Rise Awards announces 2024 winners

Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast media technology sector, is to announce the winners for this year’s Rise Awards.

Rise received 424 nominations from across the globe, with attendees from Australia, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom, France, Norway and Spain, at the ceremony. Winners in fourteen categories were celebrated at Troxy in London, in partnership with Sky and EMG / Gravity Media. Rise also presented a Special Recognition Award and the Rise Woman of the Year Award, for outstanding work in 2024 and significant contributions to the broadcasting world.   

More than 400 guests attended the sold-out event, to recognise the achievements of winners and nominees across a host of media and broadcast technology roles. The ceremony was streamed globally on the Rise YouTube channel, supported by Cuescript, DCE, and Warner Chappell Music.

Rise Founder and CEO, Sadie Groom, said: “Now in its fifth year, the Rise Awards continues to go from strength to strength. The 2024 ceremony at Troxy was the culmination of a challenging task for our judging panel, selecting this year’s winners from an exceptionally high calibre of nominees. Congratulations to all those that took home an award, we feel privileged to champion the talents of these inspirational women and diversity advocates.”  

The winners for the 2024 Rise Awards are as follows:   

Woman of the Year Award – Sponsored by Zixi 

• Winner: Megan Mauck, Senior Vice President of Media Operations, NBCUniversal 

Rise Special Recognition Award 

• Winner: Lesley McGilp, General Manager of Sign Language Translation (SLT) and Access Services, Red Bee Media 

Technical Operations Award – Sponsored by Vizrt 

• Winner: Gina McClifty, DoubleTake Sports 

• Shortlist:  

• April Ha, Encompass Digital Media 

• Julie Mulvihill, Ross Video  

• Kala Tully, Picture Shop  

• Kate Dickerson, EMG Connectivity 

• Megan Andrews, BBC 

• Weronika Kolodziej, Deluxe 

Product Innovation Award – Sponsored by Clear-Com 

• Winner: Melissa Davanzo, Paramount Global 

• Shortlist:  

• Anita Westman, Evertz 

• Kristie Fung, TMT Insights 

• Payal Gilda, Magnifi 

• Tanya Daley-Antoine, Endeavor Streaming

Business Operations Award 

• Winner: Kahleah Webb, EMG / Gravity Media 

• Shortlist:  

• Marsha Garner, Evertz 

• Thamizh Selvi, Synamedia 

• Victoria Tuzova, Elecard 

Student of the Year Award – Sponsored by SMPTE 

• Winner: Amy Woods, Southampton Solent University 

• Shortlist:  

• Emma Schug 

• Irene Muñoz López 

• Sigrid Svae 

• Tia Shenton 

Marketing Award 

• Winner: Carlie Bonavia & Gisele Santos, Moments Lab 

• Shortlist:  

• Clare Butler, Grabyo 

• Jesse Humphrey, Diversified 

• Leanne Tomlin, Perifery

R&D Engineer Award – Sponsored by Red Bee Media 

• Winner: Dagmar Driesnack, Rohde & Schwarz 

• Shortlist:  

• Amy Rajaonson, France Télévisions 

• Avigail Camon, LiveU 

• Karen Troiano, Agile Content

Advocate of the Year Award – Sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery 

• Winner: Thomas Pearson, Bitmovin 

• Shortlist:  

• Andy Shenkler, TMT Insights 

• Ben Wickham, Sky 

• Keith Frost, Arqiva 

• Scott Kerr, Sky 

• Mark Wynter, Picture Shop 

Influencer Award – Sponsored by Disguise 

• Winner: Jenny Priestley, TVBEurope 

• Shortlist:  

• Lucy Trang Nguyen, Accedo 

• Nakiesha Koss, Adobe 

• Natasha Jones, BT Media & Broadcast 

Project Management or Delivery Award – Sponsored by Iron Mountain Media & Archive Services 

• Winner: Bobby Warner, BT Media & Broadcast 

• Shortlist:  

• Gaylen Clutter, Evertz 

• Kate Mackenzie-Doyle, Arqiva 

• Rhona Keegan, EMG/Gravity Media 

• Roisi Proven, Ad Signal  

• Sarah Donoghue, Sky 

Sales Award – Sponsored by Perifery 

• Winner: Radhika Vora, Prime Focus Technologies  

• Shortlist:  

• Misaki Nagaya, CNNI  

• Paloma Santucci, Accedo 

• Yvonne Picken, BT Media & Broadcast

Production Support Engineer Award – Sponsored by Riedel Communications 

• Winner: Lucy Moore, Hotcam 

• Shortlist:  

• Brittany MacRae, dock10 

• Jen Patterson, EMG/Gravity Media 

• Najua Ojeil, LiveU 

• Selina Walton, NEP Australia 

Rising Star Award – Sponsored by Harmonic 

• Winner: Zoe Zropf, DoubleTake Sports  

• Shortlist:  

• Charlotte Mills, Hotcam  

• Louise Jones, Warner Bros Discovery 

• Rebecca Jackson, Caretta Research  

• Siri Berntsen, Irdeto  

Business Leader Award – Sponsored by IBC 

• Winner: Dara Urquhart, Red Bee Media  

• Shortlist:  

• Terri Davies, Trusted Partner Network 

• Mardhiah Nasir, IPSB Technology 

Company Award for Investment in Women – Sponsored by Ross Video 

• Winner: BT Media & Broadcast  

• Shortlist:  

• MainStreaming 

• 80six 

• TMT Insights