World's Top Honors for Women Entrepreneurs, Executives, Employees and the Organizations They Run Were Presented in New York Before More than 500 Accomplished Women From Around the World

Shining a spotlight on women executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations run by women, the Stevie® Awards for Women in Business announced the results of its 2016 competition on Friday, November 18.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition produced by the creators of the prestigious International Business Awards and American Business Awards. The Stevie is widely considered to be the world’s premier business award.

With more than 500 businesswomen and their guests in attendance, the awards were announced at a gala dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Nations represented at the event include Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, South Africa, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.A.

The presentations were broadcast live via Livestream.

More than 1,400 nominations from organizations and individuals in 22 nations were submitted to the awards this year for consideration in categories including Entrepreneur of the Year, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, and Startup of the Year, among others. More than 160 professionals around the world participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and then the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements.

Grand Stevie Award trophies were presented to the five organizations that submitted the best body of entries to the competition, in their own names or in the names of one or more clients. Winners were determined by the number of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards won in the competition.

The Grand Stevie Award winners are:

•         PAIRELATIONS LLC, Centennial, CO USA (#1)
•         Accenture, Chicago, IL USA (#2)
•         WDS Marketing & Public Relations, Overland Park, KS USA (#3)
•         Jeunesse Global, Lake Mary, FL USA (#4)
•         Linqia, San Francisco, CA USA (#5)

Notable Gold Stevie Award winners from this year’s competition include:

• Shauna MacDonald, Principal and founder of Brookline Public Relations, Calgary, AB, Canada - Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada
• Viviana Zocco of Grupo Vi-Da, Buenos Aires, Argentina - Female Entrepreneur or Executive of the Year in Mexico, Central & South America
• Susan L. Abrams, CEO, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, IL - Female Innovator of the Year – Government or Non-Profit
• LivingTree dba: Snowflake Technologies Inc., Austin, TX - Community Involvement Program of the Year
• Shyamala Soundari Kuppusamy, Senior Product Manager, Macy's Inc., San Francisco, CA - Employee of the Year - Business
• Bobbi Leach, CEO of RevenueWire Inc, Victoria, BC, Canada - Female Executive of the Year in Canada
• SUNNY SIDE UP, Inc. Tokyo, Japan - Women-Run Workplace of the Year - More Than 10 Employees
• TAPfit, Queensland, Australia - Startup of the Year - Consumer Products Industries
• TEARS Foundation, Sandton, South Africa - Organization of the Year – Government or Non-Profit– 10 or Less Employees
• Susan Ma, founder of Tropic Skin Care, Croydon, Surrey, United Kingdom - Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year
• Yvonne Mei, Executive Vice Chairman of World System Builder, World Financial Group, San Jose, CA, USA - Woman of the Year - Industry

The 2016 Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners reflect a diverse group of large and small organizations from around the globe. Organizations that won more than one Gold Stevie Award include Accenture, Cisco Systems, Inc., Enabled Employment, Final Salute Inc., Goldie Blox, Happy Family, Jeunesse Global, Linqia, Madison Services Group, Inc., Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), and RippleNami, Inc.

For a complete list of Stevie Award winners and more information, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

Entries for the 2017 edition of the awards will open next May.

The 13th annual Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, the world's top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run, will be presented this Friday, November 18 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.  More than 400 women and their guests from around the world will attend.

The presentations will be broadcast via LiveStream at 7:30 pm eastern time on Friday. Watch it live or later on, here.  Follow along with a copy of the awards dinner's official program book. The red caprt pre-show will air on the Stevie Awards Facebook page at 6:00 pm ET.

Finalists in the 2016 awards were announced last month.  This Friday the Finalists will find out whether they've won Grand, Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award status.

So who's coming to New York City for Friday's gala event?  Here are the organizations who have already booked their place for the awards dinner.  Tickets are still available.

