Adjudicator:
Fiona De Jong
The Outstanding Leadership Awards are ecstatic to 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).
Alastair
Dawson
Senior Deputy
Vice-Chancellor CQUniversity Australia
Sonia
Cooper
Deputy Commissioner with the Public Service Commission (PSC)
Michael
Reid
QLD, NT & Papua New Guinea General Manager for Cisco
Amanda
Flemming
Chief People and Technology Officer at Viva Energy Australia
Gary
McConaghy
CEO | Managing Director – McConaghy Properties
Mike
Morgan
Vice President & Managing Director Insight APAC
Stephen
Tait
CEO of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry QLD
Faith
Rees
CEO & Founder of SixPivot and
Cloud Ctrl
Mark
Beitz
Managing Director Bartons
Liana
Callaghan
Co-founder
Troocoo
Peter
Kelley
CEO of Redland Investment Corp.
Kris
Whitehead
Managing Director Judo Bank
Justin
Falk
Founder and CEO TalentVine
Jodie
Clark
Chief Operations Officer, Cromwell
Peta
Karunaratne
Executive General Manager, Silver Chef
Amber
Ellem
Chief Product Officer Hub Australia
Adriarna
Nunn
People and Culture, Melbourne Real Estate
CATHRINE
STENSHAGEN
Customer Accounting Director, DHL Express
Ümit
Subasi
Founding Partner, Ultra Modum
Priscilla
Stevens-Guiney
Associate Director, CQUniversity
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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.
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Alastair Dawnson
Alastair Dawnson
Alastair Dawson is the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor 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.
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Michael Reid
Michael Reid
Michael Reid is the Queensland, Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea General Manager for international tech conglomerate, Cisco. Here, Michael oversees all operations and leads with an international attitude and experience paired with a local focus and feel. Michael has worked in the IT industry for more than 15 years and began his journey with a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Queensland University of Technology. Prior to his role at CISCO, Michael worked in executive roles across major financial and banking institutions.
Going beyond his expert understanding of all things IT and finance, Michael is passionate about inciting authentic and inclusive leadership. He is a board member of the Australian Information Industry Associations and advisory member for Women in Digital, championing women’s roles and contributions across IT. Michael is an accomplished industry speaker, having shared his knowledge across multiple podcasts, TV interviews, panels and case studies.
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Amanda Flemming
Amanda Flemming
Amanda Flemming is an internationally recognised global leader with results in growth, transition, human resources and turnaround environments across a number of multinational organisations.
In November 2019, Amanda was appointed Chief People and Technology Officer at Viva Energy Australia. Amanda is a high energy business leader with exceptional communication who leads with vision and innovation. From 2015-2017 Amanda was the Director of human resources for the Coles Group, reporting to the managing director and responsible for all HR activities for more than 100,000 team members. Combined with her previous 20 years of experience in Business Transformation and Human Resources, Amanda has achieved great success across her career and tangibly elevated multiple high-volume organisations. Amanda is known for her focus on growth, culture and structural change from the inside out for enhanced business outcomes. Amanda has worked for international organisations across the US, Europe and Australia with her approach to leadership grounded in her morals and Masters in Organisation Change at Hult Business School.
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Sonia Cooper
Sonia Cooper
Sonia Cooper is currently a Deputy Commissioner with the Public Service Commission (PSC) in the Queensland public sector.
Sonia has worked in eight organisations over a 30-year career across the public and private sectors. During this time Sonia has built capabilities and experience in organisational leadership, strategy, governance, corporate risk, finance, information and communication technologies, culture, people, change management and performance.
Sonia has worked as a CEO leading an organisation in difficult times, in establishing governance and mobilising new organisations. She has brokered partnerships with industry and the tertiary education sector to deliver more capable and future ready workforces and provided change leadership through a merger and acquisition process.
Sonia holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and a Bachelor of Business from Queensland University of Technology. Sonia is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Sonia is passionate about authentic and courageous leadership providing the environment for people to flourish, perform at their best and deliver outstanding services and outcomes for customers and stakeholders.
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Gary McConaghy
Gary McConaghy
Queensland Retail Property business McConaghy Properties develops, builds, owns and manages shopping centres throughout Australia. Established in 1969, the family owned business recently celebrated 50 years as industry leaders in their market.
With a brand promise of “McConaghy Properties – For People”, the company recognizes what it takes to make kind and courageous leadership choices to create enduring value and long-term success for their team and business.
