Alaina Percival, CEO of Women Who Code, Named Cultural Vistas' 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
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NEW YORK - illiNews -- Cultural Vistas is pleased to announce that Alaina Percival, a 2003-2004 alumna of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, has been named the recipient of its 2019 Distinguished Alumni Leadership Award.

This award recognizes alumni of Cultural Vistas exchange programs who have attained distinction in their chosen field while fostering international understanding and collaboration in their communities and organizations. It is the highest honor bestowed upon Cultural Vistas alumni.

Alaina Percival is Chief Executive Officer of Women Who Code, a global nonprofit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers. Under Alaina's leadership, Women Who Code has grown to serve more than 180,000 women in 20 countries and 60 cities across the globe. This thriving movement offers more than 1,800 free technical and leadership events, per year. In addition to her role at Women Who Code, Alaina is an accomplished tech speaker, appearing at WSJ Tech Live, CodeMotion Milan, Grace Hopper, Columbia University's Social Enterprise, MIT's Venture Capital and Innovation Conference, and more.

Alaina has been interviewed by Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Wired, and other publications across the globe to share her expertise on best practices for increasing diversity in tech. Prior to Women Who Code, she worked at PUMA's headquarters in Germany as well as Riviera Partners and Snip.it—since acquired by Yahoo. Alaina is also an angel investor, a Venture Partner at Valor Ventures, and a CodePath Advisor.

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A native of Atlanta, Alaina holds a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies and an MBA from Georgia State University. After graduating in 2002, she landed a year-long fellowship in Germany as part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, a longstanding initiative jointly funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Department of State.

Alaina's exchange program in Germany with CBYX proved formative in her future career as an entrepreneur. Her fellowship brought her to Nürnberg to study and afforded her the opportunity to not only hone her German language skills while experiencing everyday life in a new culture, it also provided her with insights into the industry and business practices of the country. Following her internship at Puma, one of the world's most-known athletic brands, Alaina parlayed her experience into a full-time product management role.

Alaina credits the skills she gained from CBYX with helping her to later create a truly global community of women engineers at Women Who Code. Through the organization's Global Leadership Program, she continues to pay it forward and provides hundreds of women with opportunities to learn the skills and gain the experience needed to be leaders and innovators in the field, as well as engineers.

Alaina will be recognized among several award recipients, including Siemens Healthineers, at the Cultural Vistas Awards Gala on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at the Tribeca Rooftop in Lower Manhattan. She will also be among the featured speakers at the USA-Central Europe Women in Business Summit at the same venue immediately preceding the Gala. To learn more about the Summit, visit USACEWomen.com.

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Established in 2018, the Cultural Vistas Awards Gala recognizes individuals and institutions for their influence and notable contributions toward the advancement of global skills, leadership development, and cross-cultural understanding. This signature event brings together leaders from across the business, education, government, and diplomatic communities for an evening celebrating the diversity of people, ideas, knowledge, and skills shared through international exchange.

Acclaimed author and storyteller Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a 2001-2002 alumna of the Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program in Germany, was the inaugural award recipient in 2018.

Awards Gala tickets are now available at a special early-bird rate through August 15. To purchase tickets and support the mission of Cultural Vistas, please visit: culturalvistas.org/gala.

Purchase Gala Tickets

About Cultural Vistas
Founded in 1963, Cultural Vistas is a nonprofit exchange organization whose mission is to enrich minds, advance global skills, build careers, and connect lives through international exchange. Cultural Vistas develops international professional experiences that create more informed, skilled, and engaged citizens. Every year, Cultural Vistas' 30-plus unique exchange programs empower people in the United States and in more than 130 countries around the world to drive positive change in themselves, their organizations, and society.

Learn more at culturalvistas.org.

Cultural Vistas Distinguished Alumni Leadership Award Recipients

2019

Alaina Percival
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, 2003-04

2018

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program, 2001-02