Stevie-winner Vodafone Oman was established through a strategic partnership between the Oman Future Telecommunication Company and Vodafone Group, one of the largest providers of mobile, fixed, broadband, and digital TV services.

Vodafone Group is a British multinational telecommunications company. With its registered office and global headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, England, it predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.

In 2021, the company obtained a Class I License to establish and operate public mobile telecommunications services in the Sultanate of Oman, becoming the third telecom operator in the local market.My Vodafone in Oman
The My Vodafone app has been downloaded by over 2 million people across Oman. Through the app, customers can onboard themselves virtually in less than two minutes, including plan and number selection, identity verification using advanced AI and facial recognition capabilities, payment, and eSIM (and physical SIM delivery or pick-up). They also enable customers to replace their SIMs remotely, providing SIM-to-eSIM replacement within seconds.

Vodafone offers a monthly subscription model wherein customers can enable the auto-payment feature so that the user's account is charged on the plan’s renewal date without any human intervention to ensure uninterrupted service. Customers are given the ability to set an amount to be withdrawn automatically once a minimum threshold is reached.

They have also developed a feature called "Everything Is Okay (EIO)" which allows customers to check their account against any technical, financial, and network issues. Customers are presented with an issue and a way to resolve it, covering payments and renewals, account status, network, and device and SIM management.

Existing customers can digitally add up to 10 numbers under their main account in less than a minute using My Vodafone, including number selection, plan selection, payment, and SIM activation.

App Improvement & Service Expansion
To localize an international brand, Vodafone had to bring on a team of agencies that brought local insights with technological prowess.

The Vodafone Academy was an integrative program between the different agencies and Vodafone Oman that aims to build a circular talent economy that nurtures young Omani talents. The program was centered around three key pillars of marketing: media, content/creative, and social media. The program spanned six months and ultimately awarded two graduates full-time placements at the end of the program.

With fewer resources and less time in the market, it leveraged its agencies’ local and international expertise to develop a team that deepened its relationship with not only its partners but also the wider Omani community.

The app has enabled Vodafone to collect a huge amount of data points, which helps them make constant improvements to both the services and customer service.

Vodafone’s AI-enabled networks automatically detect and even pre-empt problems and threats via data analysis and create tickets for dispatch to the network operation center, saving significant time for affected customers and enhancing their experience.

Telecom operators have previously focused on selling services, i.e., voice and data. The My Vodafone app aims to offer more than that, providing other services in line with the Government of Oman’s digital ambitions: parking booking within Muscat and Nizwa in collaboration with local partners, with notifications when a reservation is about to expire; and high school grades in collaboration the Sultanate’s Ministry of Education, when students enter their seat ID to receive their grade automatically.

Entering Oman as a digital-first service, Vodafone said the speed of transformation that the pandemic brought to the world was an enabler for a winning launch and a solid foundation for the brand.

Vodafone Oman won a Bronze Stevie and three Gold Stevie Awards for Innovation in Cross-Media Marketing, Most Innovative Startup of the Year in Services, Most Innovative Advertising or Marketing Team of the Year, and for Innovation in Brand Development in the 2023 Middle East & North Africa Stevie^® Awards.

Interested in entering the 2024 Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards?

Stevie-winner Scenthound is a wellness-focused dog care franchise offering membership-based services for affordable and accessible routine care to keep dogs clean and healthy.

They use the latest tools and technology while implementing their own proprietary S.C.E.N.T. Check™ protocol (Skin, Coat, Ears, Nails, and Teeth), which offers a detailed assessment of each dog’s external health.

After many years in the pet care business, the founders spotted a gaping hole in the industry and a massively underserved market. Most dogs were not getting proper care due to many misconceptions about grooming. Scenthound is a membership-based, dog-wellness concept aiming to revolutionize the way people think about and access routine care for dogs.

Differentiated from traditional dog grooming that focuses on breed-specific styling, Scenthound provides a unique approach with its focus on routine and preventive care for dogs in five core areas: Skin, Coat, Ears, Nails, and Teeth (S.C.E.N.T.). Their Basic Hygiene service meets the essential care needs of every dog and allows them to capture the entire market of dogs, not just the 10% of popular breeds that need haircuts.

They also launched the Scenthound mobile app, which allows customers to book appointments, review their dog's monthly wellness check, and more. As part of the new app, they also announced a partnership with AskVet, a virtual vet service that allows members to chat with a vet 24/7.