360 Total Concept Oakland CA
ABS Associates Inc. Schaumburg IL
Accenture Chicago IL
Access One Inc. Chicago IL
ActionCOACH-The London Coaching Group London United Kingdom
Actuated Medical Inc. Bellefonte PA
Aflac Columbus OH
Alliance Data Columbus OH
Amobee San Diego CA USA
Aspire Phoenix AZ
AT&T Dallas TX
ATREVIA Madrid Spain
Australian Charity for the Children of Vietnam Brisbane
Axis Capital Inc. Grand Island NE
Bank Leumi Tel-Aviv Israel
BBR Creative Lafayette LA
Biocrystal Technologies Rijeka Croatia
Blanks Boutique Birmingham AL
Blueliner Marketing New York NY
Bounce Australia Maryborough VIC Australia
Braeburn Pharmaceuticals Princeton NJ
BRG Communications Alexandria VA
Bronto Software Durham NC
Brookfield Sydney NSW Australia
Burson-Marsteller Hong Kong
Candor Oklahoma City OK
CBIZ Women's Advantage Cleveland OH
Century 21 Real Estate Madison NJ
Chargebacks911 Clearwater FL
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation Dover DE
Citrus Studios Santa Monica CA USA
Clearfield Inc. Plymouth MN
Clearslide San Francisco CA
Coast Professional Inc. West Monroe LA
Concentrix Corporation Tempe AZ
ConnectIreland Dublin Ireland
Corporette New York NY
Curriculum Associates North Billerica MA
Darktrace San Francisco CA
Dell EMC Hopkinton MA
Democracy Prep Public Schools New York NY
Dignity Health San Francisco CA USA
Dr. Marlene Mahipat Randallstown MD
Dynamic Solutions International Denver CO
EHR Concepts Villa Rica GA
Enabled Employment Canberra ACT Australia
Encore Associates San Ramon CA
Engage2Learn Corpus Christi TX
Epsilon Irving TX
ERA Franchise Systems LLC Madison NJ
EssayJack Inc. Toronto ON Canada
Event Head Melbourne VIC Australia
EvolveMKD New York NY
Family Legacy Missions International Irving TX
Final Salute Inc. Alexandria VA USA
FIS Jacksonville FL
FIS St. Petersburg FL
Fiserv Warren NJ
Foxtail Marketing American Fork UT
FuturePay Salt Lake City UT
Gail Lowney Alofsin Newport RI
General Electric Fairfield CT
Generation Hope Washington DC
George P. Johnson Auburn Hills MI
Gina Din Group Nairobi Kenya
Globalization Partners Cambridge MA
Goodwin Group PR Walpole MA USA
Grass Roots Meetings & Events New York NY
Grupo Vi-Da Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina
H&S Enterprises Inc. Scottsdale AZ
Happy Family New York NY
Hawkins International Public Relations New York NY
Headmark Sydney Australia
Heaven Skincare Shifnal Shropshire United Kingdom
Hilton Software Coral Springs FL
Hinduja Global Solutions HGS USA Peoria IL
Humana Insurance Louisville KY
Humana Louisville KY
hVIVO plc London United Kingdom
IAC Applications Yonkers NY
iCIMS Matawan NJ
Identity Theft Resource Center San Diego CA
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center Skokie IL
Improving Addison TX USA
Indus Health Plus (P) Ltd. Pune Maharashtra India
Innovid New York NY
INVNT New York NY
iTalent Corporation San Jose CA
Ithraa Consulting Group Jeddah Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
iVvy Pty Ltd Gold Coast QLD Australia
