• March 7, 2024
  • English – In-person event

Extraordinary
Women in Tech
Canada

International Women's
Day Celebration

You're Invited!

Join Us for the Extraordinary Women in Tech (EWiT) Event!

Empower. Connect. Innovate.

Join us for the Extraordinary Women in Tech (EWiT) event, co-hosted by Avenue Code and BLG  on March 7th, 2024 at the BLG office. Get inspired by a captivating keynote, gain insights from a diverse panel, dive into skill-building workshops, celebrate awardees at the ceremony, and connect with fellow leaders in tech at the networking happy hour. This power-packed day empowers, connects, and innovates!

Register now and be part of the #EWiT movement!

Register Now!

An event by

Agen

da

  • 1:00 p.m
  • 2:00 p.m
Welcome & Registration
  • 2:00 p.m
  • 2:15 p.m

Opening

  • 2:15 p.m
  • 2:45 p.m
Keynote | Tech Trends and Leadership: A Woman’s Perspective
  • 2:45 p.m
  • 3:20 p.m
Panel | Shaping the Future: Women Leaders Driving Innovation
  • 3:35 p.m
  • 4:05 p.m
Workshop | Change your Brain, Change your Results by Jill Hewlett
  • 4:05 p.m
  • 4:35 p.m
Breakout | EWiT in Action
  • 4:45 p.m
  • 5:30 p.m
EWiT Recognitions
  • 5:30 p.m
  • 7:00 p.m
Happy Hour & Networking
Application Closed

Make your nomination to the EWiT Recognitions Ceremony

Nominate Now!

Speakers

Kerry Joel

Global VP, Digital Solution and AI Transformation
Avenue Code

EWiT Host
Image Uma Gopinath

Uma Gopinath

Chief Information Officer
Metrolinx

Keynote Speaker
Image Dominique Simoneau

Dominique Simoneau-Ritchie

CTO
Affinity

Panelist
Image Michon Williams

Michon Williams

CTO
Walmart Canada

Panelist
Image Monique Allen

Monique Allen

SVP & CIO, Canadian Technology and Enterprise Architecture
SunLife

Panelist
Image Teena Thampan

Teena Thampan

VP of Analytics and Automation
Brookfield Asset Management

Panelist
Image Julie Bogle

Julie Bogle

Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Moderator
Image Jill Hewlett

Jill Hewlett

Founder & Mentor, Women’s Wellness Circles
Brain Fitness Expert & Wellness Authority

Workshop Speaker

Please fill out the following details to apply for attending the in-person event in Toronto.

Your application will be reviewed by our team, and approval will be granted accordingly.

Location

BLG Office Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower 22 Adelaide Street West | Suite 3400 Toronto, ON, Canada M5H 4E3

Get Directions
By attending our events, you consent to the potential use of images featuring you in post-event publications, both online and offline. If you have concerns about your image being used, please contact us, and we will promptly remove it upon your request. Your privacy matters to us, and we respect your preferences.
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An initiative:
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Hepsi Premkumar

Vice President of Strategy and Operations
Cisco

Hepsi Premkumar is the Vice President of Strategy and Operations and Chief of Staff to the General Manager of Cisco AppDynamics and Full-Stack Observability. In her role, she is responsible for navigating and driving transformative and business-critical initiatives for the organization. Hepsi manages strategy, technical program management, data insights, business operations, university hiring and talent training, and internal and executive communications teams. Hepsi has been with Cisco for 15 years and was most recently the Senior Director of Cisco Cloud Networking Technical Program Management and Operations. She also serves as the Chair of Howard University’s Computer Science and Engineering Industry Advisory Board, representing Cisco.

