The Stevie® Awards are delighted to announce the seven distinguished professionals who will chair the judging committees of the 2024 (18th annual) Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service competition.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top sales awards, customer service awards, business development awards, contact center awards, and more.

Stevie Award finalists will be determined at the end of the judging period in February. Results of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Awards will be announced at the 18th annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas on April 12.  

The seven committee chairs were invited to chair based on their professional experience and expertise. Judging chairs helped to form their committees, each of which will be comprised of other professionals from around the globe. Learn more about the Stevie Awards judging process here. 

Here are this year's judging committee chairs:

Customer Service & Contact Center Achievement Awards
Chair: Neal Topf, President, Callzilla, Miramar, Florida, United States

Neal Topf is the President and Co-Founder of Callzilla, an outsourced contact center provider. Inspired by Annette Franz’s Built to Win tome on how to truly serve customers, Neal has learned the importance of shaping Callzilla to be Employee Centric, Customer Centric, and Client Centric. Neal’s passions are taking apart and solving modern Customer Experience puzzles through the lenses of the employee, customers, and clients, including how the intersection of humans and artificial intelligence can be leveraged to remove friction, to improve speed of response and resolution rates and truly place each of these at the center of the enterprise. 

Neal serves on the Executive Board of the Society of Consumer Professionals (SOCAP) where he enjoys the role of governance of a leading CX industry association. A graduate of the HEC Paris MBA program, Neal studied entrepreneurship and general management. Prior to his MBA studies in Paris, Neal worked for 4 years in the international division of MCI, the great telecom challenger of the 80’s and 90’s, which was a career changing opportunity. Neal now resides in South Florida where he tries to incrementally improve his golf game. And in his spare time, he wonders if the Washington Commanders, his lifelong favorite football team, will ever return to prominence? 

Customer Service Department & Customer Service Success Awards
Chair: Sarah Sajedi, CO-founder, CEO & CTO, ERA Environmental Management Solutions, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada

Sarah Sajedi is an award-winning environmental expert and one of the co-founders of ERA Environmental Management Solutions. Over the past 28 years as the company’s CTO and CEO, Sarah has had to carve out a place for herself in a competitive and largely male-dominated industry. Through her business acumen, degree in Chemistry/Biochemistry, and determination, Sarah has established herself as an authority on environmental performance and compliance solutions across the automotive, aerospace, chemicals, metal, and general manufacturing industries, among countless others.

Sarah’s leadership philosophy is simple: investing in the education and growth of employees promotes innovation and a stronger company. By fostering emerging talent from a diverse workforce, Sarah has grown ERA from a small firm into Canada’s most successful environmental management solution provider, successfully winning out Fortune 100 and 500 companies against multimillion-dollar U.S. competitors. Sarah is a passionate advocate for higher education. She believes education is empowering - that is why she currently sponsors three scholarships for higher education and is working toward establishing a foundation to provide financial aid and university access. She believes in helping others, particularly young female entrepreneurs, by providing a means to obtain higher education and independence, which is vital for their continued success.  Voluntarism is also an essential part of Sarah’s leadership. She works with Angels of Mercy to provide food, clothing, and a listening ear to Montreal’s homeless population, and through the Helping Hands organization she provides clothing and education to children in developing nations. It’s important for her to be able to work hands-on with those in need.

Under her leadership, ERA has been named one of the most admired companies to watch (2018), one of Canada’s top SMEs by the Globe and Mail (2019) and Corporate Vision (2021), one of the top 10 automotive solution providers (2021), the most innovative EHS&Q compliance platform (2022), the Canadian Sustainable Business of the Year (2022), and the Gold Stevie Award winner in the Customer Service (Technology Industries category) at the 2023 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Sarah herself has been named a Woman of Influence by RBC, the Silver Stevie Award winner at the 2013 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the recipient of the national Sara Kirke Award for Leadership in Technology.

Customer Service & Contact Center Individual & Team Awards
Chair: Kimberley Hayes, Global Chief Experience Officer, MONAT Global Corp, Doral, FL, United States

Kimberley Hayes is a distinguished professional with over 25 years of extensive experience in managing Customer Care operations on a global scale. Her leadership journey has taken her from the corporate landscapes of the USA, Canada, and the European Union to the bustling markets of Asia. Kimberley is renowned for her exceptional expertise in customer experience (CX) management and a distinguished career marked by remarkable achievements. Throughout her illustrious career, Kimberley has proven herself as a seasoned executive who consistently delivers exceptional results. Her unwavering commitment to success is a driving force that has set her apart in the industry. Kimberley is known for her strategic approach to customer care operations, making her a visionary leader who excels in crafting innovative and effective solutions to complex challenges.

