A woman working in tech who has gone out of her way to support the cause of getting more women and diverse groups of people into the industry in the last 2-years. As well as examining the initiatives the candidates have pioneered to inspire women and diverse talent to succeed in tech, judges will also assess their leadership, evidence of growth and their work’s impact on, and integration with, the business.
Brenda Okorogba, Momentswithbren Consulting
Janet Lin, Equitable Bank (EQB)
Jennifer Gray, Metrolinx
Kim Osborne Rodriguez, Info-Tech Research Group
Margarita Simonova, ILoveMyQA
Marie Wiese, Marketing CoPilot/Women Talk Tech
Nalina Kodakani Manjappa, New York Institute of Technology
Neelima Mangal, Spectrum North
Nicole Lussier, Afiniti
Santa Di Stefano, Pythian Services Inc.
A senior figure who has gone out of their way to improve the diversity levels within IT, within the organization and/or in the wider community. Successful nominations must provide case studies or examples of how the candidate has gone out of their way, or strategically prioritized, getting more diversity of talent into IT and/or supporting them in their careers, and how they intend to continue their work and support.
Ernest Solomon, Soroc Technology
Lester Mendoza, Greenlight Consulting
Tim Fell, TELUS Communications Inc.
Tom Everett, Metrolinx
A chief information/technology/operational officer or director/head of who has demonstrated positive impact on the company’s top line and driven new customer value through the innovative use of technology. Candidates will include examples of strong leadership and how they have employed a technology strategy to enhance product development and improve the service the company provides to customers. Judges will also assess how well-ingrained this senior leader is in the business and how she has helped put technology at the heart of the business, driving strong commercial results in the process.
Ferial Sheybani, Colliers
Laura Money, Sun Life
Michelle Joliat, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Pamela McRae, Flow Hydration
Uma Gopinath, Metrolinx
A woman IT, technology or business leader who has demonstrated successful results in data technology in the last 2-years. This could include demonstrations of successfully deploying data technologies; improving how a company uses or deals with data; delivering effective data strategies; enhancing decision-making with data; contributions to a growth/continuity plan; and/or furthering knowledge, awareness and education around data and related technologies.
Danielle Leighton, Loblaw Technology & Analytics
Diana Esparza, Export Development Canada
Emily Laage, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Ltd
Iris Wang, Metrolinx
Lynda Partner, Pythian Services Inc.
Ofelia Ionescu, Celestica Inc.
Sonia Couto, Field Eagle
Stephanie Law, Greenlight Consulting
Wendy Elliott, Metrolinx
Yesra Maqsood, Afiniti
This award will be presented to a project or initiative that has had demonstrable success in improving the recruitment, onboarding, development and/or progression, and inclusion of underrepresented talent. This may be a digital technology driven initiative or project that has also improved communication, engagement and support and removed a significant barrier to change affecting diverse talent.
GoTechWomen
OPG Culture Shift
Toast
Women Tech Talk
A woman chief digital officer, digital director or leader of a digital transformation who has led an IT/Digital transformation or business change programme driven by technology in the last 2 years. Judges will look at examples of the technology and innovation involved; leadership; best practice; results and return on investment; alignment to business goals; how culture shifts were managed; and a growth/continuity strategy.
Danielle Leighton, Loblaw Technology & Analytics
Fiona de Araujo, Equitable Bank (EQB)
Gowri Puvanachandran, Pythian Services Inc.
Lara Zidine, Myers Holum
Lily Gobovic, Bank of Montreal (BMO)
Megan Macadam, Secure Energy
Reisha Turpin, Metrolinx
Shalini Nagrani, CGI Inc.
Snigdha Choudhury, Salesforce
Sreya Francis, Farm Mutual Re
This award is open to the VP of Diversity, Chief Diversity Officer, Heads and Directors of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in the tech industry. This person has demonstrated success in addressing inequalities and improving outcomes, ensuring a culture where all employees can thrive. This nominee is a role model and innovative leader in actively supporting employees; has introduced organisational change that can be measured in terms of staff engagement, retention, satisfaction, and wellbeing. This person is a great influencer and inspires and motivates others to improve the business for all.
Angely Vatcher, Tata Consultancy Services
Camila Suvaric, Pythian Services Inc.
Dorothy Arturi, Q4 Inc.
