Women's Success Forum - Denver, Colorado

Clockwise from top left: Robin Heller, Colleen Abdoulah, Alexis Wang, Lawrence Scicluna and Ann Ayers.

Woman of the Year – A prestigious honor given to a corporate woman, who is being recognized for positive, enlightened and exemplary leadership at her company and within the community.

Robin Heller, Executive Vice President,
Operations and IT, Western Union

With responsibility for Global Customer Service and Operations, Information and Technology Services, and Strategic Program and Integration Management, Robin strategically aligns, prioritizes and synchronizes Western Union’s global service strategies through customer focused solutions, product innovation and delivery, technological initiatives and integration projects.

“Collaboration is a big part of Robin’s management style. Rather than top-down management … she encourages her team to work together identifying problems and developing creative solutions. In this way she inspires everyone on her team … to achieve their true potential.”

“Robin demonstrates exceptional change leadership and inspires other to do the same. She enables them to take risks and achieve success by encouraging them to have confidence in their positions, communicate transparently, challenge processes and behaviors in a respectful manner, and support meaningful action toward aligned goals.”

“Regardless of how hectic her schedule gets, Robin works hard to honor the commitment she makes to each individual on her team. By creating that atmosphere of open dialogue, Robin provides informal mentoring to everyone she works with.”

Robin is a member of the WiseWomen Council for Women’sVision Foundation, the Board of Junior Achievement, and the Board of Visitors for The Women’s College of the University of Denver. She received her masters of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, Omaha and her B.A. in Business Administration with a major in Finance from Iowa State University. Robin and her husband David, have a son, Zachariah.

Ally Award – Established to recognize men who champion the advancement of corporate women, and provide professional development and mentoring opportunities for both men and women.

Lawrence J. Scicluna, Vice President Human Resources,
Ball Packaging Products Americas, Ball Corporation

Lawrence directs and is responsible for Corporate Office human resource functions in North America and meeting Ball Corporation’s overall plans and objectives which also include labor relations, employment practices, diversity, leadership and organizational development, and technical training. He also handles corporate facilities management, travel and administrative services.

“Lawry’s office has a revolving door. Others seek his advice. He listens; he is fair and provides guidance to individuals at all levels within Ball. He encourages others to look at change as possibility … Lawry will place individuals in stretch assignments and provide the mentoring, coaching and outside resources to succeed in a new role.”

“He is a strong business leader whose professional commitment to building a diverse and inclusive environment at Ball Corporation is helping to change the face of our business.”

“He goes beyond his role in promoting, coaching, counseling and including women in all areas of management and professional development. He encourages women to pursue growth opportunities within the Company, helps them to excel and supports them in reaching their goals. Lawry understands the challenges women face in the corporate environment and is always ready to give a hand and listen to their concerns.”

Born in Valleta, Malta, Lawry has been recognized for his work and has received several awards including Franklin Covey’s Facilitator of the Year, Ball Corporation’s Award of Excellence, and he was elected an Honorary Life Member to the Footscray Institute of Technology’s Student Council. Lawry received his degree in Electrical Engineering from the Footscray Institute of Technology (FIT) in Melbourne, Australia.

Betsy Bernard Emerging Leader – This award is presented to a Colorado corporate woman, in mid-career, who is emerging as a change agent and leader within her company and the community.

Alexis Wang, Manager, RF Engineering,
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation

Alexis (Lexie) Wang, is the functional manager of Radio Frequency (RF) Engineering at Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corporation in Boulder, Colorado. As manager of this highly
technical engineering department of approximately 100 men and women, Lexie is recognized
both in her department and across Ball Aerospace as an individual strongly committed to
understanding and addressing the needs of her people and the issues women in particular, face in the workplace. In order to understand the workplace issues within the department, Lexie has built relationships of trust with members of her department through an open door policy as well as taking the time to regularly visit each person informally to understand the needs of each individual. Lexie soon formed the RF Women’s Lunch Group (known as the "brown bag lunch") where the women within the department get together once a month to talk about and understand the issues they face.

“A leader sees the potential in others well before they see it in themselves. For Lexie, her
greatest influence and satisfaction as a leader comes from the time and counsel she offers to
individuals, particularly women, to step out and dare to be great. It is in this capacity that Lexie’s insight into people, encouragement, and passion shines though.”

"Lexie is very perceptive of the skills of her employees. She does this by watching and taking the time to stop by and ask questions about my programs, and tries to know all my skills. In turn, I use this same approach with the technicians and assemblers who work for me on my programs, and I receive the same respect from them that I have for Lexie.” “Lexie’s proactive and energizing effect as a leader extends beyond individuals.

She has made a profound difference in the functional management role at Ball Aerospace as well.” Lexie is involved with Colorado Mathematics, Engineering, Science and Achievement (MESA), a group that encourages study in these subjects among middle and high school students, and along with her mother established a memorial scholarship for women and minorities in honor of her father who was also an engineer. In 2009, she received the prestigious Ball Corporate Award of Excellence. Lexie earned her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Corporate Advocacy Award – For corporations that support and practice employee advancement through professional development opportunities and mentoring for both men and women.

WOW! Cable, Internet and Phone, Colleen Abdoulah, CEO and Chairwoman of the Board

Colleen Abdoulah, the only female CEO to lead a top twenty cable company, is widely respected for her passionate focus on customer experience and company culture. Colleen has guided WOW! Internet, Cable and Phone through seven years of industry leading financial success and earned an unprecedented ten J.D. Power and Associates awards for customer satisfaction.

“WOW! provides significant resources supporting women in leadership roles and recognizes their
unique style of leadership and energy to our team; we invest in training, coaching and leadership development opportunities for our women leaders and emerging leaders. Many of the women in leadership roles at WOW! come from companies with less than stellar records of promoting gender differences and encouraging female leadership styles. As a result, women new to the company often find an opportunity to rediscover their natural leadership style in a safe environment that encourages and accepts the unique strengths of female leadership.”

WOW! has four core values that each employee is bound to live by each and every day:

Respect - Treat others as you wish to be treated
Integrity - Choose between right and wrong
Servanthood - Embrace the attitude and honor of serving others rather than being served
Accountability - Own your part of any situation and work towards a solution

“Possessing these values is not what makes WOW! unique. Operationalizing these values is, however, what differentiates us from many other companies. All of our systems in the organization support these values. We recruit, promote, train, review, acknowledge, and develop based on each employee’s behaviors that support our guiding values. This foundation is what defines our culture as one of inclusion and opportunity for all employees regardless of gender, race, age and ethnicity.”