In 2023, Kimberley Hayes received a prestigious Silver Stevie Award in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, a testament to her excellence in customer care where she was honored as "Women of the Year in Customer Service," underscoring her extraordinary contributions and leadership. Furthermore, Kimberley is no stranger to the dynamic world of start-ups. Her entrepreneurial spirit and adaptability have allowed her to excel in nurturing and growing early-stage companies. This experience has equipped her with a profound understanding of the fast-paced, ever-evolving nature of the business world.

Kimberley's track record extends beyond accolades, as she has successfully built and managed organizations of over 500 seats, showcasing her remarkable ability to scale operations while maintaining a focus on quality and excellence. Her wealth of experience, exceptional results, and relentless determination position Kimberley Hayes as a leading figure in the customer care and CX industry. Her commitment to delivering unparalleled customer experiences, combined with her extensive global experience and expertise in start-ups, make her a true luminary in the field. With a career that epitomizes excellence, Kimberley continues to be a driving force in shaping the future of customer care and CX management.  

New Product & Service Awards
Chair: Dennis Reno, Chief Customer Officer, Cyara, Almeda, California, United States

Dennis Reno joined Cyara in 2020 and most recently has been a member of the executive leadership team as Chief Customer Officer and is focused on delivering world-class customer experiences for a global customer base.  Dennis has a rich background managing Customer Experience and Customer Success functions among leading tech firms in Silicon Valley and at companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Proofpoint, BEA Systems, and Continental Airlines.

On being appointed Chair, Dennis commented: “I have had the honor of being a judge for the Stevie Awards for many years and each time I participate I have the pleasure of making new friends and contacts among my fellow judges and gain the unique ability to learn so much about other businesses and industries that deliver world-class service and support.”  

Sales Achievements & Sales Distinction Awards
Chair: Oğuz Kartal, Chief Transformation Officer, Karaca Zuccaciye A.S., Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey

Oğuz is a Chief Digital Transformation Officer with more than 15 years of experience working alongside Telecom, Retail, Finance, and Technology industries. During this time, Oguz has worked with top companies in Turkey, Dubai, Qatar, and Kuwait. Having worked for top telecom and finance companies, Oguz has a unique set of capabilities for leading the strategic vision and business development for companies to leverage digital capabilities and digital channels as well as to build and differentiate the brand through a better digital experience for everyone.

Sales Individual & Sales Team Awards
Chair:  Mario Martinez Jr., Founder & CEO, Vengreso, Inc., Walnut Creek, California, United States

Mario is the CEO and Co-founder of Vengreso - the creators of FlyMSG, the AI All-inOne Productivity Assistant helping professionals save 1-hour a day in lost productivity by storing, organizing, typing, and writing for you. He spent 106 consecutive quarters in B2B Sales, Marketing, and Executive Leadership roles, growing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue annually. 

In 2023, he was named Most Influential CEO in the Software Solutions category by CEO Monthly, and he was also named to the #1 spot in the Top 10 Most Influential Business Leaders by Beyond Magazine in 2021. Most notably, he was one of 20 sales influencers invited to appear in the Salesforce.com documentary film “The Story of Sales”. He was named one of the Top 10 Sales Influencers by The Modern Sales Magazine, Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals, Selling Power Magazine’s Top Sales Training and Coaching Consultant, and was recognized as one of the top Social Media Leaders by The Social Shake Up. 

As a renowned sales influencer, Mario teaches marketing and sales professionals how to develop an engaging personal brand to attract today’s modern buyers using the digital sales ecosystem.  Mario is the host of the popular The Modern Selling Podcast. He’s been featured in Forbes, INC., Entrepreneur,  and was formerly a contributor to the Huffington Post. He’s a highly sought-after Keynote Speaker with brands such as LinkedIn, Cisco, and many more. He is also known to open a speech with a Salsa dance.  Follow him on YouTube, LinkedIn, on Twitter, or view his website at https://vengreso.com.

