Adjudicator:
Fiona De Jong
Alastair
Dawson
Vice-President (Global Development) CQUniversity Australia
Andrew
Leakey
General Manager Mars Wrigley Australia
Cecily
McGuckin
CEO / Managing Director QLD Steel & Sheet Pty Ltd
Martin
Creighan
Managing Director, Citrix Australia & New Zealand
Adriarna
Nunn
Head of People and Culture, Cobild
Sheena
Ireland
Managing Director Specialists in Communication
John
Griffiths
Chief Executive Officer at QTAC
Dr Dan
Wilson
Medical Leader and Winner of Outstanding Leader Award 2020
Cherie
Ryan
Vice President and Regional Managing Director, Oracle ANZ
April
Palmerlee
CEO American Chamber of Commerce for Australia
Nyunggai
Warren Mundine
Executive Chairman at Nyungga Black Group Pty Ltd
Peter
Murphey
Chief Talent Officer C3Talent
Alan
Heyward
Managing Director, Asia Pacific – O.C. Tanner
Alyssa
McColm
Student – Bachelor of Arts/Int. Hotel Tourism Management
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Fiona De Jong
Fiona De Jong
The Outstanding Leadership Awards proudly announce Fiona De Jong as the night’s esteemed adjudicator. Fiona is the head of Australia’s nation Brand at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).
A values-based and results-focused leader, Fiona’s proven ability to lead highly complex international organisations positions her as a figure of influence across Australian business in both private and government sectors. Fiona is known as an astute global leader who is currently entrusted with the promotion and re-imagination of Australia’s Nation Brand. Known for her bold strategic decisions, Fiona brings fresh insight and approach through her leadership, having worked for the Australian Olympic Committee and worked as a lawyer earlier in her career.
Committed to broadening Australia’s international reputation through innovative leadership and a passion to stand up for what is right, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
Alastair Dawnson
Alastair Dawnson
Alastair Dawson is the Vice-President (Global Development) of CQUniversity Australia. He is an expert in transformational leadership that guides organisations through periods of disruption and change. He prioritises disruptive innovation, global leadership and team building to garner results.
Alastair boldly lead the initiative to successfully open Australia’s first Indonesian campus through CQUni and reduced costs of international university operations by 40 per cent in 16 months through his executive leadership. The outstanding success of CQUni’s first international campus can be credited to Alastair’s emphasis on accountability, authenticity and charitability to incite positive change.
Likewise, Alastair has also held key community positions such as CEO of Beaudesert Shire Council and Rockhampton Regional Council. Alastair’s success across a breadth of roles and industries is attributed to his focus on operational and financial stability across his 25 years of executive leadership.
Cecily McGuckin
Cecily McGuckin
Cecily McGuckin, the first and only female CEO in Australia’s steel distribution industry, she is passionate about driving change in her industry and her family owned business, Queensland Sheet and Steel (QSS) as it enters 34 years in business. Cecily began her career in finance but quickly stumbled upon an area she enjoyed so much more. Construction development management. Roles at leading companies including Suncorp and Mirvac, followed where she gained a wealth of experience in the day-to-day running of big business and the delivery of large scale projects.
It’s these experiences that helped shape the leader Cecily is today – a problem solver and out of the box thinker. Cecily is also resilient. As a woman in a man’s world she has needed to prove herself time and time again. Not just to her peers and her staff, but her father who started the business from nothing. Cecily credits her emotional intelligence and gut instincts as the key drivers behind her success as a CEO. Not to mention her willingness to take a breath and calmly find the right moment to create conversations that generate results.
Martin Creighan
Martin Creighan
Martin Creighan was appointed as Managing Director of Citrix Australia and New Zealand in May 2021. He brings extensive experience in delivering sales excellence, leadership and is responsible for Citrix sales and services operations, revenue, growth strategy, and cultivating the company’s partner ecosystem, throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Creighan has over three decades of experience and brings a wealth of leadership expertise and knowledge in the technology, telecommunications and defence industries; having held numerous senior leadership and sales positions.
