Please click here to download Mobile Marketer's Mobile Women to Watch 2012

Mobile Marketer?s Mobile Women to Watch 2012 list celebrates the smart women who are expected to make a difference in mobile advertising, marketing, media and commerce in 2012. We go long on this crew.

Like their peers on last year?s list, those who made the cut this time shared the same qualities: dedication to craft, ambition, leadership potential, educator and role model. And like last year?s crop, they?ve got their eyes on the prize.

In an industry that focuses so much on technology, there are more men in mobile than women. This guide is meant to celebrate these 25 women who have made and continue to make an impact on the mobile space.

Letter and spirit
These 25 women executives span category behemoths such as The Washington Post, Macy?s and Quicken Loans.

Also on the list are executives from Hipcricket, Velti, MEF, Rhythm NewMedia, Jumptap and more. 

Mobile Marketer readers and team members were asked to nominate candidates for Mobile Women to Watch. A list was then created after deliberation. 

Finally, Mobile Marketer?s Rimma Kats, Chantal Tode, Jodie Solomon, Mickey Alam Khan, Lauren Johnson and yours truly arrived at a list of executives who showed the most promise to push the mobile envelope in 2011. Many thanks to Lauren for her art direction.

In their responses to the questionnaire sent to them, these honorees emphasized their enthusiasm for mobile, acknowledgement of the challenges ahead, role as educator and willingness to work on teams that attracted more women to mobile.

Mining talent
A few readers and marketers may quibble why a list for women and not for men. The reality is, there are not enough women in mobile marketing or mobile commerce, and fewer still from the minorities. This is one way to recruit them to mobile. 

And as much as this list was created to address the imbalance, it is performance that carries the day for those in the field.

As mobile evangelists within their organizations, these executives have a heavy burden to carry. 

Not only are they a minority in the industry, but they are also a minority in overall marketing.

While mobile is the fastest-growing marketing and commerce medium, it still has to prove its ROI every day, regardless of facts such as critical mass of consumers and handsets that border on sophisticated computers performing all functions to enable work, home and fun activities. 

These 25 executives who made the Mobile Women to Watch 2012  list are poised to make a difference in mobile in 2012. Follow their progress and be inspired: they are at the new frontier of marketing and commerce, and their brains are the best picks and shovels in the business.

Please click here to download Mobile Marketer's Mobile Women to Watch 2012