Scenthound has established a subsidiary company, Scenthound Services, to focus on product development and innovation, offering a shampoo line to provide formulas that meet the hygiene needs of dogs.

In addition, they developed and implemented an Operations Performance Checklist, an audit tool to measure the impact of foundational departmental processes, cleanliness and maintenance of facilities, and team engagement. This helps them identify areas of opportunity and what to prioritize in future efforts.

Scenthound is establishing itself as the preeminent solution for routine and preventive dog care, perfectly positioned to take advantage of growing pet spending nationwide and emerging at the right time to foster rapid growth.

Scenthound won a Gold Stevie^® Award for Fastest Growing Company of the Year - Up to 100 Employees in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards?

Stevie-winner Red Access secures the hybrid workplace with its agentless browsing security platform, introducing a nondisruptive way to protect devices and browsing sessions in and outside of the office.

Over the past decade, and recently accelerated by the rise of remote and hybrid work, enterprise IT has been transformed by the growing trend of “browserization,” where the browser has emerged as the modern worker’s primary gateway to the digital world.

While a variety of security products aimed at addressing these risks have emerged in recent years, they’ve thus far proven incomplete and rife with trade-offs.

The proliferation of web apps and devices, and the adoption of digital platforms in the workplace have fundamentally changed the steps enterprises must take to protect their employees, assets, and devices against today’s browser-based cyber threats. Hence a new approach to browsing security is required.

Founded by leading experts from the Israeli Cyber Community in 2021, Red Access helps companies secure all the browsing activities of their employees on any browser, web app, device, and cloud service, enabling a better user experience and easy management without hampering productivity and without the need to install a browser or an extension.

Co-Founders, Dor Zvi (CEO) and Tal Dery (CTO) both bring extensive knowledge in threat detection and response, malware analysis, and information security, having served many years in the Israel Defense Forces technology units followed by senior research and development positions at leading tech companies.

Their unique approach addresses hybrid work security by redefining browsing security, enabling zero-day protection, seamless user experience, and agnostic security to all web applications, browsers, devices, etc.

The platform provides a fully SaaS-based agentless solution, which does not require an agent installation or a new browser adoption, so users can work from their own devices and use the applications they are accustomed to working with.

Red Access represents the next stage of evolution in secure browsing, working toward a new gold standard of frictionless and agnostic browsing security—the secure web session.

Red Access won a Bronze Stevie Award for Best Tech Startup of the Year - Software in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards^®?

Stevie-winner MicroGrid is a healthcare technology company that specializes in developing conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Their core offering, MicroGrid Intelligent Connect (MIC), enhances patient experiences by enabling personalized care through AI technology.

The comprehensive omnichannel platform uses various foundational AI technologies and front-end software to enable healthcare professionals to offer personalized care and exceptional customer experiences to patients.

Since its inception, MicroGrid has implemented its MIC in multiple geographies worldwide and partnered with Google Cloud within the first quarter of operation. Working closely alongside Google, MicroGrid has advanced significantly thanks to its state-of-the-art Contact Center Artificial Intelligence (CCAI) technology, which has transformed patient experiences and is constantly enhancing.

The Impact of MicroGrid’s AI Technology
MicroGrid's Proof of Concept (PoC) for CCAI-led Drug Adherence and Service Feedback has had a significant effect. They improved the recognition rates of short and very short-spoken phrases to over 92%, also enhancing recognition of low-volume speech.

Moreover, they enhanced the ability to detect spoken words in noisy environments, leading to more accurate transcription and making conversations with AI feel more free-flowing and realistic, with Virtual Customer Agents becoming more humanlike. In addition to MIC, MicroGrid has built a full-scale Digital Health suite on Salesforce, which seamlessly integrates with MIC, unlocking its full potential in the field of conversational AI. 

MIC's conversational AI capabilities are transactional and voice-enabled, empowering it to handle complex conversations with multiple questions and commands in a single interaction. This allows MIC to manage intricate tasks such as appointment scheduling, consent collection, and feedback on adherence and services, all without requiring the presence of contact center agents.

Furthermore, MIC is fully connected with the MedDRA Medical Dictionary, enabling it to identify and report Adverse Events to the client's pharmacovigilance team for further action.

