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Sponsored by: Awards Breakfast

Monroe Country Club

Wednesday, April 24

7:30 am—10:30 am

& Emerging Technology Professional Woman of the Year

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

2019

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7:30—8:00 am Registration, Networking, Sponsor Showcase & Breakfast

Drop off open for Volunteers of America Emergency Family Shelter, The Guest House

8:00 am Welcome & Introduction of Keynote Speaker | Judy Miller & CEO at

Miller & Associates, LLC

8:10 am | Jennifer Beckage, Esq. CIPP/US Managing Director, Beckage PLLC

8:40 am Monroe Community College Scholarship | Nicole Mahoney President of TechRochester

8:45 am 2018 Emerging Technology Professional Woman of the Year Address | Kristen Seversky Product Owner, Paychex

9:00 am | Judy Miller

9:05 am

Executive Vice President at Entre Computer Services

9:10 am Volunteers of America Purse Raffle Winner | Nicole Mahoney President of TechRochester

9:15 am 2018 Technology Woman of the Year Address | Dhireesha Kudithipudi, PhD Professor, Graduate Program Chair & Director of the NanoComputing Research Lab, RIT

9:30 am 2019 Technology Woman of the Year Nominees | Judy Miller

9:45 am Announcement of the Technology Woman of the Year Award Winner | Andre Godfrey President & CEO at Entre Computer Services

9:50 am

10:00—10:30 am

*Nominees and TWY Winner photos will be taken at the front of the room immediately after closing remarks.

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Event Schedule

Nominees

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

Woman of the Year

Laura Abplanalp, Director of Civil and Commercial Imaging,

Harris Space and Intelligence Systems

Sherri Baker-Hamilton, Assistant Professor & Art Department Chair,

Nazareth College

Gabrielle Bedewi, Chief Analytics Officer,

Butler/Till Media Services, Inc.

Diana Casale, Product Innovation Lead, ITX Corp.

Sarah Compter, President, SYNACT, Inc.

Gayle DeRose, CMO/COO/Partner, L-Tron Corporation

Jody Gillette, Director of Software Development,

Vuzix Corporation

Sharon Lechon, CEO/President, Edge-Global Technology

Solutions, Inc.

Victoria Van Voorhis, CEO, Second Avenue Learning

Sabrina Diol, Principal Engineer, Clinical Lab Platforms,

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics

Christina Halladay, Interaction Designer, ITX Corp.

Deb Schleede, Global Demand Generation Manager,

CloudCheckr

Kelly Taran, CIO, First American Equipment Finance

Nominees

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Recognizing, celebrating and making visible the achievements of women in high

technology fields. Through the Technology Woman of the Year Award and The

Emerging Technology Woman of the Year, women who work in these

professions are encouraged to stay in the Greater Rochester area, mentor young

women, and contribute to the economic growth of the region.

Eligibility & Criteria Eligible nominees include women who:

Are in a profession within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and

Math) Field

Work within the Greater Rochester Metropolitan Area (Genesee, Livingston,

Monroe, Ontario, Orleans and Wayne Counties)

Are employed in a company whose primary product is technology or in a

technology or technical department of a non-tech organization

Evaluation Categories, Criteria, & Weighting

Sustained contributions to the technology profession (40%) - Demonstrated

impact to the profession, as illustrated by length of time in the profession, highest

level achieved, success promoting or implementing technology, details of

projects/contributions, professional organization memberships/year joined/service

or positions held, technical publications and presentations (including where

delivered), degrees/concentrations, and special assignments

Contributions advancing the status, opportunities, and employment for

women in the technology professions (50%) - Demonstrated contributions to

women, as illustrated by mentoring activities, hiring practices, developmental

publications, and presentations, etc.

