Women in IT Excellence Awards - shortlist announced!

We have now announced the shortlisted entries for the very first Women in IT Excellence awards.

There can be no disputing that the IT industry is less-than-equally balanced between genders, despite the work being done by many companies. That conversation, though, sometimes overpowers the news of the truly incredible women that are already working in the industry.

From executives to innovators and IT leaders to outstanding returners, we believe that the best way to inspire the next generation is to show them the remarkable women that are breaking ground in the digital world.

The awards will take place at the Montcalm London Marble Arch on the 1st November. Table packages, individual seat deals and sponsorship opportunities are now available.

CIO of the Year

• Cait O'Riordan, Chief Product and Information Officer, Financial Times
• Susan Standiford, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board Member, Zeal Network SE
• Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Director of Information Services, University of York

Digital Leader of the Year

• Eleanor Bradley, Chief Operating Officer , Nominet
• Hannah Armand, Senior Consultant, The HCi Group
• Jennifer Roubaud, UK County Manager, Dataiku
• Sarah Targett, External Collaborations Lead, Syngenta
• Sarah Wells, Principal Engineer, Financial Times
• Chelsea Reid, Head of Social Media Operations, Barclays Bank
• Laura Willis, Digital Marketing Manager International, Information Builders
• Christa Guntermann, Principal Manager SIM Products, Vodafone GmbH

Diversity Employer of the Year

• TechMarketView
• Advanced
• FDM Group
• Cloudreach Europe Ltd
• Ocado Technology
• Mayden

Diversity Project of the Year

• Aberystwyth University, BCS Women Lovelace Colloquium
• National Grid
• Capgemini UK PLC.
• University College London
• Newcastle Business School Northumbria University
• KPMG
• Tellermate Ltd.
• Vodafone Group
• Cyber Security Capital

Entrepreneur of the Year

• Kim Nilsson, CEO, Pivigo
• Romi Savova, Chief Executive Officer, PensionBee
• Sarah Lellow, Managing Director, Reciprocal Ltd/ LifecycleStor Ltd.
• Shalini Anita Chellaraj, Software Engineer, Tellermate
• Romi Savova, Chief Executive Officer, PensionBee
• Laura Tucker, Director, Vertigo Ventures LTD.
• Imogen Wethered, CEO/Co-Founder, Qudini

Hero of the Year (Enterprise)

• Ceinwen Blake, Head Technical Delivery and IT Operations, Office for National Statistics
• Khyati Robinson, Operational Readiness Lead, PaddyPowerBetfair
• Michelle Cope, Portfolio Architect, Allianz 
• Nicoleta Raportaru, Executive Consultant, Atos Consulting
• Samantha Allanson, Operations Manager, Atos Consulting
• Victoria Morgan-Smith, Delivery Lead, Business Technology, Financial Times Ltd.
• Rachel Ruston, Head of IT Delivery & Commercial Services, Barnsley Metropolitan Council / Code Green
• Tara George, Executive Assistant to CIO, Allianz Insurance
• Helen Mallett, Head of Service Delivery UK and Ireland, Centrica
• Louise Mackinlay, Senior Manager, Hosting Operations Northern Europe , Vodafone
• Sescia Grelet, Project Manager, Red Hat UK Ltd.

Hero of the Year (SME)

• Beverley Heath, Delivery Manager, MooD International
• Elena Polubochko, CTO, Godel Technologies
• Joanna Tosko, Operations Manager, PPL
• Sally Padmore, Client Services Manager, IRESS
• Jennifer Shorten, Technical Delivery Architect, MarkLogic
• Laura Higgins, Online Safety Operations Manager, South West Grid for Learning
• Fiona Braithwaite, Service Delivery Compliance Manager, SGN
• Rachel Freeman, Operations Director UK, Creative Virtual Ltd
• Karen Mace, Assistant Registrar, University Of Derby

