Working Mother Magazine is proud to recognize the 2009 Heroines in Technology.  These outstanding women will be honored at a fundraising event on November 13 hosted by Women in Technology and March of Dimes.  For more information, visit Heroines in Technology.   This week we highlight 2009 Heroines in Technology finalists Marie Johns, Shameka McCaskill, and Kerri Wilson.
 
Marie Johns
Consultant
Leftwich and Ludaway
Marie Johns is a consultant with Leftwich and Ludaway. She has chaired the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Washington and the YMCA of the National Capital Region.  Marie is a trustee of Howard University and the founding chair of the Washington, D.C. Technology Council.  The former president of Verizon Wireless Washington, D.C., spearheaded a Verizon-sponsored program called SEEDS (Students Educated for Economic Development Success) that trains out-of-school youth for information-technology jobs.  Marie also served as director of a nonprofit organization that provided funding for every D.C. public school and library to install cabling for high-speed Internet connections and local computer networks and provided training to teachers and library personnel. She is the chair of the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science, the first charter school for science located on a D.C. college campus.
Shameka McCaskill
Systems Engineer
Lockheed Martin
Shameka McCaskill is a Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin.  A member of Lockheed Martin’s Network of Volunteers (NOVA), Shameka is a long-time volunteer organizer and presenter for events aimed at school-age students such Career Day and the annual Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) conference in Fairfax County.  Since her involvement with GEMS in 2003, the number of conference participants has doubled to more than 2,000 fifth- and sixth-grade girls.  When Shameka isn’t speaking about her engineering experience during Career Day, she’s recruiting volunteers for Space Day and other educational forums where students learn more about math, science and space.
Kerrie Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
Reston Interfaith, Inc.
Kerrie Wilson is the Chief Executive Officer of Reston Interfaith, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes self-sufficiency by providing support and advocacy for those in need of food, shelter, quality child care and other services.  She spearheads a partnership with Google Federal in Reston, which provides computers to the shelter so clients can have e-mail addresses and look for employment.  Kerrie serves as a team representative and official for the Herndon Swim League and is a volunteer leader for Girl Scout Troop 3558.
 
Martha McCollum is a self-defined Relationship Engineer and advocate of many causes -  most importantly in helping everyone find their purpose for advocacy.  She devotes her time to the Avon Walk for Breast.  She is also Sales Director at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, an innovative law firm serving the corporate world.