By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Tracey Carney, MD, Dublin Tech Summit. Picture Andres Poveda
The finalists for the Diversity in Tech Awards (DITA) have been announced as the event is set to go live this year. Organisers have confirmed a huge increase in entrants for this year’s awards as nominations flood in from across Ireland, Europe, the UAE and the United States
The finalists for the 2022 Diversity in Tech Awards have been announced today, with the event going live for the first time since its inception. Attracting entries from more than 170 companies across Ireland, Europe, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, the Diversity in Tech Awards are powered by Catalyst Media, with JP Morgan as the main event partner.
There will be limited tickets available for the event so register your interest here to attend. This year’s event will take place on September 21st at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin for the awards first in-person ceremony in 3 years. The 5th Diversity in Tech Awards is in association with Verizon, FTI , Fiserv, and Amazon Web Services.
The event originally ran as the Women in Tech Awards in 2018 and 2018 with the focus shifting to Diversity in Tech in 2020. Over the last three years, the event has grown into a programme celebrating all facets of diversity within the tech industry, includes 17 awards celebrating the industry’s achievements in this field. The ceremony as a virtual event for the last 2 years but upwards of 500 guests are expected to gather for the event in the RDS. The Diversity in Tech Awards shine a light on organisations striving to create a more diverse & inclusive workplace.
The Awards
The awards have been split into two categories: Diversity in Tech and Women in Tech to recognise the broad efforts being made by those in the industry. The Diversity in Tech categories include International Diversity Role Model, LGBTQ+ inclusion, disability inclusion, cultural inclusion and health and wellness. An overall International Company of the Year and Special Recognition Award are also included.
The Women in Tech categories include a focus on tech leadership, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, mentorship and data science. There will also be a special recognition award for women who have made their mark in innovation, named after groundbreaking US computer scientist Grace Hopper. Hopper was one of the first programmers to work on the Harvard Mark 1, the world’s first electromechanical computer.
Since their inception, the awards have been hugely significant in showcasing female role models within the industry, and encouraging young women to choose careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Irish computer scientist Sheree Atcheson received the award in 2021.
Announcing the finalists, Tracey Carney, Managing Director, Diversity in Tech Awards said:
“We are so excited to finally be able to bring the Diversity in Tech Awards to life as an in-person event. The calibre of entries this year was really exceptional and we look forward to gathering in the RDS for the awards ceremony on September 21st.”
JP Morgan
Speaking ahead of the awards ceremony, a spokesperson from JP Morgan said the company is delighted to be involved with the Diversity in Tech Awards:
“JP Morgan is a global leader in financial services, advising and funding corporations, governments and institutions in more than 100 countries, and serving consumers in the US and now also the UK. through our digital bank – Chase. Being an employer of choice for all is our goal, and we want everyone to feel welcome and able to contribute to the best of their ability as we make a difference for our clients.”
“Our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion initiatives are specifically designed to help underrepresented communities chart stronger paths towards high quality careers, economic success and empowerment. The work we do in communities is a fundamental part of how we operate and, as announced in early 2018, we will have deployed $1.75 billion in philanthropic capital around the world by 2023.”
There are a number of awards up for grabs and some of Ireland’s leading tech companies and personalities have been nominated for prizes.
