The 2026 WIT Awards: A Night That Changes Careers

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A large crowd attends the WIT Awards 2023 ceremony in a spacious, modern hall with blue lighting, decorated tables, a stage with speakers, and an aquarium visible on the right wall.

The WIT Awards puts a spotlight on women who are shaping the future of technology, and that spotlight does more than light up a room for one night. It tells the woman on stage and the thousands of women watching her story unfold that their work is valued, and that staying in tech is worth it.

That’s the real impact of the WIT Awards. It’s more than a gala. It’s visibility, and visibility leads to retention.

Why This Night Matters

Women in Technology (WIT) exists to encourage, retain, and elevate women and girls across all industries and at any stage in their tech careers. The WIT Awards is where that mission becomes tangible. When a woman’s name is called, when her company fills a table to celebrate her, when her peers share her story, that recognition becomes part of her career momentum.

The data behind this is simple: Women don’t leave tech because they lack ambition or talent. They leave when the systems around them stall their growth and make their contributions invisible. The WIT Awards interrupt that pattern.By honoring the women who are building, leading, and staying in tech, the WIT Awards give them the recognition they deserve and remind companies why their success is worth investing in.

The women we recognize aren’t exceptions. They represent thousands of others just as capable and just as driven, who are simply less seen. When we put one woman’s name on a stage, we’re telling every woman in that room that she belongs there too.

What to Expect

This year’s celebration will be held at the Georgia Aquarium on October 22 from 5:30 pm to 9 pm ET, bringing together more than 600 executives, senior leaders, and innovators from across Georgia’s tech community.

The evening opens with an exclusive VIP reception from 5 pm to 6 pm, designed for deeper conversation and connection with honorees, partners, and executives before the main program begins. From there, guests will enjoy a seated dinner created by Wolfgang Puck’s culinary team, set against the backdrop of the Georgia Aquarium.

The night builds toward the awards ceremony itself, the true highlight of the evening, where this year’s honorees, finalists, and winners across categories from Woman of the Year to the Emerging Executive Award will be celebrated in front of the full room.

It’s a room full of people who want to see each other win. Tables are available now for companies ready to celebrate their team members and stand with the broader community of women building the future of tech in Georgia.

The Power of Partnership

None of this happens without the companies who invest in it. WIT’s high-visibility partnership opportunities, including Presenting Partner, VIP Reception Partner, and Awards Spotlight Partner, put your company at the center of a night built around recognition, community, and momentum for women in tech.

Partnership with WIT is more than a sponsorship line item. It’s a strategic investment in the talent your company already has, and a direct line to the women shaping Georgia’s tech community. Partners are featured throughout the campaign leading up to the event and recognized live at the ceremony.

Interested in partnering with WIT for the 2026 WIT Awards? Contact partnerships@mywit.org to learn more about available opportunities.

Thank You to Our Partners

The 2026 WIT Awards would not be possible without the companies who invest in making women in tech visible. We are grateful to the organizations showing up for this community.

Presenting Partner

The top tier. Your company’s logo on signage, the stage, and all promotions will visibly demonstrate your leadership in supporting women in tech careers, making your brand stand out in the community. If your company is committed to advancing women in tech, we would love to talk. Contact partnerships@mywit.org to learn more.

VIP Reception Partner

Cargill logo with the word Cargill in bold black letters and a green leaf shape arching over the a and r on a white background.

Awards Spotlight Partners

Red CDW text in bold capital letters with a red swoosh encircling the letters on a white background.
State Farm logo with three interlocking red ovals on the left and the words State Farm in red bold letters to the right.
The Home Depot logo in orange and white above the word CAREERS in bold black letters.

Spirits Partner

Genuine Parts Company

Photo Booth Partner

Zebra Technologies logo with a stylized zebra head made of black stripes on the left and the word ZEBRA in bold black letters on the right.

Impact Partners

The image shows the Cox Enterprises logo with COX in large blue letters above ENTERPRISES in smaller blue letters.
The Fiserv logo with the company name in bold, lowercase orange letters and a period at the end on a white background.

