Two Fairfield County entrepreneurs were among nine women honored by the Connecticut Technology Council at its annual Women of Innovation awards dinner.
The dinner, now in its ninth year, recognizes Connecticut business women, students and educators in the fields of technology, science and engineering.
The event began when some of the state”™s biggest manufacturers, pharmaceutical firms and technology developers sought out a forum to recognize and promote women within their companies and within the state, said Matthew Nemerson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Technology Council.
“They said, if we”™re going to grow, we have to have the most talented people and we want women to know our industries and our businesses, and that they can come here and they”™re going to be promoted and they”™re going to have power and responsibilities,” Nemerson said prior to the event.
Local winners included Cynthia Barnett, founder of Saturday Academy Inc. in Norwalk, who won the community innovation and leadership award.
Saturday Academy, a nonprofit scientific and educational enrichment program, was designed by Barnett as a means of sparking an interest among young girls in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields.
Kate Donahue, president of Hampford Research Inc., won the award for small business innovation and leadership.
The specialty chemical manufacturer, based in Stratford, serves companies in the electronics, dental, personal care and industrial adhesives markets.
Other winners include:
- Lili Armali, a biology teacher at the Academy of Aerospace & Engineering and the Greater Hartford Academy of Mathematics and Science, and Carolyn Slayman, deputy dean of academic and science affairs at the Yale School of Medicine, shared the award for academic innovation and leadership;
- Zhaohui Wang, a graduate student at the University of Connecticut”™s School of Engineering, won the award for collegian innovation and leadership;
- Meghan Brunaugh, chief marketing officer and co-founder of Combat2Career L.L.C., which is based in West Simsbury, won the award for entrepreneurial innovation and leadership;
- Maria Keilich, manager and systems engineer for United Technology Aerospace Systems, won the award for large business innovation and leadership;
- Yvonne Will, an associate research fellow for Pfizer Inc., which has facilities in Groton and New London, won the award for research innovation and leadership; and
- Shiyu Zhuang, a student at Amity Regional High School, won the award for youth innovation and leadership.
The event was sponsored by manufacturer United Technologies, Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp., a Ridgefield pharmaceutical firm, Covidien, a medical device manufacturer, and Day Pitney L.L.P., a law firm with offices across the state.
Nemerson said the innovators who the council hopes to reach out to are particularly savvy when it comes to establishing networks.
“We”™ve found that one of the really important skills in being an innovator is creating a network ”“ as we say, an ecosystem ”“ that you can plug into and look to to help bring value to your idea,” he said.
He added that people working in complex industries such as aerospace and biotechnology, as well as entrepreneurs, “benefit from knowing people who really do know how to create networks … and I think that”™s something a lot of these women excel at.”
“When you look at what people are accomplishing here,” Nemerson said, “they have whole teams around them and global networks around them and these women are the hubs.”
Nemerson said leading executives like Facebook Inc. CFO Sheryl Sandberg only help to raise the awareness of initiatives the council is promoting.
“I think Sandberg has raised the tone of the debate, which is: Is it women who are holding women back or is it the culture … that is holding them back?” Nemerson said. “We feel that”™s one of the great things about Connecticut ”“ that we”™re ahead of the curve when it comes to having the right culture.”
