Women of Color STEM Conference Announces 2022 List of Award Recipients

BALTIMORE - EntSun -- The 2022 Women of Color (WOC) STEM Digital Twin Experience (DTX) will be held October 6-8, 2022. Over the three-day event, the Conference will provide forums on retaining women and girls in STEM, continuous improvement, and networking. This year's theme is "The Struggle, the Progress, and the Future."

Since 1995, awards presented at the Women of Color STEM Conference have honored excellence in STEM and underscored the severe under-representation of women in STEM and at senior levels in all disciplines. For nearly three decades, employers committed to inclusion have chosen the Women of Color STEM Conference to exchange best practices and strategies to attract and keep girls and women in scientific and technical fields. This year's co-sponsor is Raytheon Technologies, with additional sponsorship from Jacobs Engineering.

The event has highlighted the continuing challenges that bias, discrimination, and harassment pose to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. That's why the 2022 conference theme is a call to action while reflecting the development and progress to achieve universal workplace gender equality.

In addition to a series of events for attendees to gather, learn, and grow together, the conference hosts an awards ceremony to honor women from a myriad of backgrounds who have overcome obstacles, paved new ways towards success, and have spent time mentoring and nurturing the next generation of STEM leaders. Awards presented at WOC honor excellence and underscore the under-representation of women in all STEM disciplines. Here are the awardees for this year's Women of Color STEM DTX Conference.

The 2022 Women of Color STEM Award Recipients

Technologist of the Year
Valerie Sheares Ashby, Ph.D.
President
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Career Achievement – Government
Andra Homer
Chief, Resource Management
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District

Phi-Anh "Ann" Lutz
Systems Security Engineer
U.S. Air Force

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Donna Merriman
Deputy Commander
Defense Contract Management Agency

Career Achievement – Industry
Sharon Jean-Baptiste
Vice President, Midwest Operations
Jacobs

Sadiqa Mahmood
Senior Vice President and General Manager, Life Sciences Business
Health Catalyst

D Sangeeta
CEO and Founder
Gotara

Community Service
Karriema Calhoun
Manager, Indirect Supply Chain
The Boeing Company

Cesanee Johnson
Program Manager and Business Operations Lead
Raytheon Technologies

Adrienne M. Somerville
CEO
Talent & Technical Solutions Corporation

Corporate Responsibility
Bernice Billups
Director, Boeing Global Engagement
The Boeing Company

Judy Johnson
Vice President
Jacobs

Diversity Leadership
Ruthie Barnes
Branch Chief/Program Manager
United States Air Force Materiel Command, BOMC Development Support Branch

Denise LaMaison-Bell
Senior Program Coordinator
Jacobs

Educational Leadership – Corporate Promotion of Education
Molly Mo
Global Engineering Learning & Development Manager
Ford Motor Company

Briana Pompilus
Executive Advisor, Project Manager of Operations for Global Digital Center of Excellence
Jacobs

FinTech Leadership
Josnelly Aponte
Director
Consumers Energy

JeanMarie LeiAnuenue Priola
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Modernization, Automation and Development (IMAD) Portfolio Manager
HQ ACC A2
U.S. Air Force

GEM Student Leadership
Samantha Mendez
Research Assistant (PhD Student)
The Ohio State University

Lifetime Achievement Award
Amanda Goodson, Ph.D.
Senior Director
Engineering and Mission Assurance, Raytheon Intelligence & Space

Managerial Leadership – Government
Jennifer Mills, Ph.D.
Supervisory Computer Engineer
(CECOM) – U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command

Managerial Leadership – Industry
Jilma Jimenez
Vice President
Jacobs

Hue Robinson
Microchip Implementation Program Manager
Ford Motor Company

Chrissy Thom
Senior Vice President, Global Growth, Strategy & Solutions
Jacobs

New Media/IT Leadership
Petronella Chola Sims
Vice President, Enterprise Technology
ICF

Ebony Rose Smith
Cybersecurity Technical Program Manager
Walmart Inc.

Outstanding Technical Contribution
Tamara Goyea, Ph.D.
Section Supervisor
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Ruchi Mahindru
Senior Technical Staff Member

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IBM Research

President's Award
LaTara Harris
Director External Affairs
AT&T

Professional Achievement – Government
Vanessa Espinoza
Deputy Fire Chief, Hill AFB, UT
United States Air Force Materiel Command, 775th Civil Engineering Squadron/Fire Department

Shawanta Leary
Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Group Plans
90th Security Forces Group
United States Air Force

Seana McNeal
Senior General Engineer, Aerospace Systems Directorate
United States Air Force Materiel Command

Professional Achievement – Industry
Joy Johnson
Senior Financial Control Analyst
The Boeing Company

Da'Shaun Joseph
Portfolio Manager/Program Manager

Student Leadership – Undergraduate Level
Cierra Williams
Target Digital Network Analyst
National Security Agency Georgia

Technical Innovation
Carissa Pajel
MP&P Engineer (Chemical Technology)
The Boeing Company

Hui-ping Wang, Ph.D.
Technical Fellow
General Motors LLC

Special Recognition
Angela Butler
Capture Director
GDIT

Aida Gonzalez-Lopez
Director, International Programs Products Division
Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division

Candace Kenner
Manager, Talent Acquisition
Huntington Ingalls Industries

Ashley McQueen
Business Manager for the NASA SBIR/STTR Program Management Office
NASA Ames Research Center

Mai-Chi Nguyen
Engineering Specialist
Bell

Vernessa Noye
Computer Scientist
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center

Agnes Ortega
DVP Global Compliance and Quality Operations
Abbott

Tuyet-Hanh Schnell
Lead Member Engineering Staff
Lockheed Martin

Antoinette Ward
Networking Performance & Reliability Engineer
Leidos

Whitni Wilson Wertz
Associate Director, High Rise Group, High Rise Contract Logistics Center (HRCLC)
Otis Elevator

About The Women of Color STEM Conference

The Women of Color STEM Conference is produced by Career Communications Group, Inc. (CCG), the leader in workforce diversity, working with all types of companies to help support them in promoting multiculturalism and gender equity in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). For 27 years, the Women of Color STEM Conference has been a leading event for professional development, networking, and providing a resource for women to feel empowered. For more information about the 2022 Women of Color STEM DTX Conference, visit www.womenofcolor.net. Registration is now open