Ixia Calabasas CA
JDA Software Scottsdale AZ
Jenny Fenig Worldwide Great Barrington MA
Jewel Toned West Hollywood CA
JMA Solutions LLC. Washington DC
Jones Publishing (Citywealth) London United Kingdom
JSP Properties LLC St. Paul MN
Kristie's Beirut Lebanon
Krupp Kommunications New York NY
Kura-ra.net Osaka Japan
Linqia San Francisco CA USA
LivingTree dba: Snowflake Technologies Inc. Austin TX
LLORENTE & CUENCA Madrid Spain
Macy's Inc. San Francisco CA
Madison Services Group Inc. Washington DC
Manpower Group Milwaukee WI
Marketing CoPilot Toronto ON Canada
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA
Matrex Exhibits Addison IL
MATRIXX Software Saratoga CA
Meals on Wheels America Arlington VA
Meelo New York NY
Mid-America Asian Culture Association Leawood KS
Miller Vein Novi MI
MONAT Global Doral FL
n e t a m o r p h o s i s New York NY
Nicole Rodrigues - NRPR Group Beverly Hills CA
OBI Creative Omaha NE
One Mission Framingham MA
PAIRELATIONS LLC Centennial CO
PayneGroup Seattle WA
Payoneer Inc New York NY
Peggy Klaus Berkeley CA
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Harrisburg Pennsylvania
Pivot Point Marketing Larkspur CA
Prime Focus Technologies Private Limited Mumbai India
Primrose School Franchising Company Acworth GA
Proforma Durkee Huntersville NC
Push! Leadership and Business Training Brisbane QLD Australia
ReachLocal Woodland Hills CA
Red Hat Raleigh NC
RevenueWire Inc Victoria BC Canada
RevUnit Bentonville AR
Sealed Air Diversey Care Charlotte NC
SEVEN PRESS s.a.s Live-In Style - Televiva Houston etc... New York NY
Silverlink Burlington MA
Simple Mills Chicago IL
Southwest Michigan First Kalamazoo MI
SPLICE Software Calgary AB Canada
Spong Minneapolis MN
Sports 1 Marketing Irvine CA
Strategy and Management Services Inc. Springfield VA
Stratix Norcross GA
Stratus Interactive West Chester PA USA
STREAM magazine Torino ITALY
SUNNY SIDE UP Inc. Tokyo Japan
Susan Davis International Washington DC
Tagetik Lucca Italy & Stamford CT
TAPfit Queensland Australia
TEADS New York NY
TEARS Foundation Sandton South Africa
The Association for Women in Events Washington DC
The Australian Charity for the Children of Vietnam Brisbane QLD Australia
The Enrichery Houston TX
The Henker Group Easton MD
The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Lawrenceville NJ
Thought Bubble Brisbane QLD Australia
TIBCO Software Palo Alto CA
TMG Des Moines IA
Trendy Lime Inc. San Francisco CA
Triple A Financial Services Pty Ltd Australia Adelaide South Australia
Tropic Skin Care Croydon Surrey United Kingdom
Universal Environmental Consulting Westbury NY
Untangle Life Alexandria VA
USAID/OFDA Washington DC
WDS Marketing & Public Relations Overland Park KS
Webzap Technologies Noida Uttar Pradesh India
Wells Fargo Treasury Management San Francisco CA
WeSpire Boston MA
West Pharmaceutical Services Exton PA
Wind Rose Communications Atlanta GA
Women in PR London United Kingdom
World Financial Group San Jose CA
Zafin Palo Alto CA

