Ad

engineers across the organization. After graduating as one of the best physics students from the University of Lagos in 2007, one of her first jobs was as an applications and software engineer with Huawei Technologies in Nigeria, where she worked for more than three years. In 2011, she moved to the UK to complete a master’s degree in Edinburgh and took up an appointment as a computer scientist with a geoscience research center. Later she completed another master’s in software engineering at Seattle University and joined Zulily in 2019.

BRIGETTE BLAIR is a mission assurance manager in the enterprise services mission excellence team at Northrop Grumman. The mission team is focused on continuous improvement that enhances the employee experience. Blair manages the delivery of operating objectives tied to sector and corporate strategic goals. Under her leadership, the enterprise services organization accomplished the growth of a lean agile culture and delivered new capabilities for service quality assessment and employee self-service. She sets expectations while leading by example. She has been chair of the Enterprise Services African American Task Group since 2019. Her certifications include a Six Sigma Black Belt & Green Belt.

After service in the U.S. Navy, KIMBERLY E. SCOTT joined Otis in 2010. She has led efforts in service operations providing direction and oversight to five service regional field operation managers and 100 service managers. She has worked to improve operational efficiency while improving service delivery to customers. Her efforts have enabled the region to grow its service base and revenue. Recently, she worked on adding a new OHSA requirement to the company maintenance delivery systems. In addition, she leads the Women in Field Operations employee resource group, where she advocates and mentors women with few examples.

JADE FRANKS is an associate producer at QVC. During her career in television production, Franks has been instrumental in changing how traditional broadcast brings vendors and their products to life. She has worked with on-air guests to hone the use of Skype rather than in-studio appearances. Because of Franks’s leadership in testing, tweaking, and training with countless guests, on-air presentations have looked and felt as complete as they did before the pandemic. Franks has juggled this work while leading a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. She has also used her voice as a member of the Multi-Cultural Marketing task force.

SARA EL-KHATIB has been part of the Seagate community since she worked as an intern in 2015. After graduating from Colorado State University (CSU) with a degree in computer science, she joined Seagate’s research group. As part of that team, she contributed to improving test platforms for next-generation drive and object storage technologies. She has focused on mentorship, inclusive organizations, and underrepresented groups throughout her career. At CSU, she founded a chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, which continues to thrive. In 2021 she established the Longmont Colorado chapter of the Seagate Professionals of Color.

LINDA CASTANEDA has decades of experience in automotive engineering and manufacturing, spanning the vehicle development process. She has a U.S. patent for a tool retaining a spare cover, granted in 2002. She was also awarded the 1998 SPE award for the most innovative plastics used for the Grand Cherokee spare tire cover. Currently, she is a planning manager for the RAM ProMaster battery electric vehicle project at Stellantis. In this role, she manages product development activities, crossfunctional alignment, risk management, and mitigation. Her ability to build strong relationships enables her success in these roles.

WOMEN OF COLOR MAGAZINE’S

Annual 50 Women To Watch Awards

Recognize Success

A volunteer coach for no less than 19 sports, LYDIA CARTER is also a software engineer at Textron Aviation, home to the iconic Cessna and Beechcraft brands. Carter and her team support simulation for aircraft, including the Cessna Sky Courier. They ensure that each device receives proper hardware and software integration, implement pilot and customer feedback, and assist with the certification of devices. As a result, Carter has been part of the successful certification and delivery of ten instruments. This demonstrates that she is shaping the tools and technology to transform how pilots and aviation enthusiasts train for decades.

ANSHU SAXENA ARORA is an associate professor of marketing in the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). In July 2019, Arora received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for establishing the Logistics & International Trade (LIT) Analytics Center of Excellence and developing a STEM-business-focused LIT concentration program at UDC. In addition, she serves as senior marketing editor for the International Journal of Emerging Markets. Arora was the editor for two 2020 issues on Global Value Chains, International Trade, and Markets: The Role of Emerging Economies, and Value Chain Innovations in Digital, Social Media, and Mobile Commerce.

After commissioning through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at

Texas State University, MARISA

TRAINOR entered the U.S. Air Force as a first lieutenant in 2019. Trainor is a mission element lead for the 800 cyber protection team at the 834th Cyberspace Operations Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio. The 834th is charged with assuring the U.S. European Command’s mission to provide support to NATO and allied nations and the U.S. Strategic Command’s mission to deter and detect attacks. Trainor leads a cyber-incident response team to defend strategic networks for multidomain projection. Trainor deployed to Korea in 2022.