From Prototype to Project: MicroGrid's Progress
One of their most promising initiatives still in development is MICNxt, a suite of independent tools delivered through a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. These tools seamlessly integrate with external software systems, offering a simplified, code-free platform for crafting comprehensive enterprise solutions. This accessible approach empowers developers, making what used to be a time-consuming development process more efficient, with the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery and significantly enhance the patient experience.

Since January 2023, they have not only acquired two key pharma accounts but have also developed a chatbot prototype for capturing Informed Consent Forms (ICF) in clinical trials aimed at assisting the onboarding process for novel cancer treatments. This promising prototype is currently in the process of evolving into a full-fledged project.

In addition to their work on ICF capture, they've also crafted a comprehensive PoC for case management through Salesforce, aimed at providing substantial support to major pharmaceutical companies.

MicroGrid Technologies Private Limited won a Gold Stevie Award for Excellence in Innovation in Health Care Industries - Up to 20 Employees in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards.

Interested in entering the 2024 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards?

In a landscape where the global adolescent mental health crisis looms, Stevie-winner ElevateRA stands as an educational venture seeking preventative measures.

Founded by Ramita Anand, a trained teacher with a Science and Special Educational Needs specialization, ElevateRA is designed to educate and support pre-adolescent girls on crucial life skills.

Passionate about helping girls’ well-being, ElevateRA originated to work in conjunction with the conventional approaches in education to equip young people with the skills of confidence, empathy, resilience, emotional intelligence, and kindness that will serve them throughout their lives. Ramita works with families and their daughters, but also with schools to implement the lesson plans designed to promote these skills.

ElevateRA's program, comprising eight mentoring sessions, is crafted to address diverse issues, ranging from social anxieties to concerns about school performance. Rather than imposing solutions, the program equips girls with tools and resources to develop their unique strategies for navigating these complex challenges.

Cultivating "5 Superpowers" for Resilience
ElevateRA places a significant emphasis on fostering resilience and well-being by cultivating those life skills that they frame as the "5 Superpowers": Confidence, Resilience, Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Kindness. These attributes are not just buzzwords, but integral elements woven into the fabric of the program.

Girls enrolled in ElevateRA are not only taught about these superpowers but are actively encouraged to embody and apply them in their lives. The program goes beyond theoretical concepts, employing engaging activities, Supergirl motifs, and vibrant imagery to make the learning experience both enjoyable and impactful. By celebrating each girl's unique differences, ElevateRA strives to build a sense of self-belief that extends beyond the program, influencing their overall personal growth.

ElevateRA's commitment to empowering girls extends beyond theoretical frameworks. The program equips girls with practical tools and strategies to confront and overcome adversity. The keepsake workbooks are designed as more than mere instructional materials, they serve as personal journals for recording emotions and platforms for immersive role-playing exercises. These tools aren't just about providing solutions but encouraging a proactive approach to problem-solving.

By incorporating real-life case studies of young women who have triumphed over adversity, ElevateRA instills a sense of hope and possibility, reinforcing the idea that challenges can be surmounted with the right mindset.

Leaving a Global Impact
Despite the challenges of starting a business during the COVID-19 pandemic, ElevateRA exemplifies resilience. Adapting to school closures, the team altered lesson and workshop plans, transitioning to online delivery creatively.

The Elevate Podcast, hosted by Ramita, was launched to engage a new audience, featuring conversations with thought leaders on empowering girls during adolescence. The podcast, now in its seventh season, enjoys a global reach and a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts.

In addition, in February of 2022, Ramita authored Girl Elevated: 5 Steps to Empower Girls in Early Adolescence to Be Their Best, a book now used in schools and conferences internationally, educating parents and teachers on empowering girls as they navigate adolescence.

Testimonials and feedback from parents and teachers highlight the care and passion invested by Ramita in her work with each pupil. Over the last two years, Ramita has collaborated with school groups and individual students across various countries, implementing her learning framework in classrooms and individual sessions, aiding girls in overcoming adversity and fostering a positive mindset.

ElevateRA won a Gold Stevie Award for Most Innovative Startup of the Year - Consumer Service Industries in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards.

Interested in entering the 2024 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards? 

Stevie-winner Big Data Minds MENA is a community platform that aims to close learning gaps and create networks for knowledge sharing in the domain of big data and other related emerging technology.

