Company/Organization & Achievement Awards Judging Committee

Chair:
Bridgette Stumpf, Executive Director 
Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC), Washington, DC, United States

Bridgette Stumpf, Esq., is the Executive Director of Network for Victim Recovery of DC, a position she has held since co-founding the organization in 2012. She has over 15 years of experience advocating to ensure those impacted by crime are afforded meaningful rights and access to supportive services to mitigate the negative effects of trauma post-victimization

Bridgette grew NVRDC from a $200,000 startup budget to over $7,000,000 in annual revenue today, which supports a team of 50 staff members who have served more than 10,000 survivors since the organization’s founding. Bridgette is committed to growing and sustaining the crime victims’ rights and services field through advocacy for living wages and work conditions that allow professionals to build a fulfilling, life-long career. Under Bridgette’s leadership, NVRDC has been honored with the Conference on Crimes Against Women 2021 Ignite Award, the American Bar Association 2019 Frank Carrington Victim Attorney Award, the Crime Victims’ Rights Congressional Caucus 2017 Outstanding Advocacy Award, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute 2015 National Crime Victims' Advocacy Award. Bridgette frequently participates in local and national policy conversations around victims’ issues—providing expertise to members of the U.S. Congress to increase the transparency of sexual assault prosecutions and to the DC Council to enhance the rights of crime victims. Several landmark laws have resulted from these efforts. Bridgette is currently the co-chair of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s Advocacy Committee and serves on the review board for Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Advocacy Certification Program. She also served as an appointed member to DC’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Committee for five years and was a Negotiator for the Department of Education’s Rulemaking Committee charged with implementing changes made to the Clery Act through the VAWA Reauthorization of 2013.

Bridgette led the launch of NVRDC’s international Trauma-Education Project and is the co-host of TraumaTies—a podcast dissecting the structural and systemic knots that keep us from addressing trauma. She has been a Maryland certified police instructor since 2009, has taught the Study of Victimization at the University of Maryland Global Campus since 2011, and served as part-time faculty at George Washington University, teaching Victims, Victimization & the System. Bridgette was awarded the 2023 Mussey-Gillett Shining Star Award from the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia.  She was also selected as the 2020 Social Enterprise Scholarship winner through Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Club of Washington, DC and attended the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at HBS in the summer of 2022. Additionally, she has been individually honored with the 2022 Sandra H. Robinson Women's Caucus Award from the Trial Lawyers Association of DC, the 2014 Young Women Achievement Award from the Women’s Information Network (WIN) for her efforts in nonprofit advocacy, and the 2019 Excellence in Chief Executive Leadership (EXCEL) Award from the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, recognizing outstanding nonprofit chief executives in the areas of innovation, motivation, community building, ethical integrity and strategic leadership.
 

Committee:

Azif Abdul Salam Kolisam Beevi, Director of Enterprise Solutions Engineering
Cambium Networks Inc., San Jose, California, United States
Azif Abdul Salam Kolisam Beevi is the Director of Enterprise Solutions Engineering at Cambium Networks, and spearheads wireless networking advancements. Azif engages with leaders and executives in customer organizations, driving technical discussions, product innovation, and customer-focused solutions across North America, ensuring Cambium's competitive edge and market leadership.

Alla Adam , Investor | Negotiator | Author
Forbes Coaches Council, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Alla has been future-proofing humans globally since 2003. As an executive coach, negotiator, and investor with degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Kellogg, she solves problems before they happen. Her book “Time. Money. Status. Relationships. Peace of Mind.” debuted on Amazon in June 2024. Between all the above, she pilots planes.

Gursimran Ahuja, Senior Manager
Bain & Company, San Francisco, California, United States
Simran has been a management consultant at Bain & Company for 7 years, across their India and San Francisco offices, and is currently a Senior Manager. Her work mostly spans retail and private equity, working with executives and investors to deliver strong strategic and operational outcomes. She received an MBA in Finance and Strategy from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Huda Ali Al-Husaini, Academy Coordinator
Amman Chamber of Commerce, New Zarqa, Zarqa, Jordan
Huda Ali Al-Husaini is a certified professional industrial engineer with over 14 years of experience in managing training academies, business development, and international engineering conferences. She has received more than 10 prestigious awards at the local, regional, and international levels for her achievements in entrepreneurship, business, innovation, and creativity.

