PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - May 23, 2011) - The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) hosted its first Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Workshop on May 19, 2011 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA. The sold out Workshop featured speakers from top high-tech companies including the Anita BorgTop Company for Technical WomenAward winner IBM, as well as Cisco, Google, Symantec, Intel, Intuit, CA Technologies, Microsoft Research and SAP. The Top Company workshop featured solutions in increasing the representation of technical women, and in their retention and advancement.

Ron Glover, Vice President, Diversity and Workforce Programs at IBM, was the keynote speaker for the Workshop. He emphasized the business case for addressing the issue of diversity in technical roles, making the point that companies can no longer compete globally without a focus on the issue. He spoke about IBM's integration of diversity as a core strategy for innovation. Critical to success in achieving a strong representation of technical women at IBM was the establishment of partnerships between executives and diverse communities, combining global strategy and local execution with strong accountability at all levels.

The Top Company Workshop Panels addressed best practices in recruiting technical women, retaining mid-level technical women, advancing technical women in the individual contributor and executive and management paths, and creating and sustaining cultural change. Key solutions discussed were:

• Measurement and benchmarking
• Setting goals for recruitment, retention, and advancement
• Executive commitment and sponsorship
• Career mentoring and development programs combined with strong executive sponsorship of technical women
• The creation of objective promotion processes with clearly communicated criteria

The Anita Borg Institute will publish a detailed white paper in Fall 2011 with the details of the practices shared in the workshop.

"The Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Workshop fostered an intelligent dialogue around solutions for the recruitment, retention, and advancement of technical women," said Dr. Caroline Simard, Vice President of Research and Executive Programs for the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. "Organizational change to create and sustain cultures where technical women can thrive is a significant challenge faced by companies who strive to reap the benefits from gender diversity on innovation. This Workshop provided companies with a platform to exchange concrete practices and solutions that are making a difference for technical women."

The 137 attendees included representatives from a wide array of top technology organizations.

About the Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award

The Anita Borg Top Company for Technical Women Award recognizes an organization that has demonstrated measurable results in the recruitment, retention, and advancement of technical women at all levels. Grounded in organizational research and based on quantitative data, the award measures the current representation of technical women as well as improvement in women's representation over time. The Top Company is widely recognized as a leader in leveraging diverse talent for greater innovation.

About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)

The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, Microsoft, HP, CA Technologies, Cisco, Facebook, First Republic Bank, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, NetApp, SAP, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Amazon, Broadcom, Motorola Foundation, Raytheon, Salesforce, and Yahoo! For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.