The finalists of the 2016 Telstra New South Wales Business Women’s Awards have been announced, with mining engineer and motivational speaker Turia Pitt (pictured above) among the 20 nominees.
Pitt, a finalist in the Young Business Women’s Award category, will join C-level executives, entrepreneurs, for-purpose sector professionals and others at the Awards Gala Dinner in October.
Telstra Business Women’s Awards Ambassador, Group Executive, Media, and Chief Marketing Officer Joe Pollard, said that NSW women are “changing business, one brilliant business woman at a time”.
“Now in their 22nd year, the awards champion women from diverse industries, ensuring their achievements are given the recognition they deserve, and continue to raise the profile of women in business,” she said.
“The 2016 finalists demonstrate the unique combination of skills required for professional excellence: the courage to take risks, sound financial management, strong leadership skills and of course, sophisticated business acumen allowing them to thrive.”
The C-level executives among the finalists include:
- Jacqueline Arias, founder and CEO of Fairtrade-certified coffee brand, República Organic;
- Melanie Hilton, COO of Macquarie Group’s Macquarie Business Banking; and
- Jenni Seton, CEO of Redkite, a national charity providing support to children and their families who are impacted by cancer.
A finalist in the Entrepreneur category, Matina Jewell, is a war veteran and one of the most highly-decorated females in Australian military history. She is now a motivational speaker sharing her learnings from active duty and advice on how to apply them to the corporate world.
Pollard said many of the finalists are working and excelling in traditionally male-dominated industries. These include Kim-Louise Liddell, who founded Non Destructive Excavations Australia, a business which manages the risks of underground excavations in dense cities, and Sally-Ann Williams, an executive program manager at Google Australia, whose work promotes STEM and computer sciences as part of the Australian and New Zealand educational curriculum.
There are six Telstra Business Women’s Awards categories in 2016:
- Entrepreneur,
- For Purpose and Social Enterprise,
- Public Sector and Academia,
- Corporate and Private,
- Young Business Women’s and,
- Business Woman in Asia (new).
“Telstra is a passionate advocate of women in business and we are thrilled to extend the Telstra Business Women’s Awards program into Asia this year to further recognise and reward the courage, leadership and creativity of brilliant business women,” Pollard said.
Winners of the 2016 Telstra New South Wales Business Women’s Awards will be announced at a Gala Dinner at Doltone House, in Pyrmont, on Tuesday 11 October.
State and Territory category winners will be flown to Melbourne for the National Awards judging, culminating in a glittering celebration dinner on the night of Wednesday 16 November 2016.
For information about the Awards and to purchase tickets to the Awards Gala Dinners please call 1800 817 536 between 9am and 7pm AEST Monday to Friday.
Nominations for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards are open year-round.
