EDGE in Tech
Athena Awards
The EDGE in Tech Athena Awards recognize those who embody, encourage, and promote the inclusion of women and BIPOC 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 ARE CLOSED – Next winners will be announced January 2024 and Awards will be presented at the 2024 EDGE in Tech Symposium on March 8, 2024.
Awards are given in these four categories:
- Executive Leadership (individual)
- Academic Leadership (individual)
- Early Career (individual)
- Next-Generation Engagement (organization)
Awards are announced during the annual Diversity in Tech Symposium, formerly the Women in Tech Symposium, which celebrates innovators and explores the experiences of women and BIPOC in a tech related field.
Past Athena Award winners:
- 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 closed. To receive updates, join our mailing list.
General Timeline:
October 8: Nominations open
November 14: Nominations close
December: Winners notified
January: Athena Awards Winners announced
March: Athena Awards presented at the Women in Tech Symposium
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
- 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
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
- Demonstrating impact on advancing women’s participation in technology and science
- Demonstrating support for young women undertaking college-level, graduate or postgraduate studies in technology and science
- Supporting and highlighting accomplishments of women and girls in technology