Prior to joining Citrix, Creighan was the Managing Director of AT&T Australia and New Zealand. He previously held senior business development and managerial roles at Radware, SecureNet/Baltimore Technologies and was an Operations Specialist and Master Training Specialist with the United States Navy for just under 10 years. Creighan has more than 20 years’ experience in working with and providing complex technical solutions for defence and government agencies. Over the last two years, Creighan also operated as a non-executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce, Australia.
Creighan holds a Bachelor of Business from The National University of San Diego, California, and Certified Master Training Specialist from US Navy.
Andrew Leaky
Andrew Leaky
Andrew Leakey joined Mars Wrigley in 2008 and since then has held a variety of senior leadership roles across Asia and the Pacific. In September 2019, Andrew was appointed General Manager Mars Wrigley Australia, returning from India where since 2016 he led the Mars Wrigley India business to double digit growth and opened the first local Mars chocolate factory near Mumbai.
Prior to this, Andrew was the General Manager of Wrigley Pacific from 2011-2016 leading the Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands operations. He joined Wrigley Pacific as Marketing Director, where among his many achievements, he launched the award-winning EXTRA® “Eat. Drink. Chew” campaign.
Andrew has over thirty years of experience in the FMCG industry, having held both Sales and Marketing roles at Arnott’s, Cerebos Greggs, and GlaxoSmithKline.
Ralph Kelly
Ralph Kelly
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia at a function held at Admiralty House to one hundred of the top Australian companies in attendance.
Sheena Ireland
Sheena Ireland
Sheena is a passionate advocate for meaningful connection in leadership, public affairs and advocacy. She believes that empathy underpins connection and storytelling has the power to transform organisations and lives.
She is the founder and director of PR Agency Specialists in Communications—a trusted adviser and reliable communications team for businesses and government entities across Australia.
As a facilitator, coach and mentor in the area of communications, Sheena believes that organisations can benefit greatly through specialised training and support that educates, empowers and equips teams to understand their value, have empathy with their clients and colleagues, and communicate with influence.
As a trained volunteer telephone crisis supporter with Lifeline, Sheena has a passion for mental health support and prevention, and advocates the importance of listening and empathy in all communications efforts.
John Griffiths
John Griffiths
John is the CEO of QTAC, a role that he has held since 2011. He has led sector wide initiatives including the introduction of daily offers, Queensland’s response to the Federal Government’s transparency of higher education admissions and development of the VeriSkills. As a thought leader in the higher education admissions space, he continues to engage and innovate as Australia navigates new waters in education post COVID19.
His previous roles as Assistant Vice-Chancellor at Massey University and General Manager Corporate for the New Zealand Army ensure ensure he is uniquely positioned to provide in-depth and meaningful commentary on utilising innovation in education. John holds a PhD from Monash University, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Chartered Accountant.
Matthew Martyn-Jones
Matthew Martyn-Jones
As a member of the Executive Management Team for the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, Matthew Martyn-Jones leads the Strategy, Planning and People functions for
Queensland’s largest infrastructure project. He has accountability for organisational strategy, statutory planning and environmental approvals, people and culture, marketing
and communications, stakeholder engagement and social licence.
Before joining the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority in 2017, he held a number of senior
roles at global resources company BHP, including Head of Media Relations for Australia. He started his career as a journalist with the ABC before joining the public sector, where he has held a range of senior advisory and leadership roles across various Federal and State government portfolio areas including Treasury, State Development, Transport, Infrastructure and Environment.
Dan Wilson
Dr Dan Wilson
Dr Daniel Wilson is a rural generalist trainee in the Grampians region Victoria. He was Victoria’s 2019 Junior Doctor of the Year, and Finalist for Australia and New Zealand’s Junior Doctor of the Year. Dr Wilson is a keen teacher and hold numerous medical leadership roles including Board Director of Rural Doctors Association Victoria, Member of AMA Council of Rural Doctors, and member of the Education Committee of the Post Graduate Medical Council of Victoria.
Last year he won the Outstanding Leadership Award 2020.
