IBIT

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Fox Information Technology Award Recipients

JOHN T. MARCANTE

John T. Marcante - Fox IT Leader Award - 2014

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER AWARD

John T. Marcante is Vanguard’s chief information officer and managing director of Vanguard’s Information Technology Division. Vanguard is the world’s largest mutual fund company with more than $2.6 trillion in global assets under management. Mr. Marcante oversees all aspects of Vanguard’s worldwide technology agenda to serve clients and manage investments.

Mr. Marcante, with more than 26 years of experience in the business and technology fields, joined Vanguard in 1993. After serving in a number of leadership roles throughout the company, he returned to the IT division in 2012 and was named Vanguard’s chief information officer and managing director. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Marcante led Vanguard’s Institutional IT organization, supporting Vanguard’s Institutional Investor Group, which serves institutions, such as endowments and foundations, and is a leading provider of company-sponsored retirement plans.

Shortly after September 11, 2001, Mr. Marcante became the head of Global Technology Operations, focusing on data center management and disaster recovery. He was responsible for building out and managing Vanguard’s global infrastructure. From there, Mr. Marcante moved from IT to lead Vanguard’s Unmatchable Excellence program in 2004, where he managed Black Belts throughout the company with the chief purpose of creating an internal Six Sigma and Lean consulting organization focused on helping Vanguard’s businesses achieve their strategic goals. The following year, Mr. Marcante rotated to Vanguard’s Advice Services organization, where he managed CFPs (Certified Financial Planners) with the mission of re-engineering how Vanguard serves clients with financial advice.

In 2006, Mr. Marcante assumed leadership of Vanguard’s Asset Management Services and the Flagship group, which serves high-net-worth individuals. He led a major effort to reinvent the Flagship service model to maximize client loyalty. Mr. Marcante began his IT career at General Electric in a two-year Info System Management program and held various leadership roles while there. He earned his B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

LINDA DESCANO

Linda Descano - FOX IT AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI - 2014

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

Linda Descano, CFA®, is Managing Director and Head of Content and Social at Citi, responsible for social media and content marketing efforts for the U.S. consumer businesses. Linda also serves as President and CEO of Women & Co., Citi’s award-winning digital publisher of financial lifestyle content.

Over her 20 years at Citi, Linda has had a very diverse career, holding a number of roles across different businesses and functions. She joined Citi predecessor Salomon Inc. in 1994 as Vice President of Environmental Affairs. In 1999, Linda became a director and portfolio manager at Citi’s Private Portfolio Group. Linda joined Women & Co. in 2003 as Chief Operating Officer and was named CEO in 2010. She also served as Chief Administrative Officer of Global Marketing & Corporate Affairs from 2008-2010. Linda assumed her current responsibilities in 2012.

Linda is a regular contributor to Citi’s Financial Fitness blog, Women & Co. and Manilla.com and a member of the LinkedIn Influencer program, writing on an array of personal finance, career and leadership, and marketing topics. She was selected as one of GoBankingRates.com’s Most Popular Personal Finance Experts in 2013.

An accomplished speaker, Linda has spoken at hundreds of conferences on an array of personal finance, content marketing, and career topics. She is regularly sought out by the media for her expertise, and has been quoted in: Smart Money Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Business News Daily, MORE Magazine, American Banker, Digiday, Ad Age, The Daily Rap on the Wall Street Journal Radio Network, The Washington Post, Yahoo Shine, MSN Money, Forbes Woman and many more. She has contributed to countless newspapers and websites including The Huffington Post and Working Mother.

Among her many accomplishments, Linda was honored as one of “10 Women Who Run the World” at the 2013 More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon, and is the recipient of a Changing the Game Award from the Advertising Women of New York in 2013; a Women of Excellence Award from the National Association of Female Executives in 2012; a Luminary Award from Womensphere in 2011; a Corporate w2wlink Ascendancy Award in 2009; and a Wise Woman of the Year Award by the National Organization of Italian American Women in 2008. Linda also will receive the Pinnacle in Leadership Award from the Girl Scouts of Greater New York in April 2014.

Passionate about community service, Linda is on the Board of Directors of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., the Director’s Council of the Penn Museum, and the advisory boards of Eve Echo, Fab&Fru and Generations. Linda currently serves as president-elect of New York Women in Communications and is an executive member of Advertising Women of New York. She is the past national vice chair of Step Up Women’s Network. She also is a member of the Financial Women’s Association, New York Society of Security Analysts, and National Organization of Italian-American Women.

A native of Philadelphia, Linda attended Temple University and Texas A&M University. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Geology and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

ATISH BANERJEA

 atish

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

Atish Banerjea currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for NBCUniversal.  Mr. Banerjea is based in New York, and is responsible for leading NBCUniversal’s Information Technology organization, overseeing global technology applications, infrastructure and operations for the company’s worldwide media portfolio.

Most Recently Mr. Banerjea served as Chief Technology Officer for Dex One Corporation, where he led a major redesign of that company’s IT functions, and helped transform Dex One from a print-centric business to a digital media marketing company.

Prior to joining Dex One, Mr. Banerjea served as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Pearson, where he was responsible for the global planning, deployment and management of more than $550-million in information technology investment. He has also held roles at Maurices, Inc and Simon & Schuster.

Mr. Banerjea holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Temple University, and a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Delhi.

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

ALEEM WALJI

 aleem

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD

Aleem is the Director of the World Bank’s Innovation Labs. He oversees Open Government, Transparency and Accountability initiatives with particular interest in leveraging technology to increase social accountability and improve service delivery. He oversees the Development Marketplace program which provides social entrepreneurs access to growth financing with a focus on South Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East. Aleem also serves on the Global Advisory Council on the Future of Government at the World Economic Forum.

Prior to joining WBI, Aleem served as a Head of Global Development Initiatives at Google.org, with a focus on eastern Africa. He led efforts related to increasing transparency and accountability in government and supporting the growth of small and medium-size enterprises in Africa. Aleem was also the first CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation in Syria. He is a graduate of Emory University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Near Eastern Studies and Anthropology and his master’s degree in International Development and Regional Planning.

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS

SUJA CHANDRASEKARAN

 suja-chandrasekaran_

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER AWARD

Suja Chandrasekaran is the Vice President of Enterprise Information Management (EIM) of Walmart’s Information Systems Division. She is responsible for establishing the overall strategic direction of Walmart’s expanding EIM function. Suja leads the development, implementation and ongoing operation of EIM products and services and is technical subject matter expert for the future direction of information management initiatives.

Before joining Walmart in 2012, Suja was the Vice President and Global Chief Information Officer at The Timberland Company. She also worked at PepsiCo where she spent three years as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for PepsiCo, North America with responsibilities across Frito-Lay, Pepsi Beverages, Quaker, Tropicana and Gatorade across all business units. Prior to her role at PepsiCo, Suja led business transformation at Nestle Americas.

Suja earned her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Madras in Madras, India. She has a Master’s degree in Business Systems from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.  She has also received a bachelor’s executive development education from the London Business School in London, England.

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS