Sheri Thureen, vice president of CSC’s North American Public Sector, Defense Division, has been listed among the “Women Worth Watching in 2009” by Diversity Journal. Thureen was recognized for her initiative, achievements, purpose and drive, and for representing diversity within her spheres of influence.

Thureen joins 108 other leading business women from around the nation who were nominated by their colleagues, peers and mentors for the honor.

“To be successful in today’s corporate world, I believe you must have integrity, respect for people, a desire to continue to advance your education and a commitment to teamwork,” said Thureen. “You must set high standards for yourself and deliver what you promise. I also believe you need to find a strong mentor.”

“This award reflects Sheri’s technical knowledge, approach to teamwork and commitment to excellence,” said James W. Sheaffer, president of CSC’s North American Public Sector line of business. “She exemplifies the passion, responsiveness and innovation for which CSC is known, and we are honored to have her on our team. We are proud of her much-deserved acknowledgement and her continued dedication to helping American government agencies achieve excellence in executing their core missions.”

With 21 years of information technology experience, Thureen has an extensive background in enterprise resource planning and business reengineering transformations, infrastructure upgrades and sales and marketing initiatives. She has worked on global projects spanning Europe, Asia and the U.S.  Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in computer science and psychology from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and a master of business administration in international relations degree from the University of Delaware.

Jose Jimenez, president of CSC’s North American Public Sector Strategy and Development division, was honored for his leadership in the IT industry by both Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology (HE&IT) magazine and the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC).

HE&IT magazine ranked Jimenez in the Most Important Hispanics in Technology list for 2008. Editors researched and evaluated thousands of employees from 100 candidate companies and then ranked the highest-achieving Hispanic executives, technologists and researchers in industry, government and academia who demonstrated leadership on a broad front in the workplace and in their communities. Jimenez was honored during the Most Important Hispanics in Technology dinner in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 24.

Jimenez was also selected as one of this year’s top 100 IT executives by HITEC, a council founded by senior Hispanic executives who have built outstanding careers in IT and have a strong desire and passion to make an impact within the Hispanic community.

“These honors reflect Jose’s commitment to both the information technology and Hispanic communities,” said James W. Sheaffer, president of CSC’s North American Public Sector line of business. “With more than 30 years of experience spanning both the public and private sectors, Jose brings deep knowledge and extensive expertise to his leadership of our public sector’s strategy and development function.”

Dewes van Lohuizen is a database administrator for CSC in the Netherlands. In his free time, he supports a primary school in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He talked to Voices about his inspiration.

In 1997, a refugee from Democratic Republic of Congo came to the Netherlands, and began to send books in French to help create a library in Mikondo, a part of Kinshasa in the DR Congo. His dream was to create an educational and social center for the people of Mikondo, who lack financial and educational opportunities to develop themselves.

I met him in 2000 and got involved, and with the support of our church group, we created a foundation. Along with the people in Mikondo, the foundation set up a primary school, and today we still help the school by: 

• Finding sponsors (please for information)

• Collecting ink cartridges

• Organizing short cycle tours to raise funds

• And this year, for the seventh time, we are holding a flower bulb auction.

We do everything we can to offer good education to the very poor children in Mikondo.

Every year, about 400 children benefit and about 20 personnel make a living with our help. We try to think of new fundraising ideas all the time because we want the primary school to continue on and on. For the future, we dream about a vocational school for 12- to 16-year-old children, but as always, it depends on money. People in Mikondo cannot pay for this school, and education is not free. But if I look at the picture above, I know why we work so hard.

To learn more, e-mail or visit www.mikondo.org.

Earlier this month, celebrities, professional athletes and hundreds of riders with and without disabilities joined forces for the fifth annual Audi Best Buddies Challenge: Hearst Castle. Team CSC-Saxo Bank’s Bobby Julich led a CSC team of 35 employees, partners and clients, who together raised more than $47,000 for Best Buddies.

CSC team captain Joe Amato, managing director of CSC’s Global Business Services office in San Francisco, says, “It’s a really unique and rewarding event. Due to our very positive experience last year we easily doubled the size of our team this year including many returning riders.  A ‘century’ ride can be a physical and mental challenge but participating as a team gets you through. It’s great to have CSC support such a worthwhile cause in our community and bring the visibility and fundraising to Best Buddies.”

He adds that Julich’s participation was a highlight and inspiration for the other cyclists. “It was great for our clients and partners to be able to spend some time and talk with Bobby about his experience as a professional rider.”

Participants chose to ride a 100-, 62- or 15-mile course along California’s picturesque Pacific Coast Highway. The day also included a run/walk event, as well as a post-race celebration with pop band “Black Eyed Peas.”

This year’s Challenge raised more than $3.6 million for Best Buddies, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. To learn more and sign up for next year’s race, visit the event’s Web site. 

Cheered on by a crowd of 700, a 40-person conga line — including CSC’s global chief learning officer, Office of Innovation vice president and vice president for culture change — shuffles and kicks its way through an Orlando, Fla., ballroom, while onstage 20 black-clad CSC musicians from nine different countries play Love Shack with full B-52’s attitude.

It’s 10 o’clock on the second night of CSC’s 2008 Technology & Business Solutions Conference. Two hours into an electrifying show that opened with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Travelin’ Band, both the audience and the performers are still going strong.

“Music is a global unifier, a universal language,“ says vocalist and CSC business process architect Jill McNeil, the driving force behind CSC’s Global Jam. “Even if your mannerisms or culture or idioms are misunderstood country to country, music like oldies rock and roll is something everyone can tune into and share at the very deepest level.“

As the band seamlessly segues from Love Shack to the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams — with Gwennie Collins, a global security solutions learning manager from Annapolis, Md., at the microphone — it’s hard to believe that, just two days before, most of the members not only had never performed together but had never even met face-to-face. (Read entire story.)