Premier Table Partners

ACI Worldwide
The image shows the ARVEST logo in dark blue, with stylized letters on a light gray background.
Georgia-Pacific logo with a blue triangle containing white GP letters above the bold black text Georgia-Pacific..
Google Cloud logo with Google in multicolored letters and Cloud in gray text on a light background.
Partial red Infor logo with bold lowercase letters on a light gray background.
ivision
Black and white logo with NS beside a stylized horses head and mane, above the words Norfolk Southern..
OneDigital
Primerica
Logo for Pyramid Consulting with a stylized gold pyramid inside a purple square, followed by the word pyramid in bold dark text and CONSULTING in light gray capital letters underneath.
Southwire logo with a circular, abstract wire design in brown on the left and the word Southwire in black text on the right.
Synchrony
The Coca-Cola Company logo features THE above Coca-Cola in cursive script and COMPANY below, all in black text on a white background.
The TIER4 GROUP logo with TIER above GROUP in gray text, and a blue geometric symbol resembling 4 and a person to the right of TIER..
The Truist logo with the word TRUIST in bold purple letters next to a purple square containing a stylized double T symbol.

Interested in joining this list? Reach out to partnerships@mywit.org.

Join Us

Tables are available now. Whether you’re celebrating a team member, building connections with Georgia’s tech leaders, or investing in the community helping women explore, pursue, persist, and lead in technology careers, this is the night to be in the room.

Reserve your table today here: https://witawards2026.givesmart.com/

Women in Technology (WIT) creates possibilities for more women to explore, pursue, persist, and lead in technology careers.

The Leaders Who Changed the Equation

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November WIT Forum | November 18, 2026 | 7:30–9:00 AM ET | Maggiano’s Buckhead

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Every leader in the room on November 18 has a story. A moment when the path forward wasn’t clear. A relationship that changed everything. A decision that felt like a risk and turned out to be the best one they ever made.

The 2026 WIT Awards winners are being recognized not just for what they’ve achieved, but for what they changed, in their organizations, in their fields, and in the conditions around them. This Forum puts them on stage not to celebrate their titles, but to learn from their turning points.

What does it actually take to lead in technology? What do women who’ve reached the highest levels of the field know that they wish they’d known sooner? And once they had the power to change something, what did they do with it?

This WIT Forum closes out the year with both a celebration and a masterclass. The winners are the content. Their recognition is the occasion. And the conversation belongs to everyone in the room.

What This WIT Forum Is About

The winners of the 2026 WIT Awards didn’t just reach senior leadership. They used what they found there to open doors for the people coming up behind them. This Forum brings that experience to the stage.

Through candid panel discussion and interactive table conversation, you’ll hear directly from women who navigated real gaps between their potential and their opportunity, who built things that didn’t exist before them, and who chose, again and again, to stay and change a system from within. The conversation covers what it took to get there, what changed once they arrived, and what they did with the influence they built.

This is a close-up look at how leadership actually happens.

Who Should Attend

This WIT Forum is for women in technology careers at every level, along with the leaders and allies who champion them.

Whether you’re early in your career and starting to think about what leadership could look like for you, mid-career and weighing your next move, or already leading and looking for what to do with the influence you’ve earned, there’s a version of this conversation waiting for you.

What You Will Walk Away With

Attendees can expect to leave with:

A real picture of what leadership takes. Not the highlight reel, but the actual decisions, risks, and relationships that shaped these leaders’ paths.

A model for using influence well. The panel doesn’t stop at “how I got here.” It gets into what each leader did once she had real organizational power, for herself and for others.

A personal commitment to carry forward. Table conversations and a take-home reflection guide will help you turn what you hear into a concrete next step, whether that’s an action for your own path or a change you make possible for someone else.

As one WIT community member shared, “You get confidence from being around people who want to see you win and thrive.” That’s the spirit of this WIT Forum.

Join Us on November 18

This WIT Forum is in person and open to women and allies across industries. Come for the recognition, and leave with a model for what to do with your own influence, wherever you are in your career.

One hour and thirty minutes. Real conversation. The kind of insight that stays with you long after you leave the room.

Register now

Meet the Panelists

The November panel is made up of the 2026 WIT Awards winners, women whose paths reflect a range of journeys: the executive who changed the conditions around her, the founder who built something new, the leader who stayed and transformed an institution from within, and a leader earlier in her executive journey showing what’s possible right now. Full panelist profiles will be announced once winners are confirmed.

Thank You to Our Partners

This WIT Forum is made possible by the generous support of our partners.