Solution Provider, Business Development & Thought Leadership Awards 
Chair: Vicki Brackett, Chief Knowledge Office, Knowledgely, Hollister, California, United States

Recognized as a subject-matter expert on virtual/work-at-home environments and leadership development, Vicki Brackett has written for and been interviewed by Forbes, Fast Company, Fortune Magazine, CIO Magazine, CEOWorld,  HR News, Training Magazine, ICMI, Contact Center Pipeline, The Justin Brady Show,and a host of other publications and podcasts, on creative work-at-home, leadership development, and employee engagement strategies. Vicki has led customer service, technical support, and sales teams in a contact center environment for over two decades. She and her teams have helped organizations achieve exceptional operational excellence, increased sales, higher employee engagement, productivity, and retention with strong customer satisfaction - driving both top line revenue and bottom-line contribution.

Today, Vicki is the Chief Knowledge Officer, at Knowledgely, an organization that helps contact centers understand how their knowledge maturity is adding operational costs and increased mental stress to agents who are looking for the right answer to help a customer.  With a proven methodology, Knowledgely can help companies drive reduced new hire training times, increased agent productivity and employee/gig worker job satisfaction. Their systematic approach can offer new strategies to achieve better knowledge maturity behind self-service technologies that exceed customer expectations and drive down operational costs.

Vicki is also the author of ‘The Leadership Toolbox - Manage Less Achieve More,’ a book about her experience leading virtual/work-at-home and brick & mortar contact center organizations across industries ranging from consumer technology, education, automotive, cosmetics, nutrition and other consumer products and services. Her book showcases a set of leadership tools that have been vetted by thousands of employees and a systematic approach that can transform organizations into top performing business units, where employees and gig workers love coming to work, are highly engaged, and exceed customer expectations.

On being appointed a 2024 Chair, Vicki commented: “It’s an honor and privilege to be a Stevie Award Chairperson and Judge. The Stevie Awards recognize top performers in an industry that continues to respond to the changing business climate. We can learn from these award winners and take best practices back to teams across the globe. Congratulations to all the winners!”

Premier awards competition for sales and service professionals accepting nominations from organizations around the globe.

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards programs, has announced that ValueSelling Associates will sponsor the 2024 (18th annual) Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service for the 17th consecutive year.

ValueSelling has been a sponsor of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service since 2008. ValueSelling Associates are again sponsoring the Sales Individual Categories, which include Woman of the Year in Sales, Senior Sales Executive of the Year, Virtual and Pre-Sales Professional of the Year, Sales Representative of the Year, and Sales Training or Education Professional of the Year, among others.

Entry kits and complete details on the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are available at StevieAwards.com/Sales. The final entry deadline for the 2024 competition is January 24.

Eligible nominees for this competition include departments, teams, and professionals from around the world who work in customer service, contact centers, business development, and sales. New products and services and solution providers used by those professionals are also eligible. The 2024 awards will recognize achievements since July 1, 2021. Explore the full list of categories.

ValueSelling Associates is the creator of the ValueSelling Framework®, the sales methodology, training and toolset that aligns your revenue engine with a common language to enable sales professionals to compete on value, not price, and saves time in all selling scenarios. Since 1991, ValueSelling Associates has helped thousands of sales professionals realize immediate revenue growth and achieve results they never thought possible. They offer bespoke training to FORTUNE 1000, mid-sized, and start-up companies to drive sales results.

Maggie Miller, President of the Stevie Awards, expressed, "ValueSelling has been a steadfast sponsor of the competition from its early days, contributing to the program’s remarkable growth. Partnering once more with ValueSelling is a source of great excitement as we continue to highlight outstanding sales professionals and organizations globally. The Stevie Awards relies on dedicated partners such as ValueSelling, who recognize the importance of acknowledging excellence in the workplace."

President and Chief Executive Officer of ValueSelling Associates, Julie Thomas, said, “The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is an excellent platform for recognizing the accomplishments of our customers and business partners. We look forward to celebrating those sales professionals who found ways to connect, secure new business, and propel their companies forward in this tough selling environment.”

Finalists will be announced on January 24, and the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be revealed during an awards banquet on April 12 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

View full details for the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service at StevieAwards.com/Sales.

About ValueSelling Associates
ValueSelling Associates, a leading global sales training company, offers a practical methodology for selling on value, not price. The ValueSelling Framework® is a proven formula that simplifies complex B2B sales, and the Vortex Prospecting™ program provides a repeatable process that increases connections and conversions to the revenue pipeline. Once trained on the ValueSelling method, organizations grow revenue and increase productivity. Since 1991, thousands of professionals around the world have chosen ValueSelling Associates for customized training, reinforcement, and coaching to drive sales results. Learn more at ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

Stevie-winner Swing Education is an online staffing marketplace that connects substitute teachers with schools.

