The travel site Booking.com announced the winners of its 2020 Technology Playmaker Awards. An event that has been running since 2017 and focuses on recognizing women and diversity in technology.

Choosing 10 winners across 5 continents. Celebrating the winners during the COVID19 pandemic, especially since they represent many women globally in the technology sector who are aiming to make a difference in peoples lives has “special significance”, according to the company

“While we are unable to celebrate the winners in person this year as we had planned in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, at this time of such great global uncertainty, it remains more important than ever to recognize those who are making such lasting and impactful contributions in technology, as well as inspiring each other,” says Gillian Tans, chairwoman at Booking.com

With the number of women in IT professional roles remain largely stagnant at 16 $ for the last 10 years, the representation of these women in the technology sector has been lacking

One of the reasons for this low number of women in tech is the lack of female role models to aspire others, Booking.com launching these awards has helped to recognize and make female role models more visible in the technology industry to encourage others to pursue a carrier in tech.

Selecting from 45 finalists, picked from over 800 nominations by a panel of judges, these 10 women became the winners of the Technology Playmaker Awards for 2020.

• Champion of Change and Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020: Leanne Robers, co-Founder, and co-CEO of accelerator program She Loves Tech
• Rising Technologist: Hannah Blair, senior front-end developer at software building website Defty, and co-founder of virtual reality (VR) firm vrcalm
• Role Model: Ada Nduka Oyom, founder of skills and mentorship organization She Code Africa, and co-Founder of Open Source Community Africa
• Entrepreneur: Seema Khinda Johnson, co-founder, and chief operating officer of blockchain platform Nuggets
• Academic Achievement: Reina Camacho Toro, a particle physicist at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) and researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)
• Employer: UK training and consultancy Sparta Global, for investment in female technology professionals and a focus on diversity and inclusion
• Social Impact: ElsaMarie DSilva, founder and CEO of Red Dot Foundation and Sheila Harkatz, founder of financial education platform Mujeres En Carrera
• Business Leader: Tania Boler, founder and CEO of female smart health technology company Elvie
• Technology Innovator: Funmi Adeumni, co-founder and CEO of internet service provider Bright Technologies