Aline Stanworth, Global Communications Leader - Specialties Markets with SABIC, of Bergen op Zoom, Noord Brabant, The Netherlands, has been named the chair of the jury for the Communications, Marketing & Media categories of the 2017 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run.

The final entry deadline for the awards is September 20.  Complete details are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

Aline Stanworth is a Gold Stevie^® Award honoree for the campaign Stories of Possible from SABIC. Based in the Netherlands as Global Communications Leader Specialties Markets, she drives strategic communications to accelerate the diffusion of SABIC’s unique technologies in industries such as Mass Transportation, Healthcare, Electronics, Energy, Additive Manufacturing, and Industrial Automation. She is a Dutch and Brazilian national with a diversified International Business-to-Business experience in both private and public-listed global companies in Personal Care, Healthcare, Entertainment and Chemicals industries.

Aline holds a Master of Science in Corporate Communications from Erasmus University (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts in International Business Management from Hogeschool van Amsterdam.

Aline tells us that she is honored to have been invited to Chair.  “These Awards provide a magnificent platform to celebrate true talent. It is an immense honor to be invited to Chair such a high-caliber judging team.  I look forward to helping promote to the world the best work of female professionals in Marketing, PR and Media.”

The following seven executives have been appointed to head the final judging committees that will determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in the 2017 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  (All the category groups can be viewed in more detail here.) The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Friday, February 24 at the Caesars Palace Hotel in  Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is accepting nominations through January 11. 

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

SALES INDIVIDUAL/BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Chair: Stephen Gill, President
Stephen Gill Associates, Aston on Trent, Derbyshire, United Kingdom

Stephen Gill is an experienced, award-winning, international business development consultant and company director with a strong engineering background. He gained much of his experience at the senior management or board level of international organizations.  With a focus on helping individuals to excel, and organizations to grow and thrive, he is a trusted advisor, mentor, and strategist to executives and businesses. 

Stephen is a high profile figure in the HVACR engineering field serving as President of the Institute of Refrigeration, and as a refrigeration expert consultant working on many prestigious HCAVR projects around the globe.  He is known for providing energy-efficient, sustainable cooling solutions that are practical and affordable. Stephen Gill Associates won a Gold Stevie® at the 2014 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Services Awards in Las Vegas; and went on to win two Gold Stevies® at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards in Shanghai for a refrigeration industry awareness poster campaign. These posters have since been translated into 8 languages.

Comments Stephen: “The Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service bring a focus to the diversity of energy, professionalism, creativity, and sheer passion of working in this industry for individuals, departments, and organizations.  As a past Gold Stevie® winner I know just how much it means to win one of these coveted awards.”

Stephen is a regular contributor to business and technical magazines and books, as well as a conference speaker.  He has an MBA from Loughborough University and an LL.M (Business Law) from De Montfort University. He divides his time equally between his businesses in the UK and Southeast Asia.

SALES ACHIEVEMENT/NEW PRODUCT & SERVICE
Chair: Kelly Waltrich, SVP, Marketing and Communications
eMoney Advisor LLC, Radnor, PA, USA

Kelly Waltrich joined eMoney Advisor in the fall of 2013. Since that time, she has established—and now leads—the team responsible for the planning, development, execution, and monitoring of eMoney’s Marketing and Communications and Lead Generation initiatives.

Prior to this position, Kelly served as Assistant Vice President, Director of Advisor Marketing and Communications at Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC, where she was responsible for creating and managing marketing strategies that increase brand awareness, positively impact revenue, and improve the client experience. Before joining Janney, Kelly provided strategic marketing support to institutional sales and client service professionals at Turner Investment Partners in Berwyn, Pa.

Kelly attended James Madison University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in marketing and communications, and holds her Series 7 and 66 securities licenses. She is a member of Women in Investing of Philadelphia, as well as the CMO Club. She also serves as Treasurer for the Bucks County Chapter Board of Associates of the Fox Chase Cancer Center and is a member of the American Marketing Association.

SALES TEAM/SALES DISTINCTION
Chair: Jeffrey C. Taylor, Co-Founder & Managing Director
Digital Risk, LLC, Maitland, Florida, USA

Since 2005, Jeffrey Taylor has been co-founder and managing director of Digital Risk, the nation’s largest provider of mortgage risk, compliance, and transaction management solutions. Jeff sets the strategic vision for the company’s business development and marketing. He has been on the forefront of addressing challenges faced by the mortgage industry across origination, quality control, and compliance. Under his leadership, Digital Risk has grown from a start-up venture to as many as 2,000 plus U.S.-based employees. The company has become a partner to many of the largest U.S.-based mortgage investors and banks and government-sponsored enterprises in processing mortgage transactions, as well as identifying and correcting regulatory/compliance risks. 

As a serial entrepreneur, Jeff has built dynamic, innovative businesses by identifying opportunities to meet specialized needs within the financial services ecosystem. He has launched three companies: Digital Risk; Rapid Reporting Marketing Group; and American Transfer & and Trust, Inc.  Jeff is a voice for the industry and is a frequent guest on financial television networks such as Fox Business News and CNBC.  He is also a source for top tier news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, sharing keen insights on the US mortgage market and the economy.

