PHOENIX - Arizonar -- The Arizona Technology Council today announced that President and CEO Steven G. Zylstra has been named one of the Phoenix Business Journal's 2023 Most Admired Leaders. This year's award winners will be celebrated at an event on May 11 at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Zylstra also was selected as a finalist for the AZ Big Media 2023 Champions of Change Award. Those winners will be honored at a luncheon on May 18 at the Orange Tree Golf Resort in Phoenix.

Zylstra is being recognized due in part to the Council's continuous efforts to create platforms for discussing the barriers to achieving equity, develop solutions for addressing representation in technology and align with community partners that advance these initiatives.

"It is such an honor for my work and the team's work to be recognized and celebrated by our peers across the Arizona technology and business community," said Zylstra. "In recent years, we have developed an ambitious plan to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the technology ecosystem and we're working hard to enact long-lasting, equitable change. We thank the Phoenix Business Journal and AZ Big Media for bestowing these honors upon us."

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Most Admired Leaders honorees are recognized for their years of leading by example and making a difference in the Valley. Zylstra joins an elite group of leaders throughout the Valley, including Matt Widdows, CEO of HomeSmart; Sintra Hoffman, CEO of WESTMARC; Daniel Stellar, Arizona state director of The Nature Conservancy;  Heather Personne, partner at Evolve Ventures; and others. The Champions of Change awards recognize those dynamic innovators and trailblazers who are changing Arizona's business landscape through leadership, visionary thinking and philanthropy.

In meeting its commitments to improve DEI, the Council has created or helped to create several initiatives focused on serving underrepresented communities in technology. These initiatives include Accelerate Latinx Representation in STEM Education (ALRISE), a program dedicated to offering experiential work-based opportunities in STEM to Latinx students, and InclusionAZ, a program that supports technology employers in adopting inclusive hiring practices. Also, two Council committees — Women in the Workforce and Tech Inclusion Forum — focus on diversifying Arizona's thriving technology ecosystem.

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The Council also has created communities and programs dedicated to elevating the voices of underrepresented groups in technology, providing them a safe space to convene and resources to create change. They include the Arizona SciTech Festival of the SciTech Institute, a branch of the Council committed to STEM education awareness and involvement.

To learn more about the Council's commitment to DEI, visit the organization's website at www.aztechcouncil.org.