Panel # 1

Topic

Breaking Through: The Journey from Within

Description

This panel discussion will offer valuable insights into the personal journeys of successful tech industry leaders, their strategies for self-confidence and resilience, approaches to embracing change, promoting diversity and inclusivity, and balancing innovation with stability in an ever-evolving industry, serving as a timeless source of practical advice for aspiring professionals in the tech sector.
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Rama Akkiraju

VP, Enterprise AI & Automation
NVIDIA

Rama Akkiraju has 20+ years of leadership experience at IBM as an IBM Fellow and Master Inventor. Formerly CTO of IBM Watson AI Operations, Rama developed AI services such as Personality Insights, Tone Analyzer, Emotion Analysis, and Sentiment Analysis. She holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA from New York University.

Rama has co-authored 100+ technical papers, holds 50+ issued patents and 25+ pending, and has received multiple awards, including being named one of Forbes ‘Top 20 Women in AI Research’ in 2017. In 2022, Rama was named ‘USA Industry Innovator of the Year 2022’ by Women in AI and ‘AI Industry Leader of the Year 2022’ by Women Leaders in Data & AI (WLDA).

Panel # 2

Topic

Empowering Journeys: The Path to Tech Executives

Description

The panel discussion is expected to provide a comprehensive view of leadership in the modern corporate landscape, touching upon personal growth, resilience, empowerment, diversity, innovation, and the challenges of digital transformation. The diverse experiences and strategies shared by the panelists will offer valuable insights for both aspiring and current leaders in various industries.
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Jessica Wakefield

VP of Engineering and Operations
PlayStation

Jessica Wakefield is the VP of Engineering & Operations at Sony Interactive Entertainment. She leads globally diverse teams who deliver the PlayStation platform facilitating business operations, empowering decision-making, and providing crucial insights for PlayStation products and services. With over 100 million monthly active users, 47 million active subscribers and 15 million daily concurrent users for a $16+ billion-dollar business.

As a site leader and global lead for the Women @ PlayStation eNet/Employee Resource Group (ERG), she is also a notable cultural champion making PlayStation the best place to play and work. Prior to SIE, Jessica was with Intuit where she held key roles in the Consumer Tax Group and TurboTax Online Banking capabilities for Intuit. While at Intuit she went to USC’s Marshall School of Business and obtained her MBA, with an emphasis in Globalization.

In addition, Jessica is an active volunteer at her daughter’s school, Vice President of the San Diego Children’s Museum Board, and CEO of the Loving Amber Foundation, 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds and awareness for kids impacted by rare bone marrow and blood disorders.

Panel # 4

Topic

Igniting Passion: Unleashing Your Potential and a New Era in Tech

Description

The panel discussion showcased the pivotal role of passion, purpose, and leadership in the tech industry. The panelists’ insights provided valuable lessons on fostering innovation, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion, adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, making it an informative and inspiring discussion for both aspiring and seasoned tech leaders.
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Stacy Mill

VP of IT and CISO - Run the entire IT Dept and Cybersecurity for Corporate systems
Nashville Electric Service

Stacy Mill is the VP of IT and CISO at Nashville Electric Service, responsible for all IT strategy and execution across corporate systems, including cybersecurity. She has built global teams across several industries and has held leadership roles in the State of Kansas, Spirit AeroSystems, KAR Global, and Yum. Stacy has a background in security and serves on the boards of various organizations. She enjoys spending time with her family and mentoring emerging leaders.

Panel # 4

Topic

Igniting Passion: Unleashing Your Potential and a New Era in Tech

Description

The panel discussion showcased the pivotal role of passion, purpose, and leadership in the tech industry. The panelists’ insights provided valuable lessons on fostering innovation, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion, adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, making it an informative and inspiring discussion for both aspiring and seasoned tech leaders.
Close
Linkedin

Surbhi Kaul

VP, Global CX
Juniper Networks

With 20 years of experience leading product design, development, and strategy in Fortune 500 companies, Surbhi has built and led product and engineering teams at Google, YouTube, Netflix, and Cisco. She has launched successful products that use AI and machine learning. Currently, Surbhi leads Juniper’s Customer Experience charter, focused on creating omnichannel engagements and ML-based support capabilities. Surbhi has degrees from IIT Kanpur, Texas A&M University, and Harvard Business School. She also leads Global Inclusion & Diversity initiatives at Juniper and supports the IIT community.

