Since 2001, Ellen has been an active member of Women in Technology (WIT). During her tenure she has served as a leader on several committees such as Lunch Bunch (acting chair), Sponsorship, Web Presence Committee (chair), Women in Technology Educational Foundation (Girls in Technology) Golf Tournament Committee (co-chair), Technology Special Interest Group, Women in Government Committee, Executive Women's SIG, Leadership Awards Committee (3 years) Heroines in Technology Awards (as VIP Ambassador, 5 years) and this year arranged for the WIT Mentor Protégé program to be held at her company's local headquarters building. She is also the chair of the Tech Alliance Committee, Technology Council of Maryland. In addition, Ellen has been elected to a three-year term to the board of advisors for the Universities at Shady Grove.

Through all her related activities she demonstrates both leadership and interest in increasing the number of women into traditionally male-dominated roles by providing opportunities through mentorship or as a trusted advisor, creating pathways or avenues for individual connections with senior management at Northrop Grumman Information Technology (IT) and outside with her extensive network. In February 2008, an internal Employee Resource Group was established at her company called IT Sector WiNGs (Women in Northrop Grumman), Ellen was selected as WiNGs Board Vice President.

She made it her personal mission to have her company host the first two years of the Team Business event for the Girls in Technology (GIT) - part of WIT - which she arranged to have space donated and funds to cover the refreshments for the event. This is one of the key fundraiser events for GIT. She also has served on the WIT Charity Golf Tournament Committee for the past four years, this year as chair. This is the other fundraising event for GIT. She attends at least one of the GIT "Sharing Our Success" events, which pairs high school students with women in technology fields, to share experiences and encourage young girls and women to join the technology field. This includes work with the Universities and Montgomery College with science, technology, engineering and math initiatives.

One of Ellen's current areas of focus includes working with Universities at Shady Grove (USG) on Career Fair and Computer Mania. Previous to her work with WIT, Ellen served as a diversity leader, leading an internal committee to set up a variety of events to promote and celebrate diversity and developing communication between groups. She was instrumental in planning and executing several successful events through her three-year term as chair.

In 2007, she again volunteered her personal time on the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, Public Safety Awards Committee (second year in a row). She negotiated to have her company sponsor the event, and this year invited two police academy members or recruits to sit at her company's table. Ellen is also an active member in the March of Dimes, serving as team captain locally for her company and as a member of the Revenue committee. Last year her team raised over $5,000 in the Washington, DC area, and over $300,000 corporate-wide. This was a grass roots effort, as she received no resources and all donations were through contacts and getting the word out in her personal time.

The Center for Women and Information Technology is proud to honor the late Thurmond Woodard, vice president of Global Diversity for Dell Inc. by naming him the 2007 winner of the Joan S. Korenman Award. Mr. Woodard passed away on Tuesday, April 4, 2007, after a valiant battle with cancer. The 2007 Korenman award recognizes Mr. Woodward's lifelong dedication to supporting the careers of women and minorities in technology.

A visionary leader, Thurmond Woodard leaves a legacy of inclusion and collaboration and spread these values to all of the communities he touched. His long standing dedication to promoting a culture of respect and integrity made him one of the most admired leaders amongst his peers and colleagues.

During his 30-year career in finance, marketing and human resources, Mr. Woodard spent 17 years at Johnson Wax, serving as director of finance in Europe and later as general manager for one of their consumer and industrial product businesses. He also served as vice president and general manager of an international division of Flexel, Inc., where he grew the European and Australian businesses by more than 30 percent in three years. Prior to joining Dell in October 2000, he served as president and chief operating officer for Atlanta-based R. Thomas Consulting and Training, where he coached CEOs on formulating strategies for diversity.

As Dell Inc.'s first Vice President for Global Diversity, Thurmond Woodard had immense influence on Dell's winning culture. While his focus included women and people of color, perhaps some of his most essential impacts were around women. Dell became one of the first global corporations to endorse the Calvert Women's Principles, a comprehensive code of corporate conduct focused on promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. In 2005, Dell and Diversity Best Practices co-hosted the Global Diversity Summit, focusing on the changing role of women across cultures and its effect on recruitment, advancement and retention.

Beyond supporting women's careers and businesses, Mr. Woodard made it a priority to cultivate productive and effective relationships with women's organizations such as Catalyst, the Society of Women Engineers and Working Mother and several others that equip young women with the technology skills they need to succeed in the 21st century.

Under Thurmond Woodard's leadership Dell UK was selected as one of the top 50 companies for female employees by Aurora and The Times in 2006; in 2005 Dell Brazil was recognized by Exame magazine as one of the Best Places to Work and part of the list of the 50 Greatest Places for Women to Work; in 2005, Essence magazine gave Dell a rating of "Excellent" on the magazine's list of 35 Great Places to Work in 2005; and Dell was selected as one of the "Top 50 US Companies for Women Engineers" by readers of Woman Engineer magazine (May issue).

CWIT is proud to announce Nancy S. Grasmick as the recipient of the Second Annual Joan S. Korenman Award. Each year, this award is given to an advocate of diversity and inclusion with regard to technology studies and careers. As a recipient, she receives both the unique distinction and $1,000 in recognition of her contributions.

Under Dr. Grasmick's leadership, Maryland has been nationally recognized for its many achievements in education. For four straight years, Education Week, the nation's leading education newspaper, has given Maryland an "A" for its K-12 standards and its systems of assessing, reporting and holding schools responsible for improving achievement. Maryland's verbal and math SAT scores continue to rise, and the state has had more success than any other in increasing high school students' participation in the rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) testing program, particularly in enrolling traditionally underrepresented students. In addition, Dr. Grasmick was a member of the National Academies Committee chaired by Norman Augustine that authored the report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, which set recommendations focused on increasing America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 science and mathematics education.

Dr. Grasmick has also championed the work being done in Maryland to implement high school pre-engineering programs. The Maryland State Department of Education has partnered with UMBC's Dr. Anne Spence, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, to offer teacher training programs as part of Project Lead the Way, a national effort to prepare an increasing and more diverse group of students to be successful in engineering and engineering technology programs. Currently, 35 schools across the state have implemented high school pre-engineering programs of study.

Maryland needs dedicated leaders to support girls' and women's participation and advancement in information technology and related fields. Dr. Grasmick is committed to creating and sustaining pathways along the educational pipeline that will allow students to excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Special thanks go to Dr. Grasmick for her continued support of Computer Mania Day and similar initiatives that promote technology as a tool for success and important component of every career.

"CWIT knows as well as I, that no matter what girls' aptitude, without adequate access and expectations, there is no equity."
- Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick