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 Stevie® Awards have announced the twelve executives who will chair the specialized judging committees for the The 2017 (15th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.  The 2017 awards  honor achievements since the beginning of 2016  Entry details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. The extended final entry deadline is Friday, April 7.

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

Here are this year's judging committee chairs.

ANNUAL REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS:

Renee Mallonee, Director, Marketing
MONI Smart Security (formerly Monitronics), Farmers Branch, Texas, USA

Renee Mallonee has been with MONI Smart Security (formerly Monitronics) for nearly 10 years, starting as a Marketing Coordinator and working her way up to Director of Marketing. During her tenure, she has helped move the company from a B2B organization that operated primarily behind the scenes to one of the largest smart home technology and residential security providers in North America.  Under Mallonee, the company underwent a complete rebrand, shifting to a more direct-to-consumer focus with national TV, print and radio advertising campaigns, new strategic partnerships, and a fresh take on communicating with consumers. She was awarded a spot on the Security Systems News 20 Under 40 list, and is widely recognized throughout the industry as a leader in marketing, branding, and communications. Mallonee is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she studied marketing and advertising.

On being appointed Chair of the Annual Reports & Publications Judging Committee, Renee told us: “The Stevie Awards provide an excellent platform for companies to showcase their outstanding achievements. Each new year of submissions generates a new benchmark for creativity and innovation. As a past winner, MONI knows how steep the competition can be, and we look forward to seeing what this year’s applicants will deliver.”

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION:

George Gallate, Chief Marketing Officer & Executive Vice President
Merkle, Columbia, Maryland, USA

George is Merkle’s CMO and is also responsible for global development. He has 30+ years' experience in building and leading high-performing networks and teams globally. He has worked across all media, including seven years leading the global advertising, digital, and marketing services of Intel.

George joined Merkle in July 2014 following Merkle’s acquisition of RKG where he was CEO. Prior to RKG, George spent 27 years at Havas/Euro RSCG. He was the Global Chairman, and before that Global CEO, of Havas Digital, a network he had formed and led since 1997. Under George’s leadership, Adweek ranked Euro RSCG 4D (now Havas Digital) as the largest digital network globally for five years in a row.

From 2005 through 2008, George was Havas’ Regional CEO for Asia Pacific, India, and the Middle East with responsibility for 28 offices and more than 1,800 staff. He was based in Shanghai.

George has worked in most categories and has deep tech and B-to-B experience. He's led and worked on Intel and IBM globally, as well as Dell across Asia Pacific. George also has experience in B2C, having worked on Hershey’s, Volvo, Jaguar, National Australia Bank, Novartis, JetBlue, Hyatt, Sheraton, and 1-800-Flowers.

George is an accomplished industry speaker, thought leader, and innovator. He keynoted on “Digital – Data – Integration” at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2001, and spoke there again in 2010. He was the Jury President of the Cannes CyberLion Jury in 2002.

On being appointed Chair of the ABA’s Company/Organization Judging Committee, George commented: “It is a privilege to be associated with the Stevie Awards. The scope and depth of the awards make them one of the best representations of leadership and innovation in American business.”

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS/IR/PR

Jennifer L. Foster, President
Catalyst Media Factory, Detroit, Michigan

Jennifer Foster is the Founder and President of Catalyst Media Factory. Founded in 2016, the company specializes in media relations and social media for small and start-up retailers, restaurants, non-profits, and professional service companies.

Catalyst Media Factory team members become an integral part of its clients' day-to-day business operations. Team members learn the businesses’ nuances and then create a plan of action that suits clients’ needs and drives results.

As someone who has been involved with the Stevie Awards for some years, Jennifer told us: “The American Business Awards truly showcase the best that American business has to offer. The awards enable organizations of any size, and in almost any category, to be recognized on the national stage for their innovative and ambitious accomplishments. It’s an honor to Chair the Corporate Communications/IR/PR Awards Judging Committee and to be a part of this process.”

CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT:

Natasha Chitre, Senior Client Partner
Novus Global Solutions LLC, North Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

Natasha Chitre is a Senior Client Partner at Novus Global Solutions, a 21st century professional services firm that was designed from the ground up to deliver onsite consulting services at a lower TCO than offshore, and with a speed and quality that is unmatched by other consulting models.

Natasha is responsible for managing a line of business for Novus that focuses on driving technology projects. She is a Black Belt six sigma professional and is passionate about customer success.

HUMAN RESOURCES:

Stephen Childs, Vice President, Global Human Resources
Panasonic Automotive, Peachtree City, Georgia, USA

Stephen Childs serves as the Vice President of Global Human Resources & Facilities for Panasonic Automotive, which is the leader in automotive OEM infotainment systems with $2.5 billion in revenue and over 6,000 employees. Stephen has more than 20 years of human resources and leadership experience and sits on the Executive Board of Panasonic Automotive. He began his career with the company in 1998 in the Talent Acquisition area and has held progressing management positions in the years since. Before joining Panasonic, Stephen was an entrepreneur in the staffing industry.

Stephen has won numerous industry awards, including the 2013 Society for Human Resources Management Atlanta Pegasus Award for Excellence in Human Resources. His team also won three 2016 American Business Awards: two Gold Stevie Awards, for HR Department of the Year and for Team of the Year; and the Bronze Stevie Award for Human Resource Executive of the Year.

Stephen is on the Executive Board of Directors of the Fayette County Chamber. He is also on the Board of Advisors for the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

Greg Gomel, Founder
The Gomel Group, LLC, Plano, Texas, USA

Greg is the founder of The Gomel Group, a Veteran Owned Small Business in Plano, Texas.  Greg is both a veteran with extensive leadership successes as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Coast Guard Reserve, and a Senior Executive expert in the design, delivery, and continuous process improvement of cost-effective, high-performance IT organizations.

LIVE EVENTS:

David Sonntag, President & CEO
Decibel Management, Alexandria, Virginia, USA

David has extensive experience creating, planning, and producing live events. David launched Decibel Management in 2007 in order to follow his passion for live events, experiential marketing, meetings, and conferences.

David manages a number of long-term clients and event properties. He has been an integral part of the National Book Festival since 2003 and for the past six years, David has served as event producer for the Festival. David was also selected as one of the producers for the 69^th Annual Horatio Alger Awards Ceremony, held in Washington, DC in 2016.  This included working with the Association on numerous events including the Induction Ceremony with Justice Clarence Thomas in the Supreme Court; the Induction Celebration at the Mellon Auditorium; lunch meetings in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the Department of State; and the main awards dinner at DAR Constitution Hall. David was tapped again in 2017 for the 70^th Annual Awards.  David has also been a US multi-year producer for the National Small Business Week Awards for the US Small Business Administration.

Prior to forming Decibel Management, David oversaw events as a Vice President at the public relations firm FleishmanHillard, where he gained valuable experience on message development and delivery. David has also managed a number of mobile tours, including the DoubleTree by Hilton Cookie CAREavan and Little Things tours; the Crystal Light WaterWay Challenge; Say Boo! to the Flu tour for Clorox; and the Voices of Civil Rights Tour for AARP. Other clients have included Vice President Dick Cheney, First Lady Laura Bush, Governor Chris Christie, AARP, Texas Education Agency and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association.  David’s events have won numerous awards, including six Silver Anvils and two PR Week Awards. The reporting during the Voices of Civil Rights bus tour won a Peabody Award.

MANAGEMENT:

Kellie Sirna, Principal & Co-Founder
Studio 11 Design, Dallas, Texas, USA

Kellie Sirna is Principal of Studio 11 Design. She has spent nearly 15 years in the hospitality design industry developing her client-focused approach, and ultimately creating a firm that is talented, nimble, and energetic. Since the founding of Studio 11 Design in 2011, Kellie’s hospitality projects can be seen around the world: from Dallas, where Studio 11 is based; to the East and West Coasts of the United States; and to international markets like Haiti and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

In 2015, Kellie helmed the business development arm of Studio 11 and strategically launched two new services to differentiate her boutique firm from competitors: Brand Society, a brand identity component; and Lou Verne by Studio 11 Design, an in-house creative team specializing in art installations. These specializations now make Studio 11 Design an unparalleled one-stop-shop for design services. Boutique Design magazine featured Kellie in their May 2016 issue for developing a successful multidisciplinary design firm.