A special thank you to our Presenting Partner, Tier4 Group, for their commitment to advancing women in technology and making conversations like this one possible.

The TIER4 GROUP logo with gray text and a blue abstract symbol resembling a person next to the number 4.

We also extend our gratitude to our WIT Forum Partners:

A grid of 21 company logos, including Adapture, Cargill, CDW, Cox, Home Depot, Salesforce, State Farm, Truist, Coca-Cola, Synchrony, and others on a white background.

Women in Technology (WIT) creates possibilities for more women to explore, pursue, persist, and lead in technology. Learn more at mywit.org.

The Retention Equation: Personal Investment + Organizational Responsibility

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September WIT Forum | Wednesday, September 16, 2026 | 7:30–9:00 AM ET | Maggiano’s Buckhead

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Some people stay in a technology career because the conditions are right. Others leave, quietly, for the same reason. On September 16, we’re bringing both sides of that story into the same room, and we can’t wait.

The retention conversation in tech usually gets told from one angle: individuals need to be more resilient, more strategic, more patient. But ask anyone who’s actually stayed, or left, or come back, and the story is rarely that simple. It’s a two-sided equation. What people choose to own about their own career trajectory, and what organizations choose to build around them. Neither side gets it right by accident, and that’s exactly what makes this conversation worth having.

This WIT Forum brings senior technology and HR leaders together to talk about what retention actually requires, not just what most organizations assume it requires.

What This WIT Forum Is About

Through candid panel discussion and interactive table conversation, you’ll hear from technology and people-strategy executives who’ve sat on both sides of the stay-or-go decision. Some have had to advocate for what kept them in the field. Others have had to build the kind of environment that keeps people around.

The conversation moves through what individuals can evaluate and act on right now, where well-intentioned organizations invest in retention and still lose great people, and what it really takes, structurally and culturally, to close that gap. This isn’t a session about perseverance. It’s a warm, honest look at what’s working, what isn’t, and what’s in each person’s power to change.

Who Should Attend

This WIT Forum is for women in technology careers at every level, along with the leaders and allies who shape the environments around them.

Whether you’ve been navigating the stay-or-go question for years, stepped away and found your way back, or are just beginning to ask it, there’s a place for you in this conversation. And if you’re the one building the culture others are deciding whether to stay in, this one’s for you too.

What You Will Walk Away With

Attendees can expect to leave with:

A clearer read on your own career trajectory. You’ll hear what separates the people who build lasting technology careers from those who stall out or leave, and what that means for the decisions in front of you right now.

A model for what organizational commitment actually looks like. Candid insight from leaders on what retention requires structurally and culturally, beyond the programs that look good on paper.

Specific, personal next steps. Table conversations and a take-home reflection guide will help you name one action for your own career sustainability and one action to make your workplace a place people choose to stay.

As one WIT community member put it, “You get confidence from being around people who want to see you win and thrive.” That’s the kind of room we’re building on September 16.

Join Us on September 16

This WIT Forum is in person and open to women in technology at every career stage, along with the leaders and allies who champion them.

One hour and thirty minutes together. A conversation that treats retention as a shared responsibility, not a personal failing. The kind of insight you’ll actually carry with you.

Register now

Meet the Panelists

Michael Park, Chief Information Officer at Infor, joins the panel to speak to what organizational commitment to retention looks like from the inside, and what leaders can take back to their own teams.

Sallie Graves, Chief Operating Officer at MagMutual, brings a senior operating leader’s view of what it takes to build a culture people choose to stay in.

Oneka Cornelius, Senior Director of Human Resources for Digital Technology & Data and Atlanta Hub HR Lead at Cargill, speaks to the structural and cultural levers that actually move the needle on retention.

Thank You to Our Partners

This WIT Forum is made possible by the generous support of our partners.

A special thank you to our Presenting Partner, Tier4 Group, for their commitment to advancing women in technology and making conversations like this one possible.

Tier4 Group logo with TIER 4 GROUP in gray text and a blue abstract symbol resembling a person forming the 4 in the top right section.

We also extend our gratitude to our WIT Forum Partners:

A grid of 21 company logos, including ADapture, Cargill, CDW, Cox, Google Cloud, Salesforce, State Farm, The Home Depot, and The Coca-Cola Company, displayed on a white background.