Founded in 2015 by former K-12 educators and administrators, Swing makes it easier for schools and districts to find reliable, qualified substitute teachers when they need them most.

With over 500,000 absence days filled to date, Swing is dedicated to improving the experience of finding substitute teachers, becoming a substitute, and keeping student learning on track. Swing serves more than 2,800 partner schools across California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Washington D.C.

Understanding Both Sides in Substitute Teaching
Substitute teaching jobs are tough to recruit for, manage, and fill. One complication is that quite often a teacher's absence isn’t discovered until that morning when schools scramble to post an opening. This uncontrollable and unavoidable reality, coupled with the dramatic shortage of substitutes who are qualified and ready to go, is a significant problem.

On the other side of this coin—considering this problem from the substitute teacher’s perspective—are the challenges the substitute teacher faces. Substitutes may only find out at 7:00 am that there is a job opening; they may know very little about the school or the class or perhaps have never been a substitute in that particular school. They worry about how long it will take to get paid or how long the commitment will last.

The process of how to fill short-term or even long-term teacher absences with substitute teachers has barely changed in 50+ years—even the modern communication modes of emails, text messages, and robo-phone calls are not any more effective at solving the problem in the angst-driven and uncertain process of finding substitute teachers.

How it Works
The basics of how Swing works are as follows: Schools post a request in the Swing community that instantly notifies hundreds of substitutes that have been pre-approved and screened by Swing. Substitutes register for the job and the school accepts, or “assigns,” the substitute. The schools do not need to recruit or manage their own substitute pool, although Swing can easily work alongside existing substitute programs.

Swing handles the recruitment of substitutes in the region of its partners and manages the payroll so that substitutes do not need to wait weeks or months for payment from the district as contractors. The school’s platform tracks data so that it is easy to see which substitutes are a good fit, discover new substitutes, and track successful placements.

Swing brings a 21st-century solution to a 20th-century problem. Swing leverages social communities and technology to not only improve communication but also put power back into the hands of substitutes and the schools that need them. Instead of scrambling to find anyone who will answer the phone—or, for the substitute, being completely in the dark about if there is only one opening today or 10—now both stakeholders have power: schools have the power to match the best person for a particular need, and substitutes have the power to pick the best job for their day or week ahead.

Since being founded in 2018, Swing has 2,800 school partners and 4,000 substitutes in the community and has filled 500,000 absences for teachers.

Swing Education won a Silver Stevie^® Award for Best Human Capital Management or Talent Management Solution in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards?

Wir laden Geschäftsleute, Vordenker, Unternehmer, Innovatoren und andere Personen aus aller Welt ein, sich als Juroren für die  German Stevie® Awards 2024 zu bewerben.

Die Auswahl oder Nominierung als Jurymitglied ist eine ehren- und verantwortungsvolle Aufgabe. Sie spiegelt nicht nur das Fachwissen einer Person in einem bestimmten Beruf wider, sondern zeigt auch, dass diese Person über hohe ethische Standards verfügt, in ihrer Geschäftswelt anerkannt ist und Vertrauen genießt. Qualifizierte Bewerber werden in Juryausschüsse für Marketing, Unternehmertum, neue Produkte, Technologie, Vordenkerrolle und vieles mehr berufen.


Jedes Jahr nehmen mehr als 1.000 Fachleute an der Bewertung der Stevie Awards teil. Die Durchschnittsnoten der Juroren bestimmen die Gewinner in jeder Stevie Awards-Kategorie. Da dies eine entscheidende Komponente der Stevie Awards-Wettbewerbe ist, achten wir sehr darauf, die Integrität des Juryprozesses zu wahren. Das Jurorenteam stellt sicher, dass die Jurymitglieder Experten und Fachleute in ihrer Branche sind, und führt regelmäßige Kontrollen und Überprüfungen des gesamten Prozesses durch. Das Juryteam steht neuen Jurymitgliedern als Ratgeber zur Verfügung und veranstaltet Sitzungen, um die korrekten Jury-Protokolle zu erläutern.