Contributions to the community (10%) - Support for the involvement in the

community, as illustrated by volunteer activities, developing new programs,

providing leadership services to community organizations or influencing the goals

of those organizations

About the Awards

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY

Celebrating

Welcome to the 2019 Technology Woman of the Year and Emerg-ing Technology Woman of the Year Awards! I am excited to have you all join us as we crown this year’s winners. Having attended numerous years in the past, I’ve always been inspired by these woman. Now, as Executive Director, I’ve had the privilege of receiving their nominations and getting to know them on a more personal level. They are a truly an amazing group of woman doing incredible things for in the technology field and our community. Congratulations to each of the nominees for their remarkable achievements, along with being outstanding rep-resentatives of Women in Technology.

The Tech Woman of the Year award is one example of how TechRochester is committed to transforming the Rochester area into a Top 10 Technology region. Our educational and network-ing events bring together technology professionals to support the growth of the Rochester business community.

After hearing their stories, my hope is that you leave here inspired to do more for the Rochester Technology Community and Women in Technology. I look forward to a great award ceremony and seeing you at future event.

Kim Gaylord

Executive Director,

TechRochester

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Join the Conversation

#TechRochester #TWY2019

About Us TechRochester is an organization comprised of professionals and companies that

are working together to strengthen the Greater Rochester Area’s technology

community. We accomplish this through the development and sponsorship of

relevant events and stimulating programs focused on skill building and the

cultivation of individual and business relationships.

TechRochester was founded in 2000 as Digital Rochester. In 2010 the

organization grew with the inclusion of the Association for Women in Computing

(AWC) and the eBusiness Association (eBA). TechRochester rebranded in 2018

in order to further the organization’s role as a leader in this area’s technology

transformation.

The events and community services developed by TechRochester include a wide

array of educational and networking activities designed to support the growth and

success of the Rochester business community. Through generous corporate

sponsorships from a wide variety of technology companies and community

organizations, we’ve been able to consistently enhance our area’s standing as a

technology center.

TechRochester’s mission is to help drive economic growth in the region’s

technology community through education and relationship development.

TechRochester advances the transformation of Rochester into a top 10

technology region through collaboration, education and recognition.

Mission

Vision

Thank You to all Our Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

In-Kind Sponsors

Printing Sponsor Purse Raffle Sponsor

Major Event Sponsor

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Board of Directors Nicole Mahoney — President of TechRochester CEO, Break the Ice Media Peter Platt — President Elect of TechRochester President, Accountable Digital, LLC Kim Gaylord — Executive Director of TechRochester Reagan Burns — Director of Digital Marketing Peer Group Owner/Art Director, Lime Creative Brian Carroll — Past President of TechRochester Managing Director, Genuent Cindy Crowley — Director of Volunteers Business Consultant, Sales360plus Briget Grbic — Director of Technology Leaders Peer Group Senior Vice President & Industry Practice Lead, Marsh ClearSight Karl Herberger — Director of Technology Infrastructure & Marketing Chief Media Strategist, Mason Digital Brett Kinsler — Director of Healthcare Technology Peer Group Director of Clinical Services, Strategic Interests Ana Liss — Director of Diverse Audiences Managing Director of Business Development, Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE) Francine Miller — Director of Major Events Talent Acquisition Manager, Paychex Judy Miller — Director of Women in Technology Peer Group Co-Founder & CEO, Miller & Associates, LLC Andrew Pond — Director of Finance Controller, Wilmorite Management Group, LLC J. Michael Wood — Director of Membership Partner, Boylan Code

SPEAKER

Keynote

Jennifer Beckage

Esq. CIPP/US,

Managing Director,

Beckage PLLC

As Managing Director of the law firm Beckage PLLC, Jennifer leads a team of seasoned attor-neys and privacy professionals focused on cybersecurity, infor-mation technology, privacy law and business growth.

In 2018 she was recognized by Cybersecurity Docket as one of "the 30 best and brightest data breach response lawyers" and one of the “key players - both in the public eye and behind-the-scenes-in the most significant da-ta breach responses worldwide.”

Jennifer has personally respond-ed to numerous headline-making,

national and international data breaches and cyber incidents, providing strategy and risk mitiga-tion advice and interface with reg-ulators. She also represents cli-ents in class action litigation and regulatory investigations.

She also assists clients with regu-latory compliance, including with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). She helps clients prepare policies, conduct in-house training, and review con-tracts where data and technology are involved.