The platform can be used with big data, data engineering, data science, data management, digital transformation, industry 4.0, internet of things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) training programs to disseminate more knowledge and training to the MENA region. They have launched several technological initiatives in Jordan and the MENA region to empower women and children.

Big Data Minds MENA was founded in 2020 by Dr. Zaher Al-Sai as a community-based organization of big data and data science in the Middle East. Dr. Zaher Ali Al-Sai has a BS degree in computer science and an MBA (Hons.) in e-government Technology. She completed her PhD in Computer Science in the field of Big Data and Software Engineering. She is currently an assistant professor of Big Data at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan.

As a female-founded organization, Big Data Minds MENA has shifted the direction of the IT organizations in Jordan to empower women in data science, AI, and emerging technologies. Big Data Minds’ first initiative was empowering women in data science by founding the Arabian Women in Data Science initiative in the MENA region and organizing many events and workshops in data science and AI, which has impacted over 5,000 women. The company volunteers to teach and empower more than 50,000 of community members, including women, teenagers, children, and students, in technology and data science.

In 2021 and 2022 Big Data Minds MENA organized the largest virtual women in data science (WiDS) Jordan workshops and data-thons in the Middle East with more than 800 attendees. WiDS Jordan is an independent event organized by Big Data Minds and the WiDS Ambassador in Jordan to coincide with the annual Women in Data Science Worldwide Conference held at Stanford University and an estimated 150+ locations worldwide.

Expanding their reach, Big Data Minds MENA is now also teaching children (8-16) years through the launch of "Kids in Data Science and AI" initiative," or "KiDS,” to empower and teach children the skills of data science and AI, including skills related to problem-solving, math, and computer coding. KiDS provides various activities for children in public schools and villages.

Big Data Minds is a visionary community that continuously seeks innovation to maintain its initiatives as a community-based organization in technology and data science. Big Data Minds is inspiring and educating community members worldwide, regardless of gender, and supporting women in the field of data science.

Big Data Minds MENA won three Gold Stevie Awards for Innovation in Technology Development - Non-Profit; for Best Thought Leadership Campaign of the Year; and for Best Innovative Achievement in Science or Technology in the 2023 Middle East & North Africa Stevie® Awards.

Interested in entering the 2024 Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards?

Stevie-winner Rootstock Software develops and implements Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software, which provides manufacturers with precise control over their key operational areas, such as inventory, order management, engineering, production planning, and financial management.

Rootstock offers the only Manufacturing Cloud ERP on the Salesforce Platform. As such, it has become the ERP solution of choice for those already using Salesforce or those planning to. By using Rootstock and Salesforce Sales Cloud together, manufacturers gain 360° visibility of their customers, supply chain, and production. They also gain the advantage of a common data platform, which eliminates the cumbersome process of data reconciliation. With everyone across the enterprise sharing a unified data set, manufacturing leaders can confidently rely on their business metrics to make decisions.

Together, Salesforce and Rootstock Software have evolved as powerful forces, closely partnered in the manufacturing industry. Salesforce delivers Manufacturing Cloud. With it, manufacturers have in-depth Sales and Service capabilities at the business level, but they also need operational capabilities. This is where Rootstock Software shines.

Manufacturing Cloud ERP Solution
Rootstock continually develops new capabilities to make manufacturers more efficient, profitable, and sustainable. A primary example was the launch of its Digital Supplier Collaboration capabilities to help manufacturers cope with supply chain disruptions. Central to this product update was the new supplier request-for-quote feature, which enables manufacturers to foster more resilient supply chains.

Facing continued market volatility, manufacturers need to be able to receive timely digital signals, so they can oversee their "plan-source-make-deliver" cycles. Rootstock provides such insights, enabling manufacturers to manage their supply chains, as well as source and collaborate with suppliers—all from within the Rootstock Manufacturing ERP solution. In essence, manufacturers have greater visibility to mitigate disruptions as they emerge.

Toward this end, manufacturers can collaborate more closely with suppliers to address global supply chain risks and coordinate strategies such as near-shoring. The way this process was handled in the past—using spreadsheets and email—is now modernized and brought into the digital age, so manufacturers stay agile.

Since Winning a Stevie Award
Since taking home their Stevie, Rootstock has made the following key announcements:

On May 2, 2023, Rootstock Software announced the launch of Enterprise Insights, their new analytics solution, with its Spring ’23 release, designed to provide manufacturers with a complete view of their business so they can chart a course toward profitability, efficiency, and value throughout their operations.