Jeff is an active leader in both his industry sector and his community, serving on the boards of the following non-profit organizations: Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), The Baptist Health Foundation of South Florida; Virtual Enterprises International; and the Taylor-Cata Foundation. He has a degree in political science from the University of Miami.  Jeff is honored to have won several Stevie® Awards and to have had Digital Risk recognized at multiple Stevie® Awards programs over the past few years. He looks forward to acting as Chair, along with the esteemed colleagues who will make up his judging committee.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER INDIVIDUAL & CUSTOMER SERVICE/CONTACT CENTER ACHIEVEMENT
Chair: Will O’Keeffe, Vice President, Customer Services
Acquia, Burlington, MA

Will has more than 25 years experience leading, growing, and transforming global customer support organizations. In his role at Acquia, Will is responsible for building and maintaining a world-class Global Support team that is recognized for excellence by Acquia's customers and partners. 

Prior to Acquia, Will was Vice President of Customer Service and Support at ATG where he led efforts that resulted in dramatic improvements in customer satisfaction and retention. When ATG was acquired by Oracle in 2010, Will transitioned to lead the global support team for Oracle Commerce and was responsible for the integration of Endeca and Inquira into the Support portfolio. Prior to ATG/Oracle, Will led the Customer Care organization at NaviSite and was a Principal Consultant at PRTM. 

Will lives in the Boston area. He has a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Boston University.

CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT & CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCCESS
Chair: Chuck Browne, Sr. Manager, Customer Care
Vivint Smart Home, Provo, Utah, United States

As a Senior Manager on Vivint Smart Home’s Customer Care team, Chuck is responsible for the daily operations and strategic growth of the organization. On being appointed Chair of the Customer Service Department & Success Final Judging Committee, Chuck told us it was an honor for him to be asked to assist in the judging of the operations and success of other businesses. As he put it: “I know so many companies do so many great things. I’m looking forward to reading through best practices and being a part of recognizing some of the great work in the Customer Service industry.” 

He added: “I know our team felt a big confidence boost from the recognition in the 2016 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service for all their hard work.  I’m excited to be able to pay that feeling forward to another team in 2017.”

Chuck has been involved in the Customer Service industry for fifteen years. For six years of those years, he has been a major influence on the strong customer-facing approach to service at Vivint Smart Home. Chuck co-leads a team of nearly a thousand customer service agents and leaders across three sites. In 2016, Chuck’s team successfully launched a work-from-home program that has rapidly expanded to over 100 agents and 4 supervisors. Chuck has played a vital role in the consistent improvement of Vivint Smart Home’s quality of service and operational efficiency, amidst 30%-plus growth each year, an aggressive product-launch schedule, and market expansion.

Chuck received his Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University in 2012. Chuck has been married for 10 year and has two beautiful daughters. When Chuck is not in the office, he can often be found on one of Utah’s world-class rivers practicing his fly fishing or hiking trails with his family.

CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM
Chair:  George Cleveland, Vice President, Customer Operations
Cricket Wireless, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

As Vice President of Consumer Operations at Cricket, George is responsible for Cricket's sales operations, customer care, training and communications, and the digital experience. Prior to his current role, George was assistant vice president of the AT&T Customer Solution Centers. George tells us he is “excited and humbled” by this opportunity to participate as Chair of this Final Judging Committee.

George began his telecom career in 1996 as a senior accountant with BellSouth Cellular in Atlanta. From there, he progressed through several sales leadership roles within AT&T Mobility before assuming the role of regional sales operations director for Company Owned Retail, supporting the South Central region. He then became executive director of AT&T University.

George is a certified CPA and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Morehouse College in Atlanta.

SOLUTION PROVIDER
Chair: Alaa Jamaleddine, Senior Back Office Advisor
DHL Express, Beirut, Lebanon 

In 2007, while still pursuing his education, Alaa Jamaleddine started his career as a part-time call center agent with DHL Express–Lebanon. When he graduated, he resumed his career as a full-time employee, assuming many roles in the Customer Service Department throughout the years.  DHL is a multinational company operating in more than 220 countries and having around 325,000 employees. Alaa’s job consisted largely of following up and communicating with these overseas facilities and offices. This taught him a wide range of skills and allowed him to be flexible in handling and resolving any type of customers’ claims or complaints, while avoiding any delays and meeting deadlines. Not only was he able to satisfy the customers’ concerns, but he also helped the organization to retain key customers and gain new ones.

As a Certified International Specialist, Alaa is designated coach and trainer for newcomers to the back office team. He trains new agents on how to empathize with a customer’s problems, and how to give their best when handling a critical situation. In 2015, Alaa was selected by the regional office to attend an Operational Excellence Training (OET), as he had demonstrated throughout the years a great ability and passion to analyze trends and forecasting.  Not long after his return from the training, he initiated a work plan to reduce workload and increase productivity.  With his wide analytical skills, Alaa conducted a study on network profitability that grabbed the attention of the country manager who made a price revision for a specific network product code that was below profit margin. This initiative helped the company provide customers with the option of Global Quality Control monitoring. To top it off, Alaa won the 2016 Gold Stevie® Award for Back-Office Customer Service Professional of the Year in the transportation industry

Alaa is the holder of Extra Miler, Job Well Done, Hero of the Day, and Employee Of the Month certificates at DHL, and has been nominated for Employee Of the Year. Alaa graduated with a Business Administration Degree from Haigazian University in Beirut.

