Kate Matsudaira Wins 2016 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award for Leadership in Tech

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) today honors Kate Matsudaira with the 2016 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award for her outstanding work in managing and advancing technology startups, as well as building and operating large-scale web applications/sites. The awards ceremony takes place this afternoon at the Amazon Doppler Tower in Seattle, Washington, which will include remarks by NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders.
Kate Matsudaira is an experienced technology leader. She worked in distinguished companies like Microsoft and Amazon and three successful startups (Decide, acquired by eBay; Moz; and Delve Networks, acquired by Limelight) before starting her own company Popforms, which was recently acquired by Safari Books. Having spent her early career as a software engineer, Kate is deeply technical and has led work on distributed systems, cloud computing, and mobile. Additionally, she exhibits leadership through managing entire product teams, research scientists, and building her own profitable business. She is a published author, keynote speaker, and has been honored with awards like Seattle’s top 40 Under 40. She sits on the board of the ACM Queue and also maintains a personal blog at katemats.com.
“We’re proud to celebrate Kate for her outstanding change leadership in computing,” said NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders. “With this award, Kate has joined the ranks of many technical women who we hope will inspire others to pursue tech entrepreneurship and inspire the industry to recognize the importance of women’s participation in IT innovation and business.”
Kate was selected from more than 100 nominees who participated in the Entrepreneurial Heroes podcast series, featuring free interviews with notable women entrepreneurs in technology.
The award, created by the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Alliance, is named for Jeanette Symons — founder of Industrious Kid, Zhone Technologies, and Ascend Communications, and an NCWIT Entrepreneurial Hero whose pioneering work made her an inspiration to many. Previous winners include Shellye Archambeau, Katie Hall, Caterina Fake, Jessica Jackley, Audrey MacLean, Kim Polese, and Anousheh Ansari.
About NCWIT
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit community of more than 700 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women’s participation in computing and technology. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. Find out more at www.ncwit.org.
NCWIT receives significant financial support from Lifetime Partner Apple, Strategic Partners NSF (the National Science Foundation), Microsoft, Bank of America, Google, Intel and Merck, as well as from Investment Partners Avaya, Pfizer, AT&T, Bloomberg, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. View all of NCWIT’s supporters at www.ncwit.org/about/supporters.
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MetricStream CEO Shellye Archambeau to Receive Prestigious NCWIT Symons Innovator Award


NCWIT Honors MetricStream CEO Shellye Archambeau with the 2015 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award

NCWIT recognizes Shellye as an innovator who has made a considerable impact in the tech industry through her remarkable leadership.
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) today celebrates Shellye Archambeau, CEO of MetricStream, as the 2015 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award recipient. This award honors an outstanding woman who has successfully built or led an IT business, inspiring others to pursue IT entrepreneurship and emphasizing the importance of women’s participation in IT innovation and business.
Shellye receives the Innovator Award at an awards ceremony today at Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park, which will also include a presentation on Ten Things to Know About Girls, Women, and Computing from NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders.
Shellye has more than 25 years of experience in technology, leading both business-to-business and business-to-consumer focused organizations. She co-authored the book Marketing That Works: How Entrepreneurial Marketing Can Add Sustainable Profits to Any Sized Company. In addition to being recognized as one of the Top Women of Influence in Silicon Valley, Shellye was named the second-most influential African American in IT by Business Insider in 2013. She serves on the boards of Verizon Communications, Nordstrom, Watermark, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. She holds a BS degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business. Shellye guest lectures at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and The Wharton School of Business and pens a monthly column on entrepreneurship and innovation for Xconomy.
“We’re privileged to recognize Shellye for her outstanding tech leadership,” said NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders. “Although the tech industry has yet to fully capitalize on the benefits of diversity, Shellye’s work serves as a testament to the importance of having women in management positions to enhance innovation and financial performance.”
Research shows that technology companies with the highest representation of women in their senior management teams benefit from a higher return on equity as compared to those with fewer or no women in senior management. A recent study determined that both racial and gender diversity were associated with increased sales revenue, more customers, and greater profits. (www.ncwit.org/scorecard)
About NCWIT and the Symons Innovator Award
Nominees for the NCWIT Symons Innovator Award are selected from more than 100 NCWIT “Entrepreneurial Heroes,” a free podcast series featuring interviews with notable women IT entrepreneurs. The NCWIT Symons Innovator Award is named for Jeanette Symons, founder of Industrious Kid, Zhone Technologies, and Ascend Communications, and an NCWIT Entrepreneurial Hero whose pioneering work made her an inspiration to many. Previous winners include Katie Hall, Caterina Fake, Jessica Jackley, Audrey MacLean, Kim Polese, and Anousheh Ansari. The award was created by the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Alliance.
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit community of more than 650 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women’s participation in computing and technology. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. Find out more at www.ncwit.org.
NCWIT receives significant financial support from Lifetime Partner Apple, Strategic Partners NSF (the National Science Foundation), Microsoft, Bank of America, Google, and Intel, as well as from Investment Partners Avaya, Pfizer, Merck, AT&T, Bloomberg, and Hewlett-Packard. View all of NCWIT’s supporters at www.ncwit.org/about/supporters.
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What Can We Learn From One of the First Black Female CEOs in Silicon Valley? A Lot