Jennifer is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) by the Interna-tional Association of Privacy Pro-fessionals (IAPP).

In 2018, Jennifer was named one of the 25 Women of Influence by Buffalo Business First.

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NOMINEE

Laura Abplanalp

Director of Civil and

Commercial Imaging,

Harris

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Laura Abplanalp is the Director of Civil and Commercial Imaging, a Business Area within the Intelli-gence, Surveillance & Reconnais-sance (ISR) Business Unit which is part of Harris Corporation Space and Intelligence Systems (SIS).

SIS delivers complete solutions for global situational awareness, space superiority, and Earth insights. We provide the world's most advanced sensors, payloads, and communi-cations technologies; receiving and information processing systems; and analytics that give our custom-ers the integrated information and actionable intelligence they need for mission and business success.

Ms. Abplanalp assumed the posi-tion of Director in 2018. She is re-sponsible for the space science portfolio, several significant ground-based telescope opportunities, and optical component and structures contracts. Ms. Abplanalp reports to the VP GM of Gov’t Systems and

Civil & Commercial Imaging within ISR.

Ms. Abplanalp holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester, a Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan Techno-logical University, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Michigan Technological University. She is certified as a Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of New York, a Project Management Pro-fessional (PMP), and a Six Sigma Black Belt.

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NOMINEE

Sherri Baker-Hamilton

Assistant Professor

& Art Department Chair,

Nazareth College

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Sherri Hamilton is Chair of the Art & Design Department and an Assis-tant Professor in Visual Communi-cation Design at Nazareth College. She teaches courses in typography, graphic design, and contemporary issues in design. She is passionate about mentoring future designers to be prepared for careers in visual communication.

Prior to joining the faculty at Naza-reth, Sherri was an art director and creative director in advertising. She has worked on creative teams and independently for corporate clients including Bausch & Lomb, Brain-Stem Biometrics, Car-Freshner Cor-poration, CooperVision, Dick’s Sporting Goods, High Falls Brew-ery, Kodak, MetLife Bank, Monroe Community College, Wegmans Food Markets, and Xerox to name a few.

Her design and illustration work has earned regional and national awards from the American Advertis-ing Federation and the University and College Designer’s Association.

Sherri has served as Education Chair of the Rochester Advertising Federation and as an Advisory Board Member for curriculum devel-opment in graphic design and mar-keting at the high school, under-graduate, and graduate level for institutions including EMCC BO-CES, Finger Lakes Community Col-lege, and Nazareth College. She has been invited as a judge and panelist for the Northeast Pennsyl-vania American Advertising Federa-tion ADDY Awards and the Roches-ter Business Journal Best of the Web Awards.

Sherri remains active with freelance design and illustration projects for local and national clients, and per-sonal projects for exhibition.

NOMINEE

Gabrielle Bedewi

Chief Analytics Officer,

Butler/Till Media Services

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Dr. Gabrielle Bedewi joined But-ler/Till as Chief Analytics Officer with 20+ years of business con-sulting and marketing analytics experience. Gabrielle developed a national reputation of combining advanced analytics best-practices with her insatiable curiosity, to reveal proactive and actionable insights driving measurable out-comes. She has international success launching new products & solutions, being recognized as an authority on "big data", busi-ness intelligence, predictive ana-lytics, mathematical optimization, and segmentation systems. She authored over 35 trade publica-tions and is an accomplished speaker with experience teaching at top-rated universities. Gabriel-le earned a Ph.D. in Management Sciences and Statistics from Uni-versity of Maryland, and an Exec-utive M.B.A. from University of Rochester.

As Chief Analytics Officer, Gabri-elle focuses on innovation, busi-ness growth, and enterprise- wide analytic acumen education and skills’ development, as she estab-lishes the vision and roadmap for enhancing the analytics solutions’ portfolio through new marketing analytics offerings; such as, seg-mentation, ROI forecasting, pre-dictive audience target selection, and marketing spend optimiza-tion.

