The American Business Awards®Company/Organization & Achievement Awards Judging Committee | The American Business Awards®

Company/Organization & Achievement Awards Judging Committee

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Betül Yücel

Founding Director, IF Consultancy, Brussels, Belgium

Betül is an organizational psychologist, management consultant, and impact investor specializing in large-scale organizational transformation, leadership strategy, and impact-driven capital deployment. With more than 20 years of experience across corporate leadership, advisory, and investment, she works at the intersection of business transformation, climate technologies, and inclusive innovation. She is the Founder of IF Consultancy, a transformation and management consulting firm that for the past decade has supported Fortune 500 companies, global institutions, and fast-growing ventures in navigating complex organizational change. Through IF Consultancy, Betül has led high-impact transformation initiatives across corporate, public, and international development ecosystems by helping organizations translate strategy into measurable cultural, leadership, and operational shifts. Her consulting work focuses on aligning leadership behavior, governance models, and human capital strategies with long-term business and sustainability goals. Throughout her career, Betül has advised senior leadership teams from Fortune 500 companies, ministries, and international organizations including UN Women, UNIDO, the European Union, and the U.S. Embassy, designing award-winning programs that integrate gender-responsive leadership, innovation capability, and institutional transformation within capital-intensive sectors such as energy, climate technologies, manufacturing, and infrastructure. In parallel to her consulting work, Betül is an impact investor and General Partner at GreenWise Impact Fund, an climate technology fund fund under Boğaziçi Ventures. She co-leads the fund’s strategy and fundraising while investing in high-growth climate solutions through a gender lens and AI-powered impact analytics. Her investment thesis is built on the conviction that capital allocation is one of the most powerful levers for accelerating climate resilience and gender equality, particularly in emerging and transition economies. She also co-founded IF Nexus, a joint initiative between IF Consultancy and Boğaziçi Ventures that integrates leadership science, human-centered AI, and startup methodologies to help organizations translate technological innovation into real organizational transformation. Betül previously served as a Gender Expert for UN Women and UNIDO, was a lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University, and continues to advise C-level leaders as an executive coach on leadership effectiveness, governance, and culture transformation. She actively mentors founders and investors through global networks such as Women in Tech and Startup Wise Guys. Her academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Turkey’s most prestigious public university, widely recognized globally for its excellence in engineering, natural sciences, and research, as well as a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology. Her education is complemented by an ICF-accredited Executive Coaching certification and advanced executive programs in gender analytics, transformational leadership, blockchain, financial infrastructure, and emerging technologies. She also holds certifications in Generative AI applications for human resources, reflecting her work at the intersection of leadership transformation, human capital strategy, and emerging technologies. Recognized as a UN International Change Champion, Betül also serves as a jury member for leading global awards including the Stevie Awards and Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards. Her work bridges organizational psychology, management consulting, and impact investing to demonstrate how leadership-driven transformation and strategic capital can unlock scalable solutions for the climate transition.

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Somnath Banerjee

Engineer Lead Senior, Elevance Health, Bridgewater, New Jersey, United States

Somnath Banerjee is an IT leader at Elevance Health, a Fortune 50 healthcare company, with two decades of experience in healthcare technology. His career spans cutting-edge work in data engineering, cloud architecture, master data management (MDM), and AI-driven automation. Somnath is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and a mentor to IT startups and professionals.

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Manikandan Dhanabalan

Software Engineering Senior Director, CRCGroup, Cumming, Georgia, United States

A seasoned engineering leader delivering enterprise-scale digital transformation across the financial services and insurance sectors. Led high-impact initiatives involving finance system modernization, large-scale data migrations, mainframe optimization, and the development of secure, cloud-native platforms. Renowned for architecting resilient, scalable solutions aligned with strategic business goals.

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Sheela Dubey

Quality Engineering IT Technical Lead, Malvern, Media, Pennsylvania, United States

Sheela Dubey is an experienced QA professional specializing in retail technology, enterprise applications, and end-to-end validation. She has led release sign-offs, automation optimization, and cross-functional quality initiatives in agile environments. She brings strong analytical skills and a passion for recognizing innovation, scalability, and measurable business impact as a Stevie Awards judge.

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Durga Kare

Project Delivery Lead, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Chicago, Illinois, United States

Durga is a results-oriented professional with a robust background in business transformation, focusing on technology and strategy. He has a proven track record as a trusted advisor, with 20 years of experience across various project environments. Durga is passionate about providing value through innovative solutions and collaborative teamwork. Anything related to blockchain and AI, talk to him.

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Venkata Sai Reddy Kotu

Senior Software Engineer, Docusign Inc, Livermore, California, United States

Venkata Sai Reddy Kotu is a Senior Software Engineer at DocuSign, architecting Intelligent Agreement Management systems supporting millions in revenue. A Distinguished Fellow of SCRS, Fellow of IETE, and Senior Member of IEEE, he brings 15+ years of expertise in API-first architecture, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven automation to digital transformation.

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Pirjit Maravapatti Sreedharan

Regional Managing Director, Nefab Packaging Inc, Coppell, Texas, United States

A profound leader and coach with 25+ years of rich experience towards customer centricity in developing strategies for creating value and profits for Organization. Ability to convert strategies into actions by driving sales force, working on KPIs, tactics, and daily operations; improving effectiveness; and changing management based on current needs.

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Romina J Oviedo Perez

Accountant Manager, OPC TAXES (OPC AND SONS LLC), Miami, Florida, United States

Dual-qualified CPA and Attorney with an MBA (Master in Business Administration) with a postgraduate degree in Economic Criminal Law. CEO & Founder of OPC TAXES, specializing in tax, bookkeeping, due diligence, business plans, and financial projections for small and medium businesses and investors in the US and Argentina. Extensive experience as an independent professional and entrepreneur.

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Raghavender Reddy Puchhakayala

Quant Analytics Associate Sr., IEEE / JPMorgan Chase, Prosper, Texas, United States

He is recognized as a Senior Member of IEEE and Fellow of IETE, actively contributing to the technology community through peer-reviewed publications, conference paper reviews, and mentoring. Raghavender’s core focus areas are data analytics, business insights, and intelligent automation, powering strategic outcomes and operational efficiency for organizations.

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Soumya Udupi Ramesh

Solutions Architect, Kinsale Insurance, Glen Allen, Virginia, United States

Soumya Ramesh is a solutions architect with an InsurTech company in Richmond, Virginia. I have more than 19 years of experience in building and maintaining software systems, mainly in Angular and Java. Soumya is currently working as a solution architect, architecting, designing, and managing high-performing teams.

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Werner Van Rossum

Business Venture Manager - Performance Management, ExxonMobil, Tomball, Texas, United States

Werner van Rossum is a finance and enterprise transformation executive with nearly two decades of experience across finance, performance management, and enterprise systems in global organizations. His work focuses on strategic business management and designing systems that integrate global financial operations, governance, and performance oversight.

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Vinh Vo

Senior Member, IEEE.org, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Vinh has 20+ years in leadership roles at top MNCs from the US, EU, and APAC. Vinh has driven impactful changes across sales, marketing, business development, operations, and general management in diverse industries.