ERIN CUMBO joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2019. She has been a project manager in the civil works branch of the programs and project management division in the Little Rock District for three years. During this time, she has worked on numerous projects, including the Beaver Lake land acquisition study and the dredging maintenance program for a river navigation system. Before 2019, Cumbo worked at an architectural firm. She earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Howard University and has worked on historic preservation, residential and commercial construction, theater, and film set design.

AFRACHANNA BUTLER is a physical research scientist. A few months after graduation from Jackson State University, she was hired by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) laboratory in Vicksburg,

MS. Like many biology graduates, Butler chose to study for postgrad qualifications to increase her expertise. She was sure she wanted a career as a research scientist, but she earned a master’s degree in biology in 2002 from Jackson State and worked part-time on a Ph.D. in environmental science, which she earned in 2009. Since then, Butler has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and delivered platform and poster presentations at numerous professional meetings. Her research areas include transporting heavy metals such as lead in soil and using plants to sustainably manage contaminated soils, sediments, and surface and ground waters.

PATRICIA JOHNSON served for more than 15 years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. She has worked in the telecommunications/information technology field for over two decades and held federal civilian jobs in the Defense Department and Homeland Security. Currently, she is an information technology (IT) specialist in the enterprise services group of the Fort Huachuca engineering directorate of the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command. Because of her early challenges as a woman of color in the male-dominated construction workforce, she has consistently advocated for minorities to get training for job opportunities in the field.

SHANDA ROBINSON is an Army financial management practitioner and Acquisition Corps member. Currently, she is a supervisory program analyst at the U.S. Army Space Missile Defense Command technical center in Redstone, AL. Her financial management oversight has received a commendation, including a fiscal year closeout of approximately $700 million in mission requirements and the U.S. Army Audit—Science and Technology Audit. In addition, her proactive leadership has allowed the technical center’s financial management team to excel in every area. As a result, it will impact the nation’s science and technology endeavors and space and missile defense capabilities.

SHANEKA LAWSON is a research plant physiologist at the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center in the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is an exemplary model for bridge-building between governmental, agricultural, professional, and ethnic cultures that often fail to connect. She led a program for undergraduate students at Purdue University to introduce aquatic science, forestry, ecology, herpetology, wildlife science, and other natural resources disciplines. She also collaborated to teach at a two-week summer camp. The students participated virtually and were introduced to the careers associated with forestry, fisheries, wildlife, natural resources management, and policy.

APRIL SMITH is among the few Black analysts at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Smith’s responsibilities to ensure safe nuclear operations require a high level of expertise in nuclear plant operations, reliability, probabilistic risk assessment, and human reliability analysis. A recent example of her contributions involved her review of a facility to process medical isotopes, ultimately used for diagnosing diseases through medical imaging. She also provided expertise to issue a nuclear operations license for uranium hexafluoride conversion. With this facility, the U.S. could provide a good source of enriched uranium to fuel U.S. commercial nuclear power plants.

TYRA HARRISON is a systems engineer in the open systems security engineering team at Walmart Inc. She earned a bachelor’s degree in computer technology from Bowie State University and joined Walmart Information Security. She has also served as a cryptographic appliances and systems engineering team member. Over the past two years, she has been certified as a Venafi security administrator. She has also received the CompTIA Security+ and GIAC information security certifications. She was nominated to receive the award for her passion for learning technology that helps solve complex business problems, mentoring, coaching, research, and certifications for self-improvement.

TAMI HUDSON is a cybersecurity client officer at Wells Fargo. She spearheads the bank’s client and consumer cyber organization while interfacing with CEO and CIO leaders across lines of business, as well as individual and corporate clients. She is a changemaker in cyber security and has been a featured speaker at the Wall Street Journal Cybersecurity Conference and the NASDAQ Cybersecurity Summit. She participates in several cross-sector organizations across the financial services industry, including the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council. In addition, Hudson is an active mentor and program advocate with Girls Who Code. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, WATCH THE 2022 WOC RECOGNITION EVENT HERE: https://l.ead.me/bctcIh