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NOMINEE

Diana Casale

Product Innovation Lead,

ITX Corp.

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Diana Casale is a passionate trail blazer with over 13 years of experi-ence in the technology industry, nine of which have been in a leadership position where she’s dedicated her career to inspiring teams and individu-als to produce their best work. Diana takes pride in being a strong advocate for women, many have said that she’s missed her calling as a coach and motivational speaker. Diana has a long history of paying it forward, as she’s an enthusiastic believer in the power of manifesting your own desti-ny and has taught many women how to manifest their own career goals.

Diana currently serves as a Product Innovation Lead with ITX Corp. She has helped ITX build and refine the powerful ideas and thought leadership theories used in the ever-evolving software product development space. Her contributions have touched hun-dreds of technologists within ITX and its customer base; the results will be utilized for years to come by tens of thousands of people who use the software that ITX produces on behalf of its clients.

Diana received her bachelor’s degree in Communications from the Universi-ty at Buffalo. In her junior year, she assisted in starting a web develop-

ment company, serving as her entry point into the tech industry, where she’s been a pioneer ever since. One of Diana’s proudest accomplishments was partnering her first web company with her first job in New York City at a print advertising agency that special-ized in luxury real estate. Diana effec-tively overhauled the print agency’s product and service offerings, trained and mentored the entire staff, and brought the company into the digital age.

When Diana is not in the digital arena championing product development efforts and motivating her teams, you can find her creating various types of artwork and jewelry, attending live music events, and boating on Lake Ontario. Diana’s personal and profes-sional drive can be summed up by the contents of a fortune cookie she re-ceived years ago: “If you catch on fire with enthusiasm, people will come for miles to watch you burn!”

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NOMINEE

Sarah Compter

President,

SYNACT, Inc.

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Sarah Compter is the President at SYNACT, a technology firm that enables small and midsized busi-nesses to harness the power of Microsoft Dynamics 365, a state-of-the-art suite of customer relation-ship management and business productivity tools. Under Sarah’s leadership, SYNACT is disrupting the software industry’s traditional service model in favor of a program focused on results delivered, not hours spent. Sarah believes in an immersive, evolutionary approach to software development and takes pride in SYNACT’s collaborative approach to working with clients.

Sarah began her tenure with SYN-ACT in 2009. Within two years, she took on responsibilities for manag-ing day-to-day operations. She has served as President since late 2016, when she bought SYNACT and re-headquartered in Rochester. Since then, she has grown the team from two to six and doubled recur-ring revenue. In an industry domi-nated by men, Sarah has built a team of mostly women.

When she’s not working to meet the demands of her own small busi-ness, Sarah serves as VP and Membership Chair for the Small Business Council of Rochester. She also serves the Flower City Habitat for Humanity, the Women’s Foun-dation of Genesee Valley, and the Town of Webster’s Parks, Recrea-tion, Open Space & Athletic Review board.

Prior to her 10 years with SYNACT, Sarah worked for M&T Bank in the Baltimore-Washington DC metro area. Her experience working in big corporate and small family business environments, paired with her ser-vice on several non-profit boards, has prepared her well to navigate the unpredictable waters of entre-preneurial life.

Upcoming Events

June 4, 2019 | 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Business Intelligence and Analytics in Healthcare Presented by our Healthcare Peer Group & HIMSS June 7, 2019 | 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM Chatbots: What Are They and How to Utilize Them Presented by our Digital Marketing Peer Group

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NOMINEE

Gayle DeRose

Chief Marketing Officer &

Chief Operating Officer,

L-Tron Corporation;

Managing Partner, OSCR LLC

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Founded in 1975, L-Tron provides purpose-built data capture hard-ware and software technology solu-tions, specializing in public sector, as well as manufacturing, industrial automation and field mobility. OS-CR360 is L-Tron’s newest offering and is being well received in the public safety sector; specifically Law Enforcement & Fire Depts.

Gayle demonstrates a heartfelt de-sire to encourage, support and grow the roles to support women in tech-nology. As an executive leader in the industry, Gayle is no stranger to challenges. She accepts every chal-lenge head on, and welcomes chal-lenges as opportunities to creatively problem solve, take necessary risks, and find solutions.