Kellie attended the University of North Texas, earning her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Interior Design and Merchandising in 2004. From there, she joined the global hospitality design firm DESIGN Duncan Miller Ullmann, where she managed design work, business development, marketing, and PR initiatives.  Kellie finds inspiration in mentorship—she is involved in NEWH, a not-for-profit organization of professional women in the hospitality industry; the Dallas Women in Business Enterprise; and Young Leaders in Hospitality. She is also a member of the Hospitality Design Magazine board and participated as a product design juror at the 2016 HD Awards. In her spare time, Kellie is involved with Delete Blood Cancer DKMS, the world’s largest bone marrow donor center.

MARKETING:

Allen Jernigan, Founder & CEO
My Marketing Department, Inc., Seminole, Florida, USA

In 2007, Allen Jernigan opened the flat-fee marketing company My Marketing Department, Inc. to assist business owners who do not have the time or employees to implement their own marketing plans. In 2009, Allen opened MMDprinting, MMDtradeshow and, in 2011, MMDpromo, to complement the parent company’s clients.

After leaving college, Allen spent 8 years with professional sports teams as the Assistant General Manager of Marketing & Sales for the Mobile BayBears, Double-A Affiliate of the San Diego Padres, and the Director of Promotions & Special Events for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Later, Allen became the Regional Director of Marketing for SunTrust Bank-Tampa Bay, overseeing 110 bank branches and 5 lines of business.  He then moved to HomeDiscovery Real Estate Services and headed their marketing and sales for Florida.  Allen is a past Chairman of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce’s Ambassador Committee, a former Board Member of the Tampa Bay Inventors Council, and currently serves with the St Pete Mad Dogs Triathlon Club.  He is a member of USA Today’s Small Business Team, the Tampa Bay Media Advisory Panel, and of USA Triathlon and USA Masters Swimming, and an IRONMAN Finisher (Austria 2016).

Allen graduated from the University of South Alabama with a degree in Communications with minors in Public Relations and English. He is married to his college sweetheart, Pepir, and they live and train for triathlon races together in and around the Tampa Bay, Florida area.

In a break from working and training, Allen told us: “As a judge for the Stevie Awards for many years, I am continually amazed by the innovative and creative ways businesses market their companies.  Most people do not see or understand how much is involved in putting together a marketing campaign, live event, online promotion or an entire marketing team.  The Stevie Awards bring the details and those behind the scenes out in front for all of us see, celebrate, and congratulate.”

NEW PRODUCT & SERVICE:

Alec Stern, Co-Founder
Handy Cane LLC, Salem, Massachusetts, USA

Alec Stern is currently the co-founder of the recently launched Handy Cane, an award winning, patent-pending, all-in-one walking cane and reaching grabber. Concurrently, Alec is co-founder of Most Corp., which designs, manufactures, and delivers patented consumer products, precision motion products, and medical devices.

Previously, Alec was the Vice President of Strategic Innovation and Executive-in-Residence for the Small Business Innovation Program at Constant Contact. Alec is a member of Constant Contact's founding team and was one of the original three in an attic. During his tenure with the company through IPO and acquisition, he assumed a wide range of responsibilities and senior roles in strategic partnerships, channels, and business development. Alec was also responsible for the creation and development of Constant Contact’s channel partner programs and spearheaded strategic innovation, community-based entrepreneurism, and vertical industry thought leadership for the company.

Engaging with hundreds of startups and small businesses annually, Alec serves as a judge, mentor, and advisor for accelerators, schools, universities and programs such as TechStars, MassChallenge, MIT Start Smart, Lean Startup Challenge, the Stevie Awards, and the United Way Youth Venture. As an angel investor and limited partner in the G20 Venture Fund, Alec is also an investor in a number of rising companies. He has been a featured speaker for international, national, and regional small business; for startup, nonprofit, and industry conferences; and for colleges and universities. Alec is active on the Board of Directors, Board of Advisors or Executive Committees for organizations including BoardOnTrack and Nix86. He is an appointed member of the City of Boston Neighborhood Innovation District Committee, the 128 Innovation Committee, and Boston’s Small Business Advisory Council as well as a founding organizer of the CityStart Boston Civic Innovation program. Alec holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a BS from Syracuse University.

On being invited to Chair the New Product & Service Judging Committee, Alec commented: “Innovation is the lifeblood of companies of all sizes.  The ability to create new and improved products and services, and finding ways to better serve customers, are key to all companies' future growth and success.  Winning a Stevie Award would be the ultimate recognition for these great achievements.”

VIDEOS:

Tod Plotkin, Principal & Executive Producer
Green Buzz Agency, Alexandria, Virginia

After four years shaping one of the top video departments in the entire National Basketball Association (for the Washington Wizards), Tod Plotkin started Green Buzz Agency. As Founder and Principal, he oversees video content creation for iconic advertising campaigns including the Ad Council's #1 Campaign: Love Has No Labels. Additionally, his agency created the most viewed/shared branded video on Facebook in November 2016 for Cricket Wireless and Upworthy. 

His agency's other clients include Lockheed Martin, Hilton Worldwide, Under Armour, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Marriott International, American Red Cross, Johns Hopkins University, Quaker Oats, American Diabetes Association, the World Bank, and other large institutions.

Tod Plotkin is a leading voice in digital content. He speaks monthly at national conferences on digital video strategy for organizations like PR News, Public Relations Society of America, and the American Marketing Association. Tod is a Gold Steve Award Winner (2), Emmy winner for best short format content, and Webby Honoree in the online video category.

WEBSITES/APPS:

Eric N. Shapiro, Founder & CEO
ArcTouch Mobile & Connected Experiences, San Francisco, California, USA

Eric’s vision and entrepreneurial spirit have helped him successfully launch three startups, including ArcTouch. After working as a product manager and evangelist at Apple, he founded Zero G Software (acquired by Rovi) and later Caustic Graphics (acquired by Imagination Technologies).

A deeply knowledgeable technologist, Eric and former college roommate Adam Fingerman founded ArcTouch in 2009, shortly after the introduction of the first iPhone. Since then, the two have built a team of more than 100 product strategists, designers, and engineers. The team has served more than 150 brands and businesses–including NBC, Honeywell, Yahoo, CBS, Guess, Salesforce, and Audi–creating engaging experiences for mobile and emerging IoT platforms, from phones and tablets to chatbots, voice assistants, VR, and AR. 

Eric has an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management, and a BS degree from Tufts University in engineering and computer science.

On being appointed Chair of the Websites/Apps Judging Committee, Eric told us: “We at ArcTouch are proud to be involved with the Stevie Awards, and my Committee is looking forward to honoring the most innovative companies in Websites & Apps.”

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of the 2017 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service from November 2016 through January.  Their average scores determined the 2017 Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

The 11th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service gala is on Friday, February 24 where winners will be announced. Tickets for the Las Vegas ceremony are on sale now.