The Stevie Awards are delighted to announce the  five distinguished women who will chair the final judging committees of the 2016 (13th 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 were announced on
October 6.  Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie placements from among the Finalists will be determined in final judging, to begin October 17.  Results will be announced at the 13th annual awards dinner in New York on November 18.  Tickets are on sale now.

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/ENTREPRENEUR

Jo Wimble-Groves, Business Support Director
Active Digital, Lamberhurst, Kent, United Kingdom

Jo Wimble-Groves is co-owner of the successful Kent-based company Active Digital, an award-winning business mobile communications company, which she operates with her brother, Richard Groves. Jo has spent the last 20 years of her career working on customer experience and team strategy. Her commitment to delivering an exceptional level of service has led to a number of company awards. Active Digital was named as one of the “Top 6 Customer Service Business Leaders in Europe” at the European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards in 2013. The company also won the Gold Stevie® Award for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year - Technology Industries in the 2015 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Established in 1996, Active Digital clients include Olympic teams and rugby clubs. Its core business is providing mobile phones, tablets, fixed line, and apps to UK organizations of all sizes.

INDIVIDUAL/EXECUTIVE

Karen Justice, CEO
Just For Pets, Suffolk Park, New South Wales, Australia

An award-winning business leader, Karen Justice has owned and managed the Just for Pets buying group business based in Byron Bay since January 2009. As CEO, she liaises with over 65 independent pet retailers and most major manufacturers and suppliers to the pet industry on a daily basis. Karen keeps her finger on the pulse in this fast-changing industry.

Karen’s first job was as a vet nurse while she was still a teenager, which she did for four years before completing her Higher School Certificate and moving into the world of human health. She is a registered nurse who moved into private Child and Family Health Clinics when she started her own family. She managed a pharmacy for over eleven years, and then moved into the pet-care industry in 2005. After leaving the health industry completely, Karen owned and managed a pet shop for five years before taking on the challenge of a pet industry buying group.

Karen owns a beautiful Tiboodle (a cross between a Tibetan spaniel and a poodle) named Daisy, and a rescue cat named Sox, and is an avid marine fish enthusiast.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION

Dr Ambreen Zaman Riaz, Founder
I Change Her Life, Lahore, Pakistan & Istanbul, Turkey

Dr Ambreen Zaman Riaz is a medical doctor, social entrepreneur, renaissance scholar, and polymath. She left her successful career as a cosmetic dermatologist to help disadvantaged women because she firmly believed that educated people needed to get actively involved in the social-service sector. Dr Zaman has worked as a volunteer for non-profits both in Pakistan and Turkey. This has further enhanced her enthusiasm to serve vulnerable and weak women.

Dr Zaman is an active advocate of women's rights and participates in highlighting the rights of Christian, Agha Khani, and non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. Her commitment to change the lives of underprivileged women has enabled her to achieve the status of "change maker" in international circles.

PUBLIC RELATIONS/MARKETING/MEDIA

Mary Ann Henker, President
The Henker Group, Easton, Maryland, USA

Mary Ann Henker is president of The Henker Group, an integrated marketing communications firm serving clients up to the national level. She founded The Henker Group in 2005 to fully leverage her skills and experience to deliver powerful and proven results for companies and organizations. Prior to The Henker Group, Mary Ann was the executive director of the Giant Screen Theater Association, the worldwide association for the IMAX theater and film industry. In that role, she completed business and contract negotiations with individuals and companies in 22 countries. Her management and business style is that of aggressive marketing, detailed planning, and strict fiscal management.

Mary Ann has been a frequent judge for the marketing and communications categories of The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards and the Stevie® Awards for Women in Business. She has also been invited by A Billion + Change to participate in a forum at the White House. She is a past recipient of The Daily Record of Maryland's “Successful by 40 Award,” and has has been honored as a Business Woman of the Year by the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce. In addition to receiving a Stevie® Award for Women in Business, her company, The Henker Group, won Bronze Stevie® Awards in The  2016 American Business Awards for both Marketing Agency of the Year and Communications Department of the Year.

Currently, Mary Ann sits on the boards of Junior Achievement for Talbot County, Maryland, the Eastern Shore Experiential Learning Center, and The Cause Agency.  She is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, a Minor in Management, and a focus on employment law. She has completed courses towards a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.

NEW PRODUCT & SERVICE

Fatima Cabral, CEO and co-founder
Pink Elephant, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

Since the founding of Pink Elephant in 1989, Fatima Cabral has been a driving force behind the success of Pink Elephant across Canada, North America, and Asia. After introducing ITIL® to North America and Asia in 1997, Pink Elephant established itself as a leading provider of IT Service Management conferences, education, and consulting services.

Fatima has received many awards, including ranking in the PROFIT W100 of Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs for eight successive years, a business award from the Federation of Portuguese-Canadian Business Professionals, and the Gold Stevie® for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada in the 2015 Stevie® Awards for Women in Business.

Currently, Fatima and Pink Elephant are leading the way in the Lean IT Revolution–an essential certification that should be part of every IT professional’s toolkit.

The following professionals participated in first-round judging of the 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Businessin September - October 2016.  Their average scores determined the nominations that were eligible to be included in final judging, that would ultimately be named Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners.  We thank them for their time, interest and insights. Stevie Awards for Women in Business finalists will be announced on October 6, 2016.