Tania Hummel is Director of Thrive Coaching and Consulting in London, United Kingdom.  She assisted in judging the Company/Organization Awards categories for last year’s Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business is accepting late entries through the final entry deadline of Wednesday, September 21.  REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Preliminary judging of the 2016 Awards has just commenced. Tania will be joining the final round of judging in October. If you are interested in being a judge this year, apply to judge here.

Following are some surprisingly moving comments Tania sent us on her experience of judging in 2015.

This time last year, I was approached by an old friend to judge the Stevie Awards for Women in Business.   Not knowing what to expect, I gamely applied and was accepted. At the allotted time and date I accessed the judging website to view entries.

The first thing I discovered was that there were many more entries than I had expected– and from all over the world.  

The next thing I discovered was just how challenging judging could be.

Pressure to Succeed

Some submissions were about women who had scaled the heights of corporate giants, landing in senior roles where the competition and pressure to succeed could scarcely be imagined. Closer inspection of supporting documents to these applications showed that these were often “winners” from childhood–starting in their earliest school days, often mentored or supported by other high achievers, and given the best education money could buy.  In some cases, the question wasn't how could they succeed, but how could they possibly fail?  Yet the pressure to succeed, the perfectionist standards, and the constant striving made clear that success was without doubt hard won.

Rising from Obscurity

Then there were women who rose from complete obscurity, with no advantages at all, who told stories of how they worked during the day, and studied at night, sometimes working more than one job just to make ends meet.  They also scaled the corporate heights, sometimes in areas you might expect such as NGOs and charities, where sheer pluck and strength of character might get you places, but also in more conventional and male-dominated industries.  They added a quality of sheer grit and determination, inspiring others to believe that they, too, could make it, against all odds.  I identified with these women, as their story was my story–but I was careful not to allow my conscious bias to affect my objectivity.

Building Businesses from Scratch

I noticed there were women from all kinds of backgrounds: corporate refugees; stay-at-home moms; apparently ordinary women who started up businesses from their living rooms.  Sometimes they succeeded first time, sometimes they didn't.  Some of them had succeeded so well they had more than one entry, as they were running more than one business.  This demonstrated the power of the Internet to create new businesses, but these entries didn't shy away from illustrating the long hours, moments of doubt and despair, and sheer commitment and sacrifice needed to build a business from scratch.

Turning Weakness into Strength

Then there were the women who defeated the odds by overcoming their personal demons, and in so doing had succeeded beyond all expectations. These were women who had been given harsh feedback because of some personal flaw, but had not given in to either self-pity or self-loathing. Instead–with courage, determination, and the will to work on themselves–they had turned things around, and turned those weaknesses into strengths.  

Harnessing Technology to Solve Suffering

And then there were the women in technology roles, who started out in global organizations but who managed to use their positions of power to lobby their organizations to use their technology for a purpose beyond profit.  One such example was a woman who showed how her company brought first-line medical care to the remotest parts of the world via telecommunications in a way that made me rejoice at the limitless possibilities of harnessing technology to solve suffering in the world.

The Capacity to Care

Finally, there were the stories that made me stop in wonder at the human capacity to care.  One woman had started an obscure charity in a faraway country to which she apparently had no personal links. As an example of what must have been pure altruism, she showed the difference she had made–with no personal gain that I could see–to a group of blind and disabled people in a developing country, who, as a result of her efforts, were able to earn a living in a supportive community.

Mentoring and Inspiring

How clever, how kind, how determined, and how creative these ladies were. And how wonderful that so many of them cited other women as mentors, and were mentoring young women themselves.  It shattered the myth of the Queen Bee who pulls up the ladder behind her, and renewed my gratitude to the great lady who gave me my own big break.  And how encouraging, too, that many cited as inspiration their fathers, the male bosses who mentored them, or the husbands and partners who provided much needed moral, practical, or financial support.

I was once asked in a consultation forum what was the one thing I thought a woman with a family most needed to be successful. Without hesitation I replied: “A quality husband!”  Looking around at my successful girlfriends, however, I note that these can be a rare commodity, which makes the women who succeed as single parents, or who recover from adversity, all the more to be admired and respected.  

At any rate, there is usually someone, whether male or female, who is prepared to take a step down while you take a step up. Someone who is prepared to be a little bit beta while you go a little bit alpha … because no one gets to have it all–at least not all at the same time. 

So, in celebration of all successful women and the people who helped make them so, here is an anthem to Women’s Day from Peter Gabriel & Youssou N’Dour to play us out. 

Read more of Tania’s views on the world of Coaching and HR on the Thrive Blog.