Led by Gary McConaghy, the business has benefited from his extensive leadership and industry experience as he celebrates his 25th year in the Construction and Property industry.
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Mike Morgan
Mike Morgan
Mike Morgan is an executive leader specialising in large high-growth tech companies. His current role as Vice President and Managing Director APAC at Insight combines his expertise in computers and digital innovation with his strong vision for effective and empowering leadership. Mike has always been a problem solver and innovator, having built his first computer at aged eight and has always helped clients solve everyday challenges with modern technology. Mike is at the forefront of digital innovation and uses his unique leadership style to foster stronger workplaces, in turn creating more creative and effective software and services for businesses.
Mike has extensive experience in the IT sphere, having worked as Executive General Manager at IT companies Oakes and Empired and was appointed CEO of Australasian company, Intergen. Across these critical leadership roles, Mike strives to support a culture of innovation by clearing roadblocks and providing hands-on coaching to empower his teammates.
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Stephen Tait
Stephen Tait
Stephen Tait is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland. Beginning his position in 2011, over the past eight years he has been fiercely committed to ensuring Queensland’s 400,000 small businesses continue to be the driving force of the state’s social and economic prosperity.
Stephen leads by championing small Queensland businesses by supporting innovation and increasing adaptability. A future-focused and strategic leader, Stephen advocates for businesses and the economic wellbeing of Queensland communities across private and government sectors. He is dedicated to generating a stronger, more prosperous and resilient business environment. Known as an entrepreneurial and commercially astute business leader, Stephen is a member of multiple government enterprise and non-profit boards to help be a driver for positive and collaborative change. Prior to joining the QLD Chamber of Commerce, Stephen was appointed the Group Commercial Director at APN Australian Regional Media and Commercial Director at News Limited.
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Mark Beitz
Mark Beitz
Mark is a Wynnum Manly Local born and bred has been with the company for 19 years and is now the Managing Director and Owner of Bartons. Bartons are an Automotive Retail Business who sell and service motor vehicles. They represent the brands of Holden, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru and have locations at both Wynnum and Capalaba. Bartons have a turnover of $210 Million and employ 230 staff. Bartons lead the way in the Automotive Industry with their dedication to providing a flexible workforce that encourages Women in Business. Now with 71 Females across all facets of the operation including Senior Leadership it is no surprise they excel with exceptional customer service and year on year turnover growth now for the last 15 Years.
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Liana Callaghan
Liana Callaghan
Liana is a Co-founder and Director of Troocoo and a senior executive search specialist. Liana has developed an extensive connection to senior leadership teams in ASX listed businesses, not for profits, statutory authorities, government entities, SME’s and private equity firms. During the past fifteen years, she has undertaken many executive search assignments and these were focused on C-suite appointments. Liana is also a Co-founder and Director of the Troocoo Venture Fund, which was established in 2017 to invest in a diversified portfolio of technology start-ups. The fund’s investment objective is to focus on scalable, capital-efficient technology start-ups where the strategy is to invest early and assist from a people advisory perspective.
Liana co-founded Troocoo in 2017 and this high performing business has been recognised by BRW as one of Australia’s top 100 fastest growing organisations. Liana attributes this success to a creating a diverse and inclusive culture where leaders are empowered and supported to be their absolute best.
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Faith Rees
Faith Rees
Faith Rees is an established speaker, mentor and board member at the forefront of Australian tech innovation. Faith is the founder and director of SixPivot, a cloud-first software development consultancy and Cloud Ctrl, a leading cloud-billing management platform. With more than 20 years of industry experience, Faith created both companies to help foster tech innovation for governments, start-ups and organisations.
Faith is a committed leader and mentor to several innovative start-up boards as well as the Queensland Government Mentoring for Growth Program. Her commitment to innovation has seen her meet with former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to discuss Australian innovation along with being a guest judge on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank. Faith was also the winner the Women in Technology Start-up Entrepreneur award in 2017.
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Peter Kelley
Peter Kelley
Peter Kelley has held the role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Redland Investment Corporation since the company’s conception in 2014. Redland Investment Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Redland City Council, is an innovative, responsible and sustainable company which creates revenue sources, identifies new business opportunities and partners with the local business community to fulfil the broader community’s social, economic and environmental needs. As CEO, Peter oversees and facilitates projects that spur investment and economic development in the Redlands. Some of the major projects Peter has overseen include facilitating the development of the $1.4 billion Toondah Harbour Priority Development Area Project with Walker Group and Economic Development Queensland, the Weinam Creek Priority Development Area redevelopment project in partnership with Redland City Council and Economic Queensland, and the revitalisation of the Capalaba Town Centre, to name a few.