You can see the full list of award categories and finalists below:
Diverse Company of the Year (Sponsored by Oracle):
ActiveCampaign (USA); Cognizant (Dublin); Equinix (Dublin); Fidelity Investments (Dublin); Tata Consultancy Services (Dublin); Verizon (Dublin)
Diversity Role Model Award(Sponsored by Verizon):
Matt McCann, Access Earth (Kildare); Carmel Owens, Comit (Dublin); Alina Timofeeva, Oliver Wyman (Dublin and UK); Kyran O’Mahoney, National Council for the Blind of Ireland (Dublin); Melissa Di Donato, SUSE (UK); Jennifer Cox, Tenable (Dublin)
LGBTQ+ Inclusion Award:
Accenture (Dublin); Diligent (US); EY (Dublin); Fiserv (Dublin); Oracle EMEA Ltd. (Dublin); Tata Consultancy Services (Dublin)
Social Impact Award (Sponsored by EPAM Systems):
Access Earth (Kildare); An Cosán (Dublin); Code Institute (Dublin); Google (Dublin); Hatch (UK); The B!G Idea (Carlow)
Disability Inclusion Award:
Access Earth (Kildare); BT Ireland (Dublin); Connect4Work (Galway); Fiserv (Dublin); Hable (UK); Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin)
Cultural Inclusion Award:
Brandwatch (UK); eBay (Dublin); Kinseed Ltd (UK); Oracle (Dublin); Permanent TSB (Dublin); Version 1 (UK)
Health and Wellness Award:
Axonista (Dublin); BT Ireland (Dublin); Experian (US and Dublin); Healthy Place to Work Ireland (Dublin); Spark (Dublin); Version 1 (UK)
Tech Leader Award (Sponsored by FTI Consulting):
Dr Mary Coghlan, EY (Dublin); Helen Nicholson, Expleo (Dublin); Anne Cullen, Fiserv (Dublin); Neelam Daulat, Fusion Consulting (Germany); Wendy Harris, Gong (Dublin); Dr. Yi Chu, Workhuman (Dublin)
Entrepreneur Awar (Sponsored by Fiserv):
Rebecca Kacaba, DealMarker (Canada); Jemma Simpson, Diverse Talent Careers (UK); Ellen Gunning, Mettacomms (Dublin); Yvonne Comer, Perfici Intelligence (Galway); Anastasia Negru, Margins Ai(Dublin); Ciara Garvan, Workjuggle (Dublin)
Trailblazer Award (Sponsored by Permanent TSB):
Rena Maycock, Cilter Technologies Ltd (Dublin); Jacqui Meskell, Huggnote (Dublin); Sumaiya Noor, Letus (Canada); Nitheen Kaperi Sanyal, Merck (Dublin); Joanna Haslam, Snap Finger Click (UK); Alessandra Sal, Women in AI (Dublin & France)
Rising Star Award (Sponsored by LEO Dublin):
Rena Maycock, Cilter Technologies Ltd (Dublin); Neha Dayyala, Expleo (Dublin); Adela Buliman, Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin); Sewagodimo Matlapeng, Meta (Dublin); Azrael A. von Prochazka, KPMG (Dublin); Alma Tarfa, Workhuman (Dublin)
Digital Transformation Award (Sponsored by Search Talent):
Marcelle Cussen, BT Ireland (Dublin); Berni Moore, Expleo (Dublin); Lynne Henderson, Irish Times (Dublin); Jessica Murphy, Mainstream Renewable Power (Dublin); Nitheen Kaperi Sanyal, Merck (Dublin); Erin Michelson, Summery (US)
Mentorship Award:
Abisola Bright, Fiserv (Dublin); Neha Rajesh, Google (Dublin); Tanya Flood, Jaguar Land Rover Ireland (Services) Ltd. (Dublin); Dorothy Creaven, Rent the Runway (Dublin & US); Alison Treacy, Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace (Dublin); Katrin Sturm, Scale & Shine (Dublin)
Young Female Stem Pioneer:
Reeva Khokhar, Aspiring Computer Science Major (US); Krisha Patel, Egg Harbor Township (US); Uditi Sharma, Elevate Tech (UAE); Riddhi Bhagwat, GenSpire (US); Tamara Kasikovic, Stock Track (US); Maeve Doyle, University College Dublin (Dublin)
Data Scientist Award:
Yen Phan, CodLad (Dublin); Caoimhe De Frein, Ding (Dublin); Melinda Han Williams, Dstillery (US); Aarthi Kumar, EY (Dublin); Ayesha Afzal, NHR@FAU (Erlangen National High Performance Computing Center) (Germany); Morgane Mahaud, Spark (Dublin)