Asburche Adalan, Business and Sales Development Mgr., DHL Express US, Miami, FL USA
Amit Kumar Agarwal, Sr Manager, FarePortal India Pvt. Ltd, Gurgaon, Haryana India
Shelly Alder, Manager, Domestic Customer Service, J.R. Simplot Company, Boise, ID USA
Scott Anschuetz, CEO, Visualize-Inc, Birmingham, MI USA
David Araujo, Direct Sales Supervisor, DHL Express São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Benj Arriola, SEO Director, Myers Media Group, San Diego, NC USA
Bilal Asci, Customer Value Group Manager, n11.com, Istanbul, Turkey
Ronald Joseph, Avecilla Process Auditor, Globe Telecom, Manila, Philippines
Stuart Bankey Manager, Community Management Rackspace,San Antonio, TX USA
Mike Bare, CEO, BARE International, Washington DC USA
Nick Broadbent, VP Global Support, DataCore Software, Reading, United Kingdom
Randi Busse, President Workforce Development Group, Inc., Massapequa Park, NY USA
Pembe Candaner, Founder, President, JobzMall, Tustin, CA USA
Lucia Caron, Manager, Customer Support, Verint Systems Inc., Herndon,VA USA
Beth Castro, AVP - Commercial Enablement, AT&T, Houston, TX USA
Joe Cherian, Regional Vendor Manager, Vonage, Chennai, Tamilnadu,India
Brian Correia, Director, Sales & Client Services, Solstice Dental & Vision, Plantation, FL USA
Marc Cowan, Fellow at the Institute of Supply Chain Management, Dolphin International, United Kingdom
Emilia D'Anzica, VP, Customer Engagement, WalkMe, San Francisco, CA USA
Robyn Davis, Trade Show Strategy Specialist, When I Need Help, Columbia, SC USA
Luis Deza, General Manager, Canto Rodado Consulting, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
Sheryl Dobson, Director of Customer Support, J2 Global Cloud Services, Ottawa, ON Canada
Alan Dowler, Operations Manager, Hamilton Jewelers, Princeton, NJ USA
Eve Dumovich, Publisher, Snowline Publishing, Ashford, WA USA
Caroline Edwards, Consumer Information Centers Product Manager, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN USA
Andrew J. "Flip" Filipowski, Executive Chairman & CEO, SilkRoad Technology, Winston, Salem NC USA
Shannon Gregg, Director, Sales Operations, TeleTracking,Pittsburgh, PA USA
Tara Griffin, Senior Solutions Consultant, Genesys, Flagler Beach, FL USA
Heidi Guzman, MBA, Consorcio Kairos, VILLAHERMOSA, Tabasco, Mexico
Nabyl Hassain, Director of Telesales, DHL, Miami, FL USA
Mary Henson, Membership Care Coordinator, United States Equestrian Federation, Lexington, KY USA
Deepak Kumar, Hotkar Manager, Jasper Industries Private Limited, Hyderabad, Telangana,India
Lin Hui Kai, Deputy Manager, Cathay Life Insurance Co., Ltd Taipei, Taiwan
Adam Ihrig, Business Analyst, JPMorgan Chase, Heathrow, FL USA
Linden Ingram, EVP Sales, Imparta Inc, Austin, TX USA
Joann Kay, Customer Care Director, GraduationSource, Port Chester, NY USA
UMUT KECECIOGLU, Mobile Services Manager, Yapi Kredi Bankacilik Üssü, Kocaeli, Turkey
Tony Keesee, Director of Customer Care, VPay, Richardson, TX USA
Joshua Kelley, Supervisor, Leadership Operations Training, MTM, Inc., West St Paul, MN USA
Kathy Leckey, Vice President of Marketing, SomethingNew, New York, NY USA
Sandra Lynch, Account Manager, John Hancock, Boston, MA USA
David Madacsi, Senior Technical Customer Support Engineer, GrassValley, Lakewood, CO USA
Wessam Massoud, Programme Delivery Manager, Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Center (ADSIC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Rowena Maxwell, Senior Manager, Accenture, London, United Kingdom
Judy Mod, Founder, CEO, Chief Adoption Officer, RevenueSphere, Atlanta, GA USA
Anni Mollett, SVP, Senior Credit Products Manager, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Dallas,TX USA
Thomas Moor, Global Director, Strategy and Planning, Sartomer (a business unit of Arkema), Exton, PA USA
Ann Moreth, Sr. Customer Service Engagement Manager, UPMC Health Plan, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Jason Morris, Director of Operations, SRS|Acquiom LLC, Denver, CO USA
Rajendran Nair, VP, Marketing, Rootstock Software, Fremont,CA USA
Tracy Neiser, Customer Service Manager, Active Exhaust Corp., Toronto, ON Canada
Ken Overly, Vice President, Operations, EFG Companies, Dallas, TX USA
Kadir Mustafa, OZTURK Executive Vice President / ADC & Digital Banking Solution Projects, Intertech Bilgi Islem ve Pazarlama Ticaret A.S.,Istanbul, Sisli, Turkey
Leticia Padilla, Corporate Recognition and Citizenship, Concentrix, Fremont, CA USA
Lou Reinemann, Director, Customer Care, SmartBear Software, Somerville, MA USA
RJ Riemer, VP Support Operations, VIZIO, Inc., Dakota Dunes, SD USA
Toni Roberts, VP, Customer Service & Operations, Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio & Indiana, Farmington Hills, MI USA
Vicki Rollins, Sales Operations & Marketing Professiona, Glenaden Homes, Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada
Sharon Rudd, Organisational Development & Sales Consultant, TNT, Mascot, NSW, Australia
Stu Schlackman, Owner, Competitive Excellence,Richardson, TX USA
Paula Seeger, Library Technician 2, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR USA
Randy Selleck, Sr. Director, Call Center Operations, Assurant Solutions, Atlanta, GA USA
Bill Shelton, Senior Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Grapevine, TX USA
Melda Sofuoglu, Channel Experience & Operations Development Manager, Call Center Operations & Experience & Development, Istanbul, Turkey
Andrzej Szczepaniak, Deputy Director, Central Settlement Services Bank, Zachodni WBK S.A., Poznan, PA Poland
Will Tarrant, Managing Partner, Service Metrics Group, Plano, TX USA
Asli Tas KAYABAS, Psychologist, Trainer, Founding Partner, Awards Consultant, Kuzey Academy, Istanbul, Turkey
Özge Tekalp, Director, Türk Ekonomi Bankasi A.S, Istanbul, Turkey
Julie Thomas, President & CEO, ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA USA
Kelly Thomas, Assistant Vice President, Transfer Agent, OppenheimerFunds, Inc., Centennial, CO USA
Irem Tuzunalper, Founder & CEO, EXTRA Loyalty Solutions Co., Istanbul, Turkey
Lori Van Dyke, Manager, Customer Care, Access One Inc,Chicago, IL USA
Chris Vasan, Communcations Lead, Cisco Systems, Inc., Raleigh Triangle Park, NC USA
Madalina Vilau, Managing Director, Expo Media, Bucharest, Romania
Sunil Wadhwa, VP - Customer Success, Druva, Sunnyvale, CA USA
Charles White, Principal Administrator, International relations officer (retired), European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Nicolette Wuring, Managing Director, Customer Management Services, Amstelveen, Netherlands

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 have announced the twelve executives who will chair the specialized judging committees for the 13th Annual International Business Awards, the premier business awards competition around the world.

All individuals and organizations worldwide -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to The International Business Awards.

Winners in this year's International Business Awards will be announced on
August 11. Judging will take place in June and July. Winners will be celebrated at an awards banquet in Rome, Italy on October 21. 

Here are this year's judging committee chairs.

COMPANY/ORGANIZATION

Chair:
Ronald Tse, Founder
Ribose Inc., Hong Kong, China

Ronald is the founder of Ribose, an award-winning, secure, cloud-collaboration platform trusted by regulated industries and users with heightened security needs. Interested in solving real-world problems elegantly and efficiently using computation, Ronald currently serves on CSA’s International Standardization Council, technical committees at CalConnect, as well as the ISO/IEC’s JTC1/SC27.

Ronald graduated from Brown University in Providence, RI, USA, with Bachelor's Degrees in Computer Science and Biology and a Master's Degree in Computer Science.

CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT

Chair:
Amy Downs, Chief Customer Success & Happiness Officer
Lifesize, Austin, Texas

It's not every day that you see a business leader whose professional title includes the words “customer happiness.” But for Amy Downs, Chief Customer Success and Happiness Officer at Lifesize, there are simply no better words to describe her critical role at the company.