Panel # 2

Topic

Empowering Journeys: The Path to Tech Executives

Description

The panel discussion is expected to provide a comprehensive view of leadership in the modern corporate landscape, touching upon personal growth, resilience, empowerment, diversity, innovation, and the challenges of digital transformation. The diverse experiences and strategies shared by the panelists will offer valuable insights for both aspiring and current leaders in various industries.
Close
Linkedin

Christine Sarros

SVP, Product Development
Oracle

Christine has been with Oracle and previously SUN Microsystems for more than 25 years. As Senior Vice President of Oracle’s Enterprise Engineering organization, she is responsible for Oracle’s internal cloud transformation and delivery of multiple cloud services. Her team partners with enterprise and development organizations across the company to evolve on-premises services into native cloud solutions and leads our global migration program. In addition, Christine delivers traditional IT services for our more than 170,000 global employees.

Panel # 3

Topic

Women in Leadership: Career Evolution in the Tech Industry

Description

Diverse companies excel, boasting better performance, a knack for attracting top-notch talent, highly engaged employees, and impressive retention rates. Yet, in the tech realm, women still find themselves in the minority. Change, the driving force behind progress, calls for transformation and innovation, which, in turn, rely heavily on diversity. This dynamic forms a continuous cycle, one that particularly highlights the crucial role of women leaders in tech. Women, with their unique perspectives and experiences, have a distinctive lens through which they view and approach challenges, making them trailblazers and innovators.
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Sudha Raghavan

SVP, Developer Platform
Oracle

Sudha is an engineer and product VP in the Oracle Cloud Observability and Developer LifeCycle Services organization. She manages teams that run large scale distributed services used by 1000s of engineers every day. Her inclusive leadership has led to her directs being one of the most diverse teams in Oracle.

She is also a founding committee member of the Oracle Women’s Leadership (OWL), Seattle chapter and runs several mentoring rings. She has an Masters in Computer Science and has worked at Microsoft. She is a goal-driven leader hoping to attract more women into leadership positions.

Panel # 3

Topic

Women in Leadership: Career Evolution in the Tech Industry

Description

Diverse companies excel, boasting better performance, a knack for attracting top-notch talent, highly engaged employees, and impressive retention rates. Yet, in the tech realm, women still find themselves in the minority. Change, the driving force behind progress, calls for transformation and innovation, which, in turn, rely heavily on diversity. This dynamic forms a continuous cycle, one that particularly highlights the crucial role of women leaders in tech. Women, with their unique perspectives and experiences, have a distinctive lens through which they view and approach challenges, making them trailblazers and innovators.
Close
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Petek Utku

Vice President - OCI Technical Operations
Oracle

Petek Utku is the Vice President of OCI Technical Operations at Oracle. In this role, Petek drives the pursuit of operational excellence within Enterprise Engineering and OCI cloud classic, ensuring unparalleled support and world-class operations for internal and external customers. Petek is a technology executive with 25+ years of experience who has developed high-growth IT strategies and led global teams in finance, investment, technology, and cloud companies. Prior to joining Oracle, Petek was the Vice President of Global Infrastructure Services at Riverbed Technology, where she headed Enterprise Architecture and Corporate Hybrid Infrastructure. Petek also held senior positions at Barclays Global Investors-BlackRock and Dow Jones.

Panel # 3

Topic

Women in Leadership: Career Evolution in the Tech Industry

Description

Diverse companies excel, boasting better performance, a knack for attracting top-notch talent, highly engaged employees, and impressive retention rates. Yet, in the tech realm, women still find themselves in the minority. Change, the driving force behind progress, calls for transformation and innovation, which, in turn, rely heavily on diversity. This dynamic forms a continuous cycle, one that particularly highlights the crucial role of women leaders in tech. Women, with their unique perspectives and experiences, have a distinctive lens through which they view and approach challenges, making them trailblazers and innovators.
Close
Image Yulia Pavlova
Linkedin

Yulia Pavlova

Director Technology Innovation
Thomson Reuters

Yulia Pavlova is the Director of Technology Innovation at Reuters News Agency. With over 10 years of experience in Applied Research and Development, Yulia leads an Applied Innovation lab at Reuters that focuses on AI/ML enhancements and MLOps lifecycle of enterprise products. She develops new technological opportunities to improve the company’s offerings and works cross-functionally with business partners and stakeholders to ensure business and customer impact.

