Thanks for joining us in 2026.
Be sure to take a look at the post-event photo gallery. We’ll add more photos as they are processed, so check back often. We hope to see you at a2Tech360 2027!
September 28, 2026 | 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Tickets: $75 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building
Presented by Ann Arbor SPARK.
One of Michigan’s premier gatherings celebrating women in technology and innovation, Women in Tech brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, executives, engineers, researchers, students, investors, and community leaders for a day of inspiration, practical insights, and meaningful connections.
Whether you’re growing your career, building a business, searching for your next opportunity, or looking for the people who can help you succeed, Women in Tech is where our region’s innovation community comes together.
Learn from industry leaders, discover new opportunities, exchange ideas, and build relationships that can lead to your next job, mentor, client, collaborator, business partner, or lifelong friend.
Why Attend in 2026?
Women in Tech Resource Marketplace
Explore women-led startups, AI demonstrations, career resources, mentorship opportunities, community organizations, and companies committed to supporting women in technology.
A New Daytime Experience
We heard your feedback! This year, Women in Tech moves to a daytime schedule with lunch included, making it easier to invest in professional development during the workday while still leaving plenty of time for networking.
Women in Tech 2026 Agenda
Doors Open, Registration Begins
10:00 a.m.
Resource Marketplace Opens
10:00 a.m. – 10:40 a.m.
Opening Remarks
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
- Dr. Rose B. Bellanca, Ed.D., President, Washtenaw Community College
Finding your Path in Tech: Panel
11:00 a.m. -11:45 a.m.
- Beatrice Fullan, Vice President, Oracle
- Heather Kelly, Vice President, SwitchBox
- Katie Kunz, Senior Leader, Charles Schwab
- Praveena Ramaswami, Mobility Innovator, Cargility Inc
There is no single path to building a meaningful career. This panel brings together women working across a variety of sectors: a mobility startup, a small engineering consulting firm, and a large corporation. They will share the decisions, challenges, relationships, and unexpected opportunities that shaped their careers. The conversation will explore how women can strengthen their resilience, advocate for themselves, ask for opportunities, build a support network, and confidently chart their own paths. Whether you are entering the workforce, changing direction, advancing into leadership, or building something of your own, this panel will offer practical insights to help you take your next step.
Lunch
11:45 a.m.
Keynote
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Alana Karen, Author, “The Adventures of Women in Tech: Navigating the Hard Tech Era”
Women Working in The Age of AI: Panel
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Juliana Ashrifeh, Product Development Intern, AIQA Global, AI Solutions Engineer, Think Technologies
- Emefa Boamah, Somatic Strategist, Emefa Boamah Embodiment Coaching
- Elaine Ezekiel, Director of Marketing, Atomic Object
- Anne Marsan, Senior Software Developer, CareEvolution
AI is rapidly becoming an essential workplace tool. Whether you’re just getting started or already experimenting with AI, this panel will help you understand where AI is headed, how women are using it today, and how you can confidently apply it in your own work. Join moderator Emefa Boamah for a conversation with women who are building, implementing, and studying AI from different perspectives. From software development and product innovation to marketing, leadership, and emerging research, this discussion will explore how AI is changing the way we work and where the greatest opportunities lie.
Resource Marketplace Networking
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Event Concludes
3:00 p.m.
Women in Tech Speakers
Plus more being announced soon!
Alana Karen
Tech Leader & Author
Alana Karen is an award-winning tech leader, author, and speaker. With over 25 years in tech, including over two decades at Google, Alana led the charge to develop, scale, build, and drive team and product development, impacting billions of users globally. Alana has spoken at conferences and summits on technology, leadership, talent, and innovation. Her best-selling book, “Adventures of Women in Tech” has received awards and been praised for its insightful stories. A second edition entitled “Navigating the Hard Tech Era” launched in November 2025, and a follow-up workbook was released in 2022. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.
Keynote: Alana Karen
Tech Leader & Author
Juliana Ashrifeh
AI Management Graduate Student
Georgetown University
Juliana is entering her second year as a Master’s student in Artificial Intelligence Management at Georgetown University, focused on AI business strategy and governance. Beyond her academic pursuits, she is conducting independent research on social media addiction and its evolution into AI addiction, developing preventative frameworks designed to protect children. This research reflects her commitment to understanding how social platforms shape behavior and how we can build safeguards before AI addiction becomes systemic.
Currently, Juliana works at Think Technologies, a Detroit-based startup delivering enterprise AI business solutions, and interning at AIQA Global, the first independent quantitative rating system for enterprise AI governance. Her career path reflects a deliberate pivot from marketing toward AI strategy and ethics, informed by her B.S. from Wayne State University.
Beyond her direct work, Juliana is Co-Lead for the Detroit Chapter of AI Collective, where she helps build community understanding around AI’s challenges and opportunities.
Juliana Ashrifeh
Georgetown University
Rose Bellanca
President
Washtenaw Community College
Now in her second decade as president, Dr. Rose B. Bellanca, Ed.D., continues to embrace the opportunities of leading Washtenaw Community College, an institution that is nationally-recognized for delivering excellent programs and student success.