Amy joined Lifesize in 2014 to evangelize the importance of its customers throughout the organization, a core value she calls “Customer Obsession.” Amy’s role is to ensure that everyone who interacts with the company has a smile on their face. From customer success, support, service, training, community, and renewals, Amy drives the strategy and execution of programs that provide world-class experiences for Lifesize customers and partners to bring successful video collaboration to their companies. For example, introducing Net Promoter to Lifesize now propels the voices of its customers and partners into all areas of its business and is driving great organizational improvements.

Prior to joining Lifesize, Amy led Voxeo’s industry-leading customer success, support, and service organizations and oversaw all post-sales interaction with customers. She previously led professional services at Fiserv Corporation.  Amy has a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, specializing in MIS, from the University of Florida.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Chair:
Gerald Hüsch, CEO
Global Leadership School, Berlin, Germany

In addition to being Founder and CEO of the Global Leadership School in Berlin, Gerald Hüsch is a Founding Member and CEO of the German Society for Stress Diagnostics & Prevention GmbH, and is also a Senator in the German Senat der Wirtschaft. Gerald has been training and guiding executives from the upper and middle management of multi-national corporations for 20 years. He is regarded as a visionary expert and the pioneer of an Evidence Based Leadership & Collaboration System, a world-class collection of tools and methods that encourage ideal collaborative and leadership behaviors throughout an entire organization. His many years of work experience have enabled Gerald to establish an entirely new system that is extremely powerful while easy to use. The aim is to achieve outstanding performance–and to avoid managerial blunders such as those seen recently in the automotive industry.

In addition to his credentials as a certified coach and trainer, Gerald is also a contributing author to “Human Resource Management–The Human Face” by Dr. Parveen Prasad und Sekhar Seshan.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Chair:
Thomas B. Cross, CEO
TECHtionary, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Tom has decades of experience in startups and is a consulting advisor with leading providers and venture capital companies in market planning, marketing and development, hardware/software design and development, project management, intellectual property in telecommunications, information technology, conferencing, teletraining, telecommuting, groupware, networks, call centers, internet, artificial intelligence, and more. He has managed the successful development of more than 10 software, hardware, and Internet products to market and received industry awards for this work. He has authored 13 books, and has written, produced, and directed 15 commercial videos. He has also created thousands of online e-learning tutorials on intelligent buildings, WiFi, WiMax, IPTV, telecommuting, VoIP-SIP security, artificial intelligence, and voice/data networking.

“The International Business Awards is the leading independent evaluation of companies’ business strategies, customer engagement, and benefits to a global society,” Tom told us. “I believe this competition represents the opportunity for companies to align and focus their goals for a greater purpose as it is not just the challenge of the competition, but also the ability of a company and its people to collaborate together.”

Twitter - https://twitter.com/techtionary

MANAGEMENT

Chair:
Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, Managing Director
Business DNA, Pretoria, South Africa

Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell is a globally acclaimed specialist in improving employee efficiency. She has assisted organizations in the mining, manufacturing, and hospitality industries to improve their business results through enhanced communication and customer service. She is recognized for her knowledge in communicating to operational employees and training leadership to communicate effectively with their teams; and for her experience in change communication, communication with shift workers, and communication in crisis situations.

Amanda frequently participates in radio programs on women in management and has had several articles published on this topic.

She holds a Doctorate in Communication Science from the University of South Africa, is an Accredited Business Communicator with the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators), and is a Certified Public Relations Officer with the Public Relations Institute of South Africa. She is a Fellow of the IABC.

MARKETING

Co- Chair:
Julie Toma, General Manager–Marketing and Communications
Sonic Clinical Services, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Julie Toma is the General Manager–Marketing and Communications at Sonic Clinical Services, a fully owned subsidiary of Sonic Healthcare, which is in the ASX Top 50. Julie has a background in healthcare, marketing, and management consulting with experience on global strategic planning teams, Asia Pacific marketing strategy, and new product and service development for leading corporations including Cochlear Limited, Kimberly-Clark, and BD. 

Julie is currently a non-executive Board Director for CareWest and is the Chair of the Australian Marketing Institute NSW Committee. Julie is an Australian Marketing Institute Marketing Awards for Excellence Judge and is also a member of the Cancer Australia Research Grant Advisory Committee. 

Julie has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Biomedical) Degree from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Co-Chair:
Professor Han Sangpil, Department of Advertising and Public Relations
College of Communications and Social Science, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea

Since 2002, Han Sangpil has been Professor at the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Hanyang University. He joined the department as an Assistant Professor in 1991, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1997. In addition to being Head of Department at various times between 1993 and 2002, Professor Han was Associate Dean of the College of Communications and Social Science from1999 to 2002.  Outside of his academic role, Professor Han has also been Director at the Hanyang University Broadcasting Station, and earlier was the Director of Internet Hanyang.

In addition to his impressive academic achievements, Professor Han is a member of the American Academy of Advertising, and was president of the Korean Academy of Advertising from 2010 to 2011. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Korean Service Marketing Association, the Korean Academy of Marketing, and the Korean Academy of Customer Satisfaction.  He is also an enthusiastic supporter of the MBC Children’s Football Foundation.

Professor Han received a BA (Honors) from Hanyang University in 1985, having completed his military service.  In 1987, he received an MS in Advertising and Public Relations, going on to earn his Ph.D. in Communications in 1990, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

NEW PRODUCT & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

Chair:
Moussa Habib, Under-Secretary-General
Jordan Engineers Association, Amman, Jordan

Since 2014, Dr. Habib has held the position of Under-Secretary-General, Professional Development and Scientific Affairs, at Jordan Engineers Association. From 2010 until 2014, he was the Assistant Director General, Chief Capacity Management Officer at the Istishari Hospital in Amman, Jordan. Before that, he was Acting Dean of Engineering, Director of the Nanotechnology Program, and Associate Professor of Electronics, at Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan.

Dr. Habib has worked as a technical consultant to a number of engineering firms in the areas of Speech, Imaging, IT, and Biomedical Engineering. He has written over 100 publications and articles in peer-reviewed journals and for international conferences. From 2011 to 2013, he was the Vice President of the IEEE Jordan Chapter. Dr. Habib has been the Chair or Co-chair for a number of international conferences in the area of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He is actively involved in a number of community service committees, including Rakhaa’ Noble Invest, the English Language Olympics, and JEA Consulting Committee.

Dr. Habib holds a Master’s Degree in Science and Doctorate in Medical Electronics from Dalhousie University, Canada.

PR/IR/CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

Chair:
Dr. Elke Neujahr, Managing Director
comm:up Kommunikation und Management GmbH, Dusseldorf, Germany

Dr. Elke Neujahr has been an Acting Partner of comm:up since 2004. The agency provides consulting services for the corporate communications of globally operating companies and organizations. Its main consulting areas are change management, coaching for top executives, media training, crisis management, and communications and corporate reputation topics. 

Elke is a communications expert and has completed trainer and coach-the-coach training.  She has 11 years of experience at companies such as Continental AG, BEB Erdgas GmbH, and as the Head of Publicity and Public Relations at Hanover Airport. She has worked at public relations agencies since 1992 and for 10 years was an Acting Partner and the CEO of ECC Kohtes Klewes (now KetchumPLEON) and its holdings (650 employees).

On being appointed Chair of the Corporate Communications/Investor Relations/Public Relations Awards Judging Committee, Elke commented: “Communication is essential for a good reputation. With The International Business Awards we are able to honor best practice approaches that underline the leading role of communications in our increasingly global world.”

CREATIVE: LIVE EVENTS

Chair:
Kristin Marcell, Vice President
SmartMark Communications, Langhorne, Pennsylvania, USA

Focused on ensuring high-quality deliverables and results, Kristin is responsible for managing all aspects of PR and marketing for clients at SmartMark Communications. Prior to joining SmartMark, Kristin gained experience at a large, global public relations firm based in Washington D.C., where she provided communications counsel and service to a number of clients, including several high-profile energy and environment organizations, utilities, and corporations.

