2016 NCWIT Summit on Women in IT Kicks Off Today in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, May 16, 2016 -- The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) will hold its annual "NCWIT Summit on Women and IT: practices and ideas to revolutionize computing" on Monday, May 16 through Wednesday, May 18 just outside Red Rock Canyon, Nevada. At this three-day event (ncwit.org/summit), more than 700 change leaders from the NCWIT community of educators, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and social scientists will focus on improving inclusion and diversity in computing.
The speaker lineup of renowned experts and special guests include:

• Madeline Di Nonno, CEO, Geena Davis Institute
• Dave Filoni, Executive Producer / Supervising Director, Star Wars Rebels
• Moritz Hardt, Senior Research Scientist, Google Research
• Melissa Harris-Perry, Presidential Endowed Chair in Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest University
• Ben Jones, Professor of Strategy and the Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship, Kellogg School of Management
• Patricia Russo, Chairman, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

"It takes the collective passion of change leaders from around the country to perform this urgent and important work in increasing the meaningful participation of women in computing," said NCWIT CEO and Co-founder Lucy Sanders. "By utilizing research-based strategies for promising and sustainable results, the NCWIT community is driven to meet the demands for diversity in the technology industry, leading to a more innovative and competitive workforce."
Additional headlining presenters include:

• Susan M. Armstrong, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm, Inc.
• Jane Condon, Comedian
• Madeline Di Nonno, CEO, Geena Davis Institute
• Mo Fong, Director, K-12 Education Outreach, Google
• Jeff Forbes, Associate Professor of the Practice of Computer Science and Associate Dean, Trinity College at Duke University
• Luz M. Gonzalez, Senior Vice President of Solutions Delivery, AT &T
• Daron Green, Managing Director, Microsoft Research Outreach
• Maggie Johnson, Director of Education and University Relations, Google
• Alicia A. Lebrija Hirschfeld, Executive President, Fundación Televisa A.C.1
• Matt Wallaert, East Coast Lead and Behavioral Scientist, Microsoft Ventures
• Avis Yates Rivers, President and CEO, Technology Concepts Group International, LLC
• Yunfei Xu, Global Head of Engineering, Portfolio Risk Analytics and Index Products, Bloomberg LP
• Janice Zdankus, Vice President, Quality, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

View the 2016 Summit agenda (ncwit.org/summit/agenda) for all participants. Plenary events will be live streamed via the NCWIT website (ncwit.org/livestream), giving change leaders for women in tech in remote locations access to thought-provoking insights in real time. Videos and presentations will be available following the conclusion of the Summit (ncwit.org/summit/archives).

The 2016 NCWIT Summit is sponsored by NCWIT Strategic and Investment Partners with production and live streaming support from Media Partners Johnson & Johnson, JupiterReturn, and SWIFT. Additional support is provided by Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor, Link Technologies, as well as USAA.

About NCWIT

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit change leader network of more than 700 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women's meaningful participation in computing. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources and platforms for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers. Find out more at ncwit.org.

NCWIT receives significant financial support from Lifetime Partner Apple; Strategic Partners NSF, Microsoft, Bank of America, Google, Intel, and Merck; as well as from Investment Partners Avaya, Pfizer, AT &T, Bloomberg, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. View all of NCWIT's supporters at ncwit.org/about/supporters.

A photo accompanying this release is available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=40267

CONTACT: Adriane Bradberry
         Communications Director, NCWIT
         [email protected]
         303.492.5213