Brook Monohan
Brook Monohan
With close to 20 years’ experience in property development, design, construction, finance and funds management Brook Monahan brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as Founder and Managing Director of Mosaic Property Group. Mosaic is a fully integrated design-led, development and construction business operating predominantly in South East Queensland. Mosaic is a unique property group with a holistic approach that sees it control the entire development cycle from research and acquisition, through detailed design, development, marketing, sales and construction, to managing the assets upon completion. With over $1 billion of projects either delivered or under construction and a further substantial pipeline of additional high-end residential and mixed-use projects planned across South East Queensland in the next five years, and with more than 110 team members, and over 2,000 consultants and sub-contractors, Mosaic is a highly regarded and awarded leader in the industry, contributing significantly to Queensland’s economy.
Brook is also a Director and co-founder of the Mosaic Foundation, which provides support to organisations tackling the provision of shelter for those in desperate need, as well as mental health initiatives.
Priscilla
Priscilla Stevens-Guiney
Priscilla is the Director, Office of the Vice-President (Global Development) at CQUniversity. In addition, Priscilla is a Committee Chair, Committee Member and Treasurer with experience/expertise in environment, conservation, tourism and the higher education sector. As an Associate Director, Priscilla provides executive strategic support and advice to the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President in innovation and strategy matters across the broad portfolio of the International and Services Division. Priscilla is a commercially focused and collaborative business partner with a proven record in leading highly complex projects in areas such as systems innovation and integration; whole-of-organisation change leadership, business continuity and critical incident preparedness and response.
Prior to joining CQUniversity, Priscilla worked in the field of conservation and protected area management at Parks Victoria and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
Priscilla is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and earned an MBA from Australian Institute of Business, a Bachelor in Applied Science (Parks, Recreation and Heritage) from Charles Sturt University and is currently completing her Professional Doctorate with CQUniversity.
Nyunggai Warren Mundine
Nyunggai Warren Mundine
Highly respected and influential businessman, political strategist and advocate for empowering Australia’s First People to build a sustained economy and to create business opportunities. Warren Mundine has lived over half his life in regional Australia and is passionate about supporting local jobs and opportunities in Australia’s regions.
Warren has spent most of his life dedicated to helping Australia’s most disadvantaged people achieve economic prosperity. He was raised to believe that, no matter what obstacles are facing you, there is no limit to what you can achieve.
Warren believes that small business is the backbone of Australia’s economy, especially in Australia’s regions and has successfully invested his own time and money in generating business opportunities for young Australians.
Nyunggai Warren Mundine is a member of the Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Yuin people of New South Wales.
Cherie Ryan
Cherie Ryan
Cherie Ryan leads Oracle’s business across Australia and New Zealand. Originally from the UK, she has more than two decades of experience in the technology industry in Australia, spanning industries including finance, telecommunications and the public sector.
Prior to joining Oracle in 2019, Cherie held senior regional and global roles at leading technology companies including Ericsson, Novell, Genesys, NetApp, Microsoft, and Salesforce. She prides herself on her blend of technical expertise and commercial acumen, as well as her leadership of high-performing teams.
As VP and RMD at Oracle ANZ, Cherie is focussed on infusing a customer-centric culture across the organisation and strengthening Oracle’s ecosystem of industry Alliances and Channel partners. She helps customers to discover the full breadth of Oracle’s technology including enterprise applications, cloud infrastructure, systems, databases and consulting services. She is also passionate about highlighting the potential of emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and Oracle’s unique autonomous offerings.
Alan Heyward
Alan Heyward
Kicking off his career in banking and finance, and later running a retail travel business, Alan has always believed in the importance of a thriving workplace culture. It was his move to an employee recognition and workplace culture organisation in 2006 – now O.C. Tanner – where Alan discovered what it means to be truly inspired by, and connected to an organisation, its people, and purpose.
Prior to assuming the role of managing director for the Asia Pacific region, Alan gained an in-depth understanding of the business, market landscape and unique cultural needs of some of Australia’s largest organisations via a range of leadership roles encompassing sales, marketing, client service and operations, and innovation.
One constant throughout each phase of his career has been his passion for galvanising his teams and leading positive change, which included spearheading the transition of ownership of the Australian business from public to private ownership under O.C. Tanner.