Previously, Kristin was the Communications Director of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and directed the agency’s communications program, as well as serving as its official spokesperson. Kristin was also the Director of External Affairs for the U.S. House Committee on Resources, General Electric’s Political Action Committee Manager in their Washington, D.C. corporate office, and she served as a legislative staffer to two former congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives.

CREATIVE: PUBLICATIONS

Chair:
Tore Claesson, Director
TIO Agency, Beijing, China

Tore’s background at agencies such as Ogilvy, based in Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong in Asia, and Anderson & Lembke McCann based in Amsterdam in Europe, in addition to his many years in New York, means that TIO has a leader that knows the ins and out of cross-culture communication better than just about anybody on this small planet.

“I think I’ve learned more from judging the Stevie Awards than from any book on creativity!” Tore told us recently. Tore sees judging as an opportunity to peek into other professionals’ brains. As he puts it: “To see how others have solved certain business and creative problems is invaluable. It’s like a secret peek behind the curtain.”

You can read and see more of Tore’s adventures in China on his blog.

CREATIVE: VIDEO

Chair:
Begüm Susar, Consumer Engagement Services Manager
Nestlé, Istanbul, Turkey

Begüm has a diverse background in both the financial services and food-and-beverage sectors. After 6 years in the banking industry with various responsibilities, she is now Consumer Engagement Services Manager at Nestlé Turkey.

In the early years of her career, she worked at creative, media planning, and PR agencies. Then, she moved to the marketing communications department of an international bank. She gained experience in credit cards marketing, digital banking marketing, customer management, and finally in the digital marketing and design department, where she worked as an Assistant Vice President. 

From 2005-2009, Begüm studied Economics at Yeditepe University in Istanbul. She also studied in the Netherlands for 6 months with the Erasmus Program.

CREATIVE: WEBSITES/APPS

Chair:
Simon Hardy, VP Brand Experience
FCV Interactive, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Simon Hardy leads FCV’s Design, Brand, and Content teams, creating solutions that engage customers and deliver results. An award-winning creative director, designer, and copywriter with international experience across digital, print, and TV for brands including Starbucks, Nike, lululemon athletica, and EA Sports, Simon also serves on the Digital Design Advisory Board at Vancouver Film School.

Simon previously worked at Blast Radius and TBWA\Worldwide.  He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Buckinghamshire New University in the United Kingdom.

Simon Hardy, Vice President Brand Experience at FCV Interactive in Vancouver, Canada, has been named as the Chair of the Website & Apps Judging Committee of The 2016 (13th Annual) International Business Awards. FCV won a Gold Stevie Award in the Website Categories of The 2015 International Business Awards for their redesign of the Calgary Transit website.

The 2016 International Business Awards will be accepting entries through June 15, but enter by May 11 to avoid a late entry fee. REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT HERE.

We asked Simon about being named Chair, what winning the Gold Stevie Award in 2015 had meant to FCV, and what new developments he thought would most affect how companies do business in the future.

On being named Chair of The 2016 International Business Awards Judging Committee for the Website & App Awards categories, Simon observed: “This is a great honor, not only for me, but also for FCV. As we expand across Canada and into the US, it’s really exciting to be a part of The International Business Awards, recognizing work that has genuinely made a difference to an organization or an industry, and–most importantly–resulted in a better user experience.”

A Fantastic Validation

Representatives of FCV attended the 2015 International Business Awards in Toronto last October. On winning the Stevie Award for Best Website in the Transportation category, Simon commented: “We’re very proud of the Gold Stevie Award we won for our work with Calgary Transit. It was fantastic validation for a site that has transformed the digital experience for one of Canada’s most complex public transportation networks. But as a user-focused transformation agency, it also shone a spotlight on the wider range of work we’re doing in public transportation, travel and tourism, and digital government services across North America.”


Calgary Transit provides over 100 million trips every year to riders across the Canadian city. Its website had been out of date, difficult to use, and lacking in the important features that customers expect: mobile compatibility, accessibility, real-time updates, and trip planning. Calgary Transit approached FCV to design a responsive, customer-focused, future-proof website that would serve the connected riders’ every need.

Information at the Users’ Fingertips
FCV successfully delivered a mobile-friendly, customer-centric, scalable website that streamlined user tasks and integrated all transit services into one site. Features included: WCAG 2.0 (AA) accessibility, real-time service updates, improved information architecture, and responsive design.

FCV Interactive’s award-winning website for Calgary Transit launched in 2014 and transformed how riders obtained transit information. They can now access a responsively designed website via phone, tablet, and desktop. Real-time transit information is now at the fingertips of almost 20,000 daily mobile transit users.

The Future of Web Development

As an expert in this field, we asked Simon for his thoughts on what new developments in social media and web development businesses should be looking out for.

“The last year has seen a wide adoption of tools like Sketch and InVision, helping our teams to rapidly prototype, test, and iterate.” he told us. “For private and public sector organizations, this agile approach means we can transform user and brand experiences into something more powerful and meaningful much faster.”

Looking into the future, Simon added: “As more and more clients see the power of truly serving their users’ needs in order to meet business goals, I think we’re going to see some really exciting and unexpected solutions.”



Improving Digital Services

According to Simon, his job has changed over the years, but for the better. “My job used to be all about persuading people to do things,” he explained. “But over the last 10 years, as we’ve all become more and more empowered, it’s evolved into helping people to do things. Working to constantly improve private and public sector digital services with faster access to more relevant data is incredibly exciting.”

In short, Simon told us: “At FCV, the goal that motivates us across every project is always the same: to create a user-focused experience that makes life better.”

About Simon Hardy:
Simon Hardy is Vice President Brand Experience at FCV Interactive. He leads FCV’s Design, Brand, and Content teams, creating solutions that engage customers and deliver results.

Simon is an award-winning creative director, designer, and copywriter with international experience across digital, print, and TV for brands including Starbucks, Nike, lululemon athletica, and EA Sports.  He also serves on the Digital Design Advisory Board at Vancouver Film School.

About FCV Interactive:
FCV Interactive is a user-focused transformation agency. Every day, FCV redesigns organizations and creates digital services that people love. With over a decade of expertise working with public and private sector clients, FCV delivers experiences that make life better. To learn more, visit fcvinteractive.com.

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 eight distinguished professionals who will chair the judging committees of The 2016 (3rd annual) Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the only business awards program to recognize achivement in innovation in the 22 nations of the Asia-Pacific region.

The eight committee chair selections are based on the categories that will be judged and the language in which nominations were submitted. Judging chairs helped to form their committees, each of which will be comprised of 5-20 other executives. 

Winners in this year's Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards will be announced on
April 20. Judging took place through April 17. Winners will be celebrated at an awards banquet in Sydney, Australia on May 27.  Tickets are on sale now.

Here are this year's final judging committee chairs.

APPS/WEBSITES/LIVE EVENTS/ANNUAL REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS

CHAIR:
Margaret Manning, OBE, CEO and Founder
Adelphi Digital Consulting Group, Singapore

Margaret Manning is the CEO and Founder of Adelphi Digital, a U.K. digital consulting company trading mostly in Asia Pacific. It was set up through an MBI of the Singapore and Australia offices of Reading Room, one of the UK’s largest digital agencies.  The company now has offices in Australia, Thailand, and Singapore and works with clients from the USA, the Middle East, and across the Asia Pacific region. Clients range from large multinationals such as Fuji Xerox and BHP Billiton to boutique brands such as Banyan Tree and Anantara.

Outside of work, Margaret Manning adores red wine, and is a self-confessed geek.  Her fascination with programming and gaming started at University, and now manifests as a deep and unbreakable bond with her iPad.  Margaret’s lifelong pursuit of online gaming, a degree in psychology (specializing in artificial intelligence), and a management-consultancy background with PwC, have together led Margaret to a special interest in online communications. She particularly enjoys exploring how new forms of communication are changing the way business works in fundamental ways and sees the increasing acceptance of agile business is one clear example that the old ways are changing.

