WICxAnnual Summit 2022 : Meet the Nominees for the Inaugural WICxALLIES Awards

As part of the #WICxALLIES campaign, Women in Cloud has partnered with tech-industry leader Gavriella Schuster to bring you the inaugural WICxALLIES Awards – recognizing the individuals who demonstrate allyship by empowering women in tech through Advocacy, Listening, Lifting, Including, Elevating and Sponsoring. 

Allies are the men and women building for inclusion through their everyday actions to bring more women into their network, organization and leadership roles. Allies are recognized across three categories: 

  • Overall Allyship Award – recognizing an ally who clearly demonstrates their work who act to Advocate, Listen, Lift, Include, Elevate and Sponsor women in their network with examples of outcomes.
  • Sponsor Award – recognizing a leader and ally who clearly demonstrates their work to sponsor women in tech through financial empowerment and mentorship.
  • Advocate Award – recognizing a leader and ally who clearly demonstrates their work to advocate for women in tech through their supplier and organizational ecosystems.

 

We are overwhelmed with the number of nominations we received and the incredible impact the nominees have made on their communities. Take a look at this incredible list of allies nominated for the inaugural awards: 

  • Sophia Priyadarshini – Cybersecurity Crusader, InstaSafe
  • Karin Moore – Ph.D Candidate, Pepperdine University (Sept 2021); Former Sr. Director of the PMO, Teradata 
  • John Dathan – General Manager and Senior Vice President, Insight Canada
  • Jessica Robinson – CEO, PurePoint International
  • Kate Brodock – CEO, Women 2.0, Founding Partner at the W Fund
  • Gina Fratarcangeli – Managing Director Mid-West Sales, Accenture
  • Neirda Thompson-Pemberton – Executive Director, FUNducation Inc 
  • Kristin Pelletier – Owner and Instructor, Access Computer Training (ACT) 
  • Anne Cocquyt – Founder & CEO, The Guild 
  • Anamarie Franc – Managing Director, SAP
  • Jim Wilson – Partner, Costanoa Ventures
  • Eunice Nisbett – CEO/Manager, Savvy Corporate Planners
  • Pat Sullivan – Cloud First Lead, Accenture 
  • Miri Rodriguez – Business Program Manager and Storyteller, Microsoft
  • Lori Eberly – CEO, Radius ECD
  • Shari Dunn – CEO & Principal, ITBOM LLC
  • Angela Green – Area Manager, Amazon; CEO, I’m a Survivor Mission 
  • Maria Aiello – Global Head, Real Estate & Mortgages Technologies
  • Dawn-Marie Elder – COO, SIPPIO
  • Octavian Tanase – SVP Hybrid Cloud Engineering, NetApp
  • Sherlander “Lani” Phillips – VP One Commercial Channel Sales Organization, Microsoft
  • Rajiv Kapoor – Co-founder, Chai Angels
  • Ekaterina Vinnichenko – Program Manager of Developer Relations team, Google Russia
  • Deborah Akerele – Executive Director, Valouree Foundation 
  • Julie Wagner – Sales Manager, Zones LLC
  • Mara Larson-Richard – CEO, Ada’s List 
  • Glynis Bryan – CFO, Insight Canada
  • Sarah Dale – General Manager, International Paper
  • Vince Menzione – Chief Guide and Founder, Ultimate Partnerships
  • Beatriz Oliveira – IT Infrastructure Consultant, Telefonica; Community Manager, SysAdminas
  • Regina Manfredi – VP, Global Alliances – AWS, Teradata 
  • Turayo Falade – Founder, The Complete Woman 
  • Erin Reilly – Founder & Director, Texas Immersive Institute
  • Ashley Ojeda – Business Development Coach, Nonprofit Founder & Author of Jefa in Training
  • Nathan Chung – Senior Consultant, Azure Cloud & AI, Microsoft

Come cheer on our nominees at the WICxALLIES Awards, part of the WICxAnnualSummit2022! Get your tickets here.

Four out of ten women lost jobs in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an attempt to combat these devastations, Women in Cloud launched the #empowHERfamily initiative in August 2021. The goal of this cross-sector economic relief initiative is to empower 1 million women in India to have an effective future through the curation of actionable digital solutions that provide economic relief. 

The digital skilling portion of this campaign offered Azure Training and Certification Scholarships to women in India—which was made possible by our partnerships with Microsoft, Coursera, RV College of Engineering and IAMCP. 

In November 2021, Women in Cloud launched the community fundraising portion of the #empowHERfamily campaign. Through partnerships with Indiaspora and Give India, Women In Cloud set the goal of raising $1M for 2,500 Indian women who lost the primary bread-winner of their families to COVID-19. 

Women In Cloud, Give India, and Indiaspora are ecstatic to announce that almost $60,000 were raised to support the impacted women. The funds raised from the community fundraising campaign will be distributed as a 1-time bank transfer of $400 (INR 30,000). This will aid urban families with monthly expenses for two months and rural families for three months. 

This momentous feat could not have been achieved without our incredible community—so, thank you! Together, the lives of thousands of women and children will be transformed for the better. 

If you would like to be a part of the #empowHERfamily initiative, consider becoming a volunteer, donating to the community fundraising campaign, amplifying the voices of the affected women by becoming a social media ambassador, nominating an NGO/non-profit to get access to digital solutions, or simply learning more

Every action—regardless of its size—has immense impacts.

Monumental events have undertaken in the last two years at Women in Cloud; our purpose to generate $1B in economic access received tremendous support and we are now on the path to realizing that dream with greater support from Fortune brands like Microsoft, Insight, Accenture, Hitachi Solutions, Teradata, Avanade, Boeing and Global Affairs Canada along with other partner organizations like UN Women, EQUALS and Ideagen.

With programs like Women in Cloud Azure Skilling Scholarship, Fortune 100 Initiative, EmpowHERAcess Campaign and Women in Cloud Accelerator running around the globe with massive impact being created, our leadership has had their hands full to create a world-wide economic impact.

Thus, it is with great enthusiasm that we announce, our President and Co-founder, Chaitra Vedullapalli’s recognition in the Forbes Next 1000 2021 List.

Chaitra Vedullapalli, Forbes 1000 Next Entrepreneur

The Forbes Next 1000 list shines light on the ambitious sole proprietors, self-funded shops and pre-revenue startups in every region of the country—all with under $10 million in revenue or funding and infinite drive and hustle. Forbes and their partners at Square are thrilled to welcome Chaitra Vedullapalli to the Forbes Next 1000 class of 2021. This first-of-its-kind initiative celebrates bold and inspiring entrepreneurs—like her—who are redefining what it means to run a business today. They received thousands of nominations and her achievements have been recognized by their editors plus a panel of top business minds and entrepreneurial superstars.

She is a purpose driven leader who bridges business and technology to globally scale companies and drive economic development, Chaitra Vedullapalli’s impact in the technology industry and community has been extensive in her 20-plus years tech career.

We at Women in Cloud celebrate Chaitra’s contribution and a well-deserved recognition by Forbes.

Congratulations Chaitra!

It’s the season of giving for everyone, we have an opportunity to pay forward the prosperity and access that we are blessed with. 

In response to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on women in India, Women in Cloud launched the #empowHERfamily initiative in August 2021. The purpose of this cross-sector economic relief initiative is to empower 1M women in India to have an effective future by curating actionable digital solutions to provide economic relief. 

One of the campaign’s initial successes was the launch of digital skilling efforts in partnership with Microsoft, Coursera, RV College of Engineering and IAMCP to create access to cloud jobs and opportunities.

During this holiday season, Women in Cloud and Indiaspora partnered with Give India to help to raise $1M to distribute as direct cash assistance to 2,500 women who lost the primary bread-winner in their families due to Covid-19. Funds raised will be used to provide direct cash assistance to affected women in India through GiveIndia and their network of on-the-ground nonprofit partners.  

This giving season, can we count on you to support Women in India displaced by Covid-19 with a simple gift?

You can make a difference by joining us in one of three ways:

  • Donate – Can we count on you to contribute $100, $250 or $500 towards achieving our collective goal? It only takes a few minutes to change 2,500 lives.
  • Sign up to become a volunteer to serve in a variety of roles — from business mentors to local community advocates. Get recognized as an Influential Cloud Advisor and transform their careers through the power of collective access and action.
  • Invite and inspire your professional and personal communities to join you in this cause, by sharing with your professional and personal networks.

The enthusiasm and support of our community is inspiring. The #empowHERfamily initiative is galvanizing corporate and community partners in the U.S. to raise funds to support women in India. The Corporate campaign helped raise $40,000, and we’re excited to partner with Indiaspora and GiveIndia to launch a community campaign with a goal to raise $1 million to provide direct cash assistance to women who have lost the primary breadwinner in their families due to COVID-19.   

We want to acknowledge our deepest gratitude to Vasu Jakkal, Christine Puccio, Karen Fassio, Karen Cone, Rajiv Kapoor, Barry Russell, Michelle Pruitt, Ram Dutt, Pradhyna Desh, Maria Defante, Debbie Uttech and Tejas Dixit who helped us establish $30K Match Fund to accelerate economic relief for women.  In addition, we  are deeply grateful to our community partners Indiaspora, Restart Partners, International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners, GiveIndia, Women in Technology Network, and Microsoft Alumni Network who are supporting us to accomplish the bold goal of helping 2,500 women in India who lost the primary bread-earners in their families and were pushed to the brink of poverty due to COVID-19. 

