Women in Consumer Technology (WiCT) has named the six recipients of its 2019 Legacy Awards. The awards honor exceptional women who are transforming the consumer technology industry through leadership in the retail, sales and marketing, integration, publishing, and trade association segments. They will be recognized during the Women in Consumer Technology's annual networking reception on Jan. 8, 2019, during CES.
"It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since we started our proud CES tradition of recognizing truly inspirational women in the consumer technology industry," said Carol Campbell, founder, WiCT. "Year after year we've seen continued growth from women across all industry sectors, and a corresponding uptick in the number of impressive nominations we receive for the Legacy Awards. This year was the most difficult yet to select six recipients from such a talented pool, so congratulations to the class of 2019 for this hard-earned honor."
The 2019 winners are:
Melissa Andresko, communications director and spokesperson at Lutron Electronics. In her role, Andresko oversees the strategic creation and implementation of Lutron's residential North American public relations activities, including celebrity and industry relations. As Lutron's spokesperson, Andresko frequently appears on national and local television programs as a smart home expert and advocate, and speaks frequently at conferences aimed at the real estate and consumer markets. In October of 2018, Andresko was named One of the Most Powerful Women in Consumer Technology by Dealerscope magazine.
Alexandra Harding, director of vendor management, business & consumer solutions (BCS) at Ingram Micro. With over 28 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry, Harding brings her strong retail foundation, market insight, and key business relationships to her role, in which she oversees the strategic development of relationships among CTS's hundreds of tier-one manufacturing partners. Harding's forward thinking allows her to lead an expert team in identifying new trends and emerging vendors—and in developing creative, profitable solutions to capitalize on the opportunities in this dynamic technology space. She was recognized by Dealerscope as a Powerful Woman in Consumer Technology in 2016.
Bridget Karlin, global chief technology officer and VP of IBM's global technology services business. She is responsible for driving the corporate transformation by developing and delivering the IBM Services Platform with Watson. Karlin also leads innovation across the entire services delivery life cycle to facilitate the adoption of hybrid, multi-cloud, composable services, and IT as a Service. She currently serves on the executive board of directors of CTA/CES (Consumer Technology Association) and on the advisory board of Zynstra, a U.K.-based hybrid cloud software company. Karlin is a recipient of the 2016 Industrial IoT 5G Innovators award, the Malcolm Baldrige Software Quality award, and the BellSouth Technology Innovator award, and she listed in the top Fast 50 Tech CEOs.
Tiffany M. Moore, senior vice president of political and industry affairs for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Promoted to the newly created position in April 2018, Moore now holds an expanded role that includes overseeing CTA's U.S. Jobs, and Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. In addition, she leads the association's advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill on issues including communications and technology policy, patent litigation reform, strategic immigration reform, and international trade. She also oversees CTA's political action committee, CTAPAC. Moore's career in Washington, D.C., spans 20 years, and she has served in a variety of roles including stints as a senior advisor to Congress, corporate government relations executive, political appointee at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and strategic consultant to tech and telecom companies and trade associations.
Woman to Watch: Jennifer LaBollita, director of sales and marketing, InnerSpace Electronics Inc. Ambitious, passionate, and a team leader, LaBollita has been a part of the consumer electronics industry since 2012. With a core background in sales and marketing, she was a key player in the growth and development of Autonomic Controls, bringing a unique skill set across all facets of the organization that contributed to its acquisition in 2016. A strategic leader focused on building cross-functional teams—and rallying for one mission: to succeed—she has transitioned into her current role at InnerSpace Electronics.
Carol Campbell Inspiration Award: April Feller, chairman of the board for BGZ brands. Originally a small-screen protector website business started by Feller and her husband in 2002, BGZ brands is now the powerhouse parent company to three distinct brands of elevated value and quality—BodyGuardz, Lander, and Moxyo. BGZ brands is featured repeatedly as one of the fastest growing companies in publications including the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000, and it has earned many "Top Workplace" awards. In 2015, Feller and her husband created The Relief Haven Foundation, which fosters and promotes self-reliance through targeted assistance.
The annual Women in Consumer Technology networking reception will be held during CES 2019 on Jan. 8 from 7-9 p.m. The awards ceremony starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are now available for purchase online.