Nishi Anand, Managing Director  
FTI Consulting, New York City, New York, United States
Nishi has 10 years of experience driving profitable growth for healthcare and tech companies. Currently, she is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting advising clients. Previously, she was an operating partner for KKR-backed companies, and a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kameliya Atanasova, CAO
Pontica Solutions, Sofia, Bulgaria
Kameliya Atanasova is the Chief Administrative Officer of Pontica Solutions, a company that specializes in delivering outstanding customer experience (CX) and innovative digital solutions to global clients in more than 20 languages.

Amey Banarse, VP of Sales Engineering
YugabyteDB, San Ramon, California, United States
Amey is the VP of Data Engineering at YugabyteDB. In his current role, he collaborates with Fortune500 leadership to architect their critical business applications with a scalable and fault-tolerant database. He is originally from Mumbai and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) with a Master's degree in Computer Networking and Systems.

 

Neal Baptiste, Projects Leader    
Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd, Port of Spain Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago
Neal Baptiste is an Oil and Gas & Construction Management Leader with 34 years’ experience in projects, engineering, operations, corporate change management and running engineering business divisions profitability. He holds BSc. and MSc. Degrees in Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering. Neal has worked in the Caribbean, USA and Azerbaijan.

Sasibhushan-Rao Chanthati, AVP, Senior Software Engineer
T. Rowe Price Associates INC., Owings Mills, Maryland, United States
Sasibhushan is Assistant Vice President Senior Software Engineer for T. Rowe Price Associates, and is honored to serve as a volunteer judge for these Awards focused on women in business. Being part of this process reaffirms her belief in the power of recognition to foster positive change and empower future generations of women leaders worldwide.

Saumya Choudhary, Finance Manager
Amazon, Seattle, Washington, United States
Saumya Choudhary is a seasoned finance professional and currently works at Amazon, supporting AI/Gen-AI/ML-powered products. Prior to Amazon, she was working in finance at one of the top biotech companies, Gilead Sciences, in the Bay Area. She has also spent substantial years working at Pfizer, focusing on continuous improvement.

Shubha Dharia, Immigration Analyst
Acumen LLC, Burlingame, California, United States
Shubha works as an HR-Immigration analyst at Acumen LLC. The growing immigration population and the talent that comes to the US to fulfill their dreams motivate Shubha in her work. She is passionate about helping people and working with them. HR allows her to work with the industry's best talent.
 

Amaka Emmanuel-Makata, CEO
Fresh County Ltd, Lagos, Nigeria
Amaka Emmanuel is CEO of Fresh County in Lagos, Nigeria. She is an entrepreneur and a coach with over 20 years’ experience in business start-ups, systemization and expansion and has a keen interest in sustainable consumption and production, global partnerships, capacity building, coaching, and telecommunications.

Ahmed Rauf Essa, CEO
Telemart & ARE Ventures, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Ahmed started Telemart at the age of 23. It is now considered to be one of the top E-commerce marketplaces in Pakistan and the largest tech retail company with its 37 retail stores across 25 cities of Pakistan. He also owns ARE Ventures, which is a consultancy firm that helps businesses in hyper growth, technology, marketing, alliances, distribution & more.

Shawn Flower, Principal Researcher
Choice Research Associates, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
Shawn M. Flower, Ph.D., is the Principal Researcher of Choice Research Associates, providing criminal justice research services employing rigorous methodologies that focus on prisoner re-entry, female offenders, community corrections, and program evaluation. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, in 2007.

George Goognin, Founder and President
Evita Investments Inc., New York City, New York, United States
George is a prolific fintech entrepreneur who has raised $12 million in equity and $250 million in loans. He has founded more than thirty businesses, three of which have turned a profit and one of which was sold.

Angelique Hamilton, CEO, Founder
HR Chique Group, Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Angelique Hamilton, MBA, is a visionary HR leader, speaker, and leadership coach with 25+ years in healthcare, nonprofit, and start up sectors. As CEO of the award-winning HR Chique Group, she excels in helping to build world class organizations. She holds a BBA from Jacksonville University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.

Maham Haroon, Founder/Data Scientist
KuberSignal, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Maham is the founder of KuberSignal, specializing in cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. With expertise in machine learning, AI, and cyber intelligence, she works to improve data privacy and security. She is now expanding into AI and ML services across sectors such as banking, healthcare, and government.

