2026 Women Worth Watching® in Leadership Awards
Profiles in Leadership Journal™ cordially invites you to participate in our 25th annual Women Worth Watching® in Leadership Awards
Accepting nominations through April 17, 2026
PLJ – Q4 2025 Issue
Featured Articles
The AI Impact: Managing the AI-Human Hybrid Workforce
There’s an elephant in the room that many organizations are still reluctant to acknowledge: AI is here, already working alongside your employees and reshaping how business gets done.
From 2% to Powerhouse: How Women Investors Are Rewriting the Venture Playbook
In the venture capital world, a stark reality persists. Only 2% of VC funding goes to women-led startups.
Navigating the Path to Public Board Service: A Journey in Progress
Despite significant efforts to diversify corporate leadership, women still face substantial hurdles in securing public board seats.
The Unwritten Rule of Leadership: How Empathy Delivers Results
Why do aggressive leadership styles capture headlines while empathetic leaders quietly deliver exceptional results?
Latest Press Releases
Profiles in Leadership Journal Announces the 2025 Women Worth Watching® in Leadership Honorees
Cleveland, OH (August 1, 2025)
Featured Series
PLJ – Magazine Issue – Q1 2025 – Award Winners
2025 Latino & Hispanic Leadership Award Winners
- Akin – Sergio Urias – Partner
- allnex USA – Juan Garcia – Director, Supply Chain Americas
- Crossroads Impact Corp – Eric Donnelly – CEO
- DailyPay – Gregory (“Goyo”) Schipilliti – Director of International
- Dechert LLP – Bernardo L. Piereck de Sá – Partner
- Hughes Hubbard & Reed – Gaela Gehring Flores – Partner
- Hughes Hubbard & Reed – Emilio Saiz – Partner
- IQ Academy Los Angeles – Ana Navarro De Ruiz – Engagement Coach
- Knobbe Martens – Mauricio A. Uribe – Partner
- Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP – Josue Villalta – Partner
- L’ATTITUDE Ventures – Laura Moreno Lucas – General Partner
- Latham & Watkins – Santiago Bejarano – Partner
- Latham & Watkins – Guido Liniado – Partner
- New American Funding – Patty Arvielo – Co-Founder and CEO
- New York Life – Will Colon – Vice President and Head of Foundational Business Operations & Shared Services
- Newmark – Jimena Sayavedra – Associate Director
- Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP – Jesika Silva Blanco – Partner
- Project Bread – Adriana Mendes-Sheldon – Director of Community Partnerships
- Prosperity Now – Marisa Calderon – President & CEO
- RWJBarnabas Health – Teresa Di Elmo – Chief Nursing Officer & Vice President for Patient Care Services
- Salazar Law – Luis Salazar – Partner
- Stretto – Leticia Sanchez – Managing Director
- Stride/K12 – Pamela Anzaldua – High School Teacher
- Stride Inc. – Paola Stauffer – High School Spanish Teacher
- Stride, Inc. – Inez Azucena Ventura-Jackson – Career Learning Program Coordinator
- Transamerica – Gus Ortega – Head of Operational & Nonfinancial Risk Management
- Union Pacific Railroad – Ashanti Mieres – Director Mexico Marketing and Sales
- WilmerHale – Josh Lerner – Partner
2025 Emerging Leaders Award Q1 Winners
- DiCello Levitt LLP – Sara Aguiñiga – Partner
- Gibbons P.C. – Courtney A. Johnson – Government & Regulatory Affairs Attorney
- Lighthouse – Dawn Kelly Garrison, Esq. – Senior Manager Proposal Marketing
- Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP – Alicia Grant – Partner
- Prosperity Now – Jason Wallace – VP of Community Impact
- Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight – Carolin Guentert – Partner, Co-Managing Partner, New York office, Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight and Co-Chair
- Tallo – Allison Danielsen – CEO
- Union Pacific Railroad – Greg Thompson – Superintendent Train Operations
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP – Tania Faransso – Partner
PLJ – Magazine Issue – Q2 2025 – Award Winners
2025 Women Worth Watching® in STEAM Award
- BeOne Medicines – Melika Davis – SVP, Global Clinical Operations
- Berklee College of Music – Taneshia Nash Laird – Associate Professor, Africana Studies
- Dechert LLP – Nisha Patel Gupta – Partner
- Fish & Richardson – Crystal Culhane – Principal
- Fish & Richardson – Excylyn Hardin-Smith – Principal
- Knobbe Martens – Kimberly J. Miller, Ph.D. – Partner
- Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP – Shelley C. Danek, Ph.D. – Partner
- New York Life Investments – Amanda Gallagher – Managing Director, Global Head of Data and Tech Solutions
- NYC Health + Hospitals – Danielle DiBari – Chief Pharmacy Officer, Chief Procurement Officer, Senior Vice President Business Operations
- Orbital Engineering, Inc. – Mallori Barg – Director of Business Operations – Utility Services
- Oregon State University – Elizabeth Tomasino – Professor of enology
- Robins Kaplan LLP – Emily E. Niles – Partner
- The Norton Law Firm PC – Esther Kim Chang – Partner
- Trilyon, Inc. – Carolyn Joshua – President & CEO
- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati P.C. – Eva F. Yin – Partner
2025 Asian Leadership Award Winners
- Akin – Inderveer Hothi – Partner
- Akin – Hyongsoon Kim – Head of the Consumer Class Action Practice
- Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, LLP – Sabrina Wang – Partner
- Oncourse Home Solutions – Sylvia Chen – Head of Total Rewards
- Oncourse Home Solutions – Arul Sugunakumar – CTO, Oncourse Home Solutions
- PENN Entertainment – Jane Nguyen – VP of Human Resource Operations
- Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP – Khue Hoang – Co-Managing Partner, New York Office
- Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP – Qiaijing ‘Ella’ Zheng – Managing Partner- Palo Alto and San Francisco offices and Chair of Asian American Litigation and Finance Practice
- Stretto – James M. Le – President & Chief Operating Officer
- The Norton Law Firm PC – Wendy J. Ray – Partner
- Webster Bank – Tammy Leisen – Senior Managing Director of Government Banking
2025 Team Leadership Award Winners
- Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP – BLB&G’S Case Development And Client Advisory Group
- PRF Institute – THE PRF Teaching Ministry
2025 Mentoring Leadership Award Winners
- Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP – Hannah Ross – Partner and Member of the Firm’s Executive Committee and Board
- Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP – Katie Sinderson – Partner
- Colonial Pipeline – Melanie Little – President, Chief Executive Officer
- Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight – Kate Mueting – Firm Administrative Partner; Discrimination and Harassment Practice Group Co-Chair
- Winston & Strawn LLP – Kobi Kennedy Brinson – Partner; Chair, Opportunity & Inclusion Committee; Co-Chair, Financial Services Industry Group
2025 Emerging Leaders Award Q2 Winners
- Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP – Rebecca Boon – Partner
- Tallo – Hannah Bullard – Head of Employer and Workforce Partnerships
PLJ – Magazine Issue – Q3 2025 – Award Winners
2025 Women Worth Watching® in Leadership Award Winners
- Akin – Amy Kennedy – Partner
- Akin – Parvin Moyne – Partner
- allnex USA – Eileen Weber – R&D Director Americas
- Arrow Electronics – Kim Brown Wilmsen – Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
- Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP – Lindsey Strang Aberg – Counsel
- Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna LLP – Jillian Raines – Partner
- Dechert LLP – Allison Fumai – Partner
- FUJIFILM Biotechnologies – Maja Pedersen – Chief Operating Officer
- Gibbons P.C. – Mary Frances Palisano – Director, Business & Commercial Litigation Group; Child Advocacy Team Leader; Pro Bono Chair; Coordinator of the Gibbons Cares Pro Bono Platform
- Globality Inc. – Sonia Mathai – Chief Human Resources Officer
- Hanson Bridgett LLP – Shannon M. Nessier – Sacramento Market Leader, Partner
- HARMAN International – Traci Perry – Senior Vice President, Controlling, Lifestyle Division
- Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP – Amina Hassan – Partner
- Knobbe Martens – Andrea Cheek – Partner
- Knobbe Martens – Carol Pitzel Cruz – Partner
- Merz Aesthetics – Terri Phillips, MD, MPH – Global Chief Medical Affairs Officer
- New York Life – Ridhika Nayar – CFO Technology, Data, AI & Ventures
- Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP – Christine Fernandez Owen – Co-Head of Projects Real Estate, United States
- Oncourse Home Solutions – Marlo J. Gaal – Chief People and Diversity Officer
- Oncourse Home Solutions – Marguerite (Meg) Hillock – Director of External Affairs and Partnerships
- Oncourse Home Solutions – Zisan Tekin – SVP, General Management and Operations
- Pagaya – Tami Rosen – Board Member, Chief Development Officer, Chair of Advisory Board
- Prosperity Now – Chrissi Johnson – Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer
- Pryor Cashman – Katherine C. Reilly – Partner
- Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP – Sarah Jorgensen – Founding Partner
- Renita Marshall Helping Hands Foundation – Renita Marshall – Founder & President
- Robins Kaplan LLP – Jamie Kurtz – Partner, Co-Chair of the Health Care Litigation Group
- Stretto – Kavita Sarma – Managing Director, Client Services
- Texas Tech Health El Paso – Gloria M. Loera, DNP, RN, NEA-BC – Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director
- UnitedLex – Renee Meisel – CEO
2025 Veteran Leadership Award Winners
- DailyPay – Alexander Haig – Vice President, Public Sector, DailyPay
- New York Life – Christopher M. Mulch – MBA Partner
- Norton Rose Fulbright – Juanmarcos Bañales – Associate
- PENN Entertainment – Sean Demeule – Vice President and General Manager
2025 Native American/Indigenous Leadership Award Winners
- Special Olympics – Tyler Fryberg – Building Bridges Project Coordinator
2025 Emerging Leaders Award Q3 Winners
- DailyPay – Gregory (Goyo) Schipilliti Cid – Director of International and Head of Latino Segment
- Ivy Planning Group – Alex Smith – Vice President, Recruiting
- Ivy Planning Group – Bradley Smith – Consultant and Project Manager
- Ivy Planning Group – Gary Smith II – Business Development
- Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP – Eagle Robinson – Head of Patents, United States























