Company: Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT) Seattle, WA
Nomination Submitted by: Diffusion PR
Company Description: Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to accelerating more than 21,000 women and underrepresented groups into tech leadership roles, across the globe. Focusing on skills-based workshops, advocacy and mentorship, AWIT actively bridges the gaps in management roles its members face going from mid-senior and director level roles into executive positions.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Mentor or Coach of the Year – Government or Non-Profit
 Nomination Title: Nancy Wang
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2020 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Nancy helps women and members of underrepresented groups break the glass ceiling and advance from mid-senior and director level roles into executive positions. In 2021, AWIT launched the tech industry’s first executives-only 1:1 mentorship program, theNextGen Execs Mentorship, with MongoDB, the leading, modern general purpose database platform. The 3-month program combines 1-on-1 mentorship with a senior executive workshop series to guide and train underrepresented, mid-career women technology leaders to advance in their executive careers.
AWIT partners with higher education institutions to provide real-world career experiences to students and provide pathways for underrepresented learners into careers in cloud. For example, AWIT leads two programs in partnership with University of Pennsylvania’s Online School of Engineering. Side Projects for Advancement, Refinement, and Collaboration(SPARC) provides career-changing adult learners with mentors and industry-relevant experience from MAANG companies like Amazon to prepare students for their first role in tech. Nancy also founded the engineering school’s Executives in Residence(EIR) program to provide students the opportunity to network with a diverse set of tech executives while providing diverse tech leaders opportunities to teach the next generation of engineers and shape technical education.
Sponsored by AWS and available globally on Coursera, Nancy has publishedover 75 hours of educational content that prepares product and technology leaders to succeed as cloud product managers and practitioners, covering fundamental business and technical principles needed to pass the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam and demonstrate competence for the many job opportunities available across AWS and its customers and partners.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 88 words used.
In 2021, AWIT was recognized among Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Female Founder-led organizations to watch. Nancy was also named Entrepreneur’s Top 100 Women of Impact for her contributions to women in tech through AWIT.
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 80 words used.
In addition to being the youngest General Manager at Amazon Web Services, Nancy Wang is the founder and CEO ofAdvancing Women in Tech (AWIT), a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to accelerating more than 21,000 women and underrepresented groups into tech leadership roles, across the globe. Focusing on skills-based workshops, advocacy and mentorship, AWIT actively helps more women accelerate into executive-level positions. Nancy was named Entrepreneur’s Top 100 Women of Impact for her contributions to women in tech through AWIT.
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2020 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 243 words used.
In 2015, Nancy became the first female and youngest product manager at Google Fiber. When she arrived in Kansas City to negotiate deployment there, the head of the other team looked at her and asked, “When is Google’s representative coming?”
To address the issues of sexism and ageism that stem from the absence of female leaders and role models in the tech industry, Nancy founded a global nonprofit, Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT), in 2017 to address the representation gap in tech leadership roles. AWIT gives underrepresented individuals the resources they need to join and advance in the tech industry, including mentoring, skills-based training, and advocacy. Since its founding, AWIT has introduced many people of all backgrounds to their first, or next, role at the world’s largest tech companies and most dynamic startups.
Practicing what she preaches, Nancy is currently the youngest General Manager at Amazon Web Services, leading its engineering, product, and design teams in building the products that help organizations around the world defend their data from ransomware and other threats. In 3 years, she quadrupled the size of her team and grew its annual revenue from zero to half a billion dollars.
To date, AWIT has educated and upskilled more than 30,000 learners through its online skills-based courses and mentorship programs giving its members invaluable confidence and leadership skills to advance in their tech careers. Additionally, over 200 members have successfully attained leadership roles in tech through AWIT.
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