Away from work Alan likes to keep fit, spend time with friends, and travel with his family.
Colleen Harris
Colleen Harris
Mrs Colleen Harris commenced with Ramsay Health Care on 8 January 2018 in the role of Group Chief People Officer.
In this role, Colleen is responsible for the talent strategy for the Group including mapping of where key expertise will be needed in the future, talent development and succession planning for the most senior leaders across our organisation.
Colleen is a successful Human Resources (HR) executive with more than 20 years’ experience across a variety of industries where she was responsible for designing and implementing talent, diversity, performance and reward programs linked to both individual and business performance outcomes. She has served in several senior executive HR positions reporting to the Group CEOs of National Australia Bank, Federation Centres and MyState Limited. She has also held senior HR positions at Crown Ltd and Yellow Pages.
She holds a Bachelor of Education (Science) from the University of Melbourne, is a Member of the AICD and a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute.
In 2020 Colleen was appointed a Director of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care, Ramsay Health Care’s joint venture with Sime Darby.
April Palmerlee
April Palmerlee
April Palmerlee was appointed CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia in 2017 after an international career in government, education, and the corporate sector. American-born, Palmerlee has lived in Sydney since 2003 and is a dual citizen. She is a member of Chief Executive Women and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She received a BS from Georgetown and a Master’s from Columbia. In Australia, she has worked for the University of Sydney’s US Studies Centre, the Lowy Institute for International Policy, the Centre for Independent Studies, and Potomac Partners. In the United States, she held the rank of Assistant Secretary at the Department of State with the remit for international women’s issues. Before that, she was a senior executive at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. She has also worked for couturier Oscar de la Renta, financial publisher The Bank Credit Analyst, and not-for-profit The Spanish Institute. She is on the boards of CIS and Georgetown University Australian and New Zealand Centre. She also chairs a scholarship selection committee at the Fulbright Commission.
Colleen Callander
Colleen Callander
Geelong born and raised, Colleen was brought up in a hard-working business focused family, where there was always a job to do. After working in family businesses from as young as she could remember, Colleen had her first taste of retail at the age of 16. Unbeknownst to her at the time this summer job would be the start of a retail career spanning over 30 years.
Colleen is an award-winning CEO, has wealth of knowledge and a proven track record in building brands, creating a winning culture, building environments that allows people to be inspired and empowered. Colleen is now sharing not only the past 13 years experience as a CEO but the past 30 years of her retail career.
Colleen is an inspiration to women of all generations and wants to encourage women globally to have the confidence to believe in themselves, their ability, share their voice and find the superpower within. Colleen wants to inspire and empower women to lead in their own lives whether that be in boardrooms, organisations, communities or even the home.
She wants them to believe in the power within and that it is possible to become the leader they always wanted to be in business and in life and together create a new era of leadership, one that leads with kindness, humility, self-awareness, on one that puts people at the heart of everything we do.
Colleen is a Leader By Design (the title of her book). In the early years of her career, she looked up to and admired people with titles, level of authority and positions of power, labelling them leaders. What she learnt over time is that it is not someone’s title, level of authority or position of power that automatically qualifies them for leadership. In fact, Colleen shares that you don’t even need a title to be a leader. We have the ability to lead every day, with every action, every reaction, every interaction and every decision.