As an active mentor and coach, Gayle guides the women on her teams to successfully navigate the unique challenges in the corporate world of technology. When Gayle first started at L-Tron, she was the only female on staff at the entire company. Today, 46% of the work-

force is comprised of women. By establishing and fostering a culture of empowerment and growing indi-vidual leaders, she shines a light on her team’s achievements. The re-sult is a successful and engaged team of innovators.

DeRose is also a member of a local Women Executive Leadership Group and Women Presidents Or-ganization. These highly confiden-tial, peer advisory groups support executive women leaders in a trust-ed environment, focusing on per-sonal and professional growth. Outside of her business, Gayle’s life is centered on her family. She also enjoys reading, gardening, Maui and is a life-long learner.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019 Joseph A. Floreano

Riverside Convention Center

Exhibitor Showcase*, Networking, & Grazing Stations 5:00pm – 7:00pm

GREAT Awards Presentation

7:00pm – 8:00pm

Cordial Hour – Exhibitor Showcase* and Networking 8:00pm – 9:00pm

TechRochester’s GREAT Awards program recognizes and celebrates technological achievement in the Greater Rochester community by highlighting the organizations and individuals that show leadership and innovation in the field of technology.

Save The Date

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NOMINEE

Jody Gillette

Director of Software

Development,

Vuzix Corporation

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Jody is currently the Director of Software Development at Vuzix Corporation and has worked in the technology field for over 30 years. Born and raised in Rochester, she started her post-college career in IT audit and information security and over the years has held numerous leadership roles spanning the major functions that bring technology so-lutions to people: software engi-neering, software test and automa-tion, portfolio and project manage-ment, software deployment, prod-uct design, engineer technical sup-port, product documentation, and more. She’s held a variety of tech-nology management roles in her tenure in the banking, payroll, news, legal information, and elec-tronics/wearable augmented-reality industries. Jody taught as an Ad-junct Professor in the Computer Science department at RIT. Inno-vation, life-long learning, continual improvement, and cultivating a pos-itive work culture are regular themes in her work.

Jody has been proudly serving on the Spencerport Board of Educa-tion for eleven years (two years as Vice President) and had previously served on SUNY Brockport’s Computer Sci-ence Advisory Board for six years. In her duties, she’s been on numerous committees promot-ing STEM education and enrich-ment, most notably in her ten-year work on Spencerport’s Technology Advisory committee. She’s very proud to have been part of the dis-trict’s recent expansion of the tech-nology curriculum to a four-year program and with a senior-year independent study option in Com-puter Science. Jody has a passion for education and promoting ca-reers here in Rochester; her dis-cussions with students as they de-cide their journey in STEM fields are some of her most fun conversa-tions.

NOMINEE

Sharon Lechon

CEO/President,

Edge-Global Technology

Solutions, Inc.

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Sharon is CEO/President and Co-Founder of EDGE – Global Tech-nology Solutions. She brings, more than 20 years of business development and executive expe-rience with the adoption and ap-plication of the worlds’ leading design technology and service solutions for the A/E/C industry.

Growing up in West Texas, with a father that was General Superin-tendent for a large construction firm, it was only natural that she found her way to the AECO In-dustry with a focus on technology. Sharon worked with national and international firms to assist them in the adoption and successful implementation of their design technology and processes. She started and built her own Auto-desk AEC Partnership, in Dallas/Fort Worth, which grew to a team of 15 and $12m in revenue within 3 years. Her team closed the larg-est Autodesk AEC deal in Auto-desk’s company history, largest

revenue growth and was awarded Autodesk Platinum Club.

Recognizing there is extreme VDC technology focused need for WBE/DBE services in the A/E/C industry, she, along with her busi-ness partner, started EDGE – Global Technology Solu-tions. When EDGE is not provid-ing adoption and application ser-vices, they have a team expert architects and engineers that have the love of design technolo-gy, industry experience, and can apply high quality VDC services and support to help firms meet WBE/DBE requirements during planning, design, pre- and post-construction.