Emily Hicks, President
FREDsense Technologies Corp., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Emily Hicks is co-founder and President of FREDsense Technologies, where she has worked for the past 10 years. As a startup founder, Emily has received several awards, including the top 30 under 30 in Canada for Sustainability and an Arch award from the University of Calgary for Early Career Achievement.

 

Dr. Jemima Irabor-Ighedosa, Project Business Director
RockStone International, Katy, Texas, United States
Jemima, a director with RockStone International since 2010 has several years of diverse work experience with Business Development, Logistics, Office Management, Agency Administration & Project Controls/Management. She has worked 22 years with Shell Nigeria. She is a certified international professional manager with a PhD in Management; Leadership and Organizational Management.

Rose Jurczewski, Portfolio Manager
Associa, Schaumburg, Illinois, United States
Rose received her AA in Business Management Computer Analysis and a Minor in Accounting from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked on a radio program called Great Recovery on WJJG AM1530, which she and Bob Jendryka created back in 2001. Currently she works for Associa in Schaumburg, where she manages 10 community associations. 

Nisrine Kaderbhay, Head GS&VM CoE
Boeing India Private Limited, Bangalore, India
Nisrine is a seasoned global management professional with 15+ years of international experience in leading digital strategy and implementing complex, enterprise-level digital projects in global B2B environments using Design Thinking, Agile, and Waterfall Methodology. She has helped clients across the globe to connect with the DOTS (Digital Strategy and Technology Operations). 

Jhansi Bharathi Madavarapu, Solution Architect
TC Energy, Houston, Texas, United States
Jhansi is an experienced consultant in project delivery for Cloud migration, Digital transformation, EDI/B2B legacy modernization, and API integration projects, with a history of working in the information technology and services industry. For 10+ years, Jhansi has helped multinational organizations overcome their business integration challenges by designing and implementing business process solutions and integration platforms. 

Mayada Maged, Managing Partner
Staff Arabia, Cairo, Egypt
Mayada is a leading HR Outsourcing Global Service Provider. With more than 20 years of experience in the HR field and outsourcing industry, Mayada holds a PGD from ESLSCA Paris University, as well as Certified Entrepreneur by the American University in Cairo. Mayada’ s areas of expertise include Recruitment, RPO, Performance Management, employee recognition & Business Management.

Mukesh Mahajan , Solution Director
ArchLynk, San Jose, California, United States
Solution Director Transforming Global Trade - Product Classifications with Artificial Intelligence Solutions. Thought leader in SAP Global Trade Services (GTS) & SAP Digital Supply Chain with more than 10 years of experience in SAP consulting, leading global teams in SAP implementations.

Elisa Mayberry, Director/Office Manager
First National Real Estate Bundaberg, Bundaberg Central, Queensland, Australia
Elisa Mayberry has been director of First National Bundaberg since 2020. She has more than 15 years experience in various industries such as retail, hospitality, banking, and real estate. She also has an Honours Degree of Bachelor of Science in International Hotel Management & Business.

Jennifer McWilliams, Planning & Strategy
Rogers Telecommunications Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jennifer McWilliams, MBA, is currently a senior manager of planning and strategy for Roger Business. She has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications sector. She excels in project management, relationship building, marketing, and strategic planning and has held key roles at Rogers Communications, Xplornet, and Bell Canada.

Satish Padmanabhan, VP, FM Data Quality
Standard Chartered, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
With over 22 years in banking and financial services, Satish leads Financial Markets Metadata and Data Quality Delivery at Standard Chartered Bank. A certified data governance professional, he excels in graph databases, Data Quality and Ethics. Recognized with an honorary doctorate and multiple global recognitions, including the World Leaders Award at the UK Parliament.

Hatim Palitanawala, Vice President
Marsh McLennan, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Hatim is a software and technology enthusiast with over 21 years of Industry experience delivering end-to-end solutions in diverse technology spaces, ranging from legacy modernizations, data warehousing, and analytics to developing modern web applications.

Kaushikkumar Patel ,  Director of Data Development
TransUnion LLC, White Plains, New York, United States
Kaushikkumar Patel is the Director of Data Development at TransUnion, a position he has held since 2013. With over 14 years of experience in data management and analytics, Patel is committed to using data to inform decision-making and constantly enhance data processes.