With extensive experience in property development and a career spanning more than 30 years across residential, commercial, retail and industrial sectors; he has held senior development roles and worked on projects for key players in the industry which include Seymour Group, Opus Capital, Ranbury Management Group and Economic Development Queensland.
Key projects Peter has worked on over the years include, the Macarthur Centre project in Brisbane, One Macquarie in Teneriffe, the Commonwealth Games Village, the Fitzgibbon Chase UDA for the Brisbane north side and Mining Centre of Blackwater, as well as several other investment projects.
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Kris Whitehead
Kris Whitehead
Kris is a professional highly diverse international banker with over 18 years experience in financial services, stretching across all areas of banking from Small Business to Corporate and Institutional in Australia and Asia. Kris holds a Bachelor degree in Management and International Business from QUT in Brisbane.
Kris’ areas of expertise include building, coaching and leading high performing sales teams, deepening client relationships, developing strategic client acquisition strategies, transaction structuring and negotiation of all facets of a transaction. Kris has lead sales teams with wide ranging skills and experience with exposure to diverse clients and structured transactions throughout his professional career. The past 15 years have seen Kris focus on establishing, building and reengineering sales teams and client portfolios across Small Business, Corporate, Emerging Corporate, Infrastructure and Utilities both domestically and through Asia.
Kris brings seasoned leadership, exceptional influencing skills, strong marketing know-how, a strong ability to think strategically and laterally, and a widespread team focused mentality.
Outside of being a banker, Kris is passionate about being outdoors with his family, ideally followed by a BBQ and glass of wine or two with friends.
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Justin Falk
Justin Falk
Justin Falk is the Founder and CEO of TalentVine, a Brisbane-based HR technology company that makes it simple for employers and specialist recruiters to work together to hire great talent. With TalentVine at that awkward stage of being an established business with one foot still in the startup space, he’s experienced the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and has had the privilege of working alongside some incredible leaders in the Australian startup space.
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Jodie Clark
Jodie Clark
A career of 20+ years in Australia, Asia and Europe working across a multitude of industries including commercial and residential property investment, development and funds management, recruitment and hospitality, spending the majority of my career in the property industry.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of my work is the opportunity to connect with a diverse range of people and cultures. I am passionate about people achieving their goals through hard work, and have a strong desire for success and continuous improvement both professionally and personally. I nurture and encourage this culture at Cromwell and in the wider business community.
Joining Cromwell in 2004 has given me the opportunity to work across a variety of roles and portfolios as the Group has grown from being a privately owned Australian focused property company to an ASX listed, international real estate investment manager, operating in 15 different countries in Asia Pac, EU & the UK.
As Cromwell’s Chief Operations Officer, I am responsible for the Group’s global operating platform including Technology, People & Culture, Marketing, Sustainability and Operations.
I am the Director of Cromwell Property Services and am the National Real Estate Licensee for the Group. I spent 2 years on the Board of Directors of Oyster Property Group, a New Zealand Property Fund Manager, and Chaired Oyster’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
Giving back to those less fortunate than ourselves is something I am passionate about and one that Cromwell publicly supports. I am proud to Chair the Cromwell Property Group Foundation Committee, which supports charitable causes in the areas of health, education, social and community welfare, community benefits and humanitarian efforts. I am extremely proud of the work we do in this space.
I am pleased to be a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Property Council of Australia and served two years on the PCA Queensland Diversity Committee
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Peta Karunaratne
Peta Karunaratne
Peta is a commercial, purpose-driven leader that is passionate about creating businesses that are ‘best FOR the world’, not just ‘best IN the world’. Peta is passionate about for-profit, for-purpose business models and believes that being an executive within these businesses presents a significant opportunity and obligation to deliver robust, profitable and impactful strategies that generate positive, inter-generational benefits for multiple stakeholders.
This requires a different type of leadership and a different type of person – someone who is multi-faceted, is open to evolution, embraces humanity and enjoys playing and creating in the unknown.
Peta’s experience doesn’t fit into a standard box or label and she likes it that way. She has a unique mix of skills across strategy, innovation, human resources, business transformation and organisation development.
