Finalists Announced for 15th Annual Georgia CIO of the Year® Awards

Atlanta, GA, May 01, 2013 --(PR.com)-- The Georgia CIO Leadership Association (GCLA) proudly announces the finalists for the 15th Annual Georgia CIO of the Year® Awards.

Established in 1998, the Georgia CIO of the Year® Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in Georgia. The Awards honor chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in managing enterprise-wide information systems. The four awards categories are: Global, Enterprise, Corporate and Non-profit/Public Sector.

Finalists are selected by a panel of distinguished judges, including prior award winners. CIOs are evaluated on their contributions in the areas of innovation, leadership, business value creation and community involvement. The winners in each category will be announced at the Georgia CIO of the Year® Awards breakfast on November 1, 2013 at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

The 2013 finalists are:

Global – Over 10,000 employees and multinational operations
- Dan Darling – CIO, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
- Lisa McVey – CIO, Enterprise Information Systems, McKesson Corporation
- Joe Pekala – VP & CIO, Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
- Karen Renner – VP & CIO, Novelis
- John Trainor – VP & CIO, Aaron's, Inc.

Enterprise – Over 1,000 employees
- Venki Rao – CIO, GE - Digital Energy
- Alan Stukalsky – MD of IT & CIO, Randstad USA
- Joe Surber – SVP & CIO, AGL Resources
- Carrie Wheeler – CIO, Cbeyond, Inc.
- Larry White – Head of E&I Business System, AMEC

Corporate – Up to 1,000 employees
- Aaron Aycock – VP, IT & Product Development, TRX, Inc.
- Robert Bennett – CIO, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
- Steve Cover – VP Technology, The Rainmaker Group
- Andrew Hamilton – CIO, Cardlytics, Inc.
- Richard Powers – VP Information Systems, CardioMEMS, Inc.

Non-profit/Public Sector – Government, education, and not-for-profit organizations
- Jackie Breiter – CIO, Goizueta Business School, Emory University
- Deborah Cancilla – SVP & CIO, Grady Healthcare System
- Gail Hyde - VP & CIO, Habitat for Humanity International
- Michael Long – CIO, Georgia Department of Revenue
- Calvin Rhodes – CIO, State of Georgia (Georgia Technology Authority)

The 2013 Georgia CIO of the Year® Awards is made possible by the following sponsors:

Gold sponsors: Polycom, Abacus Solutions, Ciber, Carousel Industries and Magenic

Silver sponsors: MD&E Clarity, Software AG, Insight Enterprises, CTS, Mitel Networks, Dell, Yancey Power Systems, Intermec, Jabian Consulting, Data Blue, LeadingAgile, 3sage Consulting, EarthLink, Service Now, Inc. and Softchoice Corporation

Bronze sponsors: Presidio, Slalom Consulting, The Coca-Cola Company, Avaya, Korn/Ferry International, Prosys Information Systems, Basho Technologies, Strategic Systems & Technology Corporation, AirWatch, Protecom, Summit Technology, and Dimensional Thinking

About the Georgia CIO Leadership Association
The Georgia CIO Leadership Association (GCLA) is Georgia’s preeminent professional association for senior technology leaders. Founded in 2003, its membership is comprised exclusively of chief information officers or individuals in equivalent positions from public and private companies, government, education and not-for-profit organizations throughout the state. The GCLA is a 501(c)(6) professional association led by a CIO Advisory Board from organizations including Georgia-Pacific, GE Energy, American Cancer Society, NCR Corporation, and The Coca-Cola Company. The GCLA is underwritten by support from Deloitte, IBM, Intellinet, Microsoft and Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP.