San Jose, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 04/23/2013 --The year 1984 brought enforcement of the amended Equal Pay Act so women could earn the same pay as their male counterparts for the same work. Also that year, the YWCA Silicon Valley began shining a spotlight on women leaders in industry who broke those barriers. Nearly 30 years later, women executives will be honored in the YWCA’s Tribute to Women and Industry, (TWIN) Awards program.

“Our YWCA TWIN program brings two unique opportunities to the YWCA; we are able to recognize women of achievement in our community in an event that benefits and empowers women who have been affected by rape, domestic abuse or other life-changing tragedies,” said Dr. Keri McLain, CEO of the YWCA Silicon Valley. The honorees hold leadership positions in the healthcare, technology, public service and hospitality industries.

Thirty-six outstanding executive women will be honored with the YWCA TWIN Award; two will be named Emerging Leaders during the tribute, Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at the San Jose Fairmont, 170 South Market Street. The honorees and their companies will be recognized in the ceremony. We are proud to have SuccessFactors, an SAP Company, as the Presenting Sponsor. Other top event sponsors include: Gilead Sciences, Reception Sponsor; Intuit, Inc., Commemorative Awards Sponsor; IBM Corporation, Honoree Luncheon Sponsor and Cisco Systems, Annual Partner.

Proceeds from the YWCA TWIN Awards dinner support the many services of the YWCA Silicon Valley. Serving over 18,000 Santa Clara County residents, the YWCA provides programs in the areas of rape crisis, domestic violence, youth services, counseling services, licensed child care, and social and racial justice. The YWCA Silicon Valley is proud to provide services for more than 108 years in Santa Clara County. Its mission is to empower women, children and families, and eliminate racism, hatred and prejudice. While the special concerns of women provide the impetus for the YWCA services, programs are open to everyone. The YWCA Silicon Valley is located at 375 South Third Street, San Jose, CA 95112. For more information, contact (408) 295-4011 or visit http://www.ywca-sv.org.

For event information, contact Kelly Ramirez, Chief Development Officer at kramirez@ywca-sv.org or contact the YWCA at (408) 295-4011, x217.

2013 YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) Honorees

Cheryl Ainoa, SVP of Platform Engineering, Intuit Inc.
Nominated by: Brad Smith, President & CEO, Intuit Inc.

Hillary Barnhart, Senior Director, Business Operations, Applied Materials, Inc.
Nominated by: Jim Scholhamer, Coporate VP & General Manager, Applied Materials, Inc.

Linda Braly, Senior Director, Engineering, Lam Research
Nominated by: Martin Anstice, President and CEO, Lam Research

Leslye Corsiglia, Housing Director, City of San Jose
Nominated by: Debra Figone, City Manager, City of San Jose

Kelley Cosgrove, General Manager, Fairmont San Jose
Nominated by: Thomas Klein, Reg. VP & General Manager, Fairmont

Jenny Dearborn, MEd, MBA, Chief Learning Officer & VP Cloud Talent Success, SuccessFactors, an SAP Company
Nominated by: Lars Dalgaard, Founder and CEO of SuccessFactors and member of the Executive Board of SAP AG

Patrice D'Eramo, Vice President, Marketing, Cisco Systems
Nominated by: Chuck Robbins, SVP, Worldwide Sales, Cisco Systems

Lauren Larson Diehl, Sr. Director, Global Customer Management, Oracle Corporation
Nominated by: Juan Jones, SVP, Oracle Corporation

Debbie Dunnam, Senior Vice President - Americas Services, Cisco Systems
Nominated by: Nick Earle, SVP, Worldwide Services Field Operations, Cisco Systems

Gerri Elliott, Executive Vice President, Chief Sales, Services and Support Officer, Juniper Networks
Nominated by: Steven Rice, Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Juniper Networks

Michelle Garrison, Group Director, Corporate Applications Engineering, Synopsys, Inc.
Nominated by: Paul Lo, Ph.D., Sr. VP & GM, Analog/Mixed Signal Group, Synopsys, Inc.

Dolly C. Goel, MD, Medical Director, Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System
Nominated by: Chris Wilder, Executive Director, Valley Medical Center Foundation

Donna Hall, Senior Manager of Polymer Manufacturing & Process Development, DURECT Corporation
Nominated by: Jim Brown, President & CEO, DURECT Corporation

Linda S. Higgins, Ph.D., Vice President Biology, Gilead Sciences
Nominated by: John Martin, CEO, Gilead Sciences

Gowri Kamarthy, Managing Director, Engineering, Lam Research
Nominated by: Martin Anstice, President and CEO, Lam Research

Leslie J. Kelsay, Vice-President, Marketing & Communications, Good Samaritan Hospital
Nominated by: Paul Beaupre, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Good Samaritan Hospital

Gaye S. Landau-Leonard, SPHR, Vice President, Human Resources, Blach Construction Company
Nominated by: Michael J. Blach, CEO and President, Blach Construction Company

Shuang Liu, Software Engineering Manager, Applied Materials, Inc.
Nominated by: Mike Splinter, Chairman and CEO, Applied Materials, Inc.

Carolyn Maher, Vice President , Global Technology Services, IBM Corporation
Nominated by: Laura Guio, Vice President/IBM Site Executive, IBM Corporation

Kimberly Marcelis, Vice President, Strategic Planning, Cisco Systems
Nominated by: Gary B. Moore, President & COO, Cisco Systems

Cecilia Montalvo, Regional Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Peninsula Costal Region, Sutter Health
Nominated by: Richard Slavin, MD, CEO, Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Nayaki R. Nayyar, SVP Cloud CRM & Cloud Integration, SAP
Nominated by: Lars Dalgaard, Founder and CEO of SuccessFactors and member of the Executive Board of SAP AG

Elizabeth Nielsen, Senior Development Officer, Valley Medical Center Foundation
Nominated by: Chris Wilder, Executive Director, Valley Medical Center Foundation

Titina M. Ott, Vice President, Worldwide Alliances & Channels, Oracle Corporation
Nominated by: Judson Althoff, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Alliances & Channels, Oracle Corporation

Ana G. Pinczuk, Senior Vice President, Services Transformation, Cisco Systems
Nominated by: Gary B. Moore, President & COO, Cisco Systems

Vidya Rajagopalan, Vice President, Processing, Systems, Software & Applications (PSSA), Xilinx
Nominated by: Moshe Gavrielov, CEO and President, Xilinx

Sarah D. Reeves, Program Director, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Nominated by: Julie A. Sattler, VP & General Manager, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Sharon Ryan, Chief Financial Officer, California Newspapers Partnership
Nominated by: Steve Rossi, Chief Executive Officer, California Newspapers Partnership

Tomi Ryba, CEO, El Camino Hospital
Nominated by: John Zoglin, Chair, El Camino Hospital Board of Directors, El Camino Hospital

Margret Schmidt, Vice President of Design and Engineering, Chief Design Officer, TiVo
Nominated by: Tom Rogers, President & CEO, TiVo

Wanda Anne A. Sigur, Vice President, Program Management, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Nominated by: James H. Crocker, VP & General Manager Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Niraj Singh, Compliance and Privacy Officer, Kaiser Permanente
Nominated by: Irene Chavez, Sr. VP & Area Manager, Kaiser Permanente

Marjorie Toucas, VP Worldwide Corporate Sales, SuccessFactors, an SAP Company
Nominated by: Lars Dalgaard, Founder and CEO of SuccessFactors and member of the Executive Board of SAP AG

Beth Von Till, Chair of the Academic Senate, San José State University
Nominated by: Mo Qayoumi, President, San José State University

Wendy Walker, Controller, San Jose Water Company
Nominated by: Richard Roth, CEO and Chairman, San Jose Water Company

Pallie Zambrano, Partner, McManis Faulkner
Nominated by: James McManis, CEO, McManis Faulkner

2013 YWCA Emerging Leaders

Luisa Bozano, Ph.D., Manager Nanoscale Fabrication, IBM Corporation
Nominated by: Michael Karasick, IBM Research VP & Director of Almaden Research Center, IBM Corporation

Sara Brown, Strategic Communications Manager, Cisco Systems
Nominated by: Melanie Bragg, Sr. Director, Executive Communications, Cisco Systems