During a recent international symposium on transportation mobility, President Bellanca shared that in this warped-speed changing world, standing still is not an option: “If we stand still, we fail,” she told industry, business and academic leaders in attendance.
Dr. Bellanca’s remarks opened day two of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) Annual CCAT (Center for Connected and Automated Transportation) Global Symposium. WCC is the only community college on the CCAT team, joining the University of Michigan, Purdue University, the University of Illinois, the University of Akron and Central State University in Ohio.
At a time of declining college enrollment across the country, under Dr. Bellanca’s leadership, WCC has implemented numerous innovations in teaching and student services to steadily retain and attract students during an international pandemic.
Washtenaw Community College, located in Ann Arbor, Mi. and geographically only a few short miles from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, serves more than 20,000 students annually.
Dr. Bellanca oversees a campus with nearly 1,500 full and part-time employees and whose facilities host more than 100,000 visitors a year. WCC truly is a “community” college.
In March 2020, nearly 78 percent of Washtenaw County voters approved a 10-year, $175 million millage renewal, illustrating the community’s support for WCC. This is believed to be the largest percentage of yes votes in the college’s 55 years. In 2016, in the fifth year of Dr. Bellanca’s tenure, county voters approved another large operating millage with a 70 percent approval rating.
Under Dr. Bellanca’s leadership, WCC has been awarded more than $30 million in grants through the State of Michigan, the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Dr. Bellanca has always responded proactively to challenges in higher education. This includes leading the college’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic –quickly adapting college programs and services for delivery in an online environment — to protect the health and safety of WCC’s faculty, students and staff.
In the space of one long weekend in March 2020, only days after the successful millage vote, WCC closed campus and moved to mostly online classes to “keep learning alive.” Through her leadership, WCC was more prepared for the transition because it had been offering and growing student enrollment through virtual formats for nearly 10 years.
In 2020, WCC was named the top community college in Michigan for distance learning by Affordable Colleges Online. In addition, WCC received the number one ranking as the best community college in Michigan by Schools.com. Most recently, MSN.com reported that Washtenaw Community College was rated the best community college in Michigan.
A pillar of WCC’s success under Dr. Bellanca is its affordability. In April 2021, the college’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a tuition freeze for in-county students for the fourth consecutive year. In the 2021-22 academic year, tuition will remain at $95 per credit hour for in-district on- campus students and $108 per credit hour for online students.
In addition to keeping the college affordable, another pillar in the college’s mission is providing excellent educational opportunities.
In just the last year, WCC was designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The college currently offers six cyber security courses in what has become one of the most important educational programs offered today. Cybersecurity training at WCC prepares students for careers in cybersecurity with both degrees and non-credit options.
Another measure of WCC success under Dr. Bellanca’s leadership is its transfer record. Nearly 70 percent of WCC students transfer to four-year colleges and universities to complete a bachelor’s degree. And, no other college in Michigan comes close to WCC in sending students on to the University of Michigan.
A forward thinker, Dr. Bellanca has positioned the college to meet the needs of a global workforce, developing new curricula and programs related to jobs in mobility, intelligent transportation systems and the skilled trades sectors.
Students who have taken courses through the college’s Advanced Transportation Center have landed important and fulfilling jobs at research centers operated by GM, Ford, Toyota and others.
Dr. Bellanca frequently participates in panels and at conferences on behalf of the college. She is passionate about student success, access and affordability and serves on multiple national commissions through the American Association of Community Colleges to further those goals.
Additionally, she chairs the Region 9 Talent Council, which is part of the State of Michigan’s Prosperity Initiative; member of the Executive Committee of Ann Arbor SPARK; board member of the National Commission on Economic and Workforce Development, and member of the Licensure Committee for the American Association of Community Colleges.
She has engaged in numerous media interviews and was named a “Women Who Lead” honoree by News/Talk 760 WJR Radio. The acknowledgment recognizes women who are leaders in their industries and their communities and for their professional and personal accomplishments.
She is particularly proud of the of the college’s Foundation. Since its establishment nearly 40 years ago, the WCC Foundation has awarded more than 10,000 scholarships worth more than $6.2 million. In addition, the Foundation has provided more than $1.5 million in other educational emergency support, including child care assistance, food pantry access, transportation funds and text book vouchers.
Community colleges, you might say, are in Dr. Bellanca’s DNA. A graduate of Macomb Community College, she went on to earn bachelors, master’s and Doctor of Education degrees from Wayne State University. Later, she was provost at Macomb, president of Northwood University’s West Palm Beach Campus and president of St. Clair County Community College.
She is the fourth president to lead Washtenaw Community College.
Dr. Rose B. Bellanca, Ed.D.
Washtenaw Community College
Emefa Boamah
Somatic Business Strategist
Emefa Boamah Embodiment Coaching
Emefa Boamah is a Somatic Strategist and engaging speaker who works at the intersection of personal leadership, business development, and the ethical use of technology. Drawing from her Ewe heritage from Ghana and certifications in Transformational Embodiment Coaching, Breathwork, EFT, and NLP Facilitation, she guides female founders in building sustainable businesses from the inside out.
