Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Austin Women of Distinction Spotlight - Sylvia Acevedo

Sylvia Acevedo
Sylvia Acevedo
As a young girl growing up in Las Cruses, New Mexico, Sylvia Acevedo saw first-hand how Girl Scouting can empower women and change lives for the better. With the support and encouragement of their local troop, her mother Ofelia learned to speak English, enabling her to file for US citizenship. Sylvia holds engineering degrees from both New Mexico State University and Stanford, and held prestigious positions with Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Dell and Apple. But deeply motivated by social equity issues, in 2007 she marshaled her professional expertise and formidable networking abilities to develop scalable solutions in education, workforce and health. Within six years, Sylvia created national mobilization campaigns that drew over 225,000 attendees and created systems to give books, toothbrushes, playground balls and eyeglasses to children in need. Named one of the top 100 American Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math by US News & World Report, she was appointed to the White House Commission for Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2011 and presented with the Ohtli Award, Mexico’s most prestigious civil rights recognition for non-Mexican nationals. Sylvia and her partner, Dr. Janet Osimo enjoy sports and travel and are devoted to their rescue dogs, Cali and Nisso.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website.

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