In June 2015, Margaret received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for her services to export to Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region. She remains committed to helping SMEs from any region to expand both nationally and internationally.   In Margaret’s own words: “I was lucky enough to have great mentors over the years and it’s a favor I would like to pay back to young business leaders.”

COMPANY/MANAGEMENT/HUMAN RESOURCES

CHAIR:
Kuldej Sinthawanarong, CEO
JARKEN, Bangkok, Thailand

Kuldej Sinthawanarong is CEO of JARKEN group of companies, a multi-disciplinary design and professional business. Over the last fifteen years, Kuldej and his team have grown JARKEN into an international, multiple award-winning consultancy through his core competency in creativity and top-notch design expertise. JARKEN is now one of Thailand’s top architectural, interior design, and branding agencies. The firm aims to become the first ever design-driven organization to be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Kuldej has maintained an unwavering attitude toward the design and construction of buildings during his career in construction and architecture. While his later projects may show more refinement than his earlier projects, he clearly authored both as they are based on the same design concepts. His consistency and dedication are admirable in the ever-changing fashion trends of modern architecture. He now shares this passion with his staff as he expands his creative business into the marketing and branding professional service industry.

Kuldej loves his work, adores his family, and feels very lucky to have such a great team around him. He told us: “Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try, and once you have achieved your success, it should be seen.”

CUSTOMER SERVICE

CHAIR:
Stephen Gill, President
Stephen Gill Associates, Bang Kruai, Nonthaburi, Thailand

Stephen Gill is an experienced, award-winning international business development consultant and company director with a strong engineering background, having gained much of his experience at senior management or board level.  His active involvement in Asia began more than a decade ago when he was brought in to turn around a struggling joint-venture company in Shanghai.  He has experienced at first-hand the highs and lows of doing business in China and, more recently, in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific.  Stephen now spreads his time equally between Asia Pacific and Europe, with bases in Bangkok, and Nottingham, UK. 

With a focus on helping individuals to excel, and organizations to grow and thrive, Stephen is a trusted advisor, mentor and strategist to executives and businesses.  Stephen is a high-profile figure in the refrigeration engineering field, serving as President of the Institute of Refrigeration. As a refrigeration expert consultant, Stephen has worked on many prestigious projects around the globe.  He is known for providing energy-efficient, sustainable cooling solutions that are practical and affordable.  Stephen won 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. 

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 LLM (Business Law) from De Montfort University.

Stephen is honored to have been appointed Chair of the Customer Service Judging Committee. As he told us: “The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards bring focus to the sheer passion, energy, professionalism, and fun of doing business in the region.”

MARKETING/CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC RELATIONS

CHAIR:
Jimmy Lam, Group Chief Creative Officer
LEO Digital Network, Shanghai, China

In January 2016, Jimmy joined the LEO Digital Network as Group Chief Creative Officer. He also started Jimmy+Amber Communications, a hot shop creating media-neutral ideas integrated with technology to provide creative business solutions to brands and products, as a member company of the group.

From 2012 to 2015, Jimmy was Vice Chairman and Chief Creative Officer for DDB China Group, where he took the group's acclaimed creative achievements to an even higher level. In the same year, Jimmy was honored at the China Communications Leadership Forum as one of the 20 most influential marketing communications leaders, for his contribution in setting high creative standard as well as nurturing young talent for the industry.  In 2014, Jimmy was honored by the China 4As as Ad Person of the Year. In 2015, Jimmy was a Direct Lions jury member at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, and was Jury President of Brand Content & Entertainment and Sports Marketing for the 2015 Cristal International Awards.

Since 2005, Jimmy has been appointed as President of the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, and is one of the four founders of the LongXi International Chinese Creative Awards, and Chief Editor of the Longyin Review Magazine. Between 1995-1999, Jimmy took a sabbatical to get his fix as a TV commercial film director. As one of the most awarded creative directors from Hong Kong, Jimmy was the first Hong Kong creative invited to judge at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.  Jimmy started his career as a Chinese-language copywriter, rising through the ranks in seven international advertising agencies in Hong Kong and China to become Asia Pacific Executive Creative Director, Greater China Chairman, and Creative Advisor to Dentsu Inc. in Tokyo. Author of three Chinese language books on advertising, Jimmy is frequently invited to speak at industry forums and universities in China and Hong Kong, and to be their curriculum advisor.

Jimmy graduated from the Hong Kong Baptist University in 1976 and has been named one of 40 most distinguished alumni by the School of Communication. Jimmy was born in Hong Kong and is currently based in Shanghai.

NEW PRODUCT & PRODUCT MANAGEMENT/INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

CHAIR:
Danny Maher, CEO
Opmantek, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

Danny Maher is the CEO of Opmantek, a multi award-winning Australian Software Company operating in the field of Infrastructure Management and IT Audit. Danny is an industry-recognized, professional commercializer of innovation with over 25 years experience in the IT industry in technical, sales and marketing, management, and executive roles. 

Opmantek products are used by over 90,000 organizations across 130 countries worldwide. With a new software implementation occurring every 6 minutes, Opmantek is one of the fastest growing enterprise software companies in the world. Opmantek was named Australian ICT Exporter of the year in 2014 and has been the Queensland ICT exporter of the year for the past 2 years. Danny won the Gold Stevie for Australian Executive of the Year in the 2015 Asia Pacific Stevie awards.

Danny is a passionate supporter of the IT industry, serves on a number of Boards, and is an Angel Investor.  He was the only executive investor in the NetStar Group - alongside VC’s Allen and Buckeridge and Baring Private Equity Partners - where he founded the managed service business in Sydney, growing it to service customers in 42 countries across the globe. During this time Danny traveled extensively through Asia, designing and establishing new businesses and partnerships. NetStar was acquired by Logicalis in January 2011. Danny has held executive management and senior engineering roles for companies including IKON in Washington, DC, U.S.A., UBS Warburg in London, U.K., ICL in the U.K., and The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Australia.

Danny enjoys the beach, restaurants, and is an owner of a number of successful racehorses with the Gai Waterhouse stable. 

KOREAN JUDGING COMMITTEE

CHAIR:
Beom-Seok Seo, Ph.D., Professor of Advertising & PR
Se-Myung University, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea

Beom-Seok Seo has been Professor of Advertising & PR at Se-Myung University since 1995, and began his academic career as a Lecturer in Advertising & PR at Chung-Ang and Kyung-Hee Universities in 1985.

In addition to being Chair of the Korean Judging Committee in the 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, Seo has also been Chief Judge for the Best Product of the Year Awards for the Kyungin Daily for the past 9 years; and for the Maeil Advertising Awards, run by the Maeil Economic Daily, for the past 12 years.  He has been a member of several academic and professional boards and committees, and has published numerous books on advertising, including most recently “The History of Korea Advertising” in 2015

Between 1997 and 2010, Seo was a consultant to a range of companies including Welcomm Publicis Advertising Agency, Seoul City Marketing, Media Bank Co. Ltd., Daehan Pulp Co. Ltd., and Dawoo Cables.  From 1981 to 1990, Seo was Deputy Manager, Advertising and Director of Marketing at LG Chemical Ltd.    He has a Ph.D. in Advertising from Kyung-Hee University and an M.A. in Advertising & PR from Chung-Ang University.

JAPANESE JUDGING COMMITTEE

CHAIR:
Hideki Saito, Director
Contemporary-Tech, Inc., Tokyo, Japan

Hideki Saito is a director at Contemporary-Tech Inc. Working exclusively in temporary staffing since 1970, he has become one of the most experienced individuals in the industry in Japan. His approach to matching both skills and personality in order to improve staff retention and work enjoyment has been a welcome contribution to society.

