Page 18 - Australian Defence Mag Sep 2020

18 DEFENCE INDUSTRY WIDA
SEPTEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
WOMEN IN DEFENCE AWARDS 2020 FINALISTS
With hundreds of nominations across the seven categories, picking the cream of the crop was a tough call for our panel of judges.
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
ONCE again we were blown away by the quality of entrants this year. With a new category added from the previous year to reflect women working in a deployed or remote en- vironment under Operations, the array of skills on show was remarkable.
From a senior engineer on a Collins class submarine to the rise of a woman in an admin support role to chief of staff within a prime, the stories of triumph, leadership and expertise were fascinating.
Finalists this year come a range of organisations within the Defence community; uniformed, Australian Public Ser- vice, Primes, SMEs and the not for profit sector. Some peo- ple had a only a year or two in their roles and have achieved much while others have spent their entire professional ca- reer in the Defence domain.
Judges were looking for excellence across a range of quali- ties; outstanding success in their field, values and behav- iours, their capacity to act as an ambassador in the Defence community alongside the milestone they achieved in calen- dar year 2019.
Every nominated individual meant that someone took the time to recognise the contribution the individual had made to their organisation and the wider community. If you nomi- nated someone, and they don’t know, I urge you to let them know that even though they may not have made the finalists listed here. They are valued for their work, and are worth taking the time for.
Entries opened at the ADM Congress in February but less than a month later, COVID-19 hit Australia in a big way. Many organisations were trying to figure how best to weath- er the storm and we thank those that took the time during this intense period of change and uncertainty to apply for the Women in Defence Awards.
We are looking forward to celebrating the winners and announcing the Hall of Fame lifetime achievement award in October this year. Pending circumstances, we will advise of the format of the event closer to the time.
ADM would like to acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors of SYPAQ, Airbus, Naval Group, BGIS, Boeing, Broadspectrum, and Leidos in bringing the Women in De- fence Awards program together.