About Tania Hummel:

Currently the Director of Thrive Coaching & Consulting, for six years until 2014 Tania Hummel led the HR function of the Nature and Macmillan Publishing Group, one of the world’s most renowned scientific, academic, and education publishers, during a period of transformation from a regionally organized, traditional, print-based business to a global digital and data-driven information provider. She had strategic and operational accountability for over 5,000 employees in over 50 markets, dealing with complex people and organizational challenges in countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, India, Japan, Australia, and the US. Her key experiences include managing complex employee relations issues in the UK and internationally, executive coaching, talent management, employer brand development, leadership and management development, communications, and global compliance and risk management.

Creative, pragmatic, and focused, Tania creates a safe space for teams and individuals to develop transformational goals whilst building confidence and increasing strategic capability. She is equally comfortable coaching groups, or individuals and is passionate about developing talent through strategic talent management initiatives. She uses innovative, award winning tools and techniques to create bespoke initiatives and has coached senior executives internationally via Skype or Google hangouts.

More than 400 finalists and their guests from around the world will gather this Friday, November 13 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City for the 12th annual Stevie Awards fror Women in Business. These are the world’s top honors for women entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run.

Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced. More than 1,400 nominations from organizations and individuals in 26 nations were submitted to the awards this year for consideration in categories including Entrepreneur of the Year, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, and Startup of the Year, among others. More than 160 professionals around the world participated in the judging process to determine the Finalists and then the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements.

The awards will be broadcast via Livestream at 7:30 pm ET via the Stevie Awards’ Facebook page. 

On your mobile device, watch the awards presentations on the Stevie Awards for Women in Business website.

Here is the list of organizations that will be represented at the event this Friday:

11mark

24Notion

6SensorLabs

97th Floor

Absolute Assistance - Virtual Assistant

Academic Achievers

Acorn: An Influence Company

Adello

Advanced Care Australia Pty Ltd

AECOM

Aflac

Allconnect

ALOM

Amadeus North America Inc.

AMN Healthcare Services Inc.

Amobee  

AT&T  

Autoscribe Corporation

Behringer

Beta Soft Systems

Blanks Boutique Inc

BMC Software

BrightPoint Security

Çalik Enerji

Cast & Crew

CBIZ Inc.

Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership, Babson College

Cisco Systems

Classloom

Collectively

Company

Consultants 2 Go

Cree-Con Construction Inc.

Crocon d.o.o.

DemandLab LLC

Dental Assisting National Board Inc.

DHL Express

Digital Air Strike

Digital Risk

Dignity Health

Dr. Kate Siner Inc.

Dream it. Code it. Win it.

EMC

Enterprise Community Partners

EY

Fabric Innovations

Family Development Foundation

FIS

FocusVision

Goodwin Group PR

Hemsworth Communications

HGS

Hillstone Networks

Hy-Performance Fluid Power Pty Ltd

I Change Her Life

iFinance Canada Inc.

Improving Enterprises

Indigo Interactive

InMoment

Irving Levin Associates Inc.

iTalent Corporation

Ixia

Jacobson Strategic Communications

Jones Publishing (Citywealth)

Just For Pets Pty Ltd

Karrikins Group North Sydney

KC Projects

KeenAlignment

Kim Flynn Consulting

Level 3 Communications

Lightwave Inc

LimBionics of Durham

LiquidPlanner Inc.

LLORENTE & CUENCA

Lynn University

Lyons Consulting Group

MalikCo

ManpowerGroup

Mcor Technologies

MELILEA Internatioanl (Taiwan) Limited

Métier

New Family Organization

NF Global Corp

NuCompass Mobility Services Inc.