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NOMINEE

Victoria Van Voorhis

CEO,

Second Avenue Learning

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

Victoria Van Voorhis has worked in the education and technology industry for more than 16 years. She is the founder and CEO of Second Avenue Software, Inc., an award-winning educational game studio that has been producing educational games and interac-tives for over 10 years. Second Avenue’s products have over 30 million play-throughs of science games and simulations in 31 countries. The studio partnered with RIT and The Strong this year to provide the level of polish and professional code required to make “The Original Mobile Games” app across several com-mercial platforms.

Prior to founding Second Avenue, Victoria was a teacher at the mid-dle school, high school and col-lege levels. She has served as the principal investigator for multi-ple Department of Education and National Science Foundation grants and is an active reviewer for National Science Foundation

SBIR grants. As an Ed-Tech lead-er, Victoria is a sought-after speaker and author.

Victoria currently serves on the Boards of The Rochester Muse-um and Science Center, The Ver-tus Charter High School, and the Rochester Downtown Develop-ment Corporation. She is the Co-founder and President-elect of the Digital Game Industry Association of Rochester (DGIA). Victoria received her undergraduate de-gree from Smith College and her master’s degree from New York University. She resides in Pitts-ford, NY with her family.

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NOMINEE

Sabrina Diol

Principal Engineer,

Clinical Lab Platforms,

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics

Sabrina is an R&D Technical Lead at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics with over 20 years of experience in corporate research and devel-opment. Her team delivered inno-vation in the field of in-vitro diag-nostics last year through the glob-al launch of the VITROS XT 7600 Integrated Systems, a blood ana-lyzer designed for clinical labora-tories to diagnose, monitor and treat disease. Her prior experi-ence was in the development and commercialization of inkjet print-ing technologies at Eastman Ko-dak, where she secured 2 device patents. Sabrina earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Rochester in 1997. Her research focused on the viability of high

efficiency semiconductor-electrolyte hybrid solar cells. She was award the Link Energy Fel-lowship to pursue this work. One of her key publications earned the Journal Award from the Journal of Imaging Science and Technology. Sabrina is an advocate for gender parity in the technical workplace. She has mentored numerous women engineers and is assisting in the establishment of a local chapter of the Healthcare Busi-nesswomen’s Association. She is also passionate about spreading an interest in STEM in the Roch-ester community.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

Woman of the Year

Christina Halladay is a User Expe-rience (UX) Designer with an edu-cational background in Psycholo-gy and a passion for ‘people’ problems. She's driven to under-stand how things work and how they impact the people that inter-act with them. At ITX, she is a Director of UX where she works with distributed cross-functional teams to build impactful, human-centered digital products. Last year, she co-founded and orga-nized a UX conference series called ITXUX, where several world-renowned speakers came to Rochester to educate and in-spire the local growing tech com-munity. When she’s not designing digital products, she can usually be found somewhere outside with her husband and two dogs, being amazed by the design of the natu-ral world.

NOMINEE

Christina Halladay

Interaction Designer,

ITX Corp.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

Woman of the Year

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Deb is described as ambitious and analytical. She is an active advocate for STEM education and diversity in the tech industry. Deb spends most of her free time as a volunteer and mentor with Up-state NY FIRST robotics pro-grams and events. She is often vocal and supportive of efforts to improve diversity in the technolo-gy sector, including the encour-agement of gender inclusion in STEM opportunities. She can fre-quently be found speaking at con-ferences, supporting local hacka-thons, or as a guest lecture at area colleges. Deb is building her career dedicated to the conver-gence of data, technology, and business at CloudCheckr — a software company in Rochester.

At work she administers state of the art technology alongside data-driven business processes to con-tinually improve Marketing, Sales, and Engineering results. In her personal time, she enjoys travel-ing and spending time outdoors with family.

