Winners revealed for ARN WIICTA 2025

ARN is proud to announce the winners of the Women in ICT Awards (WIICTA) in 2025, honouring female excellence within the technology channel following an industry-defining celebration in Sydney.

Played out in front of more than 500 attendees at Doltone House on Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney on 15 May, WIICTA brought together all facets of the Australian ICT industry placing female achievement and accomplishment in the spotlight.

Mirroring the entire local ecosystem, 186 finalists made the shortlist from a pool of over 102 organisations and more than 300 nominations submitted, spanning partner, vendor and distributor businesses.

Following an intensive judging process — selected by an executive panel of more than 170 industry judges — 26 winners were selected across eight categories, in addition to 18 highly commended acknowledgements.

The collective aim of WIICTA is to ensure as many outstanding women are endorsed through this unique awards program, aligned to the collective goal of providing a platform upon which aspiring female talent can shine across Australia.

“To all our finalists, highly commended and winners, congratulations on your outstanding recognition from not only your own colleagues, but the entire Australian ICT ecosystem,” ARN editor Julia Talevski said. “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 DE&I Champion 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 champions of DE&I initiatives.

ARN congratulates all winners, highly commended and finalists and thanks all organisations and individuals for supporting this initiative.

DE&I CHAMPION: This award recognises an influential individual who actively drives diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives through mentoring and thought leadership across the tech industry. This candidate is a role model to aspiring executives, cultivating diverse teams to drive change and culture, both internally and externally.

Partner:

• Eva Hopewell – Accenture
• Debjani Dasgupta – Cognizant
• Karen Grieve – Deloitte
• Kalpana Sharma – Exigo Tech
• Nicole Holmes – First Focus
• Lesley French – Insight Enterprises
• Jessica Tolsma – Otto IT
• Sammy Herbert – SixPivot
• Pattigrace Lupari – Spirit Technology Solutions

Highly Commended: Eva Hopewell – Accenture

Winner: Nicole Holmes – First Focus  

Nicole