Women in Comms extends congratulations to the most inspiring woman of the year, Heather Kirksey, and female tech pioneer of the year, Nithya Ramanathan.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

May 16, 2017

2 Min Read
Congratulations to WiC's Newest Leading Lights

Women in Comms capped off a productive, insightful and fun afternoon spent discussing the future of technology and the progress being made for women in the industry by recognizing two women who are leading the charge on technology and making a material difference for women in comms.

Congratulations to the our newest 2017 Leading Lights:

Most Inspiring Woman in Comms: Heather Kirksey, Executive Director, Open Platform for NFV Project Inc.

Figure 2: OPNFV's Heather Kirksey strikes an inspiring pose in between Heavy Reading's Roz Roseboro and Light Reading's Liz Coyne. OPNFV's Heather Kirksey strikes an inspiring pose in between Heavy Reading's Roz Roseboro and Light Reading's Liz Coyne.

Hedy Lamarr Award for Female Tech Pioneer of the Year: Nithya Ramanathan, President & Co-Founder, Nexleaf Analytics

Figure 1: Nextleaf's Nithya Ramanathan accepts her award from Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre as the paparazzi and audience looks on. Nextleaf's Nithya Ramanathan accepts her award from Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre as the paparazzi and audience looks on.

You can read more about why our winners were chosen, as well as the other deserving finalists, in the following blogs:

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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