WOMENTOWATCH 50

BY LANGO DEEN

Women of Color magazine’s annual 50 WOMEN TO WATCH awards recognize success and achievement in technology, telecommunications, finance, energy, industry, healthcare, utilities, and more. This prestigious list showcases the trailblazing careers of diverse women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers nominated for recognition by major employers in the U.S. Their biographies not only celebrate their achievements but also offer a glimpse into some of the workforce challenges these winners have overcome.

KRISTIN BROWN is a senior Lake County site operations director at Abbott Laboratories. She has held leadership roles in engineering, supply chain, and project management. Currently, she leads a team of technical professionals dedicated to providing best-in-class service. She has also been active in employee resource groups, including Women Leaders of Abbott. Recently, she co-led mentoring circles, represented corporate engineering on the Engineering Executive Council, and led the Engineering Development Program. Externally, she promotes STEM opportunities by developing a pilot skilled trades apprenticeship via the College of Lake County.

ARMINDA PALACIO began her career in 1987 as a payroll clerk for a construction company in Phoenix, AZ. She worked for several companies before being hired by Actalent in 2016 as an engineering project controls analyst. Her ability to troubleshoot complications inherent in keeping an engineering office running has made her an invaluable asset. In addition, she cares for those who are less fortunate. Every year, she teams up with friends to make quilts. They work six hours a day for four days and then donate the quilts to Quilts of Valor and Project Linus for Abused Children.

KAREN SHARP is a systems engineer and cyber security expert at Aerospace Corporation. She has used technology in novel ways to improve the work of her customers and community while also boosting the understanding of technology’s potential to improve access to services, resources, and information. Before joining Aerospace in 2008 as an engineering specialist, she worked for Boeing and Raytheon, among others, as a contractor to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sharp earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Tennessee State University and a master’s degree in mathematics with an emphasis in computer science from Ohio State University.

CAMILLE WILLIAMS is an application engineer at Ansys. She has served in this position since May 2021. Her job involves providing customer technical support, helping customers get started with proprietary software, and introducing them to training manuals. In addition, Williams has worked on many projects utilizing Ansys products to showcase and sell to customers. Williams started her career as an intern with Quicken Loans, where she built code solutions and created templates for code production for IT teams. She earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering at Wayne State University and a master’s degree in computer software engineering from the University of Michigan.

ISABEL MORENO is an AT&T lead sales engineer. She specializes in networking technologies and is responsible for supporting AT&T sales through the Alliance & A.C.C. partner channel. Moreno assists partners by informing them about AT&T products and services with solution designs to meet customer requirements. Moreno and her family came to Southern California when she was 5. She is proud that she was the first in her family to graduate from college. Moreno is an example of a woman of color who has utilized STEM to improve her life, community, and the world.

A first-generation American and the first to go to college, CARLA

PRIETO had a vital role in the earned value management system (EVMS) recertification at Bell. As she progressed, Prieto later took on more responsibilities in program finance, becoming the first woman of color leader in EVMS at Bell. Currently, she serves as a senior manager for business operations on the Bell 360 Invictus program, which is Bell’s offering for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. EVM is one of the critical systems monitored by the Defense Contract Management Agency to measure the scope, cost, and schedule of program/project performance.

MYLENE NOVELO is a senior business operations manager at Boeing Global Services (BGS). She leads a team of business integrators described as “the glue” for many BGS organizations. Novelo is also passionate about mentoring and coaching employees. In addition, she makes time to participate in Boeing Society of Women Engineers intern interviews. Novelo also actively supports humanitarian efforts. Through her church, she volunteers for park cleanups and planting, delivering meals to vulnerable people affected by a hurricane, and coordinating blood banks. While offramped to raise her family, she worked as a mortgage loan officer and sold Avon products.

STEPHANIE JENKINS is a chief technologist at Booz Allen Hamilton. She has led some of the firm’s most complex software development projects. She is highly respected as a role model in a community that includes software developers, cloud architects, testers, and data scientists. She is also actively involved in Booz Allen’s recruiting and hiring efforts and is engaged with minority-serving institutions, such as historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), where she mentors STEM-focused students. In addition, she has supported scholarship fundraising events as a member of Delta Sigma Theta and South Carolina State University alum organizations.

CAMILLE CARTER was hired as a systems administrator at the CACI Shared Services Center in 2017. By the fall of 2020, she was promoted to network engineer. Her contributions are crucial to the ongoing success of technology resources, such as a web utility for changing passwords and performing two-factor authentication. In addition, she is part of the team rolling out software-defined access identity, authentication, and wide area network fabric. Carter is also part of a group that helps rescue children from trafficking and exploitation. She is close to completing a bachelor’s degree in cyber security from Bellevue University.

RICHA VERMA is a senior lead engineer in power and controls at Collins Aerospace. She has worked in the industry for 7-plus years. Before that, she spent five years in the automotive industry. After graduating from college, she started her career working on designing and developing hardware multimedia for Ford vehicles. At Collins, she has worked on bus power control unit designs. She also developed an automation tool with the help of her team that has the potential to be used across multiple departments. In addition, Verma led the Buddy Program for Maternity as part of W3, which received good feedback.

NYDIA POMBO is head of controlling, architecture, and networking for North America at Continental Automotive North America. She is a financial executive with a record of success in leading organizations to profitability by spearheading strategic initiatives. She continually analyzes existing processes, identifies opportunities for improvement, and implements innovations that boost efficiency while capturing cost savings. In addition, she is recognized for cultivating collaborative and inclusive working environments that align cross-functional and cross-cultural team members around common goals. Pombo earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida Atlantic University and an M.B.A. from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

VANESSA ROSS is a lead programmer for Cornerstone

Consolidated Services Group. The catalog company specializes in warehousing, logistics, and distribution for several brands, including Frontgate, Ballard, GarnetHill, and HSN. Ross began her career coding for a library catalog system. At Cintas Corporation, she was responsible for developing the company’s financial/accounting and human resources systems. At Cornerstone, she has been a critical player in developing and implementing a change management system for the IT group, upgrading the warehouse management system, and moving inventory from Roanoke, VA, to West Chester, PA. She has also branched out to mentor teammates.

