WASHINGTON, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — DCFemTech, the coalition of leaders aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for women in tech and increasing their career opportunities, today recognized 49 women and nonbinary individuals as 2019 DCFemTech Award recipients. These awards honor Washington’s top tech talent who are helping to build the area’s fastest-growing companies and most impactful nonprofit organizations. On June 17, the organization and its members will host a reception at The Hamilton Live to celebrate the recipients and nominees.

Nominations for outstanding women in code, design and data opened on March 6 at the organization’s annual Inspire event, an evening dedicated to encouraging women to share and celebrate accomplishments from the previous year. The organization received a record 704 nominations, representing a nearly 80 percent increase in nominations from two years prior.

“These incredible recipients and the hundreds of nominees represent a vibrant community of talented women in Washington, DC,” said DC Government CTO Lindsey Parker. “While DC is ahead of the curve with the community and resources available for women in technology, efforts like this will only continue to make DC a more welcoming and inclusive environment for future innovation.”

DCFemTech works to support organizations that enable women to build their skills and create communities while also encouraging companies to make it a priority to hire talented women coders, designers, data scientists and other tech leaders.

“Washington, DC continues to rank as the best city in the nation for women in technology and DCFemTech has played an instrumental role in fostering our inclusive tech ecosystem,” said Brian Kenner, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. “We applaud the work of individuals who are focused on ensuring our tech scene remains vibrant and competitive as this helps foster economic growth and attract the most innovative companies and top talent to DC.”

Nominations were downselected by a committee of 45 judges comprised of engineers, designers, data scientists, and executives for each category and this year’s recipients were chosen based on each individual’s impact on the organization they work for, the complexity of the issue they addressed, and their work with the community, or open source contributions. The final awardees ranked in the top 15 percent of their respective categories.

The 2019 recipients are:

CODE

• Eliza Aierstuck, Pivotal Labs
• Laura Beaufort, Federal Election Commission
• Stella Rose Biderman, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Rachel Brown, Capital One
• Linda Chiang, Appian
• Jennifer Doughty, Alarm.com
• Rae Gaines, Threespot
• Paula Gearon, Cisco
• Mary Griffus, Radiant Solutions
• Nara Kasbergen, NPR
• Jessica Kelly, Urban Institute
• Lindsey Kopacz , Barquin Solutions
• Audrey Kubetin, Mariana Tek
• Chloé Powell, Crowdskout
• Summer Rankin , Booz Allen Hamilton
• JC Remick, Social Tables
• Awalin Sopan, FireEye, Inc.
• Rekha Tenjarla, The Atlantic
• Meg Viar, Megaphone
• Zhuangfang NaNa Yi, Development Seed

DESIGN

• Abby Aker, The Washington Post
• Marie Claire Andrea, TEkSystems
• Kimberly Arias, Pew Research Center
• Ashleigh Axios, Automattic
• Radhika Bhatt, Fjord
• Nina Bianchi, Centers of Excellence – General Services Administration
• Clarice Chan, Presidential Innovation Fellow
• Liz Rose Chmela, Made x We
• Meag Doherty, U Group
• Lauryn Fantano, United States Digital Service
• Shavini Evendri Fernando, OxiWear
• Jessica Hall, 3Pillar Global
• Wilsar Johnson, US Senate
• Vanessa King, Fjord
• Ramla Mahmood, Vox Media
• Kate McCall-Kiley, US Census Bureau
• Kim Nguyen, Compass
• T. Annie Nguyen, United States Digital Service
• Xena Ni , Nava PBC

DATA

• Erica Blom, Urban Institute
• Rosie Cima, E W Scripps
• Madeleine Gleave, Nithio
• Jennifer Golbeck, University of Maryland College Park
• Minkyung Kang, Aquicore
• Sian Lewis, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Brianna McGowan, ItsHospitality
• Hope McIntyre, Storyblocks
• Kelly O’Briant, RStudio
• Anna Petrone, Mapbox

“In our fifth year of the DCFemTech Awards, we are fueled by the dozens of success stories we’ve heard from past recipients who accomplished impressive feats to earn their award and then moved their careers forward because of the recognition,” said Shana Glenzer, cofounder of DCFemTech. “We are overwhelmed by the number of talented women, trans, and nonbinary individuals nominated this year and thankful for their bosses, colleagues, and friends who thought to recognize their hard work.”

DCFemTech welcomes the community to join them in the celebration of 2019 DCFemTech Award recipients.

What: DCFemTech Awards Reception

When: June 17, 6:00 – 8:30 PM

Where: Hamilton Live; 600 14th Street, NW; Washington, DC 20005

RSVP: Registration link opens for the public next week. Follow @dcfemtech on Twitter for the latest.

Media can RSVP to Kelly Miller at KellyFMillerDC@gmail.com

The DCFemTech Awards are made possible through the generous support of our annual sponsors, The Washington DC Economic Partnership and Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Axios, Booz Allen Hamilton; gold sponsors, GitHub, Research Innovations, The Washington Post; and able sponsors, Alarm.com, Arcadia Power, Axios, Booz Allen Hamilton, Compass, Morning Consult, Stites & Harbison, Cvent / SocialTables, Wingate Hughes. The awards are organized by the dedicated DCFemTech Leadership Team comprised of Shannon Turner, Ally Palanzi, Zuri Hunter, and Anika Gupta with cofounder Shana Glenzer.

About DCFemTech

DCFemTech is a coalition of women leaders aimed at amplifying the efforts of women in tech organizations, sharing resources, and bringing leaders together to close the gender gap. Members are affiliated with organizations with women attendance that is 50% or higher, who have a focus on technology and who have a primary focus in the mission statement about gender or women.

DCFemTech also shares a list of resources for women seeking places to learn specific skills (development, design, networking, etc.). For up-to-date information follow @DCFemTech on Twitter.

SOURCE DCFemTech