Women'sVision Announces the
2012 Tribute Award Winners!

The Tribute Awards are an annual celebration, and recognition, of those professionals who demonstrate positive, enlightened and exemplary leadership within the community. Juried by peers in a rigorous process, the award winners represent the best qualities of leadership and mentorship within corporations and throughout the community. Congratulations!

Click here for the Official Announcement of the 2012 Women'sVision Foundation Tribute Award Winners

Leader of Vision

Stephanie Allen
Founder and Board Chair Emeritus of the Women'sVision Foundation
Principal - The AthenA Group

Stephanie Allen, Founder and Board Emeritus of Women'sVision Foundation The 2012 Women’s Success Forum is the culminating event of our year-long celebration of the 15thAnniversary of the Women’sVision Foundation (WVF). This year we honor our Founder and Board Chair Emeritus, Stephanie (Steffie) Allen with our 2012 Leader of Vision Award for her wisdom in recognizing that shared leadership of businesses between women and men was a critical element to economic prosperity across our community. Today, sixty-five member corporations and some 6,000 constituents turn to Women'sVision to garner expert leadership development and an inspiring community of mentors and peers.  Women'sVision supports individuals to maximize their professional potential and businesses to create sustainable workplace cultures and profitable business results. Please join us in honoring Steffie Allen for her vision, dedication and tenacity in helping us to create a vibrant and supportive community for professional women and men. 
Stephanie Allen is a principal of the AthenA Group, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in organizational culture change, multidimensional leadership and workforce excellence.  She has 35 years experience in leadership, leadership development, and program development as a workshop facilitator and speaker.  Her work has taken her into corporations, professional firms and associations throughout the US, including Andersen Consulting, John Hancock, Hewlett Packard, AICPA, and Telstra, Australia’s second largest corporation.  In addition Steffie is a principal in LeaderWise where she focuses on leadership coaching and assessment.

 Steffie served as CEO of Management Support Technology, a software development company that she took public.  Steffie has held board positions in over 20 organizations.  She retired from the board of HealthONE, a major hospital system, where she served as Chair and Founder of the Ethics Committee. She recently finished a two year term on the board of the Colorado CPA Society, is a member of the YESS Institute’s Wisdom Council, and has served for the past nine years on the Global Leadership Council for the College of Business at Colorado State University.

She received the University of Denver Dan Ritchie Colorado Ethics in Business award in 1999 and the Colorado Women’s Leadership Coalition’s Colorado Women’s Leadership Award in 2004. In 2006 Stephanie Allen was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

2012 Woman of the Year

Kathy Tobey, Vice President, Military Support Programs
Space Systems Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation

“Kathy fosters an inclusive culture that honors diversity and provides opportunity. She leads by example through her day to day interactions, modeling the leadership behaviors that enable operational excellence at LMSSC.”

This prestigious honor is given to a corporate woman for her positive, enlightened and exemplary leadership at her company and within the community. Kathy is being honored for her commitment to cultivating an environment of inclusion, engagement, and diversity at Lockheed Martin. As a senior executive in a primarily male-dominated field, while serving an industry that is also male-dominated, Tobey has been able to excel as a model of leadership in an extraordinary way. Her commitment and passion to diversity within her community further showcases her value as an exemplary leader.


Throughout her 27 year career in aerospace, Ms. Tobey has held leadership positions in functional organizations for Space Systems Company.  She also managed the four Product Centers that make common strategic hardware/software used in Space Systems programs; solar arrays, flight computers, propulsion and optical payloads.  Prior to this she was Director of Business Development.

Ms. Tobey serves as the Lockheed Martin University Executive for the University of Colorado-Boulder as well as serves on the Dean of Engineering’s Advisory Committee.  She is co-chair of the Advisory Board for BOLD Center (Broadening Opportunities for Leadership Diversity), the inclusive excellence program for the CU College of Engineering.

