Finally! Women Leading Tech Finalists Revealed

Finally! Women Leading Tech Finalists Revealed
Womenleading Tech
By Womenleading Tech



It’s here. The day you’ve all been waiting for with bated breath. The Women Leading Tech Awards, Presented by Atlassian, finalists have been revealed.

This year, the awards are bigger and better than ever with 217 finalists spread across the 24 categories — including 15 new ones.

All the finalists in their categories are below — we’d give it the old CTLR+F to find out if you’ve made the cut. We’ve all got our fingers and toes crossed for you!

The winners will be revealed on Friday 24 March in ICC Sydney’s Grand Ballroom. Make sure you get your tickets now!

Women Leading Tech Awards Finalists:

Adtech

  • Alicia Placer – Blis
  • Amy Jansen-Flynn – Adform
  • Andie Potter – PHD Australia
  • Audrey Michelin – OpenX
  • Chanel Barta – Integral Ad Science
  • Kauri Ballard – Analytic Partners
  • Sophie Whincop – Channel Factory
  • Stephanie Famolaro – The Trade Desk
  • Tina Tsang – PubMatic
  • Yasmin Sanders – Samba TV

Advocacy

  • Blis
  • Code Like a Girl
  • Envato
  • Fluent Commerce
  • Hype & Dexter
  • MP Digital
  • Orro
  • Patient Zero
  • VMware
  • WithYouWithMe

Business Support

  • Derina Ediriweera – myprosperity
  • Madelaine Zahr – Pinterest
  • Melissa Fazzalaro – LEVO
  • Min Zhang – VMware
  • Renae Francis – Patient Zero

CFO 

  • Helen Barlow-Hunt – Thoughtworks
  • Holly Minucos – Orchard
  • Jessie Summons – Matrak
  • Sharon Miranda – Samsung Ads Australia
  • Zelma van Woerkom – Cashrewards

Champion of Change

  • Bryony Weiss – LEVO
  • Emily Cook – denstu QLD
  • Jade Meara – F5
  • Kate Pounder – Tech Council of Australia
  • Katrina Riley – Telstra
  • Madhavi Talapaneni – Australian Taxation Office
  • Mario Visic – Envato
  • Neringa Hojrup – Teradata
  • Robyn Foyster – Foyster Media
  • Sarah Bruere – Butterfly

Cyber Security

  • Anita Gover – TechAbility
  • Becca Hurd – Canva
  • Celeste Lowe – Nine Entertainment Co
  • Farhana Dawood – Orro
  • Hadar Warshitzky – Littlepay
  • Jana Dekanovska – CrowdStrike
  • Jasmina Rosa – Canva
  • Kelsy Luengen – SEEK
  • Marianella Watman – Credit Savvy
  • Puneeta Chellaramani – KPMG

Data Science

  • Aimy Le – Meta
  • April Pabale Vergara – Visa
  • Christine Balili – Canva
  • Danica Baunach – CHEP Network
  • Jeni Wong – EssenceMediacom
  • Karen Davis – Thoughtworks
  • Kerry Halupka – Canva
  • Sandra Rodriguez – Quantium
  • Tara Coverdale – oOh!media
  • Tatia Rashid – Quantium

Delivery

  • Amanda Birrell – Orchard
  • Angela Fernando – BPM Vision
  • Carla Zipper – Nine Entertainment Co
  • Cassie Jordan – wiq
  • Elizabeth Grant – Azerion
  • Savitha Krishnamurthy- CTO Labs
  • Jazz Lawler – Resolution Digital
  • Julia Starkey – Angus Knight Group
  • Kate Zawerucha – Verint
  • Kirstie Peters – CHEP Network

Design

  • Aimee McBride – LEVO Digital
  • Anna Moretti – carsales.com
  • Claire Nelson – Thoughtworks
  • Gina Hughes – Orchard
  • Jacqueline Seeto – TikTok
  • Jane Hamilton – Superhero
  • Jessica Faccin – Canva
  • Lisa Jacquiot – Airwallex
  • Rieze Cross – Localsearch
  • Sarah Burton – Rokt

Education/Research

  • Aldeida Aleti – Monash University
  • Alison Wong – The University of Sydney
  • Elahe Abdi – Monash University
  • Pari Delir Haghighi – Monash University

Engineering

  • Anusha Srinivasan – Nine Entertainment Co
  • Carmel Saxby – Canva
  • Emma Taggart – IMC Trading
  • Franca Moretto – SEEK
  • Jane Wang – CHEP Network
  • Maddy Reid – Pet Circle
  • Nandhini Venkataraman – Nine Entertainment Co
  • Sadeka Islam – Woolworths Group
  • Sheena Mehta – carsales.com
  • Victoria McGloin – Thoughtworks

