The San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal named Kathy Ryan, the firm’s co-founder, CEO and CFO, as a 2012 Women of Influence. The Business Journal published the list of 100 women leaders Friday, April 6.
We are quite pleased Kathy is included in such prestigious company, which includes women in astronomy, computing, academics, government, the arts, finance, health care, law, solar power, communications, social media, education and more.
The award, says Kathy, “reminds me of how proud I am of what RoseRyan has contributed to this region’s vibrant business ecosystem over nearly 20 years.” (You can read more about her in our press release or check out her website bio.)
The list, says the Business Journal, is a response to the fact that women in corporate leadership have yet to reach parity in numbers with men. Research from UC Davis, which annually publishes a report on women leaders at California public companies, shows that women comprise 9.7 percent of leadership roles at the state’s big public companies—and in Silicon Valley, they make up only 7.4 percent.
The Business Journal, however, considers public and private companies, government and academia. Some of the better-known 2012 Women of Influence include Van Dang, VP of law and deputy general counsel, Cisco; Lisa Nash, CEO, Blue Planet Network; Madison Nguyen, vice mayor, San Jose; Julie Packard, executive director, Monterey Bay Aquarium; Joan Parsons, head of U.S. banking, Silicon Valley Bank; Jennifer Simmons, executive director, Habitat for Humanity Silicon Valley; Dawn Smith, SVP, VMware; Meg Whitman, CEO, Hewlett-Packard; and Sharon A. Williams, executive director, JobTrain.
It’s particularly satisfying that the list also includes a number of women leading new (or newish) companies, such as Wendy Arienzo, CEO, ArrayPower; Anne Bonaparte, president and CEO, Xora; Stina Ehrensvard, founder and CEO, Yubico; Mar Hershenson, founder and CEO, Revel Touch; and Laura Yecies, CEO, SugarSync.
And of course, we’re pleased to see there are two other CFOs: Robyn Denholm of Juniper Networks and Lumin Chang at Wyse Techology. By our count, past lists have recognized a total of about eight CFOs; maybe there will be more of us financial types in the future.