One of her recent achievements is the development of a customer-facing AI tool for Reuters video content that generates automated time-coded transcripts, translation of many languages into English, and identification of public figures. This tool is part of the Reuters Connect service, which offers access to over 600,000 videos, six live streams, and 23 million pictures from Reuters journalists.

Panel # 2

Topic

Empowering Journeys: The Path to Tech Executives

Description

The panel discussion is expected to provide a comprehensive view of leadership in the modern corporate landscape, touching upon personal growth, resilience, empowerment, diversity, innovation, and the challenges of digital transformation. The diverse experiences and strategies shared by the panelists will offer valuable insights for both aspiring and current leaders in various industries.
Close
Linkedin

Kirsten Holte

Vice President, Cloud Compliance & Assurance
Oracle

Kirsten Holte is the Vice President of Cloud Compliance & Assurance at Oracle, where she leads a global team that drives all compliance and assurance programs for Oracle Cloud. Her teams are the “keepers of customer trust” for Oracle Cloud, enabling internal and external customers to meet the needs of highly regulated markets and industries through a portfolio of products and programs that provide visibility into the ever-changing and cutting-edge technologies of a hyperscale cloud. Kirsten has over 20 years of compliance and regulatory experience, including over 10 years in the cloud ecosystem, and is one of the founders of OCI’s cloud assurance journey.

Panel # 3

Topic

Women in Leadership: Career Evolution in the Tech Industry

Description

Diverse companies excel, boasting better performance, a knack for attracting top-notch talent, highly engaged employees, and impressive retention rates. Yet, in the tech realm, women still find themselves in the minority. Change, the driving force behind progress, calls for transformation and innovation, which, in turn, rely heavily on diversity. This dynamic forms a continuous cycle, one that particularly highlights the crucial role of women leaders in tech. Women, with their unique perspectives and experiences, have a distinctive lens through which they view and approach challenges, making them trailblazers and innovators.
Close
Linkedin

Grace Song

Data Operations & Governance Director
Allstate

Jessica Wakefield is the VP of Engineering & Operations at Sony Interactive Entertainment. She leads globally diverse teams who deliver the PlayStation platform facilitating business operations, empowering decision-making, and providing crucial insights for PlayStation products and services. With over 100 million monthly active users, 47 million active subscribers and 15 million daily concurrent users for a $16+ billion-dollar business.

As a site leader and global lead for the Women @ PlayStation eNet/Employee Resource Group (ERG), she is also a notable cultural champion making PlayStation the best place to play and work. Prior to SIE, Jessica was with Intuit where she held key roles in the Consumer Tax Group and TurboTax Online Banking capabilities for Intuit. While at Intuit she went to USC’s Marshall School of Business and obtained her MBA, with an emphasis in Globalization.

In addition, Jessica is an active volunteer at her daughter’s school, Vice President of the San Diego Children’s Museum Board, and CEO of the Loving Amber Foundation, 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds and awareness for kids impacted by rare bone marrow and blood disorders.

