Trailblazers Leading the Way to Excellence in the Workplace, Marketplace and the World

CLEVELAND, OH – June 21

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Profiles in Diversity Journal today proudly announces the winners of the 15th Annual Women Worth Watching Awards®. In celebrating the 15th year anniversary, there have been 162 nominations selected as 2016 winners. These leaders join the ranks of thousands of past winners, several whom have gone on to become CEO of fortune 500 companies. While countless others have moved forward to lead new business units, drive new markets, launch new ventures, and help develop the next generation of women leaders.

“Collectively, these women are forging ahead with global acclaim in strategies that are making a difference in their workplace, marketplace and around the world,” PDJ Publisher James Rector said. “These leaders bring an array of life experiences and views that consistently produce a variety of new concepts and ideas,” he added.

 

The 2016 Women Worth Watching Award® recipients are:

Company / Organization Award Recipient Title
3M Tamie Minami Vice President, Latin America
Aflac Incorporated June Howard Senior Vice President, Financial Services; Chief Accounting Officer
Akraya, Inc. Sonu Ratra Co-Founder/ President
Alcoa Vas Nair Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability
Allegheny College Ande Diaz Associate Provost for Diversity & Organizational Development
American Airlines Heather Garboden Vice President Financial Planning
American Express Nicole Stoner Head of Supply Chain Inclusion
Applied Materials Joanne Bal Managing Director, Segment Business Counsel
Arrow Electronics Allison Sabia Vice President, Sales Enablement
Assurant Brazil Ana Paula Almeida Santos Legal Director
Assurant, Inc. Rebekah Biondo Vice President, Strategy and M&A
Assurant, Inc. Tammy Schultz President, Global Preneed Business
AT&T Anne Chow President Integrator Solutions
AT&T Jennifer Biry Senior Vice President, Global Solutions and Sales Operations
AT&T Norberta Noguera Vice President, Global Service Delivery
AT&T Kay Kapoor President, Global Public Sector Solutions
Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider Gail Gottehrer Partner
Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law Leticia Diaz Dean and Professor
Booz Allen Hamilton Dee Dee Helfenstein Senior Vice President
Brinker Capital Amy Magnotta Senior Investment Manager
California Community Foundation Nike Irvin Vice President, Programs
Campbell Soup Company Tara Smith Deputy Corporate Secretary and Corporate Counsel
Canadian Mental Health Association, York and South Simcoe Rebecca Shields Chief Executive Officer
Capital One Emilia Lopez Managing Vice President
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Melissa Croll Vice President, Human Resources
Catalyst Brande Stellings Vice President, Corporate Board Services
Cathedral Capital, Inc. Brooke Lively President
CBRE Jennifer Ashley Global Director of Human Resources
Charter School Business Management Inc. Heather Blumberg Director
Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP Brenda Herschbach Jarrell Co-Chair of Intellectual Property and Life Sciences Groups
Choate, Hall & Stewart, LLP Melissa Tearney Partner
Cisco Francine Katsoudas Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer
Comcast Corporation Myrna Soto Senior Vice President, Global Chief Information Security Officer
Cooper Standard Christine Krathwohl Vice President, Global Supply Chain & Corporate Officer
Cox Automotive, Inc. Nuan Openshaw-Dion Vice President, Professional Services
Cox Automotive, Inc. Inside Sales Lydia V. James Senior Director Inside Sales
Cox Automotive, Inc. Ready Logistics Jane Gitere Senior Director Commercial Sales
Craig Communications Tracy Craig Principal/Owner
Dechert LLP Catherine Botticelli Partner, White Collar and Securities Litigation
Delta Airlines, Inc. Marguerite “Meg” Taylor Associate General Counsel
Denny’s April Kelly-Drummond Director, Diversity Affairs and Multicultural Engagement
Dialog Tania Oppedisano National Director of Human Resources
Diverst, Inc. Lucy Keoni Senior Advisor
Elektrobit Manuela Papadopol Director Business Development and Communications
Entergy Texas, Inc. Sallie Rainer President and Chief Executive Officer
Equis Staffing Carrie Nebens Principal
ERA Real Estate Sue Yannaccone Chief Operating Officer
ESPN Rosalyn Durant Senior Vice President, College Networks
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield Jocelyn Evans Vice President, Enrollment Management
EY Leslie D.J. Patterson Southeast Region Talent Leader/Strategic Growth Markets Leader – GA/AL/TN
FedEx Express Jill Brannon Senior Vice President, Sales in Europe and the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa
