Tribute to Women Awards 2025 Honorees
EMERGING LEADERS
These exceptional women are in the first five years of their careers overall but show strong evidence of leadership and eventual executive potential.
Allison Yau, Senior Manager, Process Engineer, Applied Materials
Geraldine Angeles, Digital Immersion Associate, NBC Bay Area
Keerthana Bhuthala, Senior Systems Software Engineer, NVIDIA
Neha Mathur, Sr. Manager , Applications Engineering, Synopsys
Sarah J. Taketa, Project Specialist – Chief Sustainability Office, Cisco
Stephanie Meneses Tchikovani, Marketing Communications II, Applied Materials
NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE
This award is open to any woman leader at a 501c3 nonprofit organization, whose work has a primary impact in the Bay Area, and has an area of influence in advancing racial justice; supporting, mentoring, and empowering young professionals; promoting mental health, wellness and/or access to health care; or advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
Ann Watts, Executive Director, Starting Arts
Kari A. Cordero, MSN, PMHNP-BC, SANE-A/P, Executive Director, Napa Solano Sane Sart
Kathy Hovsmith, Director of Marketing & Communications, Bowman School
Dr. Lena Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Urban Alchemy
Suzanne St. John-Crane, MA, Chief Executive Officer, American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley
TRIBUTE TO WOMEN
This award is open to any woman who leads a project, team, department, division, or organization whose work has a primary impact in the Bay Area, and who, as a leader, has an area of influence in advancing racial justice; supporting, mentoring, and empowering young professionals; promoting mental health, wellness and/or access to health care; or advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
Alice Miyai, Sr Director of Business Operations, NVIDIA
Bhavani Gopalakrishna Rao, Director of System SW Engineering, NVIDIA
Carolina Camarena, Director of Communications, City of San José
Claire Hockin, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Cisco
Colleen Johnson, MPA-HSA, Senior Director, Community Health & Partnership, Stanford Health Care
Deanna W Dudley, JD, MBA, Chief Human Resources Officer, El Camino Health
Ekua Nayena Taylor Walker, PNP- C, Pediatric Development and Behavior Nurse Practitioner, Innovations, Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group
Elaine C He, R&D Engineering Sr. Director, Synopsys
Grace Liu, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Seagate Technology
Hali Forstner, PhD, Vice President and Chief-of-Staff of Applied Global Services, Applied Materials
Jamila C. Martin MD, MPH, Department Chair, South Bay Allergy/Immunology, Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group, Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group
Jean Sud, Managing Director, Enterprise Strategy, Stanford Medicine
Jessica Migaki, Pharm.D., Director, Pharmacy Care Delivery, Acute Care Pharmacy, Kaiser Permanente South Bay and Central Coast
Kelly Petrich, Director, Community Impact and Inclusive Communities, Cisco
Kristie Tacey, Owner and Winemaker, Tessier Winery
Mei-cheng Huang, Sr. Director of R&D engineer, Synopsys
Michelle Lonaker-Lavine, Executive Director/Corporate & Wellness Events Director, Heffernan Foundation/Heffernan Insurance Brokers
Nathalie Baracaldo, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Master Inventor, IBM
Sarah Tariq, VP Autonomous Vehicles, NVIDIA
Sami Maritza Monsur, AVP, for Academic Business & Strategic Operations, San Jose State University
Seow Lim, Head of Product Management – Data Center, NVIDIA
Sheila Hatch, President and Creative Director, Decca Design
Shirley Lu, Senior Director, R&D Engineering, Synopsys
Suja Viswesan, Vice President – Security and Runtime Products, IBM
Tanya Moniz-Witten, President, San Jose Water
Teri Nissen, Director, Technical Program Management, Applied Materials
Tijana Martinovic Brien, Partner, Cooley
Vickie Wong, SVP & Chief Accounting Officer, Cisco
Weiti Li, Director, Technical Program Management, Applied Materials
Whitney Harris, Market Manager, Walmart
Yomi Sachiko Young, Director, Civil Rights Compliance, Sutter Health
Yulan Wang, Scientist, Synopsys