On May 17, 2023, Rootstock Software released its inaugural 2023 State of Manufacturing Technology Survey, which looked at what 508 manufacturing professionals who are director-level and above view as key challenges and technology priorities for their organizations. The findings reveal that despite inflation and other economic concerns, more than three-quarters of manufacturers (75.2%) have plans to boost their software spending over the next 12 months, with more than one-third (37.8%) planning on double-digit increases. Cloud ERP is a key strategic focus for this software investment, with two-thirds of respondents planning to upgrade their legacy ERP solutions.

On October 31, 2023, Rootstock Software announced the appointment of Robert Rostamizadeh to the newly formed position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this role, Rostamizadeh will set the technological direction of the company, leading product development and software engineering. With over 15 years of experience in software engineering leadership, Rostamizadeh plans to institute a more agile development methodology with the goal to enhance product quality, increase transparency, and more efficiently deliver value to customers.

On November 2, 2023, Rootstock Software announced its vision for “The Manufacturing Signal Chain.” The Signal Chain strategy was conceived in partnership with manufacturers who need real-time digital signals across their organizations, coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, to make better decisions that drive growth in an ongoing volatile market.

Manufacturers have always aimed to use streams of data to make business decisions—from sales, inventory, finance, and more. However, they utilize hundreds of enterprise systems and point solutions, so they often fall victim to adding more data to existing infrastructure without any overarching connection. Information becomes trapped in disjointed systems, data silos, and manual processes—failing to provide rapid, actionable insights. After recognizing this challenge, Rootstock established a Signal Chain approach that enables manufacturers to harness the power of their data within the context of today’s ever-changing supply and demand conditions.

Rootstock Software won a Gold Stevie Award for Best Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards^®?

Unternehmerinnen und weibliche Fach- und Führungskräfte aus Deutschland, Liechtenstein und der Schweiz in New York geehrt

Die Stevie Awards for Women in Business sind ein internationaler Wettbewerb, der von den Schöpfern der renommierten International Business Awards® und American Business Awards® veranstaltet wird. Der Stevie Award gilt weithin als der weltweit wichtigste Wirtschaftspreis.

Die Finalistinnen für den diesjährigen Wettbewerb wurden bereits im September bekannt gegeben wurden. Mit Spannung wurden nun die Gold-, Silber- und Bronze-Platzierungen am 10. November bei einer Galaveranstaltung im New Yorker Marriot Marquis Hotel erwartet. Mehr als 400 nominierte berufstätige Frauen und ihre Gäste nahmen an den Präsentationen teil, die auch als Livestream übertragen wurden.

In diesem Jahr wurden mehr als 1.600 Nominierungen von Organisationen und Einzelpersonen aus 26 Ländern eingereicht. Die Gewinnerinnen wurden für ihre Leistungen in über 100 Kategorien geehrt, darunter „Executive of the Year”, „Entrepreneur of the Year”, „Most Innovative Company of the Year”, „Startup of the Year” und „Women-Run Workplace of the Year”. Über 200 Geschäftsleute, in sieben spezialisierten Jurys, ermittelten die Gewinnerinnen der Stevie Awards in Gold, Silber und Bronze.

Die Gewinnerinnen der Stevie Awards 2023 in Gold, Silber und Bronze spiegeln eine vielfältige Gruppe von großen und kleinen Unternehmen aus der ganzen Welt wider. Sechs Unternehmen aus Deutschland, Liechtenstein und der Schweiz wurden in einer oder mehreren Kategorien zu Stevie Award-Gewinnerinnen ernannt:

• Rashmi Verma, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion bei Hugo Boss (Metzingen, Deutschland) wurde für Ihre Leistungen im Bereich Diversität und Inklusion als „Maverick of the Year“ mit dem Gold Stevie Award ausgezeichnet.
• Die SAP SE mit Sitz in Walldorf (Deutschland) erhielt für ihr SAP Business Women's Network einen Silber Stevie Awards.
• Ebenfalls einen Silber Stevie Award erhielt Medela Cares mit Sitz in Baar in der Schweiz für ihre Leistungen im Bereich der sozialen Verantwortung von Unternehmen für Frauen.
• Gleich dreimal mit dem Bronze Stevie Award wurde Daniela Kerkhoff-Günther, Vice President Talent Attraction, Talent Management & Engagement bei DHL Global Forwarding in Bonn (Deutschland) für ihre Leistungen in den Bereichen Achievement in Diversity & Inclusion, Achievement in Equal Pay und Achievement in Women-related Corporate Social Responsibility ausgezeichnet.
• Für ihre vordenkerischen Leistungen wurde Dr. Nadja Hatzijordanou, CEO der FactoryPal GmbH in Berlin (Deutschland) als „Female Thought Leader of the Year - Business Services“ mit einem Bronze Stevie ausgezeichnet.
• EdHeroes Network mit Sitz in Triesen, Liechtenstein, erhielt einen Bronze Stevie Awards als Unternehmen des Jahres im Bereich der Non-Profit Organisationen.  

• IBM, weltweit, mit 37 Punkten für 4 Gold-, 5 Silber- und 10 Bronze-Stevie-Award-Gewinne
• Green Door Co, Sydney, New South Wales, mit 23 Punkten für 3 Gold-, 3 Silber- und 4 Bronze-Stevie-Award-Gewinne für sich selbst und mehrere ihrer Kunden
• Purpol Marketing Ltd, Chippenham, Vereinigtes Königreich, mit 18,5 Punkten für 2 Gold-, 4 Silber- und 3 Bronze-Stevie-Award-Gewinne für sich selbst und ihre Kunden
• Everise, Florida, Vereinigte Staaten, mit 17 Punkten für 3 Gold- und 4 Silber-Stevie-Awards
• Women's Biz Global, Queensland, Australien, mit 11,5 Punkten für 1 Gold-, 2 Silber- und 3 Bronze-Stevie-Awards

Unter http://www.StevieAwards.com/Women finden Sie eine vollständige Liste der Stevie-Gewinnerinnen nach Kategorien.

Die Stevie Awards for Women in Business werden durch die siebte jährliche Women|Future Conference ergänzt, eine eintägige virtuelle Netzwerk- und Lernveranstaltung am 23. Juli 2024 für Unternehmerinnen, Kleinunternehmerinnen und Branchenführerinnen. Nähere Informationen und die Möglichkeit zur Anmeldung finden Sie in Kürze unter  www.WomenFutureConference.com. 

Car Pros Automotive Group has grown from a used car lot with two employees to an automotive group with over 500 employees and seven stores in two states, selling over 2,000 cars per month. According to the CEO, Stevie Award-winner Matthew Phillips, MBA, the success of Car Pros is directly related to its mission of changing lives through a high-performance, value-led dealership culture.

From Lot to Leadership
Matthew is a passionate automotive retail executive, growing the company from a used car lot with two employees into a company with annual sales of $1 billion, while at the same time breaking multiple molds in a tradition-bound industry.

Automotive retailing tends to be dominated by men, hierarchy, and traditional internal combustion vehicles. As an LGBTQ+ person, Matthew believes in empowering people, particularly under-represented groups. His 20-year journey from “lot to leadership” provides a real-world perspective on how to build high-performance workplace cultures, informing his personal brand of metric-driven accountability based on industry experience, leadership, and continued education.

He holds MBAs from Cornell University, NY, and Queen’s University, Ontario; an MA in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University; and a BA in Accounting from University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA. Matthew is also a graduate of the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Dealer Academy.

Not only is Matthew a maverick in showing the industry how it can evolve, but as a board member of the Washington State Dealers Association and of Kia’s National Dealer Council, he works from the inside to promote positive change and demonstrate that the franchised dealer system is ready to meet the needs of customers and communities now and in the future.

Powering Change
In the automotive industry, DE&I progress has been slow but steady: Hireology reports that while many dealerships say DE&I is an important issue, only 24% are aware of DE&I best practices at their dealerships — an indication of awareness but not enough action.

Matthew’s personal experience reflects this reality of evolving change toward inclusiveness and tolerance. He sees DE&I as the foundation of today’s high-performance retail operation and believes that diversity of experiences is mission critical to selling successfully: your customers are diverse, so your team better be as well.

“Inclusive leadership is about changing the paradigm,” says Matthew. “We sell cars by empowering people to sell cars. We were one of the first to provide insurance for domestic partners and adopt anti-discrimination policies. We’ve been at the forefront of training for inclusivity and have worked to make our dealerships welcoming places for everyone.” What has been most rewarding for Matthew, he says, is when his commitment to authenticity has given others the courage to be successful in their most authentic way.