NOMINEE

Deb Schleede

Global Demand

Generation Manager,

CloudCheckr

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

Woman of the Year

Kelly Taran is the Chief Infor-mation Officer for First American Equipment Finance. She is re-sponsible for IT strategy, technol-ogy implementation, and infor-mation security. Kelly leads a team of eleven colleagues fo-cused on delivering exceptional client and colleague experiences with a cloud-first technology stack.

Kelly completed her MBA at the University of Rochester's Simon Business School with concentra-tions in Competitive and Organi-zational Strategy and Business Systems Consulting. She also holds a bachelor's degree in Com-puter Science, with minors in Mathematics and Business Stud-ies, from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Kelly joined First American in 2015 as a Business Systems An-alyst, focused on the execution of strategic projects. She was the

recipient of First American’s 2017 Operations Person of the Year Award and a finalist for First American’s Chairman's Award for excellence in leadership, charac-ter and integrity.

Kelly is a member of First Ameri-can’s Diversity committee and has helped to significantly improve the female to male ratio in the IT de-partment over the last twelve months.

Prior to joining First American, Kelly was a CRM Consultant with the BlackTab Group, a local con-sulting firm that specialized in Salesforce.com technology imple-mentations.

NOMINEE

Kelly Taran

CIO,

First American

Equipment Finance

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

Woman of the Year

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CONGRATULATIONS

Rachael Rogan

Student,

Monroe Community College

Major: Computer Science

Hometown: Webster, NY

Recipient SCHOLARSHIP

I am currently a freshman at Monroe Community College and I am studying Computer Science. I am one of six children and the only person in my family who is both a nerd and a geek, but I enjoy being both very much. Alongside my love of math and com-puters, I love playing piano and paint-ing. I am currently involved in MCC’s Campus Ambassadors club which has allowed me to meet some really great people as well as deepen my

walk with God, both of which I am thankful for. I hope to expand my knowledge of and love for program-ming at a four year school and even-tually work in software development.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your generosity in investing in my education. It is a tre-mendous blessing to me and my fami-ly to have so much help in funding my first year of college. Your gift has giv-en me much encouragement and confidence as I step into this next season of learning. As I continue to pursue my computer science major, I am excited about the challenges and opportunities it will bring. Thank you again for supporting my desire to be a technological nerd.

Established by TechRochester in 2010, this academic scholarship is intended to support

female students at Monroe Community College (MCC) who are preparing for careers in

computer science, information technology, and digital media. TechRochester’s Women in

Technology Peer Group is actively working to remove barriers to higher education and

motivate students to explore technical fields.

About the Scholarship

The recipient must attend Monroe Community College as a full or part time student, have

completed at least 12 credits at MCC, and have achieved a minimum of 3.0 grade point

average. Applicants should apply to the Monroe Community College Foundation at

www.monroecc.edu/depts/foundation or to the Dean of Technical Education at MCC.

Eligibility

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Past Award Recipients

Woman of the Year TECHNOLOGY

2018 Dhireesha Kudithipudi, PhD | Rochester Institute of Technology

2017 Garland J. Nichols | Xerox Corporation

2016 Ewa Pigna | Lenel

2015 Sandra Roberts | Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.

2014 Anne Bell | Xerox Corporation

2013 Amy Carey | Amy Carey Consulting

2012 Jennifer Kruschwitz | JK Consulting & University of Rochester

2011 Victoria Van Voorhis | Second Avenue Software

2010 Jeanne Casares | Rochester Institute of Technology*

2009 Mary Piehler | Serverware*

2008 Sharon Martinez | University of Rochester Medical Center*

2007 Christine Scheible | Quantum Technology Associates*

2006 Kathryn Angelidis | Paychex, Inc.*

2005 Sue Chichester | SUNY Geneseo*

2004 Karen Benjamin | Ciber, Inc.*

2003 Eydie Lawson | Rochester Institute of Technology*

2002 Juli Klie | Veritor Executive Advisors*

2001 Barbara Kunkel | Nixon Peabody LLP*

2000 Award given in honor of all women in IT*

*Past IT Woman of the Year Winners

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONAL

Woman of the Year Past Award Recipients 2018 Kristen Seversky | Girl Develop It