WOMEN OF COLOR AWARD WINNERS 2013 SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Rhonda Brown Senior Business Manager and Vendor Liaison AT&T
Joan D. Wada Technical Fellow, Systems Engineer Networks and Space Systems Boeing Defense, Space and Security
J
Tehnical Innovation in Industry
oan Wada holds 17 U.S. patents for scientific instruments, as well as various other proprietary papers. She is a distinguished
Boeing Technical Fellow, an honor bestowed on only the top one percent of all 60,000 engineers at Boeing. Wada has accumulated various awards and accolades over her 25 year career including completing a challenging TSAS re-design for the P-8 Anti-Subma- rine Warfare aircraft ahead of schedule. Her finished product was 25 percent less expensive to produce. She was recently instrumen- tal in assisting Boeing to gain a profitable classified contract. Wa- da’s long list of awards include; a 2003 Women of Color All-Star; a Professional Excellence Award (2003) from Boeing; the Asian American Engineer of the Year Award, 2007, from the Chinese Institute of Engineering; an Outstanding Merit Award, 2008, from the Orange County Engineering Council; and, most recently, a Boeing Lean+ 10x Cost Reduction, Lean Validated Cost Reduction Honor, 2012. She currently holds Board positions with the IEEE and the Chinese Institute of Engineers, as well as memberships with Boeing Women in Leadership, the Amelia Earhart Society and the Boeing Asian-American Professional Association, as well as the U.S Figure Skating Association. She currently works with the U.S. Navy and is responsible for generating revenue and business, up to $400 million for Boeing. Wada also is an active volunteer and mentor. “I was fortunate to have been raised in a family who worked hard and supported each other. I was even more fortu- nate to have friends with high aspirations and carried me along. But looking back, my most memorable and career deciding men- tor was my math high school teacher. He was the most generous man, who took his own personal time in the summer, to teach a math class to a small group of students to keep us “on-track” for college. Can you believe that? Not that he taught the class, but that I actually took the class! But for that, I am forever grateful to him for making me the engineer that I am today.”
www.womenofcolor.net
responsible for planning, designing, implementing and support- ing the AT&T internal enterprise data LAN/WAN communication network for all AT&T throughout the U.S. and in several overseas regions. In this role she handles annual revenues of more than $100 million and oversees 500 employees at 125,000 IT/retail outlets. Brown joined Ameritech/SBC as a collection representa- tive with no previous IT experience in 2000, but led the Midwest for revenue for 10 consecutive months. In 2008, she moved to Dallas to manage logistics for ITON’s streamlining processes, spearheading a program that allowed IT to implement 22 percent more internal/external networks while maintaining a 99 percent SLA rating. In this position she also negotiated an unprecedented agreement with Cisco, which led to $12 million in new revenues. Last year Brown received the Women of Color STEM award for Professional Achievement. She holds a bach- elor’s degree in management and a Six Sigma Green Belt. She regularly volunteers her services to educate youth on physi- cal, sexual, and emotional abuse. She is also an annual Junior Achievement volunteer, which empowers young people to own their economic success and is a regular participant of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Perhaps all this was inspired by her private life. Brown was born and raised in inner-city Detroit by a single mother who taught her the value of work ethic, persever- ance, integrity, sacrifice and spirituality. When the family’s house burnt down at age 9, Brown, her mother and sister were left homeless for two years. Brown is now married with two children, but the untimely passing of her sister to cancer in 2009 added two new and much loved members to the household. She is also a proud soccer mom.
R
Priyadarshini Bajoria Assoc. VP and Group Manager - Client Services (FSI) and Geo-Cluster Head (NY/NJ) Infosys Ltd
group manager (client services) and associate vice president of financial services and insurance, as well as geo-cluster head for New York/New Jersey and Member of Management Council with a global innovator in business consulting and information technology services. Her primary function with the company is
D WOMENOFCOLOR | FALL 2013 41
esignated as a Tier 2 leader, Priyadarshini Bajoria is in the top 25 percent of the Infosys employee base. Bajoria is a
honda Brown is a business manager and vendor liaison who manages forward and reverse logistics for AT&T. She is
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84