Every year, we select three women from our channel community to receive some well-deserved recognition with a WiT Award. We look for women who are setting a great example in the community and for helping to move the needle forward on encouraging a more diverse workforce.

While we talk specifically about women, this is about embracing and promoting a more diverse workforce. I think it’s clear that companies with a more diverse team are more likely to produce better outcomes, including profitability.

We are not here to prove to anyone why a diverse workplace matters to you or any company. There are already mountains of research and data that demonstrates this fact. Our “ask of you” is to do something (anything) to be part of the solution. Every bit can help the ripple of change to widen.

This image and the data behind the message says it all.

The simple truth is that the tech industry employs roughly 20% women and even much less minorities. Attend any IT tradeshow and just look around. Besides the upside in economical benefits to the business, it is simply the right thing to do.

Many women are already paving the way for more women to enter the industry. Many of their efforts go unnoticed, unrecognized and unrewarded. This WiT award is our way of changing a small part of that.

This year, we opened up to the entire channel community so they can nominate and vote for the women that they believe deserve this recognition. Three candidates with the most votes received the award.

Glynis Devine was our emcee for this. She is collaborating with TechnoPlanet and e-ChannelNEWS to help make a difference in diversity in the technology industry. She is doing amazing things on the issue in many sectors. You can check out and contact Glynis at https://www.glynisedevine.com/

Jodi Bonham – Eaton

 

Lesley English – OCR

 

JoeAnne Hardy – WBM

 

We thank these 3 women for their outstanding contribution in making their workplace more diverse and forward-thinking. We know that there are so any more women doing so many great things. You can hear many of their stories in our exclusive news column https://e-channelnews.com/category/women-in-tech/.

Everyone in the industry can help push this mission forward.  How can you help?

  1. Do whatever you can to help your company become more diverse and inclusive.  Be the change. Be part of the solution. Do what’s right. Don’t know where to start? Ask us to connect you with an expert to help your company do a confidential assessment of diversity in your company and a workshop to help you build the roadmap to make it right.
  2. Tell your story on eChannelNEWS.com. Your story may be the one that inspires someone else to do something that will make a difference. Do something as simple as liking, sharing and commenting on the WiT stories we publish can make a difference in amplifying the message on social media.
  3. Join or build a peer-group. Gain strength through group-force and support. If you are not sure how to get this started or want the recipe for doing a best-practice peer-group then check out https://channelpartneralliance.com/wit-2/
  4. Subscribe to eChannelNEWS.com to receive the latest WiT news. Join our grassroot LinkedIn group to share ideas and discuss the topic.
  5. Nominate someone for the 2021 Women In Tech Award when you receive the request in November 2021.