First Tennessee Lynne Walker Executive Vice President, Director of Affinity Banking Strategy
Fish & Richardson Linda Liu Kordziel Principal
Fish & Richardson Cynthia Johnson Walden Principal and Practice Group Leader, Trademark and Copyright Group
Fish & Richardson Natalie Arbaugh Principal
FordHarrison LLP Tiffany Downs Partner
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Valerie Ford Jacob Partner
Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies Vicky Jandreau Director of Growth, North America
Full Circle Insights Bonnie Crater President and Chief Executive Officer
Garden City Group Christi Cannon Senior Vice President, Marketing & Development
GE Linda Boff Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
Georgia Power Lisa Smith Region Manager, Metro South Region
Gibbons P.C. Camille Otero Director, Real Property & Environmental Department
Golden State Foods Shellie Frey Group Vice President, Corporate Communications
Great Basin Scientific, Inc. Sandra Nielsen Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing & HR
Greenberg Traurig, LLP Annapoorni Sankaran Shareholder
HARMAN International Sripriya Raghunathan Senior Director, Systems and Software Engineering
HARMAN International Jessica Garvey Vice President and General Manager, Headphones & Wearables
Hawthorne, PNC Family Wealth® Nicole Perkins Executive Vice President, Managing Executive of Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth
Haynes and Boone, LLP Kenya Woodruff Partner
HD Supply, Inc. Susan Stucker Vice President – Legal, Litigation, Risk and Employment
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Caroline Tsay Vice President and General Manager, Online Channel
Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP Dorit Ungar Black Founding Partner
Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP Blair Kaminsky Associate
Honeywell UOP Rebecca Liebert President and Chief Executive Officer
HP Inc. Tracy Keogh Chief Human Resources Officer
Hudson Allergy Julie Kuriakose M.D. and Co-Founding Partner
IAC Applications Niti Bashambu Chief Analytics Officer
ICON Information Consultants Pamela O’Rourke President and Chief Executive Officer
Imprint Plus Kristin MacMillan President
IMS Technology Services and Operations Dorothea Henderson Senior Director, IT Systems
Integra LifeSciences Corporation Abigail Epane-Osuala Human Resources Leader
Jones Walker LLP Marjorie A. McKeithen Partner
Juniper Networks Lisa Guess Vice President of Systems Engineering
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP Linda Kornfeld Partner
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP Jennifer Recine Partner
Kelly Services Dinette Koolhaas Vice President and Operations Leader, EMEA Region
KeyCorp Trina Evans Executive Vice President, Director of Corporate Center
KPMG Tracy Benard National Managing Partner, Advisory
Latham & Watkins LLP Sarah Ray Global Co-Chair of the Women Enriching Business (WEB) Committee, Litigation & Trial Partner
Leadspace, Inc. Sherrod Patching Vice President of Customer Success
Legg Mason Global Asset Management Ursula Schliessler Chief Administrative Officer
Levenfeld Pearlstein Angela Hickey Executive Director
Lincoln Financial Group Jamie Ohl President, Retirement Plan Services
Linkage Laura Stone Vice President, Inclusive Leadership
LinkedIn Joanna Pomykala Senior Director – Sales Productivity
LinkedIn Zoë Diamadi Senior Director – Business Operations
LinkedIn Lora Blum Vice President, Legal – Corporate & Assistant Secretary
LinkedIn Shannon Stubo Senior Vice President – Global Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications
Lucasfilm Lynwen Brennan EVP & General Manager
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP Katherine Neville Partner
Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP Heather Kissling Partner and Chair, Biotechnology
Mayer Brown LLP Lisa Ferri Partner and Lead of IP New York practice
MillerCoors Britt Dougherty Senior Director, Marketing Insights
Mindtree Ltd. Joelle Smith Travel, Transportation & Hospitality Industry Group Head
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp Melanie Figueroa Corporate and Office Managing Partner for New York
Moss Adams LLP Bertha Minnihan Partner
MUFG Union Bank, N.A. Marianne Bamonte Managing Director, Global Trust Services Division Manager
NASA Johnson Space Center Vanessa Wyche Director of Exploration Integration and Science
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP Leah Schleicher Partner
New American Funding Patty Arvielo President
New Jersey State Bar Association Denise Sharperson Assistant General Counsel and Director of Diversity Initiatives
