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The Greater Nashville Technology Council announced the winners of the 15th Annual NTC Awards, Presented by Amazon, live from the majestic Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University, before hundreds of attendees on Thursday evening.
The event, co-hosted by Elise Cambournac, CEO and President of the Greater Nashville Technology Council, and Michelle Brown, Senior Manager, Public Policy at Amazon in Nashville, let the good times roll with more than 450 attendees — representing more than 160 technology companies and related organizations in Middle Tennessee. All were present to celebrate this year’s technology champions in fifteen categories.
This year’s NTC Awards winners are listed below:
CIO of the Year
Taren Rodabaugh of Bridgestone Americas
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Year
Don Baham of Germantown Technology
Chief Data Officer (CDO) of the Year
Jason Beyer of Bridgestone Americas
Senior Tech Sales Exec of the Year
Ashley Barton of LBMC
Information Security Guru of the Year
Daymon McCartney of HCA Healthcare
Data Guru of the Year
Sabber Ahamed of Bridgestone Americas
Community Leader of the Year
Sydney Ernstes of BGSF
Tech for Good Award of the Year
Girls Who Tech 2.0
Emerging Leader of the Year
Samantha Simmons of Dollar General
Innovation Initiative of the Year
Tractor Supply Company
Project Manager of the Year
Francesca Winkler of CGI
Software Engineer of the Year
Trinity Christiana Terry of Eventbrite
Technology Company of the Year
Azra AI
Technology Educator of the Year
Jeremy Qualls of Williamson County Schools
Tech Start Up of the Year
IQRecruit
Special recognition was bestowed on Allie Feiner of AllianceBernstein, who was announced as NTC’s Champion of the Year.
Special thanks to Deahna Cring, Haylee Hattabaugh, and the NTC Team.
More details about each award, its sponsor, and finalists can be found on the NTC Awards website, https://NTCAwards.com.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell at the 2024 NTC Awards
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell dropped by the Momentum Winner’s Circle backstage at the 2024 NTC Awards to encourage continued innovation for all of Middle Tennessee.
Technology Start-Up of the Year: IQRecruit
Taking home the NTC Award for Technology Start-Up of the Year is IQRecruit Founder Jenny Zhao. This award recognizes the top tech start-up that builds and sells technology in Middle Tennessee and demonstrates innovative and groundbreaking technology, showcasing their potential to disrupt the industry it operates in, have a founder actively working in the business, and have annual revenues of no more than $1,000,000 (not including investment).
Emerging Leader of the Year: Samantha Simmons
The award for Emerging Leader of the Year goes to Samantha Simmons, Director of IT Business Development for Dollar General. This award is presented to an individual who demonstrates excellence in delivering business results through others.
Software Engineer of the Year: Trinity Christiana Terry
This year’s Software Engineer of the Year is Trinity Christiana Terry, a Software Engineer at Eventrbrite. This award is given to those who showcased exceptional expertise in various programming languages, software development methodologies, security, and system architecture design. Their work has resulted in the creation of innovative and scalable solutions that have significantly impacted their organization and addressed complex technical challenges.
Innovation Initiative of the Year: For Life Out Here
The 2024 NTC Innovation Initiative Award goes to For Life Out Here by Tractor Supply Co. This award is presented to the team that has produced the technology-based product, service or process that significantly enhances customer experience, business profitability or efficiency, or industry impact.
Technology Educator of the Year: Jeremy Qualls
This year’s Technology Educator of the Year is Jeremy Qualls, Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center and CCTE at Williamson County Schools. The award is presented to those who have exhibited exceptional dedication to and innovation in the advancement of technology education.
Community Leader of the Year: Sydney Ernstes
The award for Community Leader of the Year goes to Sydney Ernstes, Managing Director of Delivery & Partnerships at BGSF, a diversified consulting and staffing company that offers workforce solutions across a range of industries. This award is given to those who contribute to the technology community of Middle Tennessee through involvement, leadership and excellence in giving back.
Information Security Guru of the Year: Daymon McCartney
Taking home the NTC Award for Information Security Guru of the Year is Daymon McCartney, IT Security at HCA Healthcare. This award recognizes an outstanding individual in Middle Tennessee who has made significant contributions to safeguarding data, systems, and networks, and has consistently exhibited excellence in protecting organizations from evolving cyber threats.
NTC Champion Award: Allie Feiner
The 2024 NTC Champion Award goes to Allie Feiner, Vice President & Head of GTO Professional and Organizational Development at AllianceBernstein.
Senior Tech Sales Exec of the Year: Ashley Barton
The 2024 NTC Award for Senior Tech Sales Exec of the Year goes to Ashley Barton, Director of Growth at LBMC. This award recognizes senior sales executives leaders who have demonstrated outstanding strategic vision in driving sales growth and revenue generation. The recipient of this award is celebrated for their exceptional ability to build and maintain strong client relationships, their profound understanding of market trends, their management of successful sales teams, and their track record of consistently surpassing sales targets.
Tech for Good Award of the Year: Girls Who Tech 2.0
Accepting the Tech for Good Award this year is Girls Who Tech 2.0.This award recognizes the technology team initiative for their outstanding efforts to make positive social impact in Middle Tennessee.
Data Guru of the Year: Sabber Ahamed
Winner of the Data Guru of the Year award is Sabber Ahamed, Senior Data Scientist at Bridgestone Americas. This award is presented to a data analyst, data scientist, or business intelligence professional in the Middle Tennessee region.
Project Manager of the Year: Francesca Winkler
The award for Project Manager of the Year goes to Francesca Winkler, Director, Consulting Services at CGI. This award is presented to someone who exemplifies excellence in project management through visionary leadership, successful project execution, adept problem-solving and adaptability, exemplary stakeholder management, innovative practices, significant project impact, and a commitment to continuous professional development and contributions to the project management community.
Chief Data Officer (CDO) of the Year: Jason Beyer
Taking home this year’s NTC award for Chief Data Officer (CDO) of the Year is Jason Beyer, VP Data & Analytics at Bridgestone Americas. The award is given to those who demonstrate leadership, driven innovation, and delivered value to the organization through the use of data analytics, data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Year: Don Baham
The winner of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Year is Don Baham, CISO at Germantown Technologies. This award is presented to those who demonstrate leadership in their field, enhancing and safeguarding their organizations’ data and technology resources, created a security-conscious culture, and delivered value to the organization.
Chief Information Officer of the Year: Taren Rodabaugh
Taking home the 2024 NTC Award for CIO of the Year is Taren Rodabaugh, Global CIO for Bridgestone Americas. The award is presented to those leaders in their own IT organization that have made a difference for an organization based in or with a significant presence in Middle Tennessee.
Technology Company of the Year: Azra AI
The 2024 NTC Award for Technology Company of the Year goes to to Azra AI. Accepting the award is CEO Chris Cashwell. This award is a celebration of an organization that builds and sells technology in Middle Tennessee that contributes to the overall growth of our region’s tech industry.
These interviews were captured backstage at the 15th Annual NTC Awards, live from the Momentum Winner’s Circle. Learn how Momentum can empower your business to communicate better, faster and more efficiently at GoMomentum.com.
The content above is a production of Relationary Marketing.