An act of Charity bestows many benefits for the giver – it develops an attitude of service; expands the heart, and fosters the sentiment of compassion for others. Will you take this opportunity to give to women like Ninghoih and Mankhanching who are struggling to make ends meet due to COVID-19, and spread light in their lives this giving season? 

Change a life today. Click here to Donate Now

Revolutions cannot thrive without our industry being reshaped by those that are at the core of its future. At Women in Cloud, we have learned the power of collective access and action to ignite stronger leadership and economic opportunities for women in technology, through the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Welcome to #WICxUNGA 2021, where like-minded industry leaders, executives, investors, entrepreneurs and community members come together to share the new narrative that is accelerating digital transformation, economic opportunity, global inclusivity and proven leadership development for our community and beyond.
The #WICxUNGA event will capture powerful dialogue through unique activations focused on UN SD goals, including gender equality, sustainability, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and strategic partnerships to achieve our collective mission and vision. We’ll cover social responsibility and collaboration to eliminate inequalities and injustices, including TED-like workshops, plenary sessions, roundtable discussions and a pitch challenge. 

Experience a community event unlike any other that dives deep into addressing the challenges we face today with next generation solutions harnessing AI for good, sustainability, building trusted partnerships and networks, becoming effective strategic advisors and developing career growth opportunities focused on leadership acceleration.

How are thought leaders today changing the narratives for tomorrow? This is #WICxUNGA 2021.

We are so delighted to bring you three unique and creative experiences by our partners.

Presented by IBM : AI Innovation and Ethics Track

Thought Leadership Session: Using AI Innovation To Achieve The UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

AI and climate change has been an area that has been gaining a lot of traction in recent years.Today’s cloud age of digital technology drives remarkable advancements at phenomenal speed. This plenary session will examine how AI Innovations can help us achieve the UN 2030 SDG’s and their potential ethical issues that are likely to bring forward, their impacts on economic equity and access for women.

AI Innovation & Ethics Unplugged Roundtables

If AI is our future, what is it really telling us? This is a session hosted by experienced leaders utilizing a group discussion format to allow attendees to share their own valuable inputs on specific AI-related topics and their potential ethical issues that is likely to bring forward their impacts on economic equity and access for women to design the strategies for Women In Cloud – AI Ethics Coalition 2022 charter. Your input, your voice and your ideas will help us shape the future of the AI Ethics Coalition. Get engaged, connect with other thought leaders and join our collective action.

Presented by Microsoft: Cloud Hands On Lab & #Buildfor2030 Hackathon

Hands on Cloud Day: Provide attendees with access to a free Hands-On Lab experience to get their hands “Cloudy” and deepen their Azure foundational knowledge.

#Buildfor2030 Hackathon and Ask Me Anything Session: An innovative hackathon that seeks to drive transformative solutions and services into development to further the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Through this learning and community-building journey, together we are accelerating innovation to power a more inclusive economy.

#CloudJobs Diverse Recruiting: A digital job fair offering a meet and greet experience with hiring managers and recruiters, where women can meet with companies actively seeking and recruiting talent, benefitting both the company and the job seeker by aligning talent with employment opportunities.

Power Talk: What’s Next After Cloud Certification? How to Pursue Your Dream Job: Sometimes when we reach one destination it’s actually just the beginning of a new journey.  Cloud Certification is just the first step of many in your new career path.  Learn how to develop the right strategy, skill sets and approaches to landing that dream job you have been searching for.  Discover the best practices of how to market yourself in a highly competitive marketplace and understand what companies are looking for in today’s ideal candidate.

Power Talk: How to Secure a Job in the Trillion Dollar Cloud Industry : The Cloud Technology industry continues to grow at incredible rates, and so do the opportunities to become part of this trillion dollar marketplace.  But where do you begin?  Learn how to search, apply and prepare for securing a cloud technology job today that matches your skill sets and vision for success, even when there is a growing number of talented candidates out there.  Here’s your chance to find that competitive advantage you’ve been hoping for.

Presented by JP Morgan Chase : Leadership Acceleration Track

Workshop: How to Become a Strategic & Effective Advisor (Panel & Demos): What if we all tapped into the natural born leaders that we already are? Strategic and effective advisors are not taught, rather learned from experience.  Learn how to tap into the innate personal power and leadership skills you possess to become advisors to others, enabling you to grow in your career, support others in their own growth and have access to achieve more advancement opportunities in the future. This is the power of purpose-driven leadership in action.

How to Build a High Trusted Relationship (Workshop): What if our greatest relationships start with one powerful story? Often we find ourselves in a position where we have to prove and demonstrate our knowledge to others in order to get noticed or validated. Learn techniques on how to create a strategic business narrative that is built on trust, authenticity and human connection so you can develop the strongest personal and professional relationships possible. This is where your voice cultivates real business growth.

Get access to all this and more at the 2-Day Signature Event. 

Visit https://www.womenincloud.com/wicxunga/ for full event details.