Women in Technology & Data Awards 2026: All the winners and why they won

The highest-profile category of this year’s awards—WatersTechnology’s woman of the year—was won by Annabel Harrison (LSEG), while Meghan Rocha (SS&C Technologies) won the Sandra Villena unsung heroine award. 

Below are this year’s 40 category winners:

• Above and beyond award (end-user) – Meera Thacker, Bank of America
• Above and beyond award (vendor) – Berta Ares Lombán, SIX
• Best company for diversity and inclusion – Numerix
• Consultant of the year – Jaci Stanton, F2 Strategy
• Data science professional of the year – Mary Viviano, Lightkeeper
• Data science professional of the year (end-user) – Ece Dedeoglu, Bank of America
• Data science professional of the year (vendor) – Nichola Roberts, ConnexAI
• EDM professional of the year (end-user) – Jacklyn Osborne, BNY
• Engineer/programmer of the year – Kirti Katiyar, CJC
• Exchange professional of the year – Barbara Pozdorovkina, LMAX Group
• Gender equality/diversity professional of the year (end-user) – Pavneet Brar, Nomura
• Gender equality/diversity professional of the year (vendor) – Amelia Doyle, AutoRek
• Legal/compliance professional of the year – Sophie McDonald, State Street
• Market data professional of the year – Colette Garcia, Bloomberg
• Marketing leader of the year (data vendor) – Leonie Alsop, BMLL
• Marketing leader of the year (technology vendor) – Michelle Earp, AutoRek
• Marketing professional of the year (data vendor) – Denise Chang, S&P Global Market Intelligence
• Marketing professional of the year (technology vendor) – Mireille Adebiyi, Regnology
• Reference data professional of the year – Emily Gibson, Legal and General Investment Management
• Rising star (end-user) – Abbie Martin, Legal and General Investment Management
• Rising star (vendor) – data, engineering and product development – Miriam Eyles, Rimes
• Rising star (vendor) – sales, marketing and UX – Niamh Goddard, Parameta Solutions
• Risk professional of the year – Ruby Nithyanand, Capital Group
• Startup professional of the year – Pamela Lee, Talos
• Support professional of the year (end-user) – Fiona Gray, Lloyds Banking Group
• Support professional of the year (vendor) – Michelle Kam, Napier AI
• Technology innovator of the year (end-user) – Micheale Taylor, BNY
• Technology innovator of the year (financial market utility) – Nadine Chakar, DTCC
• Technology innovator of the year (third-party vendor) – Rita Chiu, SS&C Advent
• Technology leader of the year (end-user) – Lauren Wright, Lloyds Banking Group
• Technology leader of the year (vendor) – Kate Stepp, FactSet
• Trailblazer (Lifetime achievement) award (vendor) – Vivian A. Maese, DataRightsAI
• Trailblazer (Lifetime achievement) award (end-user) – Sarah Mears, MUFG Investor Services
• Vendor partnership or alliance professional of the year – Béatrice Guez, Ai For Alpha
• Vendor professional of the year (business development) – Elena Anisimova, Jacobi
• Vendor professional of the year (data and operations) – Linda Middleditch, Regnology
• Vendor professional of the year (trading and risk) – Olivia Timms, Tradeweb
• WatersTechnology Woman of the Year – Annabel Harrison, LSEG
• Wellness/work-life balance award (end-user) – Vennapusala Shweta Reddy, Bank of America
• The Sandra Villena unsung heroine award – Meghan Rocha, SS&C Technologies