Finalists revealed for ARN WIICTA 2024

ARN is proud to reveal the finalists for the Women in ICT Awards in 2024. 

Set for 19 September at the Doltone House in Jones Bay Wharf, the prestigious event will recognise and celebrate female excellence across the Australian ICT industry.

Since 2012, WIICTA has put a spotlight on all career stages 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. 

Mirroring the entire local ecosystem, 178 finalists make the shortlist from a pool of over 101 organisations and more than 375 nominations submitted, spanning partner, vendor and distributor businesses.

In 2024, WIICTA will house the largest celebration of female excellence within the technology channel across Australia.

This is also supported by individual champions of DE&I initiatives. For this year only, the DE&I company award has been shifted into the Innovation Awards and all submissions will be transferred across to keep in-line with the recognition of individual achievements. 

Collectively, WIICTA in 2024 stands tall as the leading forum for setting the industry benchmark for female achievement across Australia.

“This is a stunning display of emerging and established female talent in Australia,” ARN Editor Julia Talevski said. 

“This year’s finalists have set an extremely high bar and are a source of inspiration for women leading the way in technology — we are proud and privileged to be celebrating each and every one of them.”

In 2024, WIICTA will honour the channel across eight categories, spanning Innovation, Technical, Entrepreneur, Graduate, Rising Star, Shining Star, Achievement and DE&I Individual Champion award.

In response to a wealth of standout submissions, specific categories have been divided to best acknowledge and highlight the depth of female talent in the Australian market.

“Our goal is simple, to ensure as many outstanding women are endorsed through this unique awards program in Australia,” Talevski added. 

The winners will now be selected by an executive panel of more than 150 industry judges, acknowledging creativity, innovation and excellence.

ARN congratulates all finalists and thanks all organisations and individuals for taking the time to submit nominations. Finalists are listed below by name and organisation.

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.

Partner:

• Deb Cox – Arinco
• Kirstie Elderfield – ASI Solutions
• Imogen Tysoe – Atturra
• Renata Di Stefano – blueAPACHE
• Xara Tran – Champions of Change
• Laura Flynn – Infotrust
• Nikita Yardi – Macquarie Cloud Services
• Demelza Green – Patient Zero
• Maddie Rothwell – The Missing Link 
• Sarina Ferguson – Unified Solutions Group

Vendor\Distributor:

• Anna Christensen – Cloudian
• Catherine Lee – CrowdStrike
• Nicole Quinn – Fortinet
• Sue Murthy – HP
• Carol Ma – Ingram Micro 
• Beki Diamond – Lightwire 
• Danni Munro – Pax8  
• Mila Fedynskaya – Schneider Electric

TECHNICAL This award recognises excellence in the form of technical and engineering expertise, honouring deep domain knowledge in relation to technology products, solutions and services. This candidate has provided business value through specialised skills and competence, spanning technical, pre-sales and support roles.

Partner:

• Simone Bennett – Arkahna
• Angelina Priya – blueAPACHE
• Steffy Mathew – Blue Connections IT
• Alexandra Pepperell – Brennan
• Heidi Tallarida – Business Aspect
• Yera Patel – Exigo Tech
• Sheena Shrivastava – Infotrust
• Ajina John – Insight Enterprises
• Ambily Menon – Intelematics
• Pranavi Macharla – Interactive

Vendor / Distributor:

• Jodi Favaloro – Cradlepoint
• Jana Dekanovska – CrowdStrike
• Nandini Bhardwaj – Google Cloud
• April Neoh  – HPE
• Vanessa Sunassee – MyCISO
• Samantha Van Stokrom – Netskope
• Lisli Laanemets – NEXTGEN
• Luisa Genovese – Palo Alto Networks
• Negar Baseri Salehi – Schneider Electric
• Natalie Mead – Snowflake

ENTREPRENEUR This award recognises an enterprising candidate with a risk-taking mentality, honouring excellence in launching new ventures, products or services. This individual has a proven background in building innovation from the ground up, evident through converting market-leading ideas into viable business offerings.