Entrepreneur/Founder

  • Anita Gover – TechAbility
  • Caroline Tran – Hello Clever
  • Christine Khor – Peeplcoach
  • Jodi Geddes – Circle In
  • Angela Harbinson – The Separation Guide
  • Lisa Lie – Learna
  • Katherine McConnell – Brighte
  • Ruth Hirst – Synergy Effect
  • Shirli Kirschner – Elker Pty Ltd
  • Tricia Martin – Nudge On

Executive Leader

  • Fiona Roberts – MiQ
  • Jenny Parkes – Audience360
  • Juliette Stead – Magnite
  • Laura Henshaw – KIC
  • Liz Fox – Circle In
  • Bronwyn Le Grice – ANDHealth
  • Maryjane Aviles – Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières)
  • Melinda Petrunoff – Pinterest
  • Ruby Kolesky – Joyous
  • Sarah Melrose – ADMATIC

Fintech

  • Caroline Tran – Hello Clever
  • Karolina Kuszyk – myprosperity
  • Leann Jones – Nimo Industries
  • Marina Lee – OCR Labs
  • Ozgul Erkis Gozum – Token Financial Technologies
  • Portia Miller – SaleFunder
  • Sarah Wallis – Skript
  • Susan Nicholson – Australia Post

Glass Ceiling 

  • Carolyn Stebbing – Little Village Creative
  • Dayle Stevens OAM – Telstra
  • Emilya Colliver – Sugar Glider Digital
  • Felicity McVay – TikTok
  • Vida Asrina Dhulst – Endeavour Group

Innovator

  • Andrea Alembakis – Playground XYZ
  • Mina Radhakrishnan – :Different
  • Shelley Holihan – Yahoo
  • Zoe Cocker – Yahoo

Marketing

  • Amy de Groot – CARS24
  • Azadeh Williams – AZK Media
  • Bree Dallwitz – Listing Loop
  • Brigitte Slattery – Samsung Ads Australia
  • Chrystal Dias – Bowens
  • Germaine Hendrik – Quantcast
  • Lisa Vitaris – amaysim
  • Naomi Gorringe – Southern Cross Austereo (SCA)
  • Sara Palmieri – Lenovo ANZ
  • Stephanie Brown – Intuit

Martech

  • Agata Adamczak – Botify Australia Pty Ltd
  • April Ford – April Ford
  • Avni Nanabhai – Braze / North Star
  • Ayaan Mohamud – impact.com
  • Fiorella Kresevic – amaysim
  • Kate Gamble – Resolution Digital
  • Kristyn Wallace – Emarsys
  • Sally Tobin – XPO: The Mars Agency

Mentor 

  • Amanda Spencer – VMware
  • Angela Kim – Women in AI
  • Brittany Munro – Sunny Digital
  • Catherine Ballantyne – VMware
  • Deanna Gibbs – Willyama Services
  • Leanne Rolfe-Healy – Teradata
  • Liv Geen – Finecast
  • Mahsa McCauley – She Sharp Charitable Trust
  • Megan Dalla-Camina – Women Rising
  • Shivani Gopal – Elladex
  • Taylor Svarc – OMD

People and Culture

  • Demelza Green – Patient Zero
  • Emily Cook – dentsu QLD
  • Carol Galila – Butterfly
  • Juliette Connolly – Stone & Chalk Group
  • Pia Rueda – Lenovo ANZ
  • Rachel Sands – Orro
  • Sharon White – Okta
  • Sian Johnson – Cashrewards
  • Tanya Suna – impact.com

Product 

  • Carly Daff – Canva
  • Chai Ng – Airwallex
  • Grace Anderson – EssenceMediacom
  • Jo Magno – Canva
  • Karola Bidermann – Finecast
  • Laura Hicks – Playground XYZ
  • Malin Lilleskare – Quantcast
  • Sarah Bleasdale – Rokt
  • Silvia Oviedo – Canva
  • Surbhi Mishra – oOh!media

Public Relations

  • Azadeh Williams – AZK Media
  • Jocelyn Hunter – BENCH PR
  • Kate Lord – Akin Agency
  • Rishu Sharma – Weber Shandwick Australia

Rising Star

  • Alexandra Crawley – IMC Trading
  • Ana Andreska – Quantium
  • Anjali Tom – VMware
  • Anna Azzam – Canva
  • Emma Warne – Quantium
  • Gabrielle Mills – Playground XYZ
  • Georgia Swanson – NCS Next
  • Julia Merrick – Employment Hero
  • Larissa Parry – Quantcast
  • Pamela Gao – carsales.com

