To close out Black History Month 2023, Women of Color Online is resharing inspiring stories you missed. We celebrated women who have won the technologist of the year award at the Women of Color STEM Conference, and award winners in the outstanding technical contribution category, community service, professional achievement, Tech All-stars, and Rising Stars.

2022 Technologist of the Year: The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) made history when Valerie Sheares Ashby was honored as Technologist of the Year at the 2022 Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference.

2020 Technologist of the Year: In October 2020, Sylvia Trent Adams, Ph.D. received the prestigious Technologist of the Year award. She was recognized as a champion of the greater appreciation of science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine, particularly for underrepresented minorities, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

2019 Technologist of the Year: Pamela McCauley, Ph.D. received the top award at Women of Color magazine’s 24th annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference. She has authored over 100 technical papers, book chapters, conference proceedings, four books, and the bestselling ergonomics textbook, Ergonomics: Foundational Principles, Applications, and Technologies.

2018 Technologist of the Year: Lordstown Motors Corporation announced in July 2022 that Donna L. Bell, Ph.D. was the new Executive Vice President for Product Creation, Engineering, and Supply Chain.

2017 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: Denise Gray received the Technologist of the Year Award at the 2017 Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference in Detroit, Michigan. The award is presented to women who create innovation, opening opportunities in STEM fields for those underrepresented in scientific and technical careers.

2015 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: Delia Grenville, a research scientist and technology strategist at Intel Corporation, was honored as the Technologist of the Year at the 20th annual Women of Color STEM Conference. Grenville is the inventor of digital content technologies.

2014 Technologist of the Year: Alicia Boler Davis is a prominent figure in the tech and healthcare industries, currently serving as the CEO of Alto Pharmacy. Before her role at Alto, she had a 25-year career at General Motors (GM), rising from an intern to executive vice president of global manufacturing, labor relations, and sustainability.

2009 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has more than 2,000 peer-elected members who are ranked among the world’s most accomplished engineers. Notable members include the 2009 Women of Color Technologist of the Year, Norma B. Clayton. She was elected in 2022. Ms. Clayton was recognized for transforming manufacturing processes and supply chain management.

2007 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: Hundreds of Northrop Grumman (NG) employees have been recognized with Women of Color science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) awards, for exemplary work as role models and mentors, and for helping to shape the future of technology. Since 1996, two Northrop women have won the top Technologist of the Year Award.

2005 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: Nancy Stewart was the first Black woman to be appointed vice president at IBM in 1991. Her R&D team developed the hardware and software for the market-leading 4381 computer system. She retired from the multinational technology company after 30 years. In 2005, Stewart became Walmart’s chief technology officer (CTO).

2003 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: When she won the 2003 Women of Color Technologist of the Year award, Vallerie Parrish-Porter was responsible for the strategic direction of Hewlett-Packard’s information technology (IT) resources. Parrish-Porter held major positions as a chief information officer and comptroller in Fortune 500 companies during her career. She was recognized for breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry.

2001 Women of Color Technologist of the Year: During her decades-long career, Sherita Ceasar established many firsts, including launching the first Comcast Universal Caller ID cross-platform application, remote DVR, Comcast Content Distribution Network, and Cloud DVR platforms. Prior, she led paging operations for Motorola, technology integration at SciCare Broadband Services, and launch quality at Scientific Atlanta and Charter Communications.