Lisa Abeyta, Founder/CEO, APPCityLife, Inc., Albuquerque, NM USA

Lara Abrams, Managing Member, Lara Abrams Communications, LLC, Lexington, KY USA

Nicole Y. Adams , Marketing, PR and Corporate Communications Translator, NYA Communications, Bellbird Park, QLD Australia

Ahmed Alhai, BRM Specialist, ADCO, Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates

Huda Al-Husaini , Associate Engineer, Jordan Engineers Association, Shmisani, Amman Jordan

Marcie Allen, CEO, MAC Presents. New York, NY USA

Maria Bailey, CEO, Blue Suit Mom Media, Miami, FL USA

Janet Beale, Managing Director, Sytor Enterprises Pty Ltd, East Lindfield, NSW Australia

Deb Birnbaum, Strategic Initiatives and Continuous Quality Improvement Professional, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN USA

Jennifer Bonham, Director, Marketing & Sales Strategy, Envolve, Inc., St. Louis, MO USA

Yvonne Borg, SVP, E.ON Nordic, Malmo Sweden

Deborah Bowie, CCE, IOM, President/CEO, United Way of North Central Florida, Gainesville FL USA

Marcia Brand, President, Creative Marketing Concepts, Inc., Alexandria, VA USA

Khobi Brooklyn, Communications, Tesla Motors, San Francisco, CA USA

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing, Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Rigaud, QC Canada

Carolin Buchardt, CEO and Founder, CB Praxisberatung, Heidelberg Germany

Valerie Burke, Director of Digital Media and SEO, Sundance Vacations, Wilkes-Barre, PA USA

Beverly Butler, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo, San Francisco, CA USA

Krista Canfield, Founder, Food Water Shoes, San Francisco, CA USA

Deb Carr, Founder, Sydney Lifestyle Blog, Sydney, NSW Australia

Alexandra Cearns, Creative Director / Owner, Houndstooth Studio, Perth Australia

Viola Manuela Ceccarini, TV PERSONALITY, PRODUCER, COLUMNIST AND WRITER, LIVEIN-STYLE MAGAZINE, SEVENPRESS.COM, TELEVIVA HOUSTON, DEAMINA MAGAZINE, New York, NY USA

Joy Chen, Chairman & CEO, H2O+ Beauty, San Francisco, CA USA

Kim Clark, Principal, Polished Professionals Boston, Boston, MA USA

Robyn Davis, Owner, When I Need Help, Columbia, SC USA

Ana Degani, Regional Director of Customer Service, Americas Region, DHL, Plantation, FL USA

Michele Don Durbin, VP, Inflection, San Jose, CA USA

Eve Dumovich, Editor, Boeing/Snowline Publishing, Ashford, WA USA

Lorretta Gasper, Owner/Principal, Wind Rose Communications, Atlanta, GA USA

Pamela Gharaibeh, Child and Family Therapist, Main Street Therapy for Children and Families, Livonia, MI USA

Barb Girson, President, My Sales Tactics, LLC, New Albany, OH USA

Siki Giunta, Managing Director - Cloud and Infrastructure, Accenture, New York, NY USA

Regina Glick, Director of Marketing, Summit Professional Networks, New York, NY USA

Lisa Goldberg, Director, Marketing Services, VetCentric, Inc., Baltimore, MD USA

Allison Golsby, CEO, ConsultMine, Brisbane Australia

Charity Herb, Online Content Administrator, American Greetings, Cleveland, OH USA

Alison Higgins-Miller, Regional Business Development Manager, International Corporate Advisory PTE LTD, Dural, NSW Australia

Robyne Highsmith, Founder, Teen Dare To Dream Program, Zionsville, IN USA

Joann Hizon, Vice President - Human Resources SM Investments Corp, Pasay City, Philippines

Rebekah Hurworth, Founder and Director, Your Architect, Red Hill, Queensland Australia

Craig Jacobsen, Founder, Open Spaces Marketing, Encinitas, CA USA

Anne Jefferies, Vendor Compliance Manager, AT&T Global Vendor Management, Biggar, United Kingdom

Jess Jones, Founder, Soar Collective, Melbourne, Australia

Dr. Neelima Kamrah, Chairman, KIIT Group of Colleges, Gurgaon, Haryana India

Michelle King, Senior Director, Legal Operations, Intralinks, New York, NY USA

Renée Knee, Customer Success Executive, Self-employed, San Rafael, CA USA

Shamina Krishna, Manager, Training Department, Smart Reader® Worldwide Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur, AL Malaysia

Jill Liberman, Founder, Videoglobetrotter, Inc., Boca Raton, FL USA

Sarah Lippincott, Digital Marketing & Public Relations Professional, Tigercomm, Washington, DC USA

Theresa Mack, Owner, PowerUp Partners, Torrance, CA USA

Lisa MacKenzie, President, MacKenzie Marketing Group, Portland, OR USA

Rachel Maleh, Deputy Director, American Heart Association, Arlington, VA USA

Scott Maloney, CEO/Co-Founder, BowTie, Albuquerque, NM USA

Francesca Masoero, CEO and co-Founder, STREAM magazine, Cumiana, TO Italy

Karen Mayfield, Division Lending Executive at Citi, Citi Bank, San Francisco, CA USA

