Women in Cloud, in partnership with M12 and IBM, honors eight role models at the inaugural #empowHERaccess Awards Ceremony

The #empowHERaccess Inaugural Awards celebrates the achievements of 8 winners who facilitated economic access and recovery for women affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and recognizes the contributions to the cloud ecosystems made by both individuals and organizations. The awards are supported by corporate and private brands such as M12, IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, Boeing, Insight and others. End Quote

The winners of the #empowHERaccess Awards understand that the roadmap to generating infinite economic access is driven by sustainable action

(1888PressRelease) July 20, 2021 - Seattle, Washington - According to McKinsey, centering women around economic recovery efforts would grow the global GDP by an estimated $13 trillion, or 16 percent, by 2030 — because when women thrive, so do their families and communities. A report from Kaspersky published in January found that roughly half of the 6,500 women surveyed believed that the pandemic had hurt them professionally.

The #empowHERaccess digital advocacy campaign seeks to raise awareness about the magnified impact of COVID-19 on women, promote stories of women’s professional resilience, especially in technology entrepreneurship, and accelerate economic recovery.

The #empowHERaccess Inaugural Awards celebrates the achievements of 8 winners who facilitated economic access and recovery for women affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and recognizes the contributions to the cloud ecosystems made by both individuals and organizations. The awards are supported by corporate and private brands such as M12, IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, Boeing, Insight, Consulate of Canada and Meylah.

Winners were announced in a virtual awards ceremony on July 16, 2021 at the #WICxInspire 2021 event, hosted by TEDx speaker and entrepreneur Patti Dobrowolski, along with board advisor and M12 executive Catherine Mulachy.

Commendations for transformative industry achievements to increase access for women included the IBM Supplier of the Year Award, Accenture: Innovative Partnership of the Year Award, Microsoft Digital Transformation of the Year Award, M12: Outstanding Leadership Award and Insight Cloud Solution of the Year Award and Meylah Cloud Deal of the Year Award. Women in Cloud also honored two impactful community partners with the Advisor of the Year Award and Investor of the Year Award. The #empowHERaccess Award Ceremony, which took place on July 16th at the #WICxInspire event, awarded eight leaders who facilitated economic access and stable recovery to women in tech.

#empowHERaccess Inaugural Award Winners 2021:
1. IBM Supplier of the Year Award : Christine Puccio, F5 | VP, Global Cloud Alliances
2. M12 Outstanding Leadership Award : Sara Menker, Gro Intelligence | CEO & Founder
3. Microsoft Digital Transformation of the Year Award : Kathy Durfee, TechHouse | CEO & Founder
4. Accenture Innovative Partnership of The Year Award: Sonya Shorey, Invest Ottawa | Vice President, Strategy, Marketing and Communications
5. Insight: Cloud Solution Of the Year Award : Sheffie Robinson, Shamrck Education | CEO & Founder
6. WiC Advisor of the Year Award : Lisa Opoku, Goldman Sachs | Partner, Chief Operating Officer of Engineering
7. Meylah Cloud Deal of The Year Award : Karen Fassio, Microsoft | Director, WW Partner Marketing
8. WiC Investor of the Year Award : Sharon Vosmek, Astia | CEO

“The winners of the #empowHERaccess Awards understand that the roadmap to generating infinite economic access is driven by sustainable collective action. Our winners are thought leaders, innovators, and champions of change, and we are proud to be able to celebrate their achievements and work through these awards,” said Chaitra Vedullapalli, CEO and Co-Founder of Women in Cloud.

The #empowerHERaccess Awards will return in 2022, with nominations set to open in January 2022. To learn more about the award winners, please visit the winner page at https://www.womenincloud.com/empowheraccess-inaugural-award-categories/

About the #empowHERaccess Digital Campaign:
#empowHERaccess is an annual digital advocacy campaign by Women in Cloud to generate greater economic access for women in technology. Launched in 2020, the campaign has reached over 600,000 women all around the world. The 2021 #empowHERaccess campaign is bringing together a number of facets to better understand the global crisis this pandemic has created for women entrepreneurs, and celebrate the many stories of pivots and perseverance.

The #empowHERaccess Inaugural Awards recognize the contributions to the cloud ecosystems made by both individuals and organizations, supported by corporate brands such as M12, IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, Insight and Meylah.

For more information, visit: https://www.womenincloud.com/empowheraccess-campaign/

About Women In Cloud:
Women in Cloud (WiC) is a community-led economic development organization taking action to generate $1 billion in net new economic access for women entrepreneurs and technologists by 2030, through partnerships with corporations, community leaders and policy makers. We bring together the voices and insights of a diverse range of female luminaries from the worlds of business, technology, and politics for the betterment of women who are carving their path in technology and the Cloud. Join us, and make an impact for yourselves, for your colleagues, and for your community.

About M12:
M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund, invests in enterprise software companies primarily in the Series A through C funding stages with a focus on applied AI, business applications, infrastructure, security, and vanguard technologies. As part of its value-add to portfolio companies, M12 offers unique access to strategic go-to-market resources and relationships globally. M12 has offices in San Francisco, Seattle, London, Tel Aviv, and Bengaluru.

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