Who are the top women leaders in IT?

Women in Technology recognized some of the top female leaders in the technology industry Thursday night with its 15^th annual Leaderships Awards, which recognizes and salutes women who make a difference.

The group handed out 14 awards to women executives working for large and small companies as well as academia and government. 

In lieu of award speeches, each woman recited their favorite inspirational quote as they accepted their award. The quotes themselves came from a number of different sources, ranging from Lao Tzu to Diane Sawyer to Nelson Mandela and there were even some from family members. Each quote had something in common, though; they were all about perseverance, even when times get tough.

The winners this year were:

• Founder’s Award – Valerie Perlowitz (Founder, CEO, Board Member, Strategy)
• Corporate Award – Lockheed Martin
• WIT Champion – Denise Hart (partner, O2 Lab)
• Rising Star – Mari Spyker (federal senior manager, Blackstone Technology Group)
• Unsung Hero – Susan Burke (development director, Freddie Mac)
• Social Impact – Dr. Jandelyn Plane (director Maryland Center for Women in Computing, University of Maryland)
• Innovative Technology – Alice Fakir (senior associate, strategic innovation group, Booz Allen Hamilton)
• Entrepreneur – Anjali “Ann” Ramakumaran (founder and CEO, Ampcus Inc.)
• Government – Kim Robson (principal executive of IT service operations, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)
• Corporate Public Sector Small Business – Maria Canfora (senior director and global controller, Cvent)
• Corporate Public Sector Large Business – Elaine Turville (managing director, health and public service, Accenture Federal Services)
• Corporate Private Sector Small Business – Carol Cornman (executive vice president and owner, PRISM Inc.)
• Corporate Private Sector Large Business – Lisa Hook (president and CEO, Neustar)
• President Award – Donna Kilbourn (senior vice president, customer account management and partner channels at Unanet Technologies) and Kathy Furlong (capture manager at LexisNexis)