Renie McClay, Project Manager, Caveo Learning, Ozark, MO USA

Robin McCoy-Ramirez, Owner, SoothEaze, Boston, MA USA

Karen McFadzen, Director and co-Owner, Vision Training Australia, Sydney, NSW Australia

Kim McGann, Founder, Wedding Entrepreneurs Academy, Nelson Bay, NSW Australia

Carolyn Melby, President, Carolyn B. Melby, Skin Specialist llc, Chandler, AZ USA

Shar Moore, Editor-in-Chief, YWoman, Wellington Point, Queensland Australia

Jason Morris, Director, SRS Acquiom, Denver, CO USA

Jennifer Morrison, Director of Marketing & Talent Management, H&S Enterprises, Los Angeles, CA USA

Danielle Mullin, Site Coordinator, EmCare, Fort Smith, AR USA

Balaji Nagabhushan, Group Chief Administrative Officer, Tristar Transport LLC, Dubai, NH United Arab Emirates

Rajendran Nair, VP, Marketing, Rootstock Software, San Ramon, CA USA

Mandy Nembs, Founder               , Capillus Distribution LLC, New York, NY USA

Carey-Ann Oestreicher, CEO, Potential Unlimited, Burlington, ON Canada

Lorraine O'Neill, Dr, The EPI Centre Australia Pty Ltd, Parrearra, Australia

Görkem Özkan, HR Professional, HR, Ankara, Turkey

Kaan ÖZSÖKMEN, Owner, K-Tex Sourcing & Buying Agency, Istanbul, Turkey

Liz Palmer, President and CEO, Liz Palmer Media Group Inc., Toronto, ON Canada

M Carmen Paz, Founder, Director of Program Management, Page One Guru, Austin, TX USA

Christine Pietryla, Consultant, Freelance , Pietryla PR & Marketing LLC, Chicago, IL USA

Fabi Preslar, President, SPARK Publications, Matthew, NC USA

Jesintha Rajaratnam, Managing Partner, Money Garden, Bangalore, Karnataka India

Shenan Reed, President of Digital, North America, MEC, New York, NY USA

Dennis Reno, Corporate Vice President, Customer Success, Proofpoint, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA USA

June Ressler, President & CDO, Cenergy, Houston, TX USA

Kelly Roark, Founder & CSO, KPR Strategic Consulting, New York, NY USA

Grace Rodriguez, Co-Founder, Station Houston, Sugar Land, TX USA

Ritzi Ronquillo, Chairman, IABC Phillipines, Manilla, Philippines

Catalina Rousseau, President & CEO, BDR Associates, Bucharest, Romania

Srinivasan Saravanamuthu, Senior Manager, Accenture, Seattle, WA USA

Susan Savage, General Manager , MICROS Fidelio Australia, South Turramurra, IN Australia

Steve Schonberg, Managing Director, K2 Krupp Kommunications, Inc, New York, NY USA

Christine Seymour, Director, Marketing and Communications, John Crane, Norcross, GA USA

Manal Sham, Customer Service Supervisor, DP DHL, Amman, Jordan

Keira Shein, Partner, Shein Strategies, Owings Mills, MD USA

Gary Shumaker, President and CEO, C2 Solutions Group, Inc., Reston, VA USA

Alysia Silberg, COO, Acceleforce, London, United Kingdom

Sylvia Slezak, Director of Marketing & Social Media, Internet Directory, Inc. d/b/a CityOf.com, Corpus Christi, TX USA

Theavy Sok, Partner, Country Club Apiaries, Denver, CO USA

Carla Spain, Director of Marketing & Communications, Holy Names High School, Oakland, CA USA

Vickie Sullivan, Founder and President, Sullivan and Associates, Tempe, AZ USA

Linda Summerton, Managing Director, Advanced Care Australia, Maroochydore, QLD Australia

Aniket Suru, FX & Commodities Programme Manager, HSBC, London, United Kingdom

Shoab Syed, Principal Consultant, Sovnex, Toronto, ON Canada

Alice Takpemongo, Co-Create IKEA Open Innovation Leader, IKEA Group, Brentford, Middlesex United Kingdom

Asli Tas Kayabas, Professional Training & Coaching, Kuzey Academy, Istanbul, Turkey

Julie Taylor, Owner, Business coaching 1-1 LLC, Washington, DC USA

Josie Thomson, CEO, JosieThomson.com, Red Hill, QLD Australia

Katy Thorbahn, Partner, Managing Director, Shiny, Wilmington, DE USA

Lori VanDyke, Manager Customer Care, Access One, Chicago, IL USA

Imal Wagner, President, Phoenix Rising, PR, Gaithersburg, MD USA

Joyce Weiland, President, SoftPro, Raleigh, NC USA

Marci Weisler, Co-Founder/Consultant, MW Advisory, New York, NY USA

Susan Werkner, Managing Director/Founder, Interactive Investor Pty Ltd, Sydney, NSW Australia

Becky Wilson, Chief Visibility Officer, WDS Marketing & PR, Overland Park, KS USA

Kathy Woodard, Communications Specialist, Freelance Writer, Columbus, OH USA

Lori Zaret, Chief Marketing Officer, Bond Consulting, Dallas, TX USA

If you're interested in being a Stevie Awards for Women in Business Judge in 2017, apply below.

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.

