An individual working with tech who is a role model and has gone out of her way to support the cause of getting more women in IT with a proven track record in advancing career opportunities for women for 2 or more years. As well as examining the women in IT initiatives the candidates have pioneered to inspire women to succeed in technology, judges will also assess their leadership, evidence of growth and the initiative’s impact on, and integration with, the business specifically.

Alma Barranco-Mendoza,Infogenetica Solutions Ltd

Cinzia Bazzo,Workday

Frincy Clement, Women in Artificial Intelligence Canada, TELUS Business

Helen Knight, H. Knight Non-Profit IT Consulting Inc.

Kate Manolis, Plenty of Fish

Margarita Simonova, ILoveMyQA

Nasheen Liu, The IT Media Group Inc.

Sana Abou Shaaban, Canada Border Services Agency(CBSA)

Santa Di Stefano, Pythian Services Inc.

Shiyamali Paranirupasingam, Women in Artificial Intelligence (WAI)

A senior figure who has gone out of their way to improve the diversity levels within IT, within the organisation 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 prioritised, getting more diversity of talent into IT and/or supporting them in their careers.

Annayah Jean Fernandez Rivera, Accenture

Marie-Christine Legault, Cprime

Marvin Wong, SECURE Energy

Rhonda Rudnitski, SECURE Energy

A chiefinformation /technology/ operationalofficer or director/ head ofwho 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 leaderis in the business and how she has helped put technology at the heart of the business, driving strong commercial results in the process.

Amanda Jane Preece, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Claire Lam, Loopt

Kristine Middlemiss, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies

Michelle Joliat, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

A female IT, technology or business leader who has demonstrated successful results in data technology in the last 2 years. This could include demonstrations of successfullydeploying data technologies; improving how a company uses or deals with data; delivering effective data strategies; enhancing decision-making with data; or furthering knowledge, awareness and education around data and related technologies.

Andrea Niu, General Motors

Delsie Sequeira, ICF Consulting Canada

Diana Esparza, Export Development Canada(EDC)

Ferial Sheybani, Colliers

Kasia Wakarecy, Pythian Services Inc.

Megha Narayanan, SpotHero

Parisa Lak, Manulife

Penka Bocheva, EPAM

This award will be presented toa project or initiativethathas had demonstrable success in improving the recruitment, onboarding, development and/or progression, networks and inclusionof underrepresented talent.This may be a digital technology driven initiative or project that has improved communication, engagement and support and removed a significant barrier to change affecting diverse talent. 

Accenture Technology and I&D Recruitment Team, Accenture

Neurodiverse Professional Services Partnership, Salesforce and Auticon

Women in Identity

Women in Technology Group, Loblaw Technology & Analytics

A female 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 technologyand innovationinvolved; leadership; best practice; results and return on investment; alignment to business goals; and how culture shifts were managed. 

Darya Abdollahzadeh, realtor.com

Elaine Oei, Cineplex Entertainment Ltd

Elysia Douillard, JOEY Restaurant Group

Ferial Sheybani, Colliers

Galia Forouzesh Far, Midfield Interactive

Marlene Ross, Oak Valley Health

Michelle Joliat, OntarioTeachers’ Pension Plan

Natasha Gilani, Accenture

Sumika Singh, Home Trust Company

Thanuja Karunamoorthy, Equitable Bank

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.

Constance Frenette, Bell Canada

Farzia Khan, TD Bank

Sophia Dhrolia, Toronto Region Board of Trade

This award is for a technology organisation 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 employer has made to create a more diverse and inclusive working environment.

Equitable Bank

Greenlight Consulting

JOVACO Solutions

Pythian Services Inc.

ThoughtExchange

A female leader of a technology, digital or e-commerce start-up that has demonstrated excellent growth in the last 2-years, with a coherent and sustainable strategy in achieving it. Judges will look at demonstrations of growth (turnover, profit, employees etc.), standout achievements and customer testimonials.

Caitlin MacGregor, Plum

Cindy Gordon, SalesChoice Inc.

Elena Sinelnikova, Metis

Lisa Loud, FLUIDEFI

A female tech professional who has demonstrated outstanding innovation, customer wins and deployments in the last 2 years. Judges will look at products/services, client testimonials, examples of ROI achieved, success in challenging implementations, post-sales support and service, and tailored customisations in specific enterprise environments.

Alison Menary, Embross/Toronto Public Library

Dr Chandana Unnithan, Lifeguard Digital Health

Garima Bajpai, Capital Carbon Consulting

JennyLemieux, Vivid Machines

Lisa Loud, FLUIDEFI

Malgosia Green, Plenty of Fish

Stephanie Law, Greenlight Consulting

Xiaomei Wang, InsightZen

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.

Colliers, Led by Ferial Sheybani

Opendoor, Led by Heather Natour

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Led by Lisa Schiraldi

SEDNA, Led by Lakshmi Baskaran

ILoveMyQA, Led by Margarita Simonova

RBC, Led by Melissa Carvalho

Professional Engineers Ontario, Led by Michelle Wehrle

Walmart Canada, Ledby Michon Williams

Eduplan Solutions, Led by Nathalie Myara

Accenture, Led by Jennifer Jackson

A woman under the age of 30, or who turns 30 in 2022, who has progressed rapidly though their career and demonstrated business value and innovation through the use of technology. This could include demonstrations of successfully deploying technologies; improving how a company approaches technology; delivering effective IT or technology strategies; enhancing decision-making with technology; creating business value, efficiencies and cost savings, or improving services, through the use of technology; driving new innovation in the industry; or furthering knowledge, awareness and education around technology.

Alexandra Sunderland, Fellow

Doris Qian, Government of Canada, Environment and Climate Change

Elena Grigoras, Loblaw

Ellis Odynn, EY Digital Finance Institute

Farzia Khan, TD Bank

Garima Bajpai, Capital Carbon Consulting

Jacqueline Do, Accenture

Stephanie Long, dentalcorp

This category recognises the achievements over a long period of time which has 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.

Beth Gerritsen, Primary Care -Independent

Brenda Okorogba, Momentswithbren Consulting

Jenny Alfandary, Westario Power Inc.

Marijana Zuvela, McDonald’s

Natalia Bakhtina, BFL Canada

This award honours an organisation or company using technology to improve the lives of others and the world around us. It recognises corporate social responsibility, charity work or green and sustainability initiatives that are driven or implemented using pioneering digital techniques. Entries will be judged on their effectiveness, innovation and overall commitment to doing good. Entrants should reference how their technology links to the UN Sustainability Goals, and which SDGs in particular.

Jenny Lemieux, Vivid Machines

Rachel Hor, CarbonTerra

Tas Damen, Connected Canadians

A woman who has demonstrated the highest degree of IT excellence, innovation and leadership over the last 2 years, and shone a light on the great things women in IT can achieve. Candidates should have not only have demonstrated outstanding business-and/ortechnology-focused achievements, but also give examples on how they have actively sought to bring more diversity into the technology industry.

Amanda Jane Preece, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Claudette McGowan, TD Bank

Constance Frenette, Bell Canada Inc.

Jenny Alfandary, Westario Power Inc.

Julieann Esper Rainville, PointClickCare

Malgosia Green, Plenty of Fish

Maria Bolovis, eStruxture Data Centers

Michelle Wehrle, Professional Engineers Ontario

Santa Di Stefano, Pythian Services Inc.

Winnie Ye, Carleton University