Innovator of the Year

• Romi Savova, CEO, PensionBee
• Fiona Dawson, Implementation Manager and Feature Owner, Mayden
• Julie Bretland, CEO, Our Mobile Health
• Melba Foggo, Managing Director, Financial Services, Sopra Steria
• Orsolya Patterson, Business Analyst, MooD International
• Vidhyalakshmi Karthikeyan, Principal Research Scientist, BT
• Lydia Barbara, Head of Innovation Strategy, Microgaming
• Chelsea Reid, Head of Social Media Operations, Barclays Bank
• Deryn Graham, Retired Senior Lecturer, University of Greenwich
• Romi Savova, Chief Executive Officer, PensionBee
• Claire Powell, Senior Product Manager, Financial Times

IT Leader of the Year

• Anne Marie Neatham, COO, Ocado Technology
• Clare Grant, General Manager, Red Hat
• Marianne Calder, VP EMEA, Puppet
• Melba Foggo, Managing Director, Financial Services, Sopra Steria
• Nikki Carr, Operations Director, Tempcover Ltd
• Sarah Lellow, Managing Director, Reciprocal Ltd/ LifecycleStor Ltd
• Sarah Targett, Syngenta
• Susan Standiford, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board Member, Zeal Network SE
• Bruna Pellicci, IT Director, Ashurst
• Rachel Tracey, Director, KPMG
• Nicky Stewart, Commercial Director, UKCloud Ltd

Outstanding Returner Award 

• Cecilia Dexter-Tissington, Operational Analyst, Allianz Insurance
• Shalini Anita Chellaraj, Software Engineer, Tellermate
• Claire Stephens, Senior Customer Success Manager, Red Hat
• Sophie Gillot, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, EMEA, Red Hat
• Klair Neenan, Head of IT Delivery, SSE Ireland
• Kerstin Theiner, Head of Transformation, Vodafone Group Services GmbH
• Samantha Pink, IT Resource and Talent Manager, Allianz Insurance
• Sheila Marriott, IT Consultant, FDM Group

Outstanding Transformation (Enterprise) 

• Ceinwen Blake, Head Technical Delivery and IT Operations, Office for National Statistics
• Michelle Cope, Portfolio Architect, Allianz PLC
• Rachel Nolan, Senior Consultant , Atos
• Tracy Corkett, Services Delivery Practice Lead, Red Hat
• Samantha Taylor-Smith, Programme Director, Fidelity International
• Stephanie Lynch Habib, Chief Marketing Officer, Colt Technology Services
• Pooja Naidu, Group Product Manager - Conversion, Financial Times
• Emma Kaid, Head of IT Operations and Cargo, Emirates Airlines
• Helen Mallett, Head of Service Delivery UK and Ireland, Centrica
• Charlotte Walters, IT Manager, Allianz
• Kirsty Bright, Senior Manager, Cognitive & Robotics Programmes, Vodafone Group Services
• Julie Delargy, IT Service Centre Manager, John Lewis Partnership

Outstanding Transformation (SME) 

• Bethan Timmins, Delivery Manager, Principal Asia Pacific, Equal Experts
• Claire Tuckey, Product Owner, Mayden
• Elsa Chen, Chief Executive Officer, EntanetSally Scott, CMO, Advanced
• Sarah Targett, External Collaborations Lead, Syngenta
• Louise McCarthy, Director of Digital Transformation, Ebrd
• Pav Shergill, Project Manager, Nimbl Ltd
• Chrissie Felthouse, Senior Project Manager, University of Derby
• Colette Osborne, Salesforce Project Manager, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
• Abigail Powell, Senior Manager, Business Intelligence, KPMG

Rising Star Award (SME) 

• Anya Rumyantseva, Data Scientist, Pentaho, a Hitachi Group Company
• Jo Hopkins, Senior UX Consultant, IRESS
• Kim Nilsson, CEO, Pivigo
• Zee Allison, (Acting) Senior Toolkit Developer, University of Aberdeen
• Sarah Mottershead, Consultant, MooD International
• Ellie Barrett, Alliances Manager, Natterbox
• Beverley Newing, Front End Developer, Oxford Computer Consultants
• Imogen Wethered, CEO/CO-Founder, Qudini

Rising Star Award (Enterprise) 