Richa Ramola is Vice President Human Resources at Radius Global Solutions in Mumbai, India. As one of the more active judges in the 2016 Asia Pacific Stevie Awards, she contributed to judging submissions in the Company, Management, HR, Customer Service, and Creative Awards categories.

See the full list of Asia-Pacific Stevie-winners here.  

We asked Richa about the judging process, what she thought about the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, and what most interested her about her own work.

Judging the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, Richa told us, had been an enriching experience. “I have enjoyed judging each entry for the awards. There is so much learning and so much innovation that has been shared by the participants, and that gives us insight to intelligent processes and work being done across a variety of organizations in different countries.”

Apply here if you would like to be considered as a judge for the 2017 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

As someone who judged entries in multiple categories this year, we asked Richa for her overall impression of entries to the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.  “I can see organizations competing amongst each other for this coveted award, and there are so many more entries this year,” she commented. “The competition is getting tougher!”

This year, the judges were divided into committees by category group and by language.  The judges who participate in the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have their own competition: two of them will win a pair of tickets to attend the Awards Presentations in Sydney, Australia, at the end of May.  Richa is hoping she will be one of this year’s contenders. “Sydney is such a beautiful city and I would love to visit it! And being part of the Awards Ceremony would make it all the more exciting,” she told us.

Richa works in the Mumbai office of Radius Global Solutions, which has its corporate headquarters in Ambler, Pennsylvania, USA. The company is hoping to expand into the Asia Pacific region in the near future.

As Vice President Human Relations at Radius, Richa loves her work. “People are our most valued assets, and our HR department has a very important role to play in creating a strong culture where our employees enjoy coming to work each day,” she explained. “Developing our people and seeing them grow in their work makes me happy and inspires me to continue to build a culture where people love to work and want to grow.”

About Richa Ramola:

Richa is currently the Vice President HR for Radius Global Solutions' India site. Prior to this role, she had 19 years of experience across well-known organizations such as ITC Hotels, SITEL, and IBM. She has work experience across functions including Customer Service, Operations, Quality, Training, and Human Resources.

In her current role, Richa is responsible for leading HR strategy for the India site and executing it successfully. She acts as a business partner to the organization’s senior management, sharing best practices, HR support, guidance, and advice with the India leadership. She manages all HR activities across the site, developing, implementing, and communicating HR practices, policies and programs.

About Radius Global Solutions:

Radius Global Solutions, headquartered near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, is a leading provider of accounts receivable, customer relations, and revenue cycle management solutions. Radius was established on the principle of innovation. The company attracts the best people, empowers them with a progressive business culture, and enables them with next-generation technology. Radius is at the forefront of compliance. Its commitment to meeting the challenges of an ever-changing regulatory environment provides tangible and measurable benefits to its clients. With more than a century of experience in the industry, the Radius team has the knowledge and expertise to provide reliable, consistent service. Radius delivers the results its clients expect and deserve. For more information go to www.radiusgs.com/

The Stevie Awards are delighted to announce the eleven distinguished professionals who will chair the judging committees of The 2016 (14th annual) American Business Awards.

The American Business Awards are the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., with categories to recognize achievement in every facet of work life, from management to marketing, human resources to new products and websites.

The eleven committee chair selections are based on the categories that will be judged. Judging chairs helped to form their committees, each of which will be comprised of 10-20 other executives. 

Winners in this year's American Business Awards will be announced on
May 2.  Judging will take place from late March through April. Winners will be celebrated at an awards banquet in New York City on June 20.  Tickets will go on sale May 2.

 Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION

Chair:
Robert Frost, Vice President, Customer Care
Carbonite, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts

Rob Frost is Vice President, Customer Care for Carbonite, a leading provider of hybrid backup (cloud and local) and recovery solutions for home users and businesses. Rob is hyper-focused on customer satisfaction and sets the highest standards for customer service. As VP of Customer Care, Rob and his award-winning, global customer care team continually strive to make sure every customer interaction is a positive experience.

Prior to joining Carbonite, Rob was Director of Client Services and Technical Support at Intronis. Rob also served as Senior Director of Support and Global Client Relations at Acronis, where he spent three years in Moscow, Russia, delivering global support in nine languages.

MANAGEMENT

Chair:
Jay Starkman, CEO
Engage PEO, Hollywood, Florida

In 2011, after more than two decades marked by substantial achievement within and outside the Professional Employer Organization (PEO) industry, Jay set out to build a new kind of PEO where quality service would be the driving focus of everything. That PEO is Engage. Today, Engage is one of the fastest-growing companies in the country.

Before forming Engage, Jay was president and CEO of AlphaStaff, a PEO, which he grew from a small player to a top-five industry leader. Jay sold the company in 2008 to a private equity group. Prior to AlphaStaff, Jay was president and CEO of OneChem, a software application provider to the chemical industry.  He also was managing partner of his own successful law firm, which specialized, in employment and commercial law. Among his numerous leadership awards, Jay most recently received the Gold Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year in the 2015 American Business Awards, and the Gold Award for Chief Executive Officer of the Year in the 2015 Golden Bridge Awards.

Jay is a previous member of the board of directors of the Employee Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC), the accrediting body for the PEO industry; and the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO).

MARKETING

Chair:
Gina Ellis-Strother, Director of Marketing
Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission, Charleston, South Carolina

Gina Ellis-Strother has been Director of Marketing for Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission since 2013.  She has had more than 20 years of experience in travel and technology marketing, and previous employers included American Airlines, SABRE, Worldspan, and Verizon Wireless.  

