2019 Recipients of the Ada Lovelace Awards
APPLIED SCIENCE MANAGER / SOFTWARE DEV. ENGINEER
ATLANTA, GA AND JACKSON, MS
Dr. Nashlie Sephus
Software Engineer RECIPIENT
Dr. Nashlie Sephus leads the Amazon Visual Search & AR - Atlanta team, which launched visual search for replacement parts on the Amazon Shopping app in June 2018. This technology was a result of former startup Partpic (Atlanta) being acquired by Amazon in 2016, for which she was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Recently, Dr. Sephus became founder and CEO of The Bean Path non-profit organization based in Jackson, MS assisting individuals with technical expertise and guidance.
2019 Past NOMINEES for Software Engineer
Courtney Caldwell
TECH FOUNDER RECIPIENT
Courtney Caldwell is the Cofounder & COO of ShearShare, the first on-demand salon and barbershop space rental app. Prior to cofounding ShearShare--Google Demo Day winner 2018 and Startup of the Year--she managed an award-winning salon with her husband and cofounder, which was the genesis behind ShearShare. Before that, Courtney spent two decades building winning teams in tech marketing. She recently received an honorary doctorate degree from Miracle University and was named a 2018 Dallas Business Journal Women in Technology.
2019 Past NOMINEES for TECH FOUNDER
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS ENABLEMENT STRATEGY
BAY ST. LOUIS, MS
Rebekah E. Wilke
PRODUCT MANAGER RECIPIENT
Rebekah E. Wilke serves as director of business enablement strategy for Swimlane. In previous roles, including her tenure with the U.S. Army, Wilke led teams of analysts, engineers, incident responders and managers to secure some of the most high-profile networks in the public and private sectors. For a decade, Wilke has been a steadfast leader in the cybersecurity community and she is often sought after for her cybersecurity thought leadership and expertise.
Lynsey Jordan Gwin
Ui/ux designer RECIPIENT
As designer and developer of 10+ years, Lynsey is a problem-solver who executes with efficiency and empathy. Lynsey is a co-founder for Activate Conference, a local yearly conference that teaches young adults about the career opportunities in the interactive design and development field.
2019 Past NOMINEES for UI/UX
Dr. Julie Cwikla
STEM EDUCATOR RECIPIENT
Julie Cwikla, Ph.D. is the Director of Creativity & Innovation in STEM at the University of Southern Mississippi, housed in the Office of the Vice President for Research. Dr. Cwikla holds a doctoral degree in Mathematics Education, with a minor in Applied Mathematics from the University of Delaware and studied under the direction of Dr. James Hiebert. She also holds a master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Chemistry from Fairfield University. Julie has been awarded over $12 million dollars in federal funds to support her ongoing research in STEM education and development. She is a National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award Recipient. She has designed, led, and studied professional learning for STEM women faculty in higher education, directed out-of-school interdisciplinary STEM and coding programs for middle school students, developed all-girl Hackathons, examined very young children's intuitive understanding of fraction concepts through technology, studied teachers' use of handheld technology in STEM classes, designed transdisciplinary STEM lessons for middle and high school classrooms, and growing algae on Mars with support from NASA. She is the author of over 40 publications, including book chapters, journal articles, monographs, and technical reports with national publishers and professional journals in STEM education. Her new book Good to Great Grant Writing: Secrets to Success will release Spring 2019.
2019 PAST NOMINEES FOR STEM EDUCATOR:
Laurel Hess
DIGITAL MARKETING RECIPIENT
Laurel Hess is the Founder/CEO of hampr, an on-demand laundry start up. She is also the President of Rally Marketing, a digital marketing agency in Lafayette, LA. As the former Sales & Marketing Manager of the Superdome, Arena & Champions Square, Laurel has 12+ years of marketing and PR experience.