Technology Webinar on Entrepreneurial Innovation & Leadership

Insight into transforming business into innovative and socially responsible global companies that foster the development of STEM careers and create opportunities for women in business will be the focus of discussion during Connecticut Technology Council’s upcoming webinar, to be held on Tuesday, September 21 at 12 noon.

The webinar will feature two 2021 Women of Innovation® Finalists in the Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership category: Gunjan Bhardwaj, COO Vista IT Solutions, IntelliTransit Solutions (VITS), and Carol Yvette Thorney, Founder, President and CEO of Thorney Advisors LLC.

The webinar will be moderated by Ashley Kalinauskas, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Torigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a cancer research company focused on advanced cancer care solutions for pets. Kalinauskas was a 2018 Women of Innovation® Finalist in the Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership category, nominated for her work in leading vet oncology research.

Innovation and agents of change for women in business are hallmarks of both Bhardwaj and Thorney’s careers. Their insights offer beneficial career insight for women pursuing careers in STEM. Registration for Tuesday’s webinar is now open at www.eventbrite.com/e/172725876747.

Gunjan Bhardwaj serves as the COO of Vista IT Solutions, IntelliTransit Solutions, which provides technology solutions that align to the individual needs and vision of each of their clients across various industries. With over 14 years of experience, Bhardwaj is recognized for her passion and proficiency with technology, as well as her ability to transform ideas into innovative solutions. Under Bharwaj’s leadership, VITS was named to CRN’s Top 150 Fast Growth Companies in North America in 2020. In addition to serving as COO, she also founded VITS Cares Initiative, which provides read aloud programs, annual toy, school supply and food drives, as well as a mentorship program for young women in STEM.

Carol Yvette Thorney is the Founder, President and CEO of Thorney’s Advisors LLC, which helps companies with a philosophy supporting mutually beneficial relationships, accountability, quality and sustainability in alignment with rapid change. As an alumna of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with over 20 years of experience reimagining business models to increase internal productivity and cultural transformations, Thorney is known by her colleagues as a “champion of driving agile and lean enterprise strategy”, with a deep understanding of innovation, business and technology to achieve profitable growth.

The Women of Innovation® Spotlight monthly webinar series features women from a network of more than 800 previous and current honorees, who share their compelling career stories as women leading the fields of science, tech, engineering and mathematics. The live, interactive program is held virtually, on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, leading into the 2021 Women of Innovation® awards presentation.

17th Annual Women of Innovation® Awards Program

The 17th annual Women of Innovation® awards program will be held as a virtual event on Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 5:00 PM. The highly anticipated event is presented by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT). Registration for the awards ceremony, to be emceed by News 8 Anchor/Reporter Sarah Cody, is now open.

Sponsors for the virtual awards event include Medtronic, Pfizer, UConn, Arvinas, Sonalysts, Goodroot, The Jackson Laboratory and The Country School. Media sponsors include WTNH News8, Hearst CT Media, Hartford Business Journal, New Haven BIZ and the River 105.9 / iHeart Media. Sponsorship information is available by contacting Maureen Lord at mlord@ct.org.

This year’s awards program honors 36 outstanding finalists from 10 categories. The women recognized at this event are researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs and business leaders developing life changing technology and discovering breakthroughs that pave the way for a better future for Connecticut. The finalists were announced earlier this summer; for a complete list of the 2021 finalists and a description of their achievements, visit Women of Innovation’s website.

The Connecticut Technology Council is a statewide, member-based trade association focused on uniting and growing Connecticut's technology community by connecting leaders, driving public policy, and providing needed resources to growing tech companies. The CTC works together with members and the community at large to advance Connecticut's reputation as a technology state.

The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit, validates, demonstrates, and encourages the adoption of leading-edge technologies into global industrial companies and the advanced manufacturing supply chain, while also providing the training and education necessary to utilize the capability of these advancements and drive efficiency.

For more information, go to www.womenofinnovation.org