Panel # 4

Topic

Igniting Passion: Unleashing Your Potential and a New Era in Tech

Description

The panel discussion showcased the pivotal role of passion, purpose, and leadership in the tech industry. The panelists’ insights provided valuable lessons on fostering innovation, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion, adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, making it an informative and inspiring discussion for both aspiring and seasoned tech leaders.
Close
Linkedin

Shatabdi Sharma

VP, Global Application Services
PVHCorp

As Ecommerce Director for PVH, I accelerated platform delivery for a shifting eCommerce business. I led tech innovations, compressed delivery timelines, and ensured platform stability. I pioneered the agile DevOps model for packaged Websphere Commerce Suite. I mobilized platform delivery vendors and collaborated with partners to integrate next-gen machine learning solutions. I consolidated vendors, integrations, and technology platforms across PVH brands like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Speedo. I streamlined technology and platforms across regions to save costs and achieve synergies.

As VP of Application Engineering Services, I built a multi-tenant, scalable, and optimized Application Services Organization. I created efficient support models from complex customized apps to configurable packages like SAP, JDA, Centric, GTNexus, VMS, etc. I shifted from reactive to predictive, flexible, and responsive support, enabling self-correction and auto-healing for repetitive incidents.

Panel # 4

Topic

Igniting Passion: Unleashing Your Potential and a New Era in Tech

Description

The panel discussion showcased the pivotal role of passion, purpose, and leadership in the tech industry. The panelists’ insights provided valuable lessons on fostering innovation, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion, adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, making it an informative and inspiring discussion for both aspiring and seasoned tech leaders.
Close
Linkedin

Eileen Krepps Page

SVP Digital Innovation
InVision Communications

Eileen leads InVision Communication’s Digital and Technology Innovation team, ensuring that digital activations and experiences are executed to the highest standards. With over 20 years of experience crafting breakthrough digital solutions for Fortune 1000 brands, she combines strategy, creativity, and technical insight to create proprietary technology installations (such as apps and custom CMS), virtual experiences, and digital campaigns for brands like DuPont, Siemens, Amway, Fresenius Kabi, and Oracle.

Panel # 2

Topic

Empowering Journeys: The Path to Tech Executives

Description

The panel discussion is expected to provide a comprehensive view of leadership in the modern corporate landscape, touching upon personal growth, resilience, empowerment, diversity, innovation, and the challenges of digital transformation. The diverse experiences and strategies shared by the panelists will offer valuable insights for both aspiring and current leaders in various industries.
Close
Linkedin

Emily Tell

Head of Digital Transformation
Bison & Bird

Head of Digital Transformation at Bison and Bird, a top 15 Canadian professional services start-up, Emily helps companies navigate digital transformation while prioritizing user experience. Emily’s solutions may involve technology, data analysis, process mapping, customer journey maps, and change management tactics. She has won awards for her people-centered solutions and technology adoption rates, including the LinkedIn Talent Award.

Emily is passionate about elevating women in the workplace and helping companies innovate and succeed. She is known for her strategic insights, creative problem-solving, and ability to lighten the mood in any meeting.

Panel # 4

Topic

Igniting Passion: Unleashing Your Potential and a New Era in Tech

Description

The panel discussion showcased the pivotal role of passion, purpose, and leadership in the tech industry. The panelists’ insights provided valuable lessons on fostering innovation, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion, adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance, making it an informative and inspiring discussion for both aspiring and seasoned tech leaders.
Close
Linkedin

Charmaine Tang

President
ORCA AG

Charmaine Tang is the President of ORCA AG, a Swiss tech company that helps global families, investment companies, corporates, and other complex entities. ORCA was founded six years ago and has clients in 20 countries. Charmaine is also an advisor to Gore Range Capital, a VC firm based in New York and Dallas, and on the Board of Advisors for Klosebuy, a Florida-based marketing technology platform company. She is based in Dallas, Texas, and is passionate about making the world a better place, especially for women and girls.

Charmaine graduated from NYU with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting and has certificates from Harvard Business School and FIT. She has been recognized for her leadership in business and civic organizations, including the Texas Women’s Foundation Board of Directors and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Board of Governors.

