Announcing 2026 Honorees

YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley Announces Tribute to Women Award Honorees

Annual event celebrates extraordinary women leaders and allies advancing inclusion, integrity and empowerment across the Bay Area

(San Jose, CA March 10, 2026, 9:00 a.m.) – YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley proudly announces the 2026 Tribute to Women Awards, an inspiring annual celebration honoring exceptional women leaders and allies whose work advances inclusion, integrity, and empowerment throughout the Bay Area and beyond. The 2026 Tribute to Women Awards will take place on April 30, 2026 at the Santa Clara Marriott, bringing together community leaders, advocates, corporate partners, and supporters for an evening of recognition, storytelling, and impact.

A limited number of tickets and tables are available for purchase at bit.ly/TRIBUTE2026, along with a complete list of the 2026 Honorees and participating Bay Area companies. 

“For more than a century, YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley has worked to eliminate racism and empower women,” said Adriana Caldera Boroffice, CEO of YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley. “The Tribute to Women Awards is a powerful reminder that progress happens because of bold, visionary leaders who challenge inequity and open doors for others. Our 2026 honorees embody that spirit. We are proud to celebrate their impact and amplify their stories.”

Tribute to Women Awards salutes those corporations whose policies and practices encourage women’s leadership and promote equal advancement opportunities for women of diverse backgrounds. Proceeds from the awards dinner directly support YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley’s operations to provide programs including workforce development, housing support, childcare, violence prevention education, crisis support and racial justice initiatives that serve thousands of Bay Area women and families each year.

The evening will feature a reception, dinner, and award presentations.

2026 TRIBUTE TO WOMEN AWARD RECIPIENTS

Tribute to Women Honorees

• Janine Bruce, DrPH, MPH, Co-Director, Office of Child Health Equity, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine
• Nancy Capelli, Senior Director, Software Monetization, NVIDIA
• Nancy Darma, Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Engagements, Cisco
• Heather Dickinson, VP, Corporate and Product Communications, Cisco
• Amber Emery, Project Executive, Blach Construction Company
• Mari Fuentes-Martin, Vice President for Student Affairs, San Jose State University
• Kate Grasman, Chief Information Officer, Heffernan Insurance Brokers
• Cristi Green, Vice President of Cloud Sales, Seagate Technology
• Winnie Hsu, Engineering Director – Embedded System Software, NVIDIA
• So Jung Kim, Director, Pricing Head, Product Marketing, Applied Materials
• Natalie Komovich, Director, Performance Laboratory, NVIDIA
• Mythili Kumar, Artistic Director, Abhinaya Dance Company
• Kaitlin Lemei, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Urgent Care, Sutter Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group
• Tracey Lewis Taylor, MPH, FACHE, Chief Operating Officer, El Camino Health
• Liana Louie, Director of Inclusion & Belonging, Sutter Health – Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Melina McLarty, VP-Product Experience, HashiCorp, IBM
• Kate Nichols, Partner, Cooley LLP
• Meena Pai, MD, Physician in Chief, Kaiser Permanente
• Christine Santiago, MD, MPH, Associate Chair, Community Partnership, Stanford Health Care
• Annie Shain, Vice President, Americas Services & Software, Cisco
• Kimberly Shiveley, Director of Development, Security, and Content, IBM
• Arlene Spilker, Advanced Practice Clinician Manager, Pediatrics, Sutter Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group
• Linda S Alexander, Vice President, Democratic Activists for Women Now (DAWN)
• Sarah Wozny, Senior Director, Advanced Packaging Disruptive Technology, Applied Materials

Emerging Leaders

• Aliya Kassam, MEng, Mechanical Engineer, Applied Materials
• Stella Landers, Flagship Events Keynote Production Coordinator, Cisco
• Jennifer Nguyen, Physical Therapist Assistant, Sutter Health-Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Ranjani Ravindrabharathy, Data Scientist, Applied Materials

Nonprofit Excellence

• Antoinette Renee Battiste, Chair, Board of Directors, YWCA of the Mid-Peninsula Donor Advised Fund
• Keisha Browder, Chief Executive Officer, United Way Bay Area
• Elise Lalor, Executive Director, Monkey Tail Ranch
• Dr. Simone Lundquist, PhD, Founder and Executive Director, Open Doors to Future Possibilities
• Lisa Mallette, Executive Artistic Director, City Lights Theater Company

Women on the Rise

• Sharon Chan MS CGC MPH, Director, Clinical Genetics and Pharmacy Services, Sutter Health-Palo Alto Medical Foundation
• Ganga Devadas, Director, Hardware Engineering, Cisco
• Seema Kumar, Principal Engineer, NVIDIA
• Randa Hinton, Head of AI Industry Thought Leadership, NVIDIA
• Arlen McDaniel, VP. Sr. Market Development Manager, Technology Credit Union (Tech CU)
• Hsinyu (Sidney) Tsai, PhD, Principal Research Scientist, IBM
• Yan (Catherine) Wu, Program Director, Db2 for z/OS, IBM

Ally Award

• Ginger Bryan, Director Non-Tech Project and Program Management, Applied Materials

Media Contact: Trish Carter, (702) 343-4047, tcarter@yourywca.org