In 2015, the American Marketing Association of Charleston awarded Gina the Spark! Award for Marketer of the Year for her innovative rebranding and advertising work for Charleston County Parks. That same year, she was presented with the Gold Stevie Award for Marketer of the Year at the American Business Awards in Chicago. She is a member of the American Marketing Association, serves as an officer of the board at the Charleston Collegiate School, and continues to use her marketing expertise to support the nonprofit organization, The Parklands Foundation.  

Gina graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor Degree from Hunter College at The City University of New York, and received a Master of Business Administration at The Citadel Military College of South Carolina. She presently lives in Charleston, SC with her husband Troy and daughter Gabrielle.

PR/IR/CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Chair:
Jock Breitwieser, Director, Corporate Communications
TriNet, San Jose, California

Jock Breitwieser runs corporate communications at TriNet, a strategic partner to small and medium-sized businesses for HR, payroll, employee benefits, employment law compliance, and risk mitigation. He drove the company’s communications during its IPO and is responsible for TriNet’s external communications and social media strategy.

Prior to TriNet, Jock spearheaded global public relations, customer references, and social media for Dell SonicWALL in 17 countries. He drove positioning and communications when the previously public company went private with Thoma Bravo in 2010 and during SonicWALL’s acquisition by Dell in 2012. Before that, he was global head of corporate communications and web marketing at CallidusCloud, a provider of cloud-based sales and marketing solutions. Before that, Jock worked at The Hoffman Agency, Edelman Worldwide, and
 EURO RSCG where he executed successful international PR and analyst relations programs in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, and Hong Kong for global clients in high-tech, telecommunications and financial services. He has also co-founded a network security startup, run a successful Kickstarter campaign, and served as marketing/communications advisor to startups. He has written a bestselling book on PR-practices, received numerous awards for excellence in communications, and was featured by Forrester Research for his exemplary approach to driving sales results with analyst relations.

Jock holds an M.A. in contemporary history, law, and political sciences from the University of Bochum, Germany. He also studied in Tours, France with a scholarship from the European Union. In his spare time, Jock enjoys international travel and competes in Triathlons.

Jock tells us: “Every year, The Stevie Awards honor the achievements of the very best organizations in the U.S. It’s an incredible honor to chair the group of outstanding experts that make up the Judging Committee for the Corporate Communications/IR/PR categories. The committee and I will take great pride in identifying the most deserving organizations and teams. It will be a pleasure to review the creative and highly professional submissions. I cannot wait to start judging the submissions for the 2016 Stevies.”

HUMAN RESOURCES

Chair:
Narasimhan Srinivasan, Vice President & Head of Human Resource
Tata Consultancy Services, Edison, New Jersey

Narasimhan Srinivasan (Narsi) is the Vice President and Head of Human Resources for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in North America. He has been with TCS for the last 22 years. Narsi’s career spans 27 years, and during that time, he has played multiple roles in Delivery, Business Development and Human Resources areas in the IT Industry. He has been working in Human Resources for the last 9 years. His key roles at TCS include Global Head of Learning and Development, Head of Organizational Effectiveness, HR Director– APAC, Regional Manager–Bristol, UK, and Client Partner for Standard Chartered Bank, Target, AXA, and Nedcor Relationships.

Narsi graduated from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India, with a Master ofScience (Hons.) Chemistry, and a Master of Science (Technology) Computer Science in 1985. Narsi is very much interested in sports and plays cricket and golf.

CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT

Chair:
Steve Fulmer, Senior Vice President of Government Guaranteed Lending
First GREEN Bank, Orlando, Florida

Steve Fulmer is the Senior Vice President of Government Guaranteed Lending at First GREEN Bank, a “local bank with a global mission” that endeavors to do the right thing for the environment, and the company’s people, community, and shareholders. Steve oversees all Small Business Administration and US Department of Agriculture Business Lending in Florida for the bank.

Steve has over 8 years experience in banking in Central Florida. He currently serves on the executive board of the Oviedo/Winter Springs Chamber and the steering chairman for Future Leaders of CREW Orlando.  

Steve has a Master’s Degree of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and is a US Army veteran. 

NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE/INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Chair:
Derek Gerry, Director, Strategic Accounts
C-4 Analytics, Saugus, Massachusetts

Derek Gerry is Director, Strategic Accounts at C-4 Analytics, a provider of customizable full service digital marketing solutions in Boston. A skilled content and search optimization strategist with a deep appreciation for Saul Bass, Ken Nordine, and the fundamentals of marketing communication, Derek has been part of the team at C-4 Analytics since 2010. In his capacity as Director of Strategic Accounts, Derek has developed and implemented campaigns in the health care, consumer retail, energy, and automotive sectors.

Derek has spent nearly 20 years creating content and marketing campaigns for online audiences, working for some of the United States’ top companies, including Standard & Poor’s, Harcourt Brace, and IAC.

Derek is also an accomplished broadcaster who hosts a weekly news and commentary show in Boston, and he has appeared on several talk stations in the Boston area.