Panel # 1

Topic

Breaking Through: The Journey from Within

Description

This panel discussion will offer valuable insights into the personal journeys of successful tech industry leaders, their strategies for self-confidence and resilience, approaches to embracing change, promoting diversity and inclusivity, and balancing innovation with stability in an ever-evolving industry, serving as a timeless source of practical advice for aspiring professionals in the tech sector.
Close
Linkedin

Jessica Lair

Director of Engineering / COO
Sephora

After 10 years, I traded in concerts and the maestro for code when I left my life as an opera singer and learned Javascript, HTML, and CSS. Now, I work as a senior leader in technology. Outside of my 9-5, I work on 2 separate things;I am on the professional board of a non-profit in San Francisco that caters to juvenile justice and foster system-involved youth and we provide the tools and support they need in order to get out of the system and stay out of the system. The second is being the COO of an art installation startup, Sonic Sphere. It is a 360-degree spherical concert hall with immersive and spatialized sound technology and a custom lights program leveraging Reaper, LX, javascript, and c#.

Panel # 1

Topic

Breaking Through: The Journey from Within

Description

This panel discussion will offer valuable insights into the personal journeys of successful tech industry leaders, their strategies for self-confidence and resilience, approaches to embracing change, promoting diversity and inclusivity, and balancing innovation with stability in an ever-evolving industry, serving as a timeless source of practical advice for aspiring professionals in the tech sector.
Close
Linkedin

Amy Yee

SVP & Chief Digital Transformation Officer
SE Health

As SVP & Chief Digital Transformation Officer at SE Health, Amy leads the development, execution, and delivery of SE Health’s digital strategy. She oversees digital enablement, transformation, IT/IS, and innovation teams. Amy is passionate about transforming healthcare through technology and change. With a degree in electrical engineering, she has a background in venture capital, consulting, and healthcare. Amy is an accomplished speaker and board member, recognized for her innovation and leadership.

Panel # 2

Topic

Empowering Journeys: The Path to Tech Executives

Description

The panel discussion is expected to provide a comprehensive view of leadership in the modern corporate landscape, touching upon personal growth, resilience, empowerment, diversity, innovation, and the challenges of digital transformation. The diverse experiences and strategies shared by the panelists will offer valuable insights for both aspiring and current leaders in various industries.
Close
Linkedin

Blair Ethington

VP, Buyer Experience & Focus Categories
eBay

Blair is an experienced product leader who has built both consumer and enterprise products reaching 100s of millions users cumulatively for leading companies such as Meta, Sam’s Club/Walmart and eBay. She has grown profitable high-growth startups through acquisition and led multiple Fortune 50 companies through digital transformation and scale. She takes a consumer-focused and data-driven approach to solve problems at scale by building teams and delivering impactful solutions. Blair is excited by the challenges of change management, org design and building teams. She has an in-depth knowledge of commerce, retail, marketplaces, gaming, social media, advertising and finance and a track record of building and managing 100+ person product and engineering teams.

Panel # 1

Topic

Breaking Through: The Journey from Within

Description

This panel discussion will offer valuable insights into the personal journeys of successful tech industry leaders, their strategies for self-confidence and resilience, approaches to embracing change, promoting diversity and inclusivity, and balancing innovation with stability in an ever-evolving industry, serving as a timeless source of practical advice for aspiring professionals in the tech sector.
Close
Linkedin

Rebecca Carter

Head of Data Science
Gusto

Becca Carter has been a hands-on data practitioner and a data leader in different capacities over the past decade. She is currently the Head of Data Science at Gusto and has previously worked at eBay and McKinsey. She earned her PhD from UC Berkeley, studying the evolution and cognition of a group of spiders on the Hawaiian Islands. She’s also passionate about prison reform and co-founded a nonprofit called Bonafide that helps people return to society following lengthy prison sentences.

Panel # 1

Topic

Breaking Through: The Journey from Within

Description

This panel discussion will offer valuable insights into the personal journeys of successful tech industry leaders, their strategies for self-confidence and resilience, approaches to embracing change, promoting diversity and inclusivity, and balancing innovation with stability in an ever-evolving industry, serving as a timeless source of practical advice for aspiring professionals in the tech sector.