Jenny Pither, Founder and Consultant
Allied Health Admin and Consulting, Forster, New South Wales, Australia
Jenny Pither is the Founder of Allied Health Admin and Consulting. Jenny has over 25 years of experience in the Allied Health and Medical industries in administration. Jenny is also a highly sort after consultant with Allied Health professionals regarding administration, systemization and team management.

Anuradha Ray, Director - Client Partner
Comerica Bank, Austin, Texas, United States
With over 20 years of experience in risk management and business transformation, Anuradha assists companies with their digital transformation journey. She has developed and implemented strategic initiatives, frameworks, and solutions that enhance organizational excellence and performance in various areas including data analytics, data storytelling, process improvement, change management, and agile methodologies.



Nilima Rodrigues, Senior Manager-Finance Systems and Reporting
Align Technology Inc., San Jose, California, United States
Nilima is a seasoned data engineering and analytics leader with consistent performance of delivering results. With over 18 years of experience across industries including healthcare, finance, e-commerce, manufacturing, and public sector, Nilima has established herself as a prominent data and solutions architect at Align Technology, Deloitte, and Capgemini Consulting.

Savitri Sagar, CEO
Kenzo Infotech, New York City, New York, United States
Savitri Sagar, CEO of Kenzo Infotech, brings over a decade of expertise in the technology sector, with a strong focus on innovation, leadership, and strategic decision-making. With her background in software engineering and experience leading multiple successful tech ventures, Savitri has a deep understanding of emerging technologies and market trends. 

Chris Simms, Vice President
Condé Nast, London, England, United Kingdom
Chris Simms is a highly accomplished professional with more than 25 years of experience in Global Support, Service Operations, IT, and Infrastructure. Currently serving as the VP of Global Support and Infrastructure at Condé Nast since 2019, Chris is known for his strategic problem-solving, exemplary leadership, and dedication to excellence. 

Sadija A. Smiley, Founder & CEO
Stillborn And Infant Loss Support (SAILS), Laurel, Maryland, United States
Sadija, Founder & CEO of Stillborn And Infant Loss Support since 2017, blends over 20 years of nonprofit management expertise with a deep passion for grief advocacy. A West Virginia State University graduate with a B.A. in Psychology and an MBA from Strayer University, she is dedicated to supporting families through loss, combining a head for business with a heart for grievers.

Sherri Tan , Managing Partner
Starx Hospitality, Los Angeles, California, United States
Sherri Tan founded Starx Hospitality in 2016. A graduate of Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Sherri has over 20 years of finance and entrepreneurship experience, with leading roles at top Wall Street investment banks. Starx leverages her extensive experience to empower underrepresented entrepreneurs and drive inclusive economic growth.

Aneesha Vallabhaneni, Director of Cloud and Emerging Technology
Fidelity Investments, Durham, North Carolina, United States
Aneesha is a Director of Enterprise Cloud and Platform Engineering at Fidelity Investments with knowledge in the Cloud and full stack technologies. She has a passion for emerging technologies like Blockchain and AI and continues to explore cutting-edge enterprise platforms. Aneesha is recognized for insightful vision, transformative leadership, and an unwavering commitment to engineering excellence.

Alison Walker, UX Strategist
Fannie Mae, Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Jin (Ashley) Wang, Assistant Vice President Trader
Citigroup, New York, New York, United States
Jin (Ashley) is an integral part of the Strategic Equity Solutions group at Citigroup, an industry-leading team that provides innovative hedging and financing solutions for corporations and Ultra-High-Net-Worth individuals. She is a graduate of the Computational Finance program at Carnegie Mellon University. She is also working on an open-source AI investment analysis tool.

Lydia Watts, Executive Director  
Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Lydia has spent the past 30 years working with survivors of crime in the Maryland and DC area and has been at the helm of the ROAR Center since its launch in 2019. As founder and executive director of Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), Lydia pioneered a multidisciplinary approach to serving teen and adult victims.


Betül Yücel, Founding Director
IF Consultancy, Brussels, Ixelles, Belgium
Betül is a strategic leader and Gender Expert at UNIDO, specializing in HR, cultural transformation, and leadership development. As the founder of IF Consultancy, she has led award-winning projects for Fortune 500 companies and mentors women globally. Her expertise in empowering women and fostering inclusive workplaces enriches the Women in Business jury.