Sales 

  • Ann-Maree Mulders – Year13
  • Georgina Bitcon – Meltwater
  • Hollie Lowe – TikTok
  • Jessica Miles – Integral Ad Science
  • Julia Edwards – Yahoo
  • Karen McLeish – Teradata
  • Lulu Goss – Quantium
  • Lynn Koh – Certis Security Australia
  • Nicole Oei – Quantcast
  • Vidhya Vinayagam – Cloudera

Social Impact

  • Ambika Aggarwal – PwC Australia
  • Ana Andreska – Quantium
  • Angela Harbinson – The Separation Guide
  • Ivonne Ranisch – auticon
  • Jen Liu – VMware
  • Kirsten Ellis – Monash University
  • Lupe Prada – Blis
  • My Tran – Okta

Sustainability Crusader

  • Audrey Michelin – OpenX
  • Catherine Mapusua – WLTH
  • Laura Parr – Google
  • Michelle Drake – Envato
  • Olga Specjalska – VMware
  • Katherine McConnell – Brighte

Of course, none of this would be possible without our incredible lineup of talented judges who happily gave up their time to help pick our finalists and winners.

A big thank you to:

  • Abigail Charlesworth – EssenceMediacom
  • Adele Wieser – Index Exchange
  • Alexandra Watson – Code Like a Girl
  • Amanda Spencer – VMware
  • Angela Goodsir – Thinkly
  • Aldeida Aleti – Monash University
  • Annette Slunjski – IAPA
  • Anny Havercroft – TikTok
  • Audrey Michelin – OpenX
  • Ayaan Mohamud – Impact.com
  • Azadeh Williams – AZK Media
  • Bernie Johnson – Adrnalin Media
  • Brady Dennett – Woolworths at Work
  • Brittany Kury – BPAY Group
  • Carolyn Stebbing – Little Village Creative
  • Christina Gerakiteys – Singularity Australia
  • Clare Dlugosz – EssenceMediacom
  • Dan Kidner – Quantium
  • Denise Barnes – Man of Many
  • Elisa Choy – Maven Data
  • Elizabeth Grant – Azerion
  • Faezeh Marzbanrad – Monash University
  • Gareth Tomlin – 10 ViacomCBS
  • Gayle While – Host/Havas
  • Georgia Woodburne – Inskin Media
  • Georgina Gellert – Channel Factory
  • Grainne Kearns – ISPT
  • Inbal Costis – Outbrain
  • Jaime Nosworthy – The Pistol
  • Jan Uwland – Betashares
  • Jaqi Haworth – Orro Group
  • Jasmin Clements – Oporto
  • Jessica Box – Girls in Tech Australia
  • Jo Gaines – Salesforce
  • Josh Read – OCR Labs
  • Julie Cooper – AZK Media
  • Kate Quirke – Alcidion
  • Kate McBean – New Corp
  • Kath Usabal – Vision6
  • Kim Chandler McDonald – Flat World Integration
  • Kristin Carlos – News Corp
  • Kristine Celona – Yahoo
  • Kyara Kwan – GPG
  • Lakshmi Easuwaran – Telstra
  • Laura Cibilich – RUN
  • Laura Bell – Cashrewards
  • Lauren Swidenbank – Cali Social
  • Lija Wilson – Digital Minds
  • Matthew Myers – Vision6
  • Minsun Collier – EssenceMediacom
  • Miriam Healy – AKQA
  • Neringa Hojrup – Teradata
  • Nicole Stirling – ACQUIA
  • Niloofar Aliakbarzadeh – Advanced Mobility Analytics Group
  • Pearl Myers – IBM Australia
  • Rachael Sneddon – AKQA
  • Rachida Murray – Spark Foundry
  • Rebecca Den Braber – Hatched Media
  • Rebecca Haagsma – Nine Entertainment Co
  • Richenda Vermeulen – Ntegrity
  • Romi Dexter – Hype & Dexter
  • Ruby Kolesky – Joyous
  • Rushenka Perera – SAP
  • Sally A Illingworth – Lamps Media
  • Sandhya Iyer – Latitude Financial
  • Sarah Newport – TwentyTwo
  • Sarah Sullivan – LinkedIn
  • Sarah Keith – Involved Media
  • Sharon Gray – The Spec Sheet
  • Simon Hickox – Seismic
  • Simone Archbold – Kasada
  • Smitha Virik – TEAM LEWIS
  • Steve Krizanovic – Cashrewards
  • Sue Ralston – Einsteinz
  • Suzy Nicoletti – Yotpo
  • Teck Goon – Cashrewards
  • Vanessa Doake – Art Processors
  • Zoe Warne – August

That was a lot of names. If there were any spelling errors or changes that need to be made please contact meg@themisfits.media or belinda@themisfits.media by close of business on 7 March.

There is nothing worse than having a misspelled trophy displayed on your mantlepiece, bookshelf, window sill, or above the toilet.

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