Vorteile für Stevie Awards-Juroren

Als Jurymitglied erfahren Sie, wie andere Organisationen oder Einzelpersonen Erfolge erzielen und Herausforderungen bewältigen. Im Folgenden finden Sie die exklusiven Vorteile einer Jurymitgliedschaft bei den Stevie Awards:

• Anerkennung - Während des Beurteilungsprozesses werden die Jurymitglieder auf der Stevie Awards-Website und im Stevie Awards-Blog gewürdigt und erhalten eine Urkunde in Papierform und im PDF-Format, die gerahmt werden kann.
  
• Profil - Sich als Jurymitglied zu qualifizieren, ist eine Ehre und ein Privileg. Die Erwähnung dieses Amtes kann Ihrem beruflichen Profil hinzugefügt werden.
  
• Self-Development & Awareness - Die Juroren lernen bei der Bewertung der Beiträge Strategien, Taktiken und bewährte Verfahren anderer Branchenvertreter kennen und haben so die einmalige Gelegenheit, neue Markttrends sofort zu erkennen.
• Verleihungszeremonie - Alle Jurymitglieder sind herzlich eingeladen, an der Preisverleihung teilzunehmen, die am Ende eines jeden Wettbewerbs stattfindet. Genießen Sie einen spektakulären Abend, an dem Sie mit den Preisträgern und anderen Jurymitgliedern Kontakte knüpfen können.
• Einladungen zum Jurieren zukünftiger Wettbewerbe

Bevor Sie sich als Juror bewerben

Wenn Sie daran interessiert sind, als Juror für die German Stevie Awards zu fungieren, folgen sie dem unten stehenden Link, um weitere Informationen zu erhalten:

Angehende Juroren sollten darauf achten, dass ihr LinkedIn-Profil auf dem neuesten Stand ist, Ihre aktuelle Erfahrung widerspiegelt und einen Wettbewerbsvorteil darstellt.

Beurteilungskriterien

Die einzelnen Kriterien unterscheiden sich je nach Kategorie, aber der Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Gesamtqualität des Beitrags: Sowohl einer Bewertung der Behaupteten im Bezug auf Innovation, Integrität, Effektivität, Kreativität, Wachstum usw., die in dem Beitrag gemacht werden, im Verhältnis zur Erfahrung der Jury und ihrer Kenntnis der Branche des Teilnehmers, als auch die Qualität des Beitrags selbst.

Die Juroren legen Wert auf gut geschriebene Beiträge, die: (1) viele Fakten, Zahlen und konkrete Ergebnisse enthalten; (2) nahe an der Wortgrenze für die jeweilige Kategorie liegen (d. h. nicht als zu kurz empfunden werden); und (3) durch Anhänge unterstützt werden, z. B. Links zu einer Unternehmenswebseite, Presseausschnitte, Arbeitsbeispiele usw.

Wir empfehlen angehenden Juroren, die Teilnahmeunterlagen anzufordern, damit sie sich mit den Kriterien und Einreichungsanforderungen vertraut machen können.

Nominierungen, die mit dem Goldenen Stevie ausgezeichnet wurden, sind auf der Website der Stevie Awards verlinkt. Dies ist ein gutes Hilfsmittel für angehende Juroren, um zu erfahren, wie eine hoch bewertete Stevie-Nominierung aussieht. 

Beurteilungsprozess

Alle Einsendungen werden zunächst von Stevie Awards-Mitarbeitern geprüft, um sicherzustellen, dass die Teilnahmebedingungen erfüllt sind, dass die Einsendungen ordnungsgemäß formatiert sind, um zur Bewertung weitergeleitet zu werden, und dass die Einsendungen in den passenden Kategorien eingereicht wurden.

Alle Juroren erhalten schriftliche Anweisungen zur Bewertung der Beiträge. Die Juroren werden gebeten, die in den einzelnen Beiträgen dargestellten Leistungen zu bewerten, und zwar auf der Grundlage a) ihrer eigenen Erfahrung und b) ihres Verständnisses der Leistung von Unternehmen und Einzelpersonen in der Branche des Nominierten in dem Zeitraum, für den die Teilnahmeberechtigung gilt, unter Berücksichtigung der Wirtschaftslage im Allgemeinen und der Branche des Nominierten im Besonderen. 

Bei Einsendungen in kreativen Medienkategorien werden die Juroren gebeten, die eingereichte Kurzbeschreibung zu den Kommunikationszielen zu lesen und die eingereichten Medien (Website, Video, Live-Event usw.) auf der Grundlage von Originalität, Kreativität und Produktionswert zu prüfen und zu bewerten, wie gut die Medien ihrer Meinung nach die angegebenen Kommunikationsziele erfüllen.

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?