MCWT Names Julie Spiller its 2022 ‘Woman of the Year in Technology’

SOUTHFIELD, May 11, 2022 – The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation named Julie Spiller its “Woman of the Year in Technology.” Spiller is senior vice president at Ascend Technologies.

The annual MCWT award recognizes women in Michigan leading or driving change for other women in technology careers or fields of study. MCWT Foundation President and Senior Director of Industry Solutions and Strategy, Automotive for Salesforce, Rajani Sinha presented the honor at the nonprofit’s 9th annual Executive Connection Summit on May 5 at the Suburban Showplace in Novi. The hybrid event, sponsored by Stellantis, Ford Motor Company and General Motors, enabled opportunities for more than 400 participants to connect, learn and engage with leaders in the technology community.  

“Julie’s pay-it-forward actions are a reflection of our mission in action – consistently inspiring and growing women in tech,” said Chris Rydzewski, MCWT Executive Director. “She leads by example as a longtime volunteer of MCWT and contributor to other like-minded industry groups. She continually uses her skills to empower others to pursue fulfilling tech careers where they can make a positive impact.” 

In her role at Ascend Technologies, Spiller is responsible for revenue growth and client satisfaction of the Ascend portfolio including Cloud, Infrastructure, Service Desk, and Cybersecurity. She is also the managing director of the Women’s Security Alliance, responsible for assisting with strategy and community engagement. She is also founder and Steering Committee member of the Michigan Women’s Leadership Network, bringing together female leaders in Michigan to provide career advancement support and professional development. She has launched other initiatives to help women in tech, has been a supporter of MCWT for many years, is a natural mentor, and regularly makes introductions for women to help their careers.   

“My attitude toward life is to help others in any way I can,” said Spiller. “It has always come back to me tenfold. Being a woman leader in the tech industry has provided me with countless ways to help other women.” 

The following women were nominated and recognized for their significant contributions: 

– Jillian Blackwell, Sr. Business Development Manager, Well-Architected, Amazon Web Services 

– Megan Crespi, Executive Vice President, Chief Enterprise Technology and Operations Services Officer, Comerica Bank 

– Keli Christopher, Founder and Executive Director, STEM Greenhouse 

– Kimberly (Kim) Gordon, Senior Vice President, Information Services Applications, Spectrum Health, West Michigan 

– Katie Horvath, Chief Marketing Officer, Aunalytic 

– Bridget Kravchenko, Chief Information Security Officer, Meritor 

– Stacy Lynett, Vice President – (DBT) Digital Business Team Technology, General Motors 

– Rebecca (Beckie) Riss, Principal Enterprise Architect and DevSecOps Lead, Ford Motor Company 

– Sara Schmidt, Chief Information Security Officer, Farmers Insurance  

– Nicole Scheffler, Solutions Director, Palo Alto Networks 

– Jane Sydlowski, Owner and CEO, AMI Strategies 

– Sucheta Walimbe, Director Infrastructure, Enterprise Technology and Operations, Ford Motor Company 

With the theme of “Reboot. Refresh. Reach.,” the Executive Connection Summit featured a variety of speakers highlighting their experiences during this era of change. Sinha kicked off the event with opening remarks on the “Why” of MCWT. She addressed gender parity for women in tech and challenged all attendees to Partner for Parity. 

“We need to partner for parity. Parity in tech opportunities offered to women, parity for equal representation, for an equal voice, and for equal pay”, said Sinha. “It is a well-known fact that companies with gender equality outperform their peers and make better and more inclusive decisions. Partnering allows us to pool our resources and bring in our unique capabilities to solve this complex problem of gender inequality in the technology sector. Michigan Council of Women in Technology provides a platform to help amplify our voice to make our state No. 1 for women in technology to thrive.” 

MCWT Host sponsors for the event were Stellantis, Ford Motor Company and General Motors.  In addition to the host sponsors who have supported the event over the last nine years, the 2022 Event sponsors included: CDW, Checkpoint, Devo, Donyati, Epitec, EY, Fasttek Global, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HTC Global Services, Informatica, Intel, Netskope, Nexthink, NTT, OST, Perficient, Slalom, Snowflake, STG, Stratascale, Tanium, Thirdware, V2Soft, Wipro, WIZ and ZScaler.  

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation supports Michigan’s female IT workforce, students, corporate partners, schools, and the overall community with programming, scholarships, networking, learning, mentoring, and technology experiences. This year, the Foundation is celebrating its 20th anniversary – 20 years of Impact. What began in 2000 as a career-focused group for women in the tech field, has since evolved into a multi-faceted philanthropic organization committed to engaging current and future technology leaders. 

Find more information at www.mcwt.org and connect via LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. 

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