Partner:

• Natalia Scheidegger – 3rdmill
• Sapna Bhatia – Adactin Group
• Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann – ATech
• Sandra Arena – Gallant Collective
• Pauline Thomas – Macquarie Cloud Services
• Asma Gulbaz – Slalom
• Jill Price – SoftwareOne
• Regina Melamed – TechClick

Vendor/ Distributor:

• Marissa Shipley – CompliantERP
• Agnes Schliebitz-Ponthus – Fluent Commerce

• Georgia Dowie – Pax8
• Tin Dacanay – Schneider Electric
• Angie Keeler – ZellaDC

GRADUATE This award recognises a standout graduate candidate who has leveraged apprenticeship programs to start a career within the ICT industry. Open to all roles and responsibilities, this individual has made an immediate and positive impact on the business through providing a fresh perspective and high levels of professionalism.

Partner:

• Anastasiia Dovhan – Chamonix IT
• Bouchra Jihany – Datacom
• Jordan Roberts – Deloitte
•  Isabella Baker – Intalock Technologies
•  Pawandeep Kaur – iSeek
• Giselle Levine – Macquarie Cloud Services
•  Charlotte Ross – ONGC Systems
•  Weasley Au – Patient Zero
• Thilini Samaraweera – Sparx Solutions
• Chenuli Abeywardena – Tecala

Vendor:

• Vi Le – Cisco
• Emily Qiao – Google Cloud
• Kezia Somerville-Petch – HPE
• Winnie Soemargo – HPE Aruba Networking
•  Ilmini Hakmanaarchchi – Palo Alto Networks
• Hoa Pham – Schneider Electric

RISING STAR This award recognises a standout candidate rising through the ranks within the ICT industry, acknowledging significant advancement during the early stages of her technology career. This individual is growing in stature and importance through demonstrating outstanding business acumen, deep market expertise and high levels of professional integrity. This award is open to candidates with 10 years or less experience within the ICT industry.

Partner (National):

• Brooke Martin – Arinco
• Amanda Williams – Blue Connections IT
• Samantha Jordan – Centorrino Technologies
• Lara Wright – Connetico
• Jennifer Hizon – Cube Networks
• Nicole Bourke – Data#3
• Madison Spiteri – Kaine Mathrick Tech
• Charuni Mallawaarachchi – Oreta
• Natalie Beaton – Otto IT
• Samantha Buttigieg – Tecala

Partner (Multinational):

• Marilyn Tiangco – ASI Solutions
• Lena Madeleine Chapple – Cognizant
• Katherine Drew – Deloitte
• Melanie Nguyen – Interactive
• Lara Barnett – Logicalis
• Lisa Tierney – Ricoh
• Leah Cerinich – Sourced Group

Vendor:

• Brearna Leopold – CrowdStrike
• Sarah Wilson – Datadog
• Jessica Stark – GoTo
• Loren Dennett- HP
• Priya Sharma – ImpexDocs
• Mubarra Khan – Fluent Commerce
• Victoria Lam – NetApp
• Lorna Guerin – Palo Alto Networks
• Bec Caldwell – Phriendly Phishing
• Aarushi Arya – Snowflake

Distributor:

• Minya Vasili – Exclusive Networks
• Vanessa Jeffery – Ingram Micro
• Sunny McPhillips – NEXTGEN
• Lauren Pinkney – Pax8
• Victoria Carroll – Tech Data
• Ana Gomes – Wavelink

SHINING STAR This award recognises an established candidate with a strong record of achievement, acknowledging excellence in spearheading company initiatives and driving strategic change. This individual is a consistent high performer who regularly achieves standout business results and continues to assume increased levels of seniority within the organisation. This award is open to candidates with between 11-20 years’ experience within the ICT industry.