LINGYAN WANG holds 10 U.S. patents and several international patents. In addition, she has produced 52 publications with over 6,000 citations. Her interest in nanostructured materials led to ceramics research. After joining Corning Inc., she designed a magnetic nanoparticle for biological separation, which launched as a product for the cleanup required to remove mineral oil, dyes, salts, and other impurities from DNA samples. While working on research projects, she often joins volunteers at the Corning Museum of Glass. In addition, she supports summer science fairs for high school students and college interns at Corning and serves in the Corning Technology Women’s Network.

TARA TRAVIS earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in 2005. Since 2016, she has served as Cummins’s fuel system integration manager. She manages the development of product fuel system components in the U.S., United Kingdom, India, and China. In 2017, she was one of three women selected to participate in the executive leadership program at Smith College. She was also awarded the Rodica Baranescu Award for Technical Leadership Excellence during the 2017 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Conference. At the 2019 Cummins Women on Technology Convention, she spoke on the importance of inclusion.

Grace Hopper conference. She is also a Silver-tier facilitator of a Google initiative empowering women and other underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond. In addition, Carvalho has mentored several new Ford employees hired after their college graduation.

DEBRA BOSTON is a General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) senior data analyst. She has spent more than 20 years in health analytics and data management. She also has direct experience with Medicare health plan management systems, Medicare. gov systems, and Medicare claims data analysis. She has been recognized for enhancing federal system applications and extracting Medicare datasets to automate business processes. In addition, she has supported the maintenance of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services surveillance, epidemiology, and results database. Her contributions helped modify over 250 COBOL programs for more timely transactions and greater transparency.

RUNJUN GANDHI is now a supervisor in the industrial engineering group at General Motors. During her GM career, she has worked with teams to launch products in North American plants. She also developed a project management tool to track every launch’s progress. An average project file can have over 7,000 lines to follow a product’s design, build, installation, and production ramp-up. Gandhi was also recognized for her leadership in GM’s COVID-19 mask-making. Near the project’s end, 75 people in three separate shifts made over 106,000 masks per day.

ASHA CARVALHO is a senior technical product manager at the Ford Motor Company. She leads a global team to deliver cycle planning and resource management products critical for the planning and execution of vehicle production. Carvalho is Ford’s lead IT recruiter at the Society of Women Engineers conference and co-leads IT recruiting at the annual

MELINDA HINES is a strategic engagement manager and role model at World Wide Technology (WWT). She currently manages a team of 30-40 consultants. She began her career as an administrative assistant, directing calls for a group of staffing specialists, one director, and a senior vice president. She quickly moved up the ladder and served as an on-site specialist and sourcing consultant for a primary corporate account. She spent more than eight years at a provider of contract workers and other personnel services before working as a contractor for Sony PlayStation, Cisco Systems, VISA, and LinkedIn. She joined WWT in 2015. and members of the executive team and CFO staff, Marruffo’s role as head of global corporate financial planning and analysis spans corporate banking, wealth management, treasury, forecast planning, and analytics, with a focus in debt capital markets, capital allocation, cash and liquidity planning, counterparty risk management, bank relationships, mergers and acquisitions, and people management. She holds a business administration degree from Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela, and is a chartered financial analyst.

TERESA CHAVEZ is a purchasing specialist at Gulfstream Mexicali in Mexico. Over the past four years, she has worked on critical projects. Most recently, she coordinated the procurement and delivery of capital expenses for a Cuyamaca building. Her leadership was instrumental in the successful delivery of all equipment selected. Other projects include indirect procurement for all capital expenditures and memorandum of agreement contracts. In addition, Chavez has delivered goods or services on time with her team’s support. Her focus on results has enabled her to handle the responsibility for several million accounts receivable and hundreds of purchase orders.

QUN “MAXINE” LIU joined Health Catalyst in 2019 and served as senior vice president of the partner program and M&A integration. She has over 13 years of strategy experience in healthcare technology. Early in her career, she developed a medical imaging application described as an Instagram for radiologists. As a business leader, she manages a team of project and program managers and innovation engineers. She collaborates with the acquired company, the M&A team, growth leadership, and product and operation leadership. In addition, she mentors other scientists and has been recognized by the Women Tech Council with a 2020 Strategic Innovator Award.

PATIENCE LOWERY is a program manager within HII, the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States. At HII, she has held the roles of business operations manager, human resources manager, and program director. She has also led organizational changes while fostering growth in nonprofit programs by 300 percent. She sorted through business management challenges in a role that saw her empower her team’s professional development as she grew revenue from $3 million annually to ~$315 million over five years. Lowery earned a project management professional (PMP) certificate from the Project Management Institute in 2018.

As vice president of worldwide financial planning and analysis, OLGA MARRUFFO has one of the most critical roles in HP finance. Working with the CEO, chief financial officer,

MINGMING CAO is a senior software developer and engineer at the IBM Linux Technology Center. She grew up in a family of educators in China. Some of her favorite middle school memories are of the mainframe computers used in her school. Today, her accomplishments include software contributions to the Linux Ext3 file system and driving automation for IBM Power Systems and IBM cloud. As head coach of a high school team since 2019, she has taught Linux cyber security, Windows security, and networking security. In addition, her team successfully implemented the cyber program created by the United States Air Force Association.

STEPHANIE GEERHEARD has served as an Infosys portfolio release