrated outstanding business- and/or technology-focused achievements, but also acted as a positive role model and actively sought to bring more diversity to the technology industry. Chosen by the judges.

Sponsored by Equinix.

JOINT WINNERS: Barbara Hewitt – Texas State University & Christina Petersen – Salesforce

FINALISTS

Beena Ammanath – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Suja Chandrasekaran – Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Libby Fiumara – Digital Shadows
Rashmi Gopinath – Microsoft Ventures
Barbara Hewitt – Texas State University
Vasu Jakkal – FireEye
Roojuta Lalani – Salesforce
Mei Lin Fung – People Centered Internet
Mandy Mock – Intel Corporation 
Reena Merchant – Google
Christina Petersen – Salesforce
Paria Rajai – ModelExpand
Jeannie Warner – WhiteHat Security

WINNERS TESTIMONIAL

What an incredible night to experience alongside inspirational women and their allies who are driving change in their workplaces and communities. I was truly honored to be recognized for my work in such a beautiful setting. A big thank you to Bonhill and Information Age for creating a platform to lift Women up and recognize them.
Anika Balkan, Equality Programs Manager, Salesforce

Winner - Advocate of the year 2018

It was a fun night and a great way to acknowledge personally and professional the hard work and dedication of hundreds of amazing women, just being in the room clears you head, makes you take a step back – breathe and realize all that you have accomplished and how much we can all accomplish together when we help each other out!

Julie Fergerson, Senior Vice President, Ethoca

Winner - Innovator of the Year 2018

Winning the ‘Diversity Initiative of the Year Award’ was a game-changer for DevelopHer. It put us on the map and really showcased what we’re doing!

Lauren Hasson, Founder, DevelopHer

Winner - Diversity Initiative of the Year 2018

I was nominated for a Presidential Service Award at Texas State University since receiving this award. I have had countless individuals congratulate me. I think that it helped grow awareness of the programs that I support within the San Antonio community through LinkedIn Connections.

Barbara Hewitt, Assistant Professor, Texas State University

Winner - Woman of the Year 2018

Women working in IT need to encourage other women to choose this career and provide visible role models for their success.  The Women in IT Awards helps to raise awareness of the gender gap and is a positive force to drive change in this space.

Sherry Ryan, Vice President, Juniper Networks

Winner - Security Champion of the Year 2018

I knew I was going to work at Intel one day as an engineer. I was determined to make my dream a reality. I now have a career as a Software Development Engineer in Test at Intel. Winning the IT Woman Rising Star of the Year Award, let me know that dreams do come true. All my hard worked has paid off. After winning the Rising Star of the Year Award, I have decided to take on my next challenge as a Power and Performance Engineer.

Kristal Murphy, Software Development Engineer, Test

Winner - Rising Star of the Year 2018

While I wasn’t aware of the Women in IT Awards until the organizers reached out to me, I was surprised and honored to attend the awards ceremony. The huge ballroom was filled with inspiring women, and I enjoyed every conversation I had that evening. I was completely surprised to win the “Business Role Model of the Year” award, and I am proud to include it on my LinkedIn profile and in my professional bio.

I encourage women in the tech industry to participate in awards such as Women in IT—nominate yourself, nominate others, and attend the awards ceremony to meet incredible women work in tech.

Minette Norman, Vice President, Autodesk Inc

Winner - Business Role Model of the Year 2018