Women Tech Council announces 2019 winners of Women Tech Awards

The Women Tech Council (WTC) announced its 2019 recipients of the Women Tech Awards at an event last week in Salt Lake City. The awards program is designed to recognize women across all technology disciplines who are leading and founding technology companies; trailblazing new paths; and building innovative technologies, tools and experiences, the organization said. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}

The program is in its 12th year.

The awards ceremony was keynoted by Tami Erwin, executive vice president and group CEO of Verizon Business Group.

“By providing visibility for women in technology, these awards have changed the landscape of the technology sector and the career trajectories of hundreds of women and young women,” said Cydni Tetro, Women Tech Council president. “The visibility they bring is magnified even further through the support of industry partners like Tami Erwin, and strengthens every other part of the economic pipeline for women in technology by amplifying leadership-level opportunities and activating more women into tech fields.”

WTC said award recipients were selected for their impact on the technology industry and economy and community contributions.

The 2019 recipients are:

• Entrepreneurship Excel-lence: Erin Valenti, founder and CEO, Tinker.

• Technology Leadership: Maureen Botoman, director of engineering, Pluralsight.

• Culture Leadership: Linda Llewelyn, chief people officer, Health Catalyst.

• Data Innovator: Crystal Valentine, chief data strategy officer, Eventbrite.

• Operational Excellence: Tina Larson, chief operating officer, Recursion Pharmaceuticals.

• Diversity Leadership: Heather Conlan-Katz, vice president and senior engineer, ETO Technology-Client Event Services, Goldman Sachs.

• Visionary Trailblazer: Aniza M. Brown, chief of corporate transformation and Federal Women’s Program manager, U.S. Air Force, Ogden Air Logistics Complex, Hill Air Force Base.

• Impact: Adobe.

• STEM Pathway: Jessica Jones, Utah Valley University.

Other finalists are (alphabetically): Anjul Bhambhri, Adobe; Beth Klaumann, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems; Christie Kent, SirsiDynix; Emily Smith, Divvy; Karin Hensien, RizePoint; Karla Renee, Lucid Software; Katie Boyd, Health Catalyst; Kristie Rowley, Domo; Laura Butler, Workfront; Lina Nilsson, Recursion Pharmaceuticals; and Marta DeBellis, Instructure. Other student finalists are Katie Varela, Brigham Young University; Sarah Stamps, Weber State University; and Serena Aeschilman, University of Utah.

   The awards were held in partnership with Dealertrack, Dell EMC, Domo, EY, Health Catalyst, Nice InContact, Pelion and Vivint Smart Home.

Founded in 2007, the Women Tech Council focuses on the economic impact of women in driving growth for the technology sector, the group said in a statement. WTC builds programs that amplify and create tech talent to support more women in technology careers from high school to the board room. Through these programs, WTC offers mentoring, visibility, opportunities and networking to more than 10,000 women and men working in technology; has activated more than 15,000 girls to pursue STEM fields; and helps organizations create business environments focused on high performance, not just diversity, where men and women can succeed.{/mprestriction}