齋藤秀樹は、株）コンテンポラリーテック社長で、1970年代から人材派遣一筋に歩んできた業界の生き字引的存在。人と会社を単にスキルから結び付けるのではなく、相性（あいしょう）面からもマッチングを提案し、気持ちよく働ける場所を提供することで社会に貢献している。

CHINESE JUDGING COMMITTEE

CHAIR:
Dr. Richard Huzhaoyang, Senior Editor
China Advertising, Shanghai, China

Dr. Richard Huzhaoyang is a Senior Editor at China Advertising. With more than 18 years experience working in telecom engineering, media, and marketing, Richard has run projects for Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, and Dutch Satellite TV, and has more than 2,000 apps published on the CMAC platform.  During the Beijing Olympics, Richard contributed to programming for CCTV and Dutch National TV. He continues to work for Korea KBS and MOT, and carries out research for the video industry through the Global Communication Research Institute. Richard has a Ph.D. from Jiaotong University in Shanghai.

胡朝阳:

通信、媒体、营销专家；

上海交通大学博士；

全球传播研究院研究员；

中国广告高级编审；

博士师从全球顶级传播营销大师美国南卡罗莱纳大学广告与公共关系系主任R.W.教授，业始于跨国公司WPP，强于项目运作，有全球资源和运作视野，曾完成“上海大众代理评估”、“华中车展策划执行”、“荷兰国家电视台奥运节目策划”、“台湾南宝品牌策划”、“可口可乐世博宣传推广策划”、“家在苏州整体策划”、“法制公园”、”江苏园艺博览会”、影视节目策划等一系列重大项目，富有责任心和开拓精神，精通英语，有很强的策划、管理和组织能力，曾访问过二十多个国家，有开阔的国际视野，熟悉本土化操作，有极强市场开拓能力和沟通能力，在业界有超强的人脉关系，参与国家重大项目多项，成果丰硕。

Jim Wagstaff is the Managing Director of Jam Factory Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based consulting and education technology firm. He is also an active judge for the 2016 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. In 2015, he participated in judging for the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards.

The 2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards is currently accepting entries. Find out how to enter here.

We asked Jim about the Stevie Awards judging process, what it is like running a business in Singapore, and for his insight into the contrasts between working in Asia-Pacific and the West.

A Strong Endorsement

Jim would most definitely recommend being a Stevie Awards judge to others. As he told us: “I was initially invited to be a judge by someone who is a friend and colleague. The judging process really gives you a sense of the variety and creativity in how companies are approaching business challenges and opportunities in various parts of the world.”

Jim Wagstaff has called Singapore home since 2007. He had been living and working in Shanghai for a number of years when an opportunity to relocate to Singapore with Hewlett-Packard came up. Since 2010, he has been the Managing Director of Jam Factory in Singapore. We asked him about his decision to relocate to Singapore.

“There were a number of professional reasons I chose to move to Singapore,” Jim explained. “The job, the breadth of the role, and a promotion … but also, from a personal perspective, I really enjoy the quality of life in Singapore: the year-round warm weather, the food, the location, and the concentration of so many businesses’ regional headquarters in one city.”

The Asian Century

Jim is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in business administration with a research emphasis on cross-cultural leadership and organizational development. We asked him if he could provide us with some insight into differences between the ways companies operate in the Asia-Pacific region that Western businesses should be aware of (and vice versa).

Commented Jim: “As an American who has spent half my career in various cities in Asia, the need for cultural intelligence and cross-cultural leadership skills has been close to my heart for quite some time.”

“As a source of research, study, and practice during my doctoral studies, there are a few important points for anyone looking to do business internationally … but especially in Asia, or moving out from Asia,” continued Jim. “The twenty-first century has often been characterized as the ‘Asian Century.’ Rapid economic growth in East Asia has created opportunities and challenges for multinational corporations, particularly Western multinationals. Western businesses have largely been predisposed to using a “one-size-fits-all” approach to management in their international locations. This strategy can pose a number of particular cultural contradictions for team members in East Asia.”

Working Outside the Cultural Comfort Zone

“My research has uncovered a number of specific areas that can be used as a model for leadership development by local, regional, and global managers,” Jim explained. “The model centers on the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to align, relate, and communicate more effectively by anyone who needs to work within and outside their own cultural ‘comfort zone’ in a multinational environment–particularly as a local subsidiary of a Western multinational company.”

Solving the Tough Issues

With the start of a new year, we asked Jim what he most looked forward to in the year ahead. “I love working with my clients,” he told us. “Since moving out of HP, I have become an entrepreneur and an active board member in a number of companies. The variety of work and its challenges really keeps me motivated. I am constantly looking for opportunities to help my clients solve their toughest issues … cost, complexity, process, organization, leadership … and to put them in a better position to be successful in their markets.”

About Jim Wagstaff:

Jim Wagstaff is the Co-Founder, Managing Director, and Content Guru of The Jam Factory in Singapore. Jim leads the consulting part of the business, and has a wealth of experience in executive roles in various companies. He loves working with clients to help them identify their learning needs and map their plans so as to positively impact their business. He also leads content development, and has designed many training programs for different customers and industries.

Jim also serves as Managing Director of Renewtrak Asia, a fully managed, white-label renewals platform-as-a-service where the business model is 100% focused on helping clients increase their service contract renewals at no additional operational cost to the client. In addition, Jim is an active board member at Up 2 Speed Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based organization focused on crafting customized learning and development approaches for multinational and global companies.

Jim was previously Vice-President and General Manager of the StorageWorks Division for Hewlett Packard in Asia Pacific and Japan. His responsibilities while leading this business unit encompassed all aspects of the organization including sales, marketing, finance, operations, public relations and analyst relations, delivering around $800 million in revenue annually.

Prior to HP, Jim was at Dell in Shanghai, where he was General Manager of the server and storage business for China and Hong Kong. Jim was also responsible for Dell's alliance with EMC across Asia Pacific and Japan.

Jim has a BSc, an MBA, and is currently a doctoral researcher in the management school at the University of Liverpool with emphasis on the practical application of cross-cultural leadership approaches in multinational corporations. He is a runner and loves to travel.

About Jam Factory:

The Jam Factory enables businesses to enhance their workforce through training and development. Jam Factory provides learning and enablement solutions to businesses and professionals. The company believes in an integrated learning approach that is interactive and engages learners. It enables businesses to leverage technology to enable employees to learn, experience and engage. For more information, go to: www.jamfactory.net

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business in September and October.  Their average scores determined the 2015 Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Husam Mahmoud Abdallah, Sr. Specialist Strategy & Business Excellence, Dubai Airport Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates             

Lisa Abeyta, Founder/CEO, APPCityLife, Inc., Albuquerque, NM USA                                                                                                                           
Lara Abrams, Managing Partner, Lara Abrams Communications, LLC, San Ramon, CA USA                                                                                                                     

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

Megan Alarid, Chief Digital Officer, Cenergy, Houston, TX USA   

Maryam Al Hashmi, Deputy Representative of Quality, Fujairah Police G.H.Q, Fujairah, AlFujairah, United Arab Emirates

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

Karen Appleton, Founder, Box, Inc, Los Altos, CA USA

Elycia Arendt, Digital Strategist, Horizontal Integration, Minnetonka, MN USA    

Ani Atanasova, CEO, Pixelhunters, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Victoria Barnett, Senior Marketing Director, Royal College of Nursing, Epping, Essex, United Kingdom

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

Dea Benson, Chief Accounting Officer, Realogy, Parsippany, NJ USA       

Denise Blasevick, CEO, The S3 Agency, Boonton, NJ USA              

Tya Bolton, CEO / Business and Event Strategist, Exceptional Business Solutions, LLC, Columbia, MD USA              

Jane Bryant, Director, Spire Communications, Potomac Falls, VA USA     

Carolin Buchardt, CEO and founder, CB Praxisberatung, Germany            

Cheryl Budd, Chief Communications Officer, National Council on Compensation Insurance, Boca Raton, FL USA 