Philip Levinson
Philip Levinson
Adriarna Nunn
Adriarna Nunn
Who I Am // My Story My Name is Adriarna, but you can call me Arnie! I believe that replacing outmoded management theories with innovation and inclusion, leads to healthier outcomes and my mantra, in a nutshell, remains always, People First. Self-driven, unfailingly curious, and committed to deepening connections with others, I discovered my niche early on with a passion for driving positive cultural change within the workplace. My 12 year journey in the real estate industry as a licensed agent, 7 with a GPTW listed agency, cemented a belief in the inherent worth of the individual and the role we play to create meaning and community at work. A genuine empath with a deeply intuitive nature and growth mind-set, my ability to focus on the bigger picture makes for game changing talent spotting and successful employee development strategies. What I Believe In // My Philosophy My philosophy in the workplace, as in life, is to respect the opinions and values of others. I encourage my people to speak out, draw outside the lines and connect with their imaginations. Dismissing archaic notions around traditional management structures and career advancement trajectories, I facilitate new opportunities for personal growth and progression. An engaged and engaging communicator, I’m here for truth telling, with transparency at the heart of all my interactions. I’m committed to the creation of safe, high-trust work places, fostered by inclusion, diversity, and the outright rejection of exclusionary behaviours. I’m continually reminded of the privilege it is to occupy any position of leadership, and my responsibility to guide and mentor from a place of compassion, authenticity and insight. What I Do // My Role As Head of People & Culture I am responsible for the people strategy and EVP at Cobild. I provide considered and operational direction to the ELT and employees, on all people-related matters, with an emphasis on developing a clearly defined and shared alignment of team goals with the overarching company vision. Why I Do It // My Passion I’m a big exponent of the idea that without challenge, there’s no change. I’m driven by the task of subverting conventional workplace practices, rewarding teams on merit and performance rather than tenure, and I appreciate the positive impact I can make towards creating a tribe of engaged, productive and happy people.
Who I Am // My Story My Name is Adriarna, but you can call me Arnie! I believe that replacing outmoded management theories with innovation and inclusion, leads to healthier outcomes and my mantra, in a nutshell, remains always, People First. Self-driven, unfailingly curious, and committed to deepening connections with others, I discovered my niche early on with a passion for driving positive cultural change within the workplace. My 12 year journey in the real estate industry as a licensed agent, 7 with a GPTW listed agency, cemented a belief in the inherent worth of the individual and the role we play to create meaning and community at work. A genuine empath with a deeply intuitive nature and growth mind-set, my ability to focus on the bigger picture makes for game changing talent spotting and successful employee development strategies. What I Believe In // My Philosophy My philosophy in the workplace, as in life, is to respect the opinions and values of others. I encourage my people to speak out, draw outside the lines and connect with their imaginations. Dismissing archaic notions around traditional management structures and career advancement trajectories, I facilitate new opportunities for personal growth and progression. An engaged and engaging communicator, I’m here for truth telling, with transparency at the heart of all my interactions. I’m committed to the creation of safe, high-trust work places, fostered by inclusion, diversity, and the outright rejection of exclusionary behaviours. I’m continually reminded of the privilege it is to occupy any position of leadership, and my responsibility to guide and mentor from a place of compassion, authenticity and insight. What I Do // My Role As Head of People & Culture I am responsible for the people strategy and EVP at Cobild. I provide considered and operational direction to the ELT and employees, on all people-related matters, with an emphasis on developing a clearly defined and shared alignment of team goals with the overarching company vision. Why I Do It // My Passion I’m a big exponent of the idea that without challenge, there’s no change. I’m driven by the task of subverting conventional workplace practices, rewarding teams on merit and performance rather than tenure, and I appreciate the positive impact I can make towards creating a tribe of engaged, productive and happy people.
Peter
Peter Murphey
Peter’s professional talent identification and attraction career has seen him undertake Board, C-Suite and Executive assignments for ASX listed and privately-owned corporations, government departments and owned corporations, and small to medium sized enterprises. As a Chartered Accountant working for several of the Big four CA firms, Peter was provided training and experience over 8 years that instilled in him a professional services mindset and work ethic. The technical knowledge and “hands on” practical experience gained across various industries, and dealings with Boards and Executives was an excellent grounding. As Chair of the Edmund Rice Foundation Australia, Peter gained practical experience and knowledge of what is required to be an effective Chair and Board member. He has received industry awards recognising his contribution to the industry including The Best Recruiter in Australia and the Best Recruiter in Queensland.
Alyssa
Alyssa McColm
Alyssa McColm is in her third year at The University of Queensland, studying a Bachelor of Arts/International Hotel Tourism Management. She has a Certificate IV in Crime & Justice Studies and is currently a special events intern at LeadershipHQ. Alyssa is passionate about performing arts, media industries and global issues. Alyssa will be part of the Judging Panel for the Student Leader category.
