Credit: ARN / Foundry
ARN is proud to announce the winners of the Women in ICT Awards (WIICTA) in 2022, honouring female excellence within the technology channel following an industry-defining celebration in Sydney.
Played out in front of more than 600 attendees at Hyatt Regency in Sydney -- once again the largest ever in-person audience for the market’s leading gender diversity and inclusion (D&I) awards program -- the entire Australian ecosystem came together under the ARN roof to set a new industry benchmark for female achievement and accomplishment.
In total, 240 finalists (220 individuals and 20 companies) were honoured as finalists from a pool of over 120 organisations and more than 325 nominations, spanning partner, telco, vendor and distributor businesses.
Following an intensive judging process -- selected by an executive panel of more than 150 industry judges -- 25 winners were selected across eight categories, in addition to 14 highly commended acknowledgements.
The collective aim of WIICTA is to ensure as many outstanding women are endorsed through this unique awards program as possible, aligned to the collective goal of providing a platform upon aspiring female talent can shine across Australia.
“To all our finalists, highly commended and winners, congratulations from ARN,” said Cherry Yumul, vice president of channel at Foundry. “This is an inspiring example of the deep levels of emerging and established female talent in Australia.”
In total, WIICTA honoured the channel across eight categories, spanning Innovation, Technical, Entrepreneur, Graduate, Rising Star, Shining Star, Achievement and D&I Champion (Company and Individual) awards.
All career stages were in the spotlight from graduate-level entrants to well-established CEOs, in addition to inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers and technical experts, as well as talent rising through the ranks and consistent high-performing individuals. This was also supported by both individual and company champions of D&I initiatives.
ARN congratulates all winners, highly commended and finalists and thanks all organisations and individuals for supporting this initiative.
INNOVATION
This award recognises a creative-thinking candidate who is a standout in bringing innovation to life through a big picture and out-of-the-box approach to business. This individual is unrivalled at converting embryonic ideas into viable working solutions through a unique thought process designed to continually push the envelope.
-- presented by Chelsea Rossney - commercial channel director, HP
Partner (National):
- Jessica Thompson - 8Squad
- Elena Green - ASG Group
- Erica Smith - Blue Connections IT
- Annabel Preacher - Cevo
- Courtney Marx - Data#3
- Sara Watkins - DevOps1
- Parinaz Mohsenpour - Empired
- Danielle Buchner - Interactive
- Carla Kaine - Kaine Mathrick Tech
- Gill Walker - Opsis
- Santana Pham - Outcomex
Highly Commended: Parinaz Mohsenpour - Empired
Winner: Erica Smith - Blue Connections IT
Bringing 20 years of industry experience to the table, Erica wins this award for thinking outside the square when developing programs. Her efforts in engaging and connecting with stakeholders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have been integral to Blue Connections’ recent success, taking in the form of a variety of online events and surpassing the overwhelming air of meeting fatigue.
Partner (Multinational):
- Geraldine Triveno - Deloitte
- Nisha Trivedi - Exigo Tech
- Lisa Kirby - Kyndryl
- Danielle Dungo - Lacework
- Holly Popovic - Logicalis
- Joy Chua - MeldCX
- Sugam Mehta - Publicis Sapient
- Sanya Turkalj - Sourced Group
- Loretta Cain - Versent
Highly Commended: Sugam Mehta - Publicis Sapient
Winner: Geraldine Triveno - Deloitte
A pioneering space futurist with both knowledge and contacts within the space sector, Geraldine was the lead technology strategist for Deloitte’s project to support Saber Astronautics to design Australia’s space Mission Control Centre. This was a flagship project of the federal government’s $19.5 million Space Infrastructure Fund where Deloitte’s role included designing the go-to-market strategy and operating model, customer experience, cyber design and implementation.
Vendor:
- Brearna Leopold - Crowdstrike
- Le Tran - Dropbox
- Stefanee Lovett - Google Cloud
- Kim Cook - Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Natalie Garman - HP
- Naina Nair - Lenovo
- Tiffany Wright - Microsoft
- Anne Tran - Palo Alto Networks
- Jenana Roper - Schneider Electric
- Selena Theol - Telstra
- Brooke Witchard - Veeam Software
Winner: Tiffany Wright - Microsoft
Tiffany is a founding partner of the Institute of Applied Technology for Digital Technology (IATD), which aims to address the digital skills shortages in areas such as big data, cyber security and artificial intelligence. She also always looks for new ways of working, new partnerships and better outcomes.
Distributor:
- Maria Furnari - Dicker Data
- Meenakshi Kakar - Ingram Micro
- Emma Davidson - Nextgen Group
- Rachel Albrecht - Rhipe
Winner: Emma Davidson - Nextgen Group
Emma has pioneered methods of procurement for AWS, working across both the higher education and non-profit sectors. Combining her extensive knowledge of AWS' partner programs and passion for the channel, Emma is always seeking new ways to help partners make better business decisions and strive for better business outcomes.
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