The winner of the Community Service in Industry Award at the BEYA STEM Conference in February was Mrs. Jennifer Turner, a prolific and versatile manager at IBM Corporation

Gary Schneider, IBM Vice President, Global Technical Sales (Sales & Distribution), said Turner, a 20-year employee at the multinational information technology (IT) company, is an expert in supply chain management, data process analysis, and procurement. During her long career at IBM, Turner has managed global cross-functional teams and billion-dollar budgets.

She is also passionate about volunteering and advocating for women inside and outside IBM. Turner has committed much of her time to give back. A youth advocate of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), she connects IBM to her community and has encouraged thousands of students to study STEM.

“She encourages children to try STEM and encourages others to help make the world a better place,” Schnieder said.

“I have a passion for connecting people, effort, and opportunity,” Turner said. “Over the last 10 years, I bridged IBM engineers, girl scouts, and other industry superstars and delivered the engineering and fun event that has inspired more than 1,000 girls.”

One of those girls is Turner’s daughter, who will study environmental engineering in the fall.

Growing up, Turner said she thought engineers were men who built bridges. Today, she is a leader at one of the largest IT companies in the world.

Over the last 13 years, Turner has led the growth of the Global Women of IBM (GWIBM) organization by managing and supporting events, motivating volunteers, and blogging among many other activities.

She has driven the collection of purses for the United Way to donate to women transitioning back into business and organized social hours to connect and celebrate.

On behalf of IBM, Turner volunteers for the Westchester Community College Project Transition to help displaced women learn current and marketable skills to return to the workforce.