NurseWise

PharmaLogics Recruiting

Phenomenal PR & Events

Pink Elephant

Pivot Point Marketing

PMFTC Inc

Precision Marketing Group

Proforma SI

radius financial group inc

Rapid Allweiler Group

Red Hat

ReneSola America

REP Interactive

Resilient Systems

Resolute Forest Products

Restoration of Appearance and Function Trust

RevenueWire Inc

Rita Trehan LLC

Roshan

SABIC

Selling Energy

Senseez Pillows

Silverlink Communications

Simple Mills

SOPHIYA Corporation

Source Intelligence

SpeakerBox Communications

SpendWell Health

SPLICE Software

Strategic Medical

Stratus Interactive

Stride

Sungard Availability Services

Swiss Post Solutions

Synchrony Financial

Thai Island

The Art and Craft Gallery

The Luminations Group LLC

Tourism New Zealand

UPMC Health Plan

US Embassy Connect to Success Program

Valerie Herskowitz Palm Beach Gardens

Wells Fargo & Company

Women on Top Business Coaching

Word & Brown General Agency

Working Solutions

World Financial Group

Your Architect

YWoman

ZippedMe

ZON

Zuora Inc.

ZYTO Corporation

Photos and videos from the event will be available next week.

The Stevie Awards are delighted to announce the  five distinguished women who will chair the final judging committees of the 2015 (12th annual) Stevie Awards for Women in Business competition.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world's top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees, and the organizations they run.

Finalists in this year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business will be announced on
October 7.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie placements from among the Finalists will be determined in final judging, to begin in late October.  Results will be announced at the 12th annual awards dinner in New York on November 13.  Tickets will go on sale October 7.

The five committee chair selections are based on the categories that will be judged. Final judging chairs helped to form their committees, each of which will be comprised of 10-20 other executives.  Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

INDIVIDUAL/EXECUTIVE

Elizabeth Schillo, Senior Vice President, Sales
Dice, New York, New York, USA

Elizabeth Schillo serves as Senior Vice President for Dice and Clearance Jobs, leading all North American sales channels. She oversees account management, new business sales, customer-centric sales communication, sales training, new product sales, and strategic partnerships for business development to generate annual results of over $130M.

Prior to Dice, she held sales leadership roles with CareerBuilder, Ann Taylor, and McKesson Information Systems. Over the past thirteen years, Elizabeth has demonstrated her ability to lead multi-channel sales teams and to drive results. Her passion for training, leadership, and serving customers has enabled her teams to develop strong customer relationships.

Elizabeth holds an MA from Wheaton College and a BA in Communication and Psychology from Lee University.

INDIVIDUAL/ENTREPRENEUR AND MARKETING

Amber Olson Rourke, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
Nerium International, Addison, Texas, USA

Amber Olson Rourke leads a team that is responsible for all of Nerium International’s™ branding, creative services, communications, public relations, events, digital marketing, and social media. As a member of the core executive team, Amber helped set and execute the strategy that led Nerium to be the youngest company ever to earn a place on the Direct Selling News Global 100 List in 2013, as well as receiving the prestigious Bravo Growth Award from Direct Selling News for hitting $100 million in sales during its first full year of business. In 2014, Amber was recognized as a 40 Under 40 by Direct Marketing News, and has also been profiled alongside Nerium International’s other top executives in both Direct Selling News and SUCCESS from Home magazines.

Amber also plays a key role in Nerium International’s culture and helps drive the company vision of “Making People Better.” She assisted in developing Nerium’s core values and leads a corporate culture committee which ensures that the core values are represented throughout the company. She launched a partnership between Nerium International™ and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, spearheading a fundraising effort that yielded over $500,000 in one year. She has also established a partnership with the Success Foundation to host teen workshops across the country. These workshops teach kids the skills needed to achieve their dreams. To date, thousands of teens have attended these free workshops.