WiTricity CTO Katie Hall Wins the 2014 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award

National Center for Women & Information Technology Award Recognizes Tech Women Entrepreneurs
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) today honors Katie Hall, CTO of WiTricity, as the 2014 NCWIT Symons Innovator Award winner.
The NCWIT Symons Innovator Award honors an outstanding woman who has successfully grown and funded an information technology (IT) business. The award is named in memory of Jeanette Symons, founder of Ascend Communications, Zhone Technologies, and Industrious Kid.
Since 2007, Katie has been the CTO of WiTricity Corporation. Prior to joining WiTricity, Katie has founded or co-founded high-tech companies including Wide Net Technologies, Inc. and PhotonEx Corporation. Katie holds 35 U.S. Patents and has published over 100 journal articles and conference papers. Katie has also been an Associate Editor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Photonics Technologies Letters, served on the Board of Governors for the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society, and has served on the Board of Directors for the Optical Society of America (OSA).
“As an expert in photonics, Katie Hall is a very remarkable technologist,” said Lucy Sanders, NCWIT CEO and Co-founder. “By recognizing Katie for her technical talents and proven entrepreneurial skills, we’re also inspiring the next generation of computing entrepreneurs.”
Katie will be recognized at an award celebration the evening of April 9, 2014 at the Cambridge offices of VMware, sponsored by NCWIT, VMware, and Koa Labs. The celebration is open to the public and a limited number of tickets are still available at Eventbrite.
Nominees for the NCWIT Symons Innovator Award are selected from among nearly 100 NCWIT “Entrepreneurial Heroes,” a free podcast series featuring interviews with notable women IT entrepreneurs. Past winners include Caterina Fake, Co-founder of Flickr and Hunch; Kim Polese, Co-founder of Marimba and original Product Manager of Java at Sun Microsystems; and Anousheh Ansari, Co-founder of Prodea Systems and Telecom Technologies, Inc. as well as the first private female astronaut.
The Entrepreneurial Heroes series and the Symons Innovator Award are supported by the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Alliance, an initiative that provides startup companies with tools to create and capitalize on a gender-diverse workforce and establish a successful company culture. The Entrepreneurial Alliance is sponsored by EMC Corporation and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
About NCWIT
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit community of more than 500 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women’s participation in computing and technology. NCWIT helps organizations more effectively recruit, retain, and advance girls and women in K-12 through college education, and from academic to corporate and startup careers. Find out more at http://www.ncwit.org.
About WiTricity
WiTricity is the industry leader in wireless electricity delivered over distance, and holds the foundational patents for highly resonant wireless power transfer. The company was founded in 2007 to commercialize an exciting new technology for wireless electricity invented by world renowned physicists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). With a growing list of global clients in industries including consumer electronics, automotive, medical devices and defense, WiTricity has emerged as the leader for IP and expertise in highly resonant wireless power transfer. For more information, visit http://www.witricity.com. Follow WiTricity on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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