• Treasa Harkin, Technology Consultant, KPMG
• Anika Blacksmith, Manager, Inside Sales Red Hat
• Vidhyalakshmi Karthikeyan, Principal Research Scientist, BT
• Ariane Gadd, Senior DevOps Engineer, KPMG
• Isabelle Cave, Project Support Team Leader, Ocado Technology
• Carline James, Lead Business Systems Analyst, Allianz Insurance
• Synthura Raviraj, Technology Analyst, KPMG
• Andjela Djukanovic, Tech Risk Consulting Analyst, KPMG
• Louise Lawrey, Business Consultant, Atos
• Jenni Williams, Digital Service Manager, Office for National Statistics
• Ruby Nithyanand, Technology Risk Manager, BlackRock
• Janette Isiguzo, Service Delivery Manager (Enterprise), Rackspace

Role Model of the Year (SME) 

• Alison Sturgess-Durden, Director, Mayden
• Katy Axtell, Head of Business Solutions, SGN
• Susan Greenhill, Head of Clinical Information Systems, Cambridge University Hospitals
• Vicky Trowell, Product Delivery Manager, Willmott Dixon
• Virginia Hodge, Principal Engineer, Snowflake Software
• Imogen Wethered, CEO/Co-Founder, Qudini
• Madeleine Togher, Senior Lecturer of Information Systems and Application Development, University of Greenwich
• Nicole Bryan, VP of Product Management, Tasktop Technologies
• Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Director of Information Services, University of York

Role Model of the Year (Enterprise) 

• Anna Goss, Head of B2B-Enterprise, Kaspersky
• Rina Brahmbhatt, Senior Solution Architect/ITSM Consultant/ITIL Trainer, Atos Global Consulting
• Emma Kaid, Head of IT Operations and Cargo, Emirates Airlines
• Rachel Ruston, Head of IT Delivery & Commercial Services, Barnsley Metropolitan Council / Code Green
• Anna Miedzianowska, Head of Product, Ocado Technology
• Anna Somaiya, Senior Consultant CIO Advisory, KPMG
• Leanne Allen, Director - Banking Technology Data, KPMG
• Sue Forder, Executive Information Architect, IBM
• Charlotte Walters, IT Manager, Allianz
• Christine Bellenger, Corporate MIS Manager, Allianz Insurance
• Melissa Di Donato, Chief Revenue Officer, SAP
• Nickie Harding, Head of Information Management Systems and Analytics Cambridge University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust
• Annagreth Flierl Williams, Manager, Strategic Customer Engagement (SCE) EMEA, Red Hat
• Katrina Novakovic, Senior Customer Success Manager, Red Hat

Security Leader of the Year 

• Nikita Lohia, Junior Integration Engineer, The Financial Times Ltd.
• Samantha Hoffmann, Digital Security Manager, Microgaming
• Jan Langham, Head of Security, Risk & Engagement, Paddypower Betfair
• Louise Bader-Jones, Departmental security officer, Deputy SIRO Office for National Statistics
• Dee Deu, CISO, British Land
• Emma Smith, Group Technology Security Director, Vodafone Group

Woman of the Year (Enterprise) 

• Heather Savory, Director General for Data Capability, Office for National Statistics
• Melissa Di Donato, Chief Revenue Officer, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP
• Michelle Cope, Portfolio Architect, Allianz Plc
• Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer, FDM Group
• Vidhyalakshmi Karthikeyan, Principal Research Scientist, BT
• Louise McCarthy, Director of Digital Transformation, Ebrd
• Ariane Gadd, Senior DevOps Engineer, KPMG
• Pamela Maynard, Area President, Europe, Avanade
• Neha Sinha, Dev Ops Project Manager, Centrica Plc
• Claire Carter, MD, WoltersKluwer

Woman of the Year (SME) 

• Elsa Chen, Chief Executive Officer, Entanet
• Gemma Crothers, Tech Outreach Manager, Kainos Software
• Jane Zavalishina, CEO, Yandex Data Factory
• Leigh-Anne Galloway, Cyber Security Resilience Lead, Positive Technologies.
• Shalini Anita Chellaraj, Software Engineer, Tellermate
• Dolciebella Elliott, CEO and Managing Partner, Revolutum
• Imogen Wethered, CEO/Co-Founder, Qudini
• Julie Donkin, Divisional Director - Cyber & Tech Division, Ashley Page Insurance Brokers
• Jane Frankland, Managing Director, Cyber Security Capital
• Patty Kostkova, Principal Research Associate in ehealth, University College London