New York Life Kelli Parsons Chief Communications and Marketing Officer
New York Power Authority Kristine Pizzo Senior Vice President Human Resources and Enterprise Shared Services
NextGear Capital Patty Turner Senior Director of Corporate Administration
Northwestern Mutual Kimberley Goode Vice President, Communications & Corporate Affairs
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Ester Banque Vice President & Head, Immunology & Dermatology Business Unit
Optimus Ventures
Meera Kaul Foundation
Meera Kaul Chief Executive Officer, Optimus Ventures; Chair, Meera Kaul Foundation
Pay it Forward Processing Renee VanHeel Founder and President
Plan International Canada Deborah Singh Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness
PNC Bank, N.A. Alicia Powell Managing Chief Counsel
Prudential Financial, Inc. Michele Alcazar Vice President, Operations & Strategy
RBC Wealth Management-U.S. Janet Engels Director, Portfolio Advisory Group
Reed Smith LLP Kit Chaskin Partner and Global Director of the Women’s Initiative Network
Renzei Holdings, Inc. Julia Huang President/ Chief Executive Officer
Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP Julia Lu Partner
Robins Kaplan LLP Kathleen Flynn Peterson Partner
Rocana Rachel Taylor Vice President of Operations
Rocket Fuel Kiwoba Allaire Executive Director
Salt River Project Lori Singleton Director of Customer Programs & Operations Support
SAP Penelope Delgadillo Valencia SVP, Audience & Strategic Partners Marketing
SAP Zarina Lam Stanford Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan
Seasons Linda Conklin President, Chief Executive Officer
Sodexo, Inc. Deborah Gutierrez Schloss Regional Vice President, Operations
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. Tracy-Gene Durkin Director
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. Eldora Ellison Director
Stikeman Elliott LLP Ramandeep Grewal Counsel, Knowledge Management
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Sharon Nelles Partner
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP Vanessa Scott Partner and Chief Diversity Officer
Syniverse Mary Clark Chief Marketing Officer
Terex Corporation Linda McAvoy President, Terex Financial Services
Textron Systems Kim Schleiff Vice President of Marketing and Communications
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Catherine Powell Présidente of Euro Disney S.A.S.
The Walt Disney Company Tricia Wilber EVP, CMO and GM of Disney Media +, EMEA
Thermo Fisher Scientific Sue Rice Corporate Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Totum Wealth Min Zhang Chief Executive Officer
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Janette Hostettler General Manager, Paint, Plastics, & Plant Engineering
Troostwijk Auctions & Valuations Ghislaine Duijmelings Chief Executive Officer
Ulmer & Berne LLP Patricia Shlonsky Partner and Chair, Tax and Employee Benefits Practice Groups
UnitedHealthcare Vidya Raman-Tangella Head of Innovation Center of Excellence
UnitedHealthcare Community & State Ana Fuentevilla Chief Medical Officer
Universal Reprographics Inc. Rikki Gerson-Parry Chief Executive Officer
Vectren Corporation Susan Hardwick Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Walden University Janet Williams Dean, Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Kimberly R. Scardino Senior Vice President, Global Controller and Chief Accounting Officer
Walmart Stores, Inc. Phyllis Harris General Counsel Legal Operations
WellCare health Plans, Inc. Kelly Munson Senior Vice President, Division President and Medicaid Product
WilmerHale Jeannie Rhee Partner
WilmerHale Lia Der Marderosian Partner
WilsonHCG Kim Pope Executive Vice President, Recruitment Solutions
YMCA of the USA Lynda Gonzales-Chavez Senior Vice President/Chief Diversity Officer

Their profiles in the upcoming Women Worth Watching edition will recognize and publicly celebrate their commitment and achievements. As the companies select the nominees for this award, it represents C-suite support of women in leadership, so we also enhance the visibility and reputations of the companies and organizations that empower, support, and employ these incredible women. The 2016 Women Worth Watching magazine edition will be available to the public in September when the crystal awards are distributed. Profiles in Diversity Journal is dedicated to promoting and advancing diversity and inclusion in the corporate, government, nonprofit, STEM, and higher education sectors. For nearly two decades, Diversity Journal has helped stimulate organizational change by profiling the visionary leadership, innovative programs, and individual commitments to making it happen.

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