PALO ALTO, CA — (Marketwired) — 03/22/16 — The Anita Borg Institute (ABI), a non-profit organization focused on the advancement of women in computing announces the winners of the 2016 ABIE Awards, which highlights three women in computing for their achievements as a technical leader, an entrepreneur and student.
, Distinguished Engineer and Chief Security Architect of Cisco–s Security & Trust Organization and , CEO and Founder of Piazza, are the recipients of the Leadership and Technology Entrepreneurship ABIE Awards respectively. , a computer science student at McMaster University, is the Student of Vision ABIE award winner.
“Michele, Pooja and Alyssia have each made remarkable contributions to the technology industry, and I–m excited to honor their achievements at the Women of Vision Awards Banquet,” said Telle Whitney, President and CEO of ABI. “ABI is committed to recognizing exceptional women in computing and elevating their accomplishments on a global stage through the ABIE Awards.”
Michele joined Cisco in 1996 as the founding member of Cisco–s internal security team, and in 2010, she was promoted to Distinguished Engineer, one of eight women in that role across the company. She recently co-founded the Cisco Women in Cybersecurity Community, which focuses on developing the next generation of women cybersecurity leaders. Michele is also an avid participant, speaker, teacher, influencer and evangelist in the cybersecurity industry for nearly 30 years.
Pooja Sankar is the founder and CEO of Piazza, a college collaboration and recruiting platform that serves over one million students around the world. Prior to founding Piazza, Pooja was a software engineer at Oracle, Kosmix and Facebook. Piazza was born out of Pooja–s passion for social collaboration, which she tapped into as one of three women studying computer science at IIT.
Alyssia Jovellanos is an aspiring software engineer, highly motivated computer science student and advocate for women in technology who is passionate about the interdisciplinary nature of software engineering applications. Alyssia is the co-founder and co-director of one of Canada–s largest student hackathons, DeltaHacks, and was elected as both the youngest and first female Computer Science Society President. She recently founded McMaster University–s first Women in CS group.
ABI–s Women of Vision Awards Banquet honors women making significant contributions to technology. The event will take place on May 5, 2016 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The event will feature a keynote from Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, Executive Director of Engineering at Facebook and Head of Display Technologies at Oculus. Ana Pinczuk, ABI Trustee and Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Veritas, will emcee the awards banquet.
for the Women of Vision Awards Banquet are available through Wednesday, March 23.
for the Women of Vision Awards Banquet is now open — reserve your seats today!
Current event sponsors include: ADP, BNY Mellon, Capital One, Cisco, eBay, Facebook, HP, Juniper Networks and Symantec.
The Anita Borg Institute (ABI) connects, inspires and guides women in computing and organizations that view technology innovation as a strategic imperative. Founded in 1997 by computer scientist Anita Borg, our reach extends to more than 65 countries. We believe technology innovation powers the global economy, and that women are crucial to building technology the world needs. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. For more information, visit anitaborg.org.
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Vicki Cook
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