Jennifer Chan, Bank of Montreal (BMO)
Samira Rahimi, McGill University
This award is for a technology organization that has demonstrated a great effort to attract and retain more diverse talent, or a company from any other industry that has demonstrated great efforts to attract and retain more diverse talent in its IT and/or digital department. Judges will look at efforts the company has made to create a more diverse and inclusive working environment.
Equitable Bank (EQB)
Flow Hydration
Greenlight Consulting
Metrolinx
NPower Canada
OMERS
Pythian Services Inc.
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, alignment to business goals and growth strategies.
Afiniti, led by Umema Zaki
Bank of Montreal (BMO), led by Daisy Benipal
Colliers, led by Nisha Unni
Eclipsys Solutions Inc., led by Christine Kivi
Equitable Bank (EQB), led by Fiona de Araujo
Hub Technology Group Inc, led by Tia Ghazali
ILoveMyQA, led by Margarita Simonova
Insight Canada, led by Judith Breen
Metrolinx, led by Lauri McFater
MUFG Bank, Ltd., Canada Branch, led by Gini Wong
This category recognises the achievements over a long period of time which have made an important contribution to the general standing of the technology industry. This individual has dedicated a major part of their working life to helping and supporting others. Judges will be looking for evidence of multiple projects and how they have impacted women and young girls. This individual is required to have more than 10 years of service within the technology industry.
Alma Barranco-Mendoza, Infogenetica Solutions Ltd.
Elena Sinelnikova, CryptoChicks
Enjoli Singh, Greenlight Consulting
Jennifer Chan, Strategic Initiatives
Lauren Ridge, AWS
Monica Hernandez, Infinity Growth Corp.
Monique Allen, OMERS
Pauline Keeton-Curtis, Bank of Montreal (BMO)
This award will be presented to a project or initiative that has had demonstrable success in improving the health and well-being of all its employees. This could include flexible policies, company benefits, innovative and inclusive team building/bonding initiatives, etc. Judges will assess commitment to the cause, impact on the employees and the company, and the results of the initiative.
HumaniCare
Ingram Micro Canada
Mental Health Tool Kit, Greenlight Consulting
A woman under the age of 30, or who turns 30 in 2023, who has progressed rapidly though their career and demonstrated business value and innovation through the use of technology. This could include demonstrable success deploying technologies; improving approaches to technology; delivering effective strategies; enhancing decision-making; creating business value, efficiencies and cost savings, or improving services; driving new innovation in the industry; or furthering knowledge, awareness and education around technology.
Charmi Chokshi, Mila & UdeM
Ravneet Arora, Greenlight Consulting
Renee Dhingra, Hub Technology Group Inc.
Sandra Janjicek, OMERS
Shiva Sathia, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada
Tanvi Kaniawala, Partner Staffing
Vanessa Young-Dede, ERP Success Partners
Voni Rajenanirina, M3-TECH
A woman CSO, CISO or any other senior IT security function (including cyber security and data management), who has delivered outstanding work, implemented innovative approaches to security and contributed to the impact of policies, procedures and projects within the business. Submissions should include examples of this work; the ROI; the methodologies of implementation; the impacts on the business and other stakeholders; and their strategy to uphold security best practice.
Ariane Siegel, OntarioMD
Elena Kroupa, Metrolinx
Gabrielle Botbol, Desjardins
Helen Knight, Helen Knight Nonprofit Technology Consulting Inc.
Melissa Carvalho, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
Samara Starkman, INQ Consulting
Seema Bisht, Accenture
A company that has torn up the rule book to create innovative processes and ways of working to drive a coherent and sustainable working strategy. Judges will look at demonstrations of growth (turnover, profit, employees etc.), standout achievements and customer testimonials. The business must be under 3-years old.
HumaniCare
NXT Golf
Samrin UX Studio
A role model who has demonstrated a high degree of excellence, innovation and leadership in the last 5-years, and shone a light on the great things women in technology can achieve. In their submission, nominees should not only demonstrate outstanding business- and tech focussed achievements, but also give examples on how they have actively sought to bring more diversity to the technology industry.
Carine Ghosn, McGill University
Ferial Sheybani, Colliers
Kelley Irwin, Descartes Systems Group
Laura Money, Sun Life
Martha Salinas,TreviPay
Monique Allen, OMERS
Samira Rahimi, McGill University
Santa Di Stefano, Pythian Services Inc.
Smita Challu, Akcelo
Sonia Rajput, Physics Wallah