ANNUAL REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS

Chair:
Justin Bell, CEO
Lion Agency, Miami, Florida

Justin Bell is an experienced marketing executive and brand strategist residing in Miami, Florida. Justin is CEO of Lion Agency, a multinational digital agency with offices in Buenos Aires, Miami and São Paulo. Lion Agency is an award-winning agency (earning five American Business Awards in 2015), and works with leading brands including American Express, Celebrity Cruises, Elizabeth Arden, FANIA Records, Tío Gazpacho, and the University of Miami.

Justin joined Lion Agency in 2015 when Lion Agency acquired Arc+Arrow Creative Group. Justin founded Arc+Arrow in 2013 after working his way through various senior leadership roles at Omnicom Group where he worked with brands including Best Buy, Costco, Motorola, Wal-Mart, and Samsung, as well as Carphone Warehouse, Dixons Retail, and John Lewis in Europe.

Justin is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Ashland University with degrees in marketing.

LIVE EVENTS

Chair:
Staci Johnson, Vice President of Marketing
Roth Staffing Companies, L.P., Orange, California

Staci Johnson is the Vice President of Marketing for Roth Staffing Companies, one of the largest privately held staffing companies in the country. She heads the corporate marketing department and all its functions, including campaigns, website creation, digital marketing, email catalogs, social media, live events, virtual events, public relations, newsletters, branding … if it gets communicated, it goes through Staci’s Marketing team. 

Staci was the recipient of the 2015 Gold Stevie Award for Marketing Executive of the Year. With her help, Roth Staffing Companies has been honored by Fortune as a 100 Best Workplaces for Women and 50 Best Small & Medium Workplaces, as well as Best Staffing Firms to Work For by Staffing Industry Analysts, and Best of Staffing for both Client and Talent Satisfaction by Inavero and CareerBuilder. Staci’s Marketing team has been lauded with VOICE Awards from the American Staffing Association for five consecutive years and referred to as the best Marketing department in the industry.  The team has also been recognized with B2B Marketing Awards.

Staci started her career in Television after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Television Production from San Francisco State University.  She went on to receive a Master of Arts in Communication Studies from University of California, Davis.  In addition to teaching television production and communication classes at UC Davis and Yuba Community College, her marketing career includes working in the healthcare, banking, government, and arts industries before settling in to 10 years at Roth Staffing Companies–and counting. 

Staci tells us: “I hope it’s not too clichédé to say how much of a humbling honor it is to be invited to Chair this Judging Committee for the Stevie Awards. I have such great respect and admiration for those professionals who have participated in helping select past Stevie Award winners and I am excited to join this exclusive group. The American Business Awards go above and beyond to find, select, and recognize truly exceptional companies and business leaders worthy of praise. I look forward to helping honor and congratulate this year’s recipients.”

WEBSITES & APPS

Chair:
Eric Farr, Principal
BrainStorm, Inc., American Fork, Utah

Eric Farr is a Principal at BrainStorm, Inc., a leading provider of end-user adoption and change management solutions. BrainStorm’s mission is to change the way the world works. On top of changing the way the world works, BrainStorm is known for being one of the best places to work in the country. BrainStorm was named to Outside’s Best Places to Work for the fourth consecutive year, three time Utah Business Best Companies, and was featured twice on Fortune.com for being one of the 100 best places to work for both women and camaraderie in the nation. Corporate culture isn’t the only award-winning aspect of the company: BrainStorm has also been recognized by Microsoft, Zip Recruiter, and, of course, the Stevies for their outstanding products and services.

Eric, recently named one of the Ten Coolest Entrepreneurs by Utah Valley Business Q Magazine, has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and business leadership, and has been instrumental in building BrainStorm’s unique relationships with its customers and partners.  In Eric’s free time you can find him exploring each corner of the world, often on a motorcycle. 

Eric was thrilled to have BrainStorm honored in the 2015 Stevie awards and is looking forward to being the Chair of the committee judging the Website and App Awards for the 14^th annual American Business Awards.

VIDEOS

Chair:
Jody Brown, Executive Vice President, Public Relations, Corporate Communications, and Congressional Relations
CACI International, Inc., Arlington, Virginia, USA

Jody Brown is Executive Vice President of Public Relations, Corporate Communications, and Congressional Relations at CACI International Inc., a provider of information solutions and services in support of national security missions and government transformation for Intelligence, Defense, and Federal Civilian customers. Jody initiates and directs the company's internal and external communications, public relations, congressional relations, marketing communications, corporate branding and strategies, philanthropy and community relations, and employee communications. She leads the coordination of strategic leadership events, provides critical direction for change management activities, and is a member of the company's Mergers & Acquisitions Executive Team. Jody provides strategic input and direction to the company's investor relations and has led or made major contributions to a wide range of projects and initiatives that have spurred and supported CACI's growth. Her contributions have been essential in enabling CACI to sharpen client focus, increase awareness of the company's solutions and capabilities, expand into new markets, enhance recruitment communications, and enhance shareholder value.

Jody is a member of the Professional Services Council (PSC) Legislative Action Network and sits on PSC's Communications Committee and Government Affairs Committee, which provides valuable information exchange on legislative, regulatory, and related policy issues; and is a member of the Women's Foreign Policy Group, which promotes women's leadership in international affairs. In community outreach activities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area where CACI is headquartered, Jody is an active supporter of the American Heart Association, and Comfort for America's Uniformed Services (Cause). Within CACI, her leadership achievements have been acknowledged with numerous company awards and recognition.

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