Amber is enthusiastic about helping people achieve their dreams—especially women. A frequent keynote speaker at Nerium events, which draw audiences of 10,000 people or more, Amber encourages women to put their “calling before their comfort.” She has hosted women’s workshops and teen workshops across the country and is on the Advisory Board for Live Happy Magazine and the National Acts of Happiness campaign.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION

Ann Kaplan, CEO & President
iFinance Canada Inc., Toronto, Canada

Ann Kaplan is the CEO and President of iFinance Canada, the parent company to iFinance Home Improvement, Medicard, Petcard, Dentalcard, and Earlybird Pay Day Loans–a national consumer finance Company. She is also the founder of Brix Exchange, Canada’s first Real Estate Crowd Funding Portal, regulated under the Securities Acts.

An award winning business woman, Ms Kaplan is the recipient of the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award 200 and is currently the winner of the central region for the Award of Excellence, CWEYA award and a finalist for the CWEYA Canada (November 2015); the Peak Award of Excellence in Finance, as well as nine times on the Canada’s Profit 100 list for growth and 9X placement on the Canadian W100 list; she was also recognized as one of Canada’s most inspirational women in 2007 and more recently as one of Canada’s top three Female Business Leaders. Ann has also been named in the WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame 3X and was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame in 2014 and Recognized with highest honor as Rotman School of Business Top Women in Management/Entrepreneurship, 2015. Internationally, Ann is the recipient of numerous entrepreneurship awards, most recently for Woman of the Year in The 2015 International Business Awards.

Ms. Kaplan has an MBA, MSc, and a Corporate Governance Designation (ICD.d); and she is currently completing her Doctoral Thesis in finance at Henley Business School, University of Reading. Ann sits on three academic boards and committees; she is an eleven delegate with the Ontario Economic Summit; and in 2014 she was a co-chair in finance at the G-20Y summit in Geneva. Ann has hosted three televisions shows, written four books (If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry”, “Best Practices”, “The InterNet,” and “Fashion Cares”), and is often profiled or quoted in the media. She is the mother of eight and resides in Toronto, Canada.

COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA

María Cura, Partner and Managing Director/Barcelona Office
LLORENTE & CUENCA, Madrid, Spain 

María Cura joined LLORENTE & CUENCA in April 2010 as Managing Director of the Barcelona office, and has been a Partner in the company since 2012. She has more than 20 years of experience in communications consulting, and has a broad knowledge of managing corporate and marketing communications for leading companies in sectors such as technology, tourism, finance, and pharmaceuticals.

Before joining LL&C, María worked for USP Hospitals as Corporate Director of Marketing and Communications, going on to be made a partner and member of the Executive Committee, and where she set up the CSR Department and the Alex Foundation. Prior to that, she spent five years at communications consultancy Gené & Asociados in Barcelona, representing institutional clients such as the Regional Government of Catalonia, the Government of Andorra, and F.C. Barcelona, amongst others.

María has a law degree from the University of Barcelona.

NEW PRODUCT & SERVICE

Katrinka McCallum, Vice President of Products & Technologies Operations
Red Hat, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Katrinka McCallum is the vice president of Products & Technologies Operations at Red Hat, a Fortune 500 company with close to $1.8 billion in revenue. Her team provides the operational backbone for Red Hat's product and technology operations, enhancing the development, commercialization, and lifecycle management of the company’s offerings. In addition to ensuring the business units are able to make data driven decisions, she is responsible for engineering operations that ensure development teams have the infrastructure & tools needed to deliver products. She is also responsible for the site management of Red Hat’s R&D facilities in Australia, China, Czech Republic, India, and Israel.

Katrinka describes her career path like a mosaic: up close it may not be clear, yet stepping back it’s a beautiful piece of art. Katrinka has led operations for publicly-traded companies where she has had a variety of responsibilities, including sales, marketing, technical support, product development, IT, HR, finance, operations, and the running of entire business units. She leverages her Wellesley and Duke education, as well as her CPA, as foundational elements for a solid footing in how to ask the types of questions that lead teams in the right direction.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business will continue to accept entries through Friday, October 2. No additional late fees will be charged, and late entries will not be penalized in any way in the judging process. Contact help@stevieawards.com with any questions