Ms. Tobey graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, and a Master of Engineering degree in Engineering Management.

Ally of the Year

Jeff Osterkamp, Vice President, Engineering
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

 “Jeff takes every opportunity to help others grow in their role at Ball Aerospace. He makes time to counsel, mentor and develop both women and men on an ongoing basis.”

A perennial leader, Osterkamp’s peers and directors consistently corroborated Jeff’s strong emphasis on people and his belief in the value of diversity. His work history emphasizes relentless focus on building strong teams, and individuals, and bringing out the best in everyone.

Jeff Osterkamp has recently been named Vice President, Engineering for Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

Jeff has spent the past 25 years in leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Ball Aerospace including his most recent position as vice president, Component Technologies. Previous to that, he held vice president positions in Business Execution for National Defense and the Program Management Office.  He also served as director for both the Sensor and Video Technologies and the Advanced Antenna and Video Systems business areas.

Before joining Ball, Jeff was a systems engineer at Sperry Flight Systems from 1980 to 1986.  He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Idaho and an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado.


Corporate Advocacy of the Year


 “PwC understands the value of its women employees and the diverse perspectives they bring to the organization and its clients.”

PwC US is being honored for their successful implementation of organization-wide policies and programs that consistently support and advocate for women in helping team members achieve work-life balance. The existing policies have become embedded within the organization and contribute to a workplace that values women and their contributions – and, in return, create a passionate and loyal group of employees who are happy and dedicated in their work.


Betsy Bernard Emerging Leader Award

Ruth Rohs, Vice President of Communications
IMA Foundation for the IMA Financial Group

“Ruth believes in community service, and she executes on this vision with creativity and passion. She rolls up her sleeves and works alongside her team as not just a delegator, but also as a contributor.”

Ruth is described by her peers as being an authentic, honest, supportive, and positive role model for others. She is recognized for her professionalism while mentoring others, while encouraging others to take risks and have a voice. Rohs is also known for her ability to address diversity in her work and outside of the workplace.

Ruth Rohs is the vice president of communications and executive director of the IMA Foundation for the IMA Financial Group.  In this position, Ruth oversees public relations, marketing and corporate social responsibility for IMA and its four subsidiaries in Colorado, Kansas and Texas. Prior to joining IMA in May 2011, Ruth was the manager of community relations for Comcast Mile High Region. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and has a Masters degree from Chapman University. She recently received a certificate in corporate community involvement management from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.

Ruth has an extensive nonprofit background having worked at organizations such as the Public Education & Business Coalition, Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry, and The Children’s Museum of Denver before entering a career in corporate social responsibility. Previously, Ruth was responsible for Comcast’s Mile High Region’s charitable giving strategy including sponsorships, local implementation of Comcast Foundation grants and programs, employee engagement and supported media outreach efforts.

Ruth currently serves as vice-chair of the board of the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter, the corporate volunteer committee for Mile High United Way and the advisory council for Colorado Succeeds. Ruth is a 2006 graduate of Leadership Denver and in 2007 was selected as one of Denver’s Forty Under 40 by the Denver Business Journal.


2012 Anne Dupont Volunteer of the Year

Linda Bedinger, Principal, The AthenA Group
Director of the Women'sVision Leadership Institute

Linda, director of the Women’sVision Leadership Institute for over 10 years, has also been a pivotal leader in the development and shaping of several of Women’sVision’s highly acclaimed programs, including Managing For Impact, the Men’s Leadership Institute, as well as leading these outstanding faculty teams. Additionally, Linda is a Wise Woman, has served as a past member of the Women’sVision board of directors (currently Emeritus), and has been involved in the sales efforts of the Foundation. At this time she also serves on our finance committee. Her dedication and commitment to Women’sVision is deeply appreciated by the WVF board and leadership team.
We honor Linda for her tremendous service to Women’sVision by awarding her the “Anne Dupont Volunteer of the Year Award” for 2012.

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