Her Five Facets of Being framework helps leaders move from fragmentation and depletion into clarity, embodied authority, and aligned action. She believes that when we use technology ethically and intentionally, we create more space to be human — not less — and that the future of leadership lives at that intersection.
She has facilitated workshops and programs for the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Michigan State University, New Lab Detroit, Black Tech Saturdays, Founder Forward Michigan, Femology, BasBlue, and WXW. She is a One Million Cups organizer and presenter coach in Ann Arbor, and serves as Co-Chair of the Forum Committee for the Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw.
Emefa Boamah
Emefa Boamah Embodiment Coaching
Elaine Ezekiel
Director of Marketing
Atomic Object
Elaine Ezekiel leads marketing at Atomic Object, an employee-owned custom software company that has grown across three states and earned national recognition during her time there. She helps people find and connect with the right ideas, stories, and partners—work that’s helped Atomic triple in size.
Elaine is especially drawn to helping others shape careers that reflect who they really are, as opposed to what looks good on paper. Even as technology changes how we live and work, she believes the most powerful force for progress is still human connection. She lives in Ann Arbor, where she’s always looking for ways to build community and make her city stronger.
Elaine Ezekiel
Atomic Object
Beatrice Fullan
Vice President
Oracle
Beatrice Fullan is a Vice President at Oracle, based in Nashville, Tennessee. In her leadership role, she oversees Community Relations, Corporate Sustainability, and Philanthropy – building partnerships and programs that expand opportunity, strengthen local communities, and advance Oracle’s social and environmental commitments.
Since joining Oracle in 2019, Beatrice has led cross-functional initiatives that connect business strategy with meaningful, measurable impact. She brings together employees, customers, nonprofit organizations, and public-sector stakeholders to create lasting value in the communities Oracle serves.
Before Oracle, Beatrice held leadership roles at Amazon, including leading Amazon Web Services’ global compliance programs, establishing Amazon’s payables controllership function, and building a risk operations team. Earlier in her career, she worked at Deloitte & Touche in Enterprise Risk Services, specializing in IT audit, technology transformation, and cloud design and implementation.
Beatrice holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Washington. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling – most recently visiting Machu Picchu in Peru – scrapbooking, reading, and spending time with her husband and their mastiff.
Beatrice Fullan
Oracle
Heather Kelly
VP of Engineering
SwitchBox
Heather Kelly is the Vice President of Engineering at SwitchBox, where she leads multidisciplinary engineering teams developing advanced mobility, embedded systems, and electrification solutions. Over the past 14 years, she has built her career across the automotive industry, spending 10 years at General Motors before joining SwitchBox, where she now helps lead the engineering organization and technical strategy.
Heather believes engineering is ultimately about building things that matter, whether that’s innovative products, high-performing teams, or future leaders. She enjoys solving complex technical and organizational challenges, bringing together diverse perspectives, and creating environments where people are empowered to grow, collaborate, and do their best work. Her passion lies at the intersection of engineering, leadership, and continuous learning.
Heather earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and MBA from Kettering University, along with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Oakland University. She is excited to share the lessons she’s learned throughout her career and hopes to encourage more women to pursue technical careers, embrace leadership opportunities, and build careers that are both challenging and rewarding.
Heather Kelly
SwitchBox
Kaitlyn Kunz
Senior Technology Leader
Charles Schwab
Katie is a senior leader of client trading experience technology at Charles Schwab, leading a team of talented engineers to develop and grow the thinkorswim desktop trading application.
She also launched and co-directs a Women in Technology Employee Resource Group at Schwab, which provides Women in Technology members and allies at all levels of their career find new ways to connect, lead, and succeed.
Kaitlyn Kunz
Charles Schwab
Anne Marsan
Software Developer
CareEvolution
Anne is a senior software developer in the healthcare IT industry. She applies her skills in full-stack development, computer algorithms, engineering, and project management to solve difficult technical problems that have a positive impact on the world. She enjoys learning new technologies, techniques, and domains and sharing what she knows with her colleagues and community.
Anne currently works for CareEvolution, a healthcare IT company in Ann Arbor. Prior to that she worked for companies in software consulting and the aerospace and automotive industries. She has a BS in General Engineering from the University of Illinois and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She is an avid volunteer, having served on the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum board and the City of Ann Arbor’s Parks Advisory Commission.
Anne Marsan
CareEvolution
Praveena Ramaswami
Co-Founder
Cargility
Praveena Ramaswami is a mobility innovator, entrepreneur, and social impact leader dedicated to creating more accessible communities through transportation and technology. Her career spans mobility, public relations, marketing communications, and cross-sector partnerships, leading initiatives across Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, government, and startups that strengthen communities and expand access to opportunity. She was recently recognized by Michigan’s elected leaders, including the Governor, with a special proclamation honoring her contributions to mobility innovation and community impact.
Today, Praveena is the Co-Founder of Cargility, where she is leading the development of a patented assistive mobility solution that makes vehicle entry and exit safer and more accessible for older adults, people with mobility challenges, and the caregivers who support them. Her work is focused on advancing inclusive mobility solutions that help people maintain their independence and stay connected to the people and places that matter most.
Praveena Ramaswami
Cargility
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