Matthew continues to drive real change for the betterment of car buyers. He seeks to represent the future of automotive retail, shifting to meet the needs resulting from the adoption of technology, assessing economic realities, and broadening consumer expectations.

Car Pros Automotive Group CEO Matthew Phillips won a Silver Stevie Award for Maverick of the Year in The 2023 American Business Awards®. 

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards®?

Stevie-winner Otus is an educational technology company helping K-12 educators to harness and act on educational data to improve learner outcomes.

Otus provides educators with one platform to gather, visualize, and act on data. With an integrated suite of assessment and grading tools, educators can easily determine where students are now and use data to drive instruction and personalized learning plans forward.

Otus was created and built for teachers, by teachers. It saves educators time through the streamlined integration of assessment, performance tracking, and third-party data, while its gradebook and dashboard reports make it easier for teachers, administrators, and families to understand each student’s growth.

Since its conception in a Chicago middle school classroom in 2013, Otus has been adopted by over 2,500 schools across the United States and has delivered improved results for more than 1 million learners. Recently passing its 10th anniversary, Otus continues to improve and expand its team, its product, and its support of educators nationwide.

Developing the All-in-One Platform
Chris Hull—or “Chull” as his colleagues refer to him—is the Co-Founder and President of Otus. While the team has grown to include over 50      passionate members, Chris is still just as involved in the direction of the product and is as passionate about helping improve K-12 education as he was on day one.

Since Otus made its first sale to a public school system in 2016, the product and the company have both evolved in a myriad of ways, but Chris remains focused on putting educators first, viewing everything the company does from an educator’s perspective.

While most ed-tech solutions address one area of learning, such as assessment or grading, Otus addresses and enhances every step of the learning process. As an all-in-one, integrated platform, Otus eliminates the issue of scattered, siloed student data that plagues K-12 education, as well as the issues that come with implementing and maintaining multiple different ed-tech platforms.

With over 80,000 education apps available in the United States, educators have an abundance of options when it comes to choosing tools to help them in the classroom. Many tech giants such as Google and Microsoft have also released products that compete with Otus. For a company that just began selling to school districts in 2016, Otus has done an exceptional job of breaking into what is a vast and competitive ed-tech market.

In recent years, inflation has impacted school budgets, which has forced administrators to take a hard look at the software they use and, if need be, eliminate subscriptions to services that no longer serve them. For the year 2022, Otus had a net retention of 109.5%, which the company attributes to the quality of the product, service to users, and the reasonable price point per student.

During a time when tech companies across the board are letting employees go in droves, Otus has not only retained its staff but continues to grow its teams. This is an indication not only of the financial vitality of the company but also of employee satisfaction and their belief in Otus’ mission and vision.

As a company comprised largely of former educators, the team at Otus knows exactly what tools educators need and what quality ed-tech looks like. Their belief in the future of the company indicates that Otus is providing a service that speaks to educators and their ever-evolving needs.

Continued Evolution
Thanks to Otus’ continued commitment to listening to customer voices, the product has evolved into a comprehensive suite of integrated tools that truly benefits educators each day in the classroom.

Otus is constantly working to improve its offerings to better serve educators and students, not only through new enhancements to the platform and growth of its support teams but also by partnering with leading education organizations and integrating with other world-class ed-tech products. For example, in the last year, Otus has built new partnerships with respected ed-tech providers such as CenterPoint Education Solutions and Skyward, meaning more integrations that enhance users’ experience in the platform and, in some instances, make Otus easily accessible to users of partner platforms.

But while new partnerships and improvements to the platform can be indicators of success, there is no better source of truth than the customers themselves. According to a recent survey of Otus users, 98% say that Otus makes them more efficient educators—saving them an average of two hours every week. Additionally, Otus boasts a 98% chat approval rating and a response time of under three minutes. 

Otus is invested in the success of its users—from the district administrators and teachers to the students and families they serve. Otus says they are determined to provide a service that not only improves the K-12 education system but maximizes outcomes for the students who rely on it.

Otus's Co-founder and President Chris Hull won a Silver Stevie Award for Technology Executive of the Year; and Otus won two Bronze Stevie Awards for Customer Service Department of the Year and Company of the Year - Computer Software - Medium in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards^®?