Partner (National):

• Sarah Norton – Atturra
• Quinita Lindley – blueAPACHE
• Marie Michaud – Bridged Group
• Kristy Tuinman – D6 Consulting

• Priscilla Barboza – Cevo
• Kerri Absolon – Data#3
• Shilpa Reddy – Oreta
• Bay McGovern – Patient Zero
• Pattigrace Lupari – Spirit Technologies
• Amanda Ho – TechClick

Partner (Multinational):

• Nina Rizk – Cognizant 

• Galit Jona – Delta Insights
• Michelle Buhne – Exigo Tech
• Sarah Turnbull – Insight Enterprises
• Liz Nguyen – Interactive 
• Gina Lilicrap – Orro
• Radhini Sivanathan – Slalom
• Risa Nurhidayati – Software One
• Sanya Turkalj – Sourced Group
• Deepti Kakkar Wadhwa – Wipro

Vendor:

• Grace Walker – Access4
• Mary Armstrong – Cisco
• Prayna Prasad – Cloudflare
• Bec Paior – ConnectWise
• Anna Mascarello – Elastic
• Rachna Kumar – ExtraHop
• Anna Coniglio – Google Cloud
• Jordana Desmyth – HP
• Elisa Kelsall – IBM
• Sarah Carney – Microsoft

Distributor:

• Elizabeth Paterakis – Dicker Data
• Maria Ianni – Ingram Micro
• Fay Messaike – NEXTGEN Group
• Sara Furlong – Pax8

ACHIEVEMENT This award recognises a standout candidate who has delivered an unrivalled contribution to the ICT industry, evident through outstanding professional and personal achievements. This individual has earned a reputation as an esteemed thought leader following a distinguished career as both a business leader and role model for aspiring executives. This award is open to candidates with 21 years or more experience within the ICT industry.

Partner:

• Joana Valente – Deloitte
• Jenny Southon – Insight Enterprises
• Katie Bentley – Interactive
• Lisa Bebawy – Macquarie Cloud Services
• Nichole Wynne – Nicstar
• Jane Beck – Slalom
• Joanna Kennedy – TechClick
• Sherran Evans – Tecala

Vendor:

• Emma Harris – Cisco
• Beverley Allsop – Dell Technologies
• Angela Walker – Dynabook
• Yvette McEnearney – GoTo
• Julie Barbieri – HPE
• Philippa Cogswell – Palo Alto Networks
• Anita Moorehouse – Rapid7
• Astrid Groves – Schneider Electric
• Cathy Conroy – Snowflake

Distributor:

• Rhonda Robati – Crayon
• Hope McGarry – Ingram Micro
• Linda Volker – NEXTGEN Group
• Julie Ceresa – Westcon-Comstor

DE&I CHAMPION – Individual This award recognises an influential individual who actively drives diversity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives through mentoring and thought leadership across the ICT industry. This candidate acts as a role model for aspiring executives, cultivating diverse teams to drive change both internally and externally. This award is open to all aspects of diversity and inclusion (gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation etc).

Partner:

• Cassandra Eastham – Blue Connections IT
• Charlotte Lloyd – Centorrino Technologies
• Nicola Young – Cognizant
• Lisa Sarago – Land on Heart
• Tanur Parira – Logicalis
• Racquel Miller – Oreta
• Rachel Sands – Orro
• Cassandra Ashworth – Rapid Circle
• Brooke Adams – Slalom
• Megan Visser – Virtual IT Group

Vendor / Distributor:

• Ciara Fayle – Cisco
• Jade Meara – F5
• Jacqueline Ibrahim – HPE
• Davina Partridge – Ingram Micro
• Sinead Fitzgerald – Microsoft
• Anastasia Kiteri – NetApp
• Sarah Sloan – Palo Alto Networks
• Sumiya Sultan – Schneider Electric
• Shobha Joshi – Snowflake
• Neringa Hojrup – Teradata

For more information regarding sponsorship opportunities or event details — click here.