She is regularly called upon to help Boards and Executive teams to work through complex and emergent challenges at the intersection of human experience, emerging social and technological change and across global systems.
She has held senior roles in Australia and the UK across the financial services, telecommunications, and resources sectors in large multinational and international companies, in both Australia and the UK and is currently the EGM of People and Customer Experience at SilverChef, a BCorporation that provides hospitality finance solutions to entrepreneurs in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
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Amber Ellem
Amber Ellem
Amber Ellem is a passionate marketing and product executive who has delivered results for both listed global companies and not-for-profit member associations, across a range of industries including luxury automotive, financial services, utilities and sport.
Appointed the Chief Product Officer at Hub Australia in early 2019, Amber leads the Marketing and Member Experience divisions, and holds responsibility for the development of commercial products and partnerships to provide genuine benefits to Hub’s Members. Hub is the largest Australian owned coworking provider.
A driven and motivational leader with a solutions focused attitude, Amber has been instrumental in the success of a range of innovative projects across her broad career, many of which were industry leading at the time.
Having benefited early on in her career from the generosity of experienced mentors, she is committed to continuing that cycle through her own leadership, and aims to empower and support people to deliver their best and reach their full potential.
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Adriarna Nunn
Adriarna Nunn
As Melbourne Real Estate’s Head of People and Culture, Adriarna encapsulates all of the things that make this award winning business rise head and shoulders above the pack. Consciously subverting the traditionally accepted values of Human Resources and embodying the core values that underscore Melbourne Real Estate’s success, her focus is on maximising the engagement, effectiveness and retention of each and every employee.
With over ten years’ experience in the Property industry under her belt, Adriarna is duly acknowledged as a force of nature, juggling myriad roles across the company from recruitment to the onboarding and continual development of the MRE community. Responsible for the overarching well-being of staff, Adriarna actively works with team members to help formulate their individual professional career blueprints, along with providing ongoing support and guidance for up-skilling.
The internal culture of Melbourne Real Estate is vital to a cohesive team and Adriarna, operating as a natural motivator with a genuine love of people, is able to employ her innate empathy to ensure everyone is included and valued.
Inherently civic minded, Adriarna also likes to give back by volunteering. Most recently working with Juno Consulting in collaboration with AMES Australia and The Salvation Army, partaking in the ‘Passport To Work Program’ helping long-term unemployed people learn how to jump the interview hurdle, bridging the gap between corporate and community.
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CATHRINE STENSHAGEN
Catherine Stenshagen
Cathrine Stenshagen is the Director of Customer Accounting for the Oceania region in the most global, express logistics company in the world, DHL Express. Her journey with DHL started 16 years ago in Norway and she has worked in numerous functions and roles within the organization since then. For the past 10 years she has been in various Management roles, leading several teams within the Finance function to deliver successful results through forward-thinking leadership and innovative solutions, with her leadership credentials landing her the current role in Oceania 3.5 years ago. She moved her family across the world and changed the game of the Customer Accounting Team down-under, from what used to be a backend function, to a highly engaged and thriving customer centric team contributing to the company’s success.
Cathrine is a firm believer that the key ingredient of great teams is empowerment for all team members to make decisions that will increase customer satisfaction, simplify the day to day processes and making a business profitable. As a 21st Century Leader she continues to support her team full-time, while currently studying for a Master in Business Administration, inspiring her colleagues to always keep learning new skills and ideas that can help the business move forward.
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Umit
Ümit Subasi
Ümit Subasi is a successful executive and board member that has served across a breadth of industries for more than 30 years. Subasi is the current board director & partner at 4A Cosmetics Inc. and is the founding partner of Ultra Modum, a boutique advisory business.
Umit’s leadership experience spans across multiple continents where he has enjoyed a successful track record in strategy development, creating route-to-market strategies, designing & implementing new business models, non-organic business development, governance and monitoring practices, management finance, building high-performance cultures and change management.
Notably, Umit was in charge of all operations outside the US for the Campbell Soup Company as President International and CEO of Campbell Arnott’s. Having served on a variety of boards, including the Australian Food and Grocery Council, Umit has shared his expertise as a non-executive director and senior advisor with several boards and organisations across Australia, the US, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
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Priscilla
Priscilla Stevens-Guiney
Priscilla is the Associate Director for International and Services 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.