Women in technology is today’s Dreamforce theme and Bluewolf kicked it off in style last night at its annual Women Innovators Network (WIN) reception. Now in its seventh year, WIN was founded by Bluewolf to celebrate the accomplishments of women in business who inspire, lead, and power business transformation. Held at the Neiman Marcus Rotunda and sponsored by Salesforce, Bunchball, Box, and NewVoiceMedia, WIN brought together women executives, across all levels and departments, to network and hear from female honorees who are spearheading change now.

The first keynote by Bluewolf CEO Eric Berridge focused on the belief that companies with balanced genders perform at a much higher level than those that don’t have balance. Gender equality isn’t a plus — it’s a business imperative.

Lindsey Shepard, Rainmaker at GoldieBlox, gave an inspiring keynote on fostering confidence and technology pursuits in young girls, and embracing labels—beyond an occupation—to better define women and their multi-faceted interests. Shepard proudly listed her own, stating, “I’m a woman, I’m a feminist, I’m a mom, I’m an engineer, I’m a gardener.” Additionally, she encouraged women to “embrace the gray” and “find excitement in what you don’t know.”

WIN also recognized fearless female leaders who are driving innovation within their organizations, including:

• Pam Ahrens, Senior Vice President of Sales & Distribution, Knoll, Inc.
• Meg Greenhouse, CIO, Jarden Consumer Products
• Sheila Jordon, CIO, Symantec Corporation
• Kim Keating, Assistant Vice President, Digital Care Strategy, AT&T
• Becky Levy, Associate Director, Member Services & Development, WGBH-TV Boston
• Elizabeth Spenko, Senior Vice President of NorthernLab, Northern Trust Corporation

On WIN’s closing discussion panel, these extraordinary honorees tackled issues around building influence and personal brand (“Develop yourself, don’t wait for someone to develop you”), mentorship for women (“The thing that scares you the most is what you should be doing”), and work/life balance (“There is no such thing. It is work/life integration”).

Click here to see photos from the event, and visit our Pack page to learn more about life at Bluewolf.