Passion for recruitment, retention and the promotion of women in technology will be the focus of the upcoming Women of Innovation® Spotlight webinar, featuring Jenny Gaffney, Senior Project Manager for Disney’s Media and Entertainment Distribution segment of the Walt Disney Company.
The webinar, to be held on Tuesday, June 15 at 12 Noon, comes just three days before the June 18 deadline for nominations for the 2021 Women of Innovation® Awards, to be held this fall. Additional information – including a listing of categories and qualifications, along with a nomination form - is available at www.womenofinnovation.org.
Gaffney leads all the sports initiatives across the ESPN app, ESPN.com, Fantasy App, Fantasy Web, and serves on the Disney company’s Women + Tech leadership team. She will share her story and experiences utilizing agile methodologies and tools, negotiating, organizing chaos and problem solving, as well as her passion for shaping tomorrow’s leaders through mentorship and connection building. Gaffney was a 2018 and 2020 Women of Innovation® Finalist in the Large Business Category.
Networking has been pivotal throughout Gaffney’s career as she moved across a variety of industries. At Disney, she works closely with their interns as a mentor, encouraging them to take each opportunity to connect with industry experts. Registrations for Tuesday’s free webinar can be made at Eventbrite, at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/157700994921
The webinar will be moderated by Martha B. Yaney, Owner/CEO of Vista Group International. She is a long-time member of the Women of Innovation® Committee and honoree of the 2015 Women of Innovation® awards in the Entrepreneur and Leadership category for her work to integrate accessibility features into exhibits.
The Women of Innovation® Spotlight monthly webinar series features women from the network of more than 800 previous honorees, as well as members of the soon-to-be-announced 2021 class. The live, interactive program is held virtually, the 3rd Tuesday of each month. The webinar speakers share their compelling career stories, highlighting their current work in Connecticut and the paths that have shaped their success.
Nominations Deadline June 18; Women of Innovation® Finalists to be Announced in July
The 17th annual Women of Innovation® awards program will be a virtual event in the fall of 2021. The awards event will highlight the women innovators, role models, leaders and catalysts of change in science and technology professions throughout Connecticut. The awards program will also recognize outstanding young women at the high school and collegiate level pursuing technology studies.
Nominations are being accepted until Friday, June 18, in the following categories: Innovation and Leadership: Youth, Collegian, Secondary Academic, Postsecondary Academic, Research, Community, Entrepreneurial, Small Business, Medium Business and Large Business. An award will also be given for Inspiring STEM Equitability, presented to an individual for promoting equality and diversity in STEM.
After the nomination deadline and a review of nominees’ credentials by expert judges, the finalists for the 2021 Women of Innovation® awards will be announced in July. Finalists will be selected based on their professional experience, history of innovation, ability to think creatively and solve problems and demonstration of leadership. Student nominees will be judged on inventiveness and accomplishment in science and technology, as well as academic achievement.
The annual awards event is presented by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT). Sponsors include Medtronic, Pfizer, and Sonalysts. Media sponsors include WTNH News8 and Hearst CT Media. Sponsorship information for the 17th annual Women of Innovation® awards is available by contacting Maureen Lord at mlord@ct.org. For more information about Women of Innovation®, go to www.womenofinnovation.org.