Ingrid Dos Santos

Digital Inclusion Program Specialist and Digital Literacy Trainer at Free Geek

Best Contributor: Agent of Access award went to Ingrid Dos Santos, who is directly supporting community access technology through her work at Free Geek. In a year where being connected through technology has been more crucial than ever, she has made sure that people can receive the tech they need for school and work. Dos Santos sharply focuses on those who experience the most marginalization in our community and uses an intersectional lens in all of her work. As part of this award, a donation of $500 was made to NAYA in Ingrid Dos Santos' name.

Crystal Sincoff

Manager of Workplace Experience, Diversity & Inclusion at Zapproved

Best Contributor: Cultivator of Community, went to Crystal Sincoff. Sincoff has been co-facilitating the Diversity Discussion series for PDXWIT and worked to start up the new Inclusion Boost group. She has helped lead the PDXWIT annual PRIDE event two years in a row. In her day job at Zapproved, she has ensured employees feel connected, engaged and supported, bringing in guest speakers from all over the country for Zapproved’s DEI Lunch and Learn series. She continues to conduct training programs including Inclusive Language, Allyshift Training all centered around race, equity and inclusion. As part of this award, a donation of $500 was made in Crystal Sincoff's name to Adelante Mujeres.

Jackie Wirz

Executive Director at Saturday Academy

Best Speaker was decided live by the audience of the 2020 Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony after hearing from finalists Donna Hammond, Daelynn Moyer and Jackie Wirz. Three incredibly compelling and vulnerable lightning talks were given, and Wirz ultimately won the award with her talk "Mental Health Matters: Reflecting on the past to see the future clearly." Per Wirz' request, a donation was made in the name of all three finalists to NAYA.

ASIA KANE

Software Engineer at Opal

Asia Kane, 2019's Best Contributor, is a passionate and dedicated individual who helps lead the Diversity and Inclusion Club at Opal Software and has made genuine efforts to improve the culture there. Her peers describe her as reliable, accountable, and, to quote, “one of the best people I have ever had the privilege to work with”. Asia is a source of support and a leader in every sphere of her influence.

PDXWIT has made a $1000 donation in Asia's name to the non-profit of her choice; she chose Girls Build.

Miki Demeter

Security Researcher at Intel

Best Speaker was decided live at the PDXWIT Annual Awards Celebration on December 11th and went to Miki Demeter. Miki's nomination was for her talk at a June PDXWIT event "We're Out Here: Queer Folks Talk Work, Tech and Life." Her powerful talk honored the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and shared her personal and professional journey towards the woman she is today.

Miki selected NAYA for her $1000 donation and requested it be made in the name of all three finalists.

Perry Eising

Community Strategy and Management at Netify

Perry was chosen as the 2018 Best Contributor for providing tremendous and transformative guidance on creating safe, welcoming and empowering spaces for all genders.

PDXWIT has donated $1000 in Perry's name to Rose Haven, a day shelter and community center serving women, children and gender non-conforming folks experiencing the trauma of abuse, loss of home and other disruptive life challenges.

Tiffany Longworth

Site Reliability Engineer at Zapproved

Tiffany was one of three finalists for Best Speaker and after a runoff with the other finalists clinched the title for her 3 minute lightning talk entitled: "DevOps Preppers: What the Zombie Apocalypse Can Teach Us About Incident Management."

PDXWIT has donated $1000 in Tiffany's name to Black Girls Code, an organization providing young and pre-teen girls of color opportunities to learn in-demand skills in technology and computer programming.

Katharine Nester

Chief Product and Technology Officer at Ruby Receptionists

Katharine was chosen as the Best Contributor of 2017 as a result of her relentless efforts and accomplishments in closing the gender gap in tech by achieving a sought-after employee base of 50% women, including engineering roles.

PDXWIT has donated $2000 in Katharine's name to the Girls Inc., Eureka! program, an actionable initiative, making real progress for diversity in the pipeline of talent for our industry.

Tanya Crenshaw

Senior Software Engineer at New Relic

Tanya was chosen as the Best Speaker of 2017 after being nominated by our community for her lead role in our "Become a Workplace Ally" and officially selected as the winner for her performance at the Women + Tech Holiday Party Best Speaker runoff.

PDXWIT has donated $2000 in Tanya's name to Rose Haven, a day shelter and community center serving women, children and gender non-conforming folks experiencing the trauma of abuse, loss of home and other disruptive life challenges.