Roman Bukary, VP Account Management, NetSuite, Denver, CO USA    

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

Mj Callaway, Author, Coach, Speaker, Rock More Sales, Delmont, USA United States     

Etta Cohen, Founder, Forward Ladies, Leeds, United Kingdom  

Lebin Ebru, Cokisler, Head of Corporate Communication, Anadolu Group, Istanbul, Umraniye, Turkey    

Dr. Kate Darcy Hohenthal, Founder, The Birthday Club, Manchester, CT USA

Adriena Daunt, Public Relations, The Americas Tourism New Zealand | Manaakitanga Aotearoa, Santa Monica, CA, USA               

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

Danielle Di-Masi, Business Etiquette Expert, The Interactions Lab, Australia         

Teresa Dos Santos, Director, Business Interiors, Pensacola, FL, USA         

Eve Dumovich, Editor, Boeing/Snowline Publishing, USA              

Denette Dunn, S.W. Area Municipal Services Manager, Republic Services, Phoenix, AZ USA        

Tereson Dupuy, CEO, Fuzzibunz, LLC, Lafayette, LA USA

Lori Ericson, Product Planning and Development, Epicor Software, Littleton, CO USA      

Kharma Finley-Wallace, Principal, Hoverfly Media, Public Relations, Washington                DC, USA              

Dr. Hüsniye Firat, The Ministry of Customs and Trade, Turkey    

Patricia Garcia, User Experience Professional, Vixlet, Culver City, CA USA             

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

Linda Ginac, CEO, TalentGuard, Austin, TX USA

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

Marilyn Glazier, Social Media Director, Helen Doron Educational Group, Misgav, Israel    

Rashmi Gopinath, Sr. Director, Business Development, Couchbase, USA              

Danita Harn, COO, Harn and Associates Back Office Solutions, Ops, Woodstock, GA USA               

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

Deborah Herman, President, Fabric Innovations, Coral Gables, FL USA   

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

Rosalie  Hopkins, President, Bianco Hopkins & Assoc., Inc., Peachtree Corners, GA, USA

Kimberly Howard, Vice President, Creative Director, The Thomas Collective, New York, NY USA

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

Julie Jakopic, President/CEO, iLead Strategies, Alexandria, VA USA          

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

Graham Jenkins, Chair - TEC 31 and KEY 112, The Executive Connection, Sydney, NSW Australia 

Zsofia Juhasz, Executive coach, Coaching Team - Australasia, The Gap, Qld Australia        

Rose Jurczewski, Owner, Funxion Fuzion, Roselle, IL USA

Peter Justen, CEO, Five Plus, Middleburg, VA USA           

Tsvetta Kaleynska, President, Girls Leading Our World, New York, NY USA           

Umut KEÇECIOGLU, DenizBank, Istanbul, Turkey              

Tammy Kronawitter, Executive Assistant, Clear Decisions, Sheidow Park, SA Australia    

Iwona Kubicz, President of the Board, Procontent, Global Reach PR, Warsaw, Poland     

Yamini Kurup, Vice President, Aditya Birla Financial Services, Mumbai, India        

Sharon Lachow-Blumberg, CEO, I'm Not Done Yet LLC, Charlotte, NC USA            

Joanne Lang, CEO, AboutOne CEO, Malvern, PA USA     

Susan LaPlante-Dube, Principal, Precision Marketing Group, Framingham, MA USA         

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

Vanessa Lindeberg, Client Services Manager, OnStrategy, Reno, NV USA                                                                                                                            

Ivo Lukas, CEO/Founder, 24Notion, USA              

Lindsey Lux, Vice President of Operations, MDwise Inc., Operations/HR/Customer Service, Indianapolis, IN USA

Melissa Macaulay Federico, President/CEO, The B2B Branding Co., Medfield, MA USA

Anil Machado, Managing Director, T Nell, Sieradz, Poland             

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

Vanessa Maddox, CEO, TheGirlfriendGroup, Leesburg, VA USA

Jan Mano, Creative Director, Elf, Burlington, VT USA

Carol Marx, Past President, American Agri-Women, Rickreall, OR USA    

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

Robin McCoy-Ramirez, Owner, SoothEaze, USA

Colin McKillop, Vice President, WECAN, Windsor, Ontario, Canada           

Catherine McQuaid, Principal, Big Game Hunting, Toronto, Canada          

Debbie Moore, COO, Other Creative Ltd, LONDON, London, United Kingdom    

Rajendran Nair, VP, Marketing, Estuate, USA

Crystal  O'Connor, Founder | CEO, Moxie Entrepreneur, West Des Moines, IA USA         

Julie Pond, CEO, Sage Environmental Services, Inc., Seattle, WA USA

Toni Potter, Director, AMERICAN SYSTEMS, Chantilly, VA USA

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

Lisa Preuss, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Epicor Software Corp., Irvine, CA USA   

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

Janelle  Raney, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Citrix, SaaS Division, USA

Julia Reid, New Business Consultant, 1000heads Inc, New York, NY USA

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

Ritzi Ronquillo, Chairman, IABC Phillipines, Philippines   

Anupama Rosa, Marketing Executive, Lycatel Switchware Ltd, London, United Kingdom               

Catalina Rousseau, President & CEO, BDR Associates, Hill + Knolwton Strategies Associate, Bucharest, Romania

Liz Rowell, Managing Director, Red Ark, St Leonards NSW, NSW Australia             

Pearl Saadi, Client Strategy Director, Other Creative Ltd, London United Kingdom            

Amy Scarlino, President & CEO, Catchpole Corporation, Boston, MA United States          

Susan Schauer John, Head Honcho, SpiderWeb Connections, Easton, MD USA

Nora Senior, Executive Chair UK Regions and Ireland, Weber Shandwick, Edinburgh United Kingdom      

Ron Sereg, Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University at Shreveport, Shreveport, LA

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

Kyle Sheldon-Chandler, Virtual Assistant, KSC Virtual Assistant Services, Grand Junction, CO USA

Tony Roland Silitonga, Board of Trustees, Indonesian Institute for Corporate Directorship, (IICD), Jakarta, Indonesia       

Aline Stanworth, Communications Leader Europe, SABIC, Corporate Communications, Bergen op Zoom, NB, The Netherlands      

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

Letty Swank, Founder, Giftwrapperz, Los Gatos, CA USA            

Mahiette Tarrago, Creative Director, Tycoon Advertising Group, The Woodlands, TX USA            

Veronique Topping, Owner and Web Developer, I-NetUniq Technologies, Rockville Centre, NY USA

Aia Tulepbergenova, Business Analyst, Morgan Stanley, New York, NY USA        

Sarah Tumm, Owner / CEO, DimTec 3D, Fort Myers, FL USA        

Linda Varrell, President, Broadreach Public Relations, Portland, ME USA               

Sharon Vaz, CEO, Internet Marketing Angel LLC, Hendersonville, TN USA

Anne Walker, Founder & CEO, International Dance Supplies Ltd, Newton Abbot, Devon, United Kingdom            

Teresa Waller, Director of Business Development, Sanplicity, Bakersfield, CA USA  

Stacy Weil, Executive Director, PPD, Inc., Austin, TX USA

Joyce Weiland, President, SoftPro, Raleigh, NC USA       

Antonie  Whittier, Founder, Whittier Legal Consulting, Dallas, TX USA      

Marie Wiese, President, Marketing CoPilot Inc., Toronto, ON Canada     

Heather Wilde, CTO, ROCeteer, Las Vegas, NV USA

Leah Wilkinson, Partner, Wilkinson Shein Communications, Arlington, VA USA   

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

Young Kuk, Won, CEO/ECD, Solcom, Seoul, South Korea               

Dr. Brenda Wrigley, Associate Professor, Emerson College, Dept. of Marketing Communications, Boston, MA    

Yvonne Wu, Author Assistant and Publicist, The YP Publishing, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada     

Darya Yegorina, Founder, Skills2Fund, Dublin, Ireland    

Kathy Zwickert, Chief People Officer, NetSuite, San Mateo, CA USA      

 

Interested in becoming a judge for the 2016 Stevie Awards for Women in Business? Apply here.