Women in Technology (WIT) creates possibilities for more women to explore, pursue, persist, and lead in technology. Learn more at mywit.org.

Find Your Path: WIT Campus Career Exploration Day

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A woman hands a microphone to a smiling attendee in a conference room while others watch. The attendees have name badges, trays, and coffee cups on their desks.

This September, WIT Campus Career Exploration Day will give 100 college students the chance to see what working in tech really looks like. 

At host companies across the Atlanta metro area, they’ll get a firsthand look at the day-to-day experience of working in technology roles across industries. That kind of immersion is one of the best ways to help women at the beginning of their careers build confidence, understand their options, and see real evidence that they belong. Our confirmed host companies include: Cox Enterprises, Fiserv, Norfolk Southern, Salesforce, State Farm, and The Coca-Cola Company.

What to Look Forward to

The full-day experience includes:

  • Hands-on problem solving: A chance to work together on a real-world challenge and present their findings and ideas.
  • Office and lab tours: A behind-the-scenes look at the spaces where tech innovation happens and the teams and processes that make it possible.
  • Inspiring conversations: Time to talk with and learn from women from all stages of the tech career journey.
  • Career guidance and insight: Valuable discussions about internships, skill-building, career paths, and workplace culture.

Details

September 25, 2026

8:30 a.m – 2 pm

Locations of host companies: Cox Enterprises, Fiserv, Norfolk Southern, Salesforce, State Farm, and The Coca-Cola Company

Attendees are responsible for their own transportation

How to Apply

WIT Campus Career Exploration Day is open to women currently attending colleges and universities in Georgia with an interest in pursuing tech careers. It’s a great way to connect with other women in tech, potential employers, and the broader WIT Community. 

Fill out our interest form or send it to any college students you know who may be interested! Eligible participants will then be invited to apply.

Introducing WIT’s Careers in Action Summit

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We’re doing something new this fall, and you don’t want to miss it!

On October 9, we are hosting the WIT Careers in Action Summit: a half-day experience that brings together everything you love about our programming. Think of it as a WIT Forum, WIT Technology Uncorked, and WIT Career Exploration program rolled into one morning of professional development, community, and intentional career advancement at every stage.

What the Summit includes

Breakfast & Networking kicks off the morning. Grab a plate and connect with fellow women and allies in tech before the programming begins.

The Mainstage Panel:  “The Future of Women’s Careers: Leading Through Change in a New World of Work” opens the programming. Executives, technologists, and talent leaders join a moderated conversation on the new landscape of tech careers in an AI-driven world, how companies are redefining pathways to leadership, and practical advice for navigating change, growth, and visibility. 

Coaching Corners are one-on-one sessions to give your personalized feedback on telling your career story and communicating your accomplishments and goals with confidence.

Skill Sparks are 40-minute breakout sessions designed to be practical and build momentum for your professional development:

9:45 am – 10:25 am

Respond Without Retreating – Learn how to respond in the moment when you’re interrupted, talked over, or challenged at work, and leave with a plan you can use right away

Design Your Next Chapter – Work through a structured exercise to get clear on your next career move and write it down before you leave

Your LinkedIn Profile Is Your First Interview – Take a close look at how your LinkedIn profile represents your personal brand, and get advice about what to change so it works harder for you

10:25 am – 11:05 am

Get Credit for What You Already Do – Do a visibility audit on the work you’re already doing, and learn how to reposition it so it gets the recognition it deserves

Build a Network That Actually Works for You – Leave with a 90-day plan for who to reach out to, what to say, and when

AI Won’t Replace You – But Someone Who Uses It Well Might – Get practical advice on how to use AI more effectively at work, including how to build prompts that actually get you useful results

Industry Insights area features direct conversations with select WIT corporate partners about what careers and growth actually look like inside their organizations. It’s a chance to talk directly with companies actively investing in women in tech. You can learn about real career paths, the skills they value, their workplace culture, and what growth actually looks like inside their organizations. These organizations include: CDW, Fiserv, Georgia-Pacific, Infor, QTS, State Farm, The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, and Truist.

Who this is for

Whether you’re just starting, exploring a transition, returning to the field, or working toward a leadership role, WIT’s Careers in Action Summit was built for you. We designed it to serve women in tech across every career stage.

What you get

Breakfast & Networking. The Future of Women’s Careers Panel. Coaching Corners. Skill Sparks. The Industry Insights Room. You’ll get all of this, valued at $500, for just a $125 investment in yourself!

Date: Friday, October 9, 2026

Time: 8 am – 12 pm ET

Location: Kimberly-Clark, 1400 Holcomb Bridge Rd., Roswell, GA 30076

Space is limited. Register today to reserve your spot.

Register now

Whether you’re making the case to your manager or deciding for yourself, we’ve put together a resource to help you make it happen. Click here to access.

Participating Corporate Partners

The image shows the CDW logo with bold red letters and a red swoosh circling the letters on a white background.
The image shows the word fiserv. in bold, lowercase, orange letters on a white background.
Georgia-Pacific logo with a blue triangle containing white GP letters above the black text Georgia-Pacific on a white background.
Red lowercase letters spelling infor on a white background, with a stylized design for the dot on the i and clean, bold font.
QTS
State Farm logo with three red ovals forming a triangle on the left and the words State Farm in bold red letters on the right, all on a white background.
The Coca-Cola Company logo features THE above Coca-Cola in cursive script and COMPANY below, all in black text on a white background.
The Home Depot logo in orange and white above the word CAREERS in bold black letters.
Truist logo with the word TRUIST in bold, dark purple letters and a stylized T and H inside a square to the right.

2026 WIT Early Career Mentorship Program

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Connecting early-career women in tech with the mentors, community, and clarity to move forward with confidence.

The early years of a technology career are full of possibility, and full of questions. Who do you turn to when you’re navigating a difficult workplace dynamic, figuring out your next move, or simply trying to understand what you’re capable of? Having the right people in your corner makes all the difference.

That’s what the WIT Early Career Small Group Mentorship Program is built for.

Women in Technology (WIT) connects early-career women with experienced industry professionals who are genuinely invested in helping them grow, not just professionally, but as leaders and as members of a community that will continue to support them long after the program ends. Over five months, participants gain more than guidance. They gain relationships, perspective, and a network of peers who want to see them thrive.

How it works

The program is structured around small groups: one experienced mentor paired with four mentees for a focused, five-month journey together. That intimacy is intentional. It creates space for the kind of honest, practical conversations that don’t happen in a large workshop or a one-time networking event.

Each group completes four one-hour sessions over the course of the program, meeting virtually, in-person, or in a hybrid format that works for everyone. WIT provides discussion guides and resources to give every group a strong foundation, and the groups themselves bring the energy, experience, and insight that make those conversations meaningful.

The journey, June through November

Kickoff: June 11 The program kicks off with an in-person event where mentors and mentees meet, small groups come together, and the five months ahead start to take shape. It’s an evening of introductions, shared goals, and that particular energy that comes from being in a room full of people who are ready to invest in each other.

Small-Group Mentoring: June 15 through November 2 Over the program window, each group meets four times on a schedule and in a format they choose together. Conversations are grounded in WIT-provided discussion resources and shaped by what each group needs most: building confidence, developing leadership skills, gaining career clarity, and strengthening the professional connections that support long-term growth.

Closing Session: November 12 The program closes the way it opened: together, in person, and with intention. Each mentorship group shares a brief reflection through the Mentorship Experience Capstone Showcase, a five-minute “show and tell” celebrating the growth, insights, and moments that defined their experience. After the showcase, the evening transitions into open networking, giving partners, mentors, and mentees space to continue the conversations that matter. Certificates are issued to all program completers.

Meet the 2026 mentors

Ten women leaders are shown in headshot photos, each with their name, title, and company below. They represent various industries, including hospitality, tech, engineering, retail, and consulting.

Thank you to our 2026 WIT Early Career program partners

Programs like this are made possible by the companies and individuals who believe in the power of investing in early-career women in tech. We’re deeply grateful to the partners whose support brings the WIT Early Career Mentorship Program to life each year.

Southwire logo with stylized copper wire graphic on the left and Southwire text in black serif font on the right.
The Truist logo with the word TRUIST in bold purple letters next to a purple square containing a stylized double T symbol.

To learn about partnership opportunities, reach out to us at partnerships@mywit.org.

Stay connected

Interested in joining a future cohort as a mentee or a mentor? Reach out to programs@mywit.org to learn more.