CALL For Nominations
2026 EDGE in Tech
Athena Awards
The EDGE in Tech Athena Awards recognize those who embody, encourage, and promote inclusive excellence in technology. Awardees are leaders who inspire others to pursue and persist in technical careers by way of their outstanding contributions, and service and mentorship to foster inclusion in science and technical fields. Nominations are open to all candidates regardless of gender, age, institutional affiliation, and country of residence. Nominations will open February 4, 2026 and – DEADLINE EXTENDED – close March 31, 2026. Winners will be selected in May 2026 and Awards will be presented at CITRIS at a special event in Fall 2026. Awardees will receive a $500 honorarium in recognition of their contributions.
Awards are given in these five categories:
- Executive Leadership (individual)
- Academic Leadership (individual)
- Early Career Leadership (individual)
- Graduate Student Leadership (individual)
- Next-Generation Engagement (organization)
These awards celebrate innovators and women and BIPOC in a tech related field.
Past Athena Award winners:
- 2025: Susan Lyne, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, BBG Ventures, Isabel Montañez, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Nadine Smith, Coding and Robotics Educator, ADvTECH, Zhe Fu, Doctoral Student in Transportation Engineering, UC Berkeley, Technovation
More info > - 2024: Elaine Gómez. Founder and CEO, MidnightHour Games; Co-founder and Vice President, Latinx in Gaming; Amy Wendt, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in the Physical Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Madison; Co-Director, WISELI; Alexandra Piotrowski-Daspit, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine, University of Michigan; Women in STEM (WiSTEM)
More info > - 2023: Jodi Shelton, Co-founder and CEO, Global Semiconductor Alliance, Tonya Evans, Professor, Penn State Dickinson Law; Co-Hire, Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, Erika Moore, Rhines Rising Star Larry Hench Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, and Cal NERDS
More info > - 2022: UC Office of the President, VP for Research and Innovation, Theresa Maldonado, Google’s Sepi Hejazi Moghadam, UC Davis Assistant Professor Verónica Ahumada, and nonprofit AnnieCannons. More info >
- 2021: UC Merced Professor Teenie Matlock, World Economic Forum’s Sheila Warren, UC Davis Assistant Professor Katia Cánepa Vega, and the nonprofit organization Self e-STEM. More info >
- 2020: UC Berkeley Professor Alice Agogino, IBM’s Rama K. Akkiraju, Algorithmic Justice League’s Joy Buolamwini, and the nonprofit organization Girls Who Code. More info >
- 2019: President of Harvey Mudd College Maria Klawe, Respira Labs CEO Maria Artunduaga, Double Shelix podcast co-founders Sally Winkler and Kayla Wolf, and former president of the Association for Computing Machinery Barbara Simons. More info >
- 2017: Stanford University Professor Fei-Fei Li, University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Laura Haas, Callisto CEO and founder Jessica Ladd, and Neo’s Claire Shorall. More info >
- 2016: UC Berkeley’s Tsu-Jae King Liu, Claire Tomlin, Ruzena Bajcsy, and Vidya Ganapati, Google’s Elizabeth Churchill, and the nonprofit organization Code to Inspire. More info ,
Nominations are open. To receive updates, join our mailing list.
General Timeline:
February 4: Nominations open
March 31: Nominations close
May 14: Winners notified
Fall 2026: Athena Awards Winners announced
Fall 2026: Athena Awards presented at CITRIS
To Nominate:
1. Click on the category NOMINATE button below, then click APPLY to start your nomination. [Preview questions]
2. Register or login to begin the nomination form (this way you can save your work).
3. Choose the category and complete eligibility questions and mark as complete.
4. Click on the application form link in the left navigation (center)
5. Complete the form describing your wonderful nominee and submit.
Award Information
Executive Leadership Award
The Executive Leadership Award recognizes individuals (all genders) who demonstrate exceptional leadership by supporting the professional development and promotion of women in technology within their companies, organizations, or the field at large.
Selection Criteria
- Demonstrating leadership and innovation in promoting greater diversity and inclusion in the field or sector
- Expanding opportunities for engaging women in technology
- Demonstrating impact at scale on advancing women’s professional achievements in technology
- Nominees typically have at least 5 years of experience in their executive leadership role(s) in companies with more than 500 employees
Academic Leadership Award
The Academic Leadership Award recognizes senior leaders in academia or national labs (faculty or staff) who have a demonstrated record of technical accomplishments and have encouraged or mentored young scholars or colleagues.
Selection Criteria
- Undertaking technically innovative work
- Demonstrating leadership in their field
- Expanding opportunities for engaging girls in technology and science
- Mentoring students, postdocs, junior faculty and/or young women professionals
- Nominees typically have at least 10 years of experience in their academic leadership role(s)
Early Career Award
The Early Career Award recognizes promising young STEM leaders in industry, academia, or the public sector.
Selection Criteria
- Undertaking technically innovative work, and/or founding a startup or advancing VC funding for all
- Demonstrating potential for leadership in their field
- Expanding opportunities for engaging girls in technology and science
- Demonstrating impact on advancing women’s participation in technology and science
- Nominees typically have fewer than 5 years in their career
Graduate Student Leadership Award
The Graduate Student Leadership Award recognizes promising young STEM leaders in their masters or doctoral programs who intend to pursue a career in academia.
Selection Criteria
- Undertaking technically innovative work and/or founding a startup or advancing VC funding for all
- Demonstrating potential for leadership in their field
- Expanding opportunities for engaging girls in technology and science
- Demonstrating impact on advancing women’s participation in technology and science including peer mentoring and volunteer roles
- Nominees typically are within two years of completing their graduate degree
Next-Generation Engagement Award
The Next Generation Engagement Award recognizes organizations or programs that encourage girls or young women to pursue interests in STEM careers.
Selection Criteria
- Demonstrating innovation in expanding extracurricular opportunities for girls and young women to explore technology and science and entrepreneurship
- Demonstrating impact on advancing women’s participation in technology and science and entrepreneurship
- Demonstrating support for young women undertaking college-level, graduate or postgraduate studies in technology and science and entrepreneurship
- Supporting and highlighting accomplishments of women and girls in technology and entrepreneurship