Highlighting Outstanding Women in the Tech Industry in 2022 and Beyond.
Move over guys. Tech is no longer a boy’s club.
And while the proverbial glass ceiling of Silicon Valley hasn’t quite shattered yet, the industry has become much more diverse over the last decade, allowing for many brilliant women to make their case as the next big name in tech.
Curious about the current female movers-and-shakers in the tech industry? Here are seven women to look out for in 2022 and beyond.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, CO-Founder and CEO, Bumble
Whitney Wolfe Herd is co-founder and CEO of Bumble Inc. Whitney Wolfe Herd began her tech career at age 22 at a startup called Cardify before joining the development team for the dating app Tinder. Wolfe Herd is credited with both creating the name and marketing it to college students and young adults which in turn made one of, if not the most popular dating app of the time.
After a widely publicized conflict with the board, Herd left Tinder and founded Bumble, a dating app where women make the first move, with Russian billionaire Andrey Andreev. Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest self-made female billionaire at age 31 after Bumble Inc became a publicly-traded company in February 2021. As of 2020, Bumble averages over 12.3 million active users and owns around 19% of the dating app market.
Melissa Di Donato, CEO, SUZE
Melissa Di Donato is an American businesswoman and the first female CEO of SUSE— a software company that specializes in Linux products. She is widely recognized as the reason for SUSE’s successful IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is the first woman in the 21st century to take a multibillion-Euro company public in Germany.
Melissa Di Donato has had an extensive career in tech spanning twenty-plus years. Melissa started as an SAP R/3 Developer and grew into one of the most influential leaders in tech, holding positions at companies such as IBM, PwC and Oracle. Melissa was also the Global Chief Operating Officer for the Digital Core at SAP and the Area Vice President at Salesforce.com for EMEA and APAC.
Kathryn Finney, Managing Partner, DigitalUndivided
Kathryn Finney is the Managing Partner of Genius Guild, a $20 million dollar venture fund investing in diverse startups and founders. Named one of the most influential women in tech by Inc Magazine, Kathryn Finney’s groundbreaking work has laid the foundation for new generations of POC entrepreneurs and investors.
Kathryn Finney has a background in medical science and studied at Yale to become an epidemiologist. She has since gone on to receive numerous honors and awards including the Paypal Maggie Lena Walker Achievement Award, Aspen Financial Leaders Fellowship, Leadership Unbound General Partner Rising Star award, Echoing Green Fellowship and Eisenhower Fellowship. She is also a past member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE).
Prior to Genius Guild, Kathryn was the founder and CEO of Digitalundivided, a groundbreaking social enterprise focused on creating a world where women own their work. Through Kathryn’s leadership, Digitalundivided was scaled to a seven-figure budget and acquired major partnerships with VC, tech and financial giants such as Pivotal Ventures, Microsoft for Startups, UBS, Surdna Foundation and JPMorgan Chase.
Kathryn Finney is also the first black woman business author at Portfolio/Penguin Books.
Camille Hearst, Head of Spotify for Artists
Camille Hearst is the Head of Spotify for Artists– the analytical resource the digital service provider uses to better understand consumer data for artists and their teams. Hearst is responsible for managing a cross-functional team including product, tech, design, user research in addition to providing analytics to artists and their management.
Camille Hearst received her master’s degree in Management, Science, and Engineering at Stanford University. Prior to Spotify, Hearst served as the head of product at Patreon, a subscription platform for content creators. Hearst also worked at Google, YouTube, Hailo and iTunes.
Mikela Druckman, Co-founder and CEO, GreyParrot
Mikela Druckman is the Co-founder & CEO of GreyParrot, a UK tech startup using AI-based computer vision to power the next generation robotics and smart systems for the waste management industry. GreyParrot provides waste analytics and insights to waste managers, producers and regulators to help increase recycling and recovery rates. GreyParrot was founded in 2019 and was awarded “Hottest Climate Tech Startup 2020” by The Europas.
Prior to founding GreyParrot, Druckman was Chief Commercial Officer at Blippar, a UK-based tech company developing cutting edge AI and augmented reality products. Druckman is also a Global Future Council member at the World Economic Forum, providing thought leadership on emerging technologies for both the private and public sector.
Maria Carolina Fujihara, Founder & CEO, SINAI Technologies
Maria Fujihara is the founder and CEO of Sinai Technologies, a technology company that assesses businesses’ environmental impact and provides options to reduce their carbon footprint. Sinai Technologies uses enterprise software to measure, analyze, price & reduce carbon emissions.
Fujihara grew up in São Paulo, Brazil to parents who were both forest engineers and was inspired by her upbringing and the biodiversity of her country to begin a career in sustainable tech. Fujihara has a background in Architecture and Urban Planning and has been working towards sustainable construction for the last 10+ years. She was also the Technical Coordinator of the Green Building Council Brasil for 7 years, a member of the LEED International Roundtable and the co-creator of Women in Green Power Breakfast in Brazil.
Priya Lakhani, Founder and CEO, CENTURY Tech
Priya Lakhani OBE is the CEO and Founder of CENTURY, an award-winning AI and machine learning education technology company. Priya founded Century in 2013 to help close the education gap and educate students on the future of technology. Prior to tech, Priya Lakhani was a lawyer and ran her own FMCG business that provided millions of meals and 35,000 vaccinations to the underprivileged.
Priya Lakhani was awarded Business Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009, an OBE in 2014, and the Mayor of London’s Fund’s Special Recognition Award in 2016. She is also a former member of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Entrepreneurs’ Forum and currently sits on the UK government’s AI Council.
Priya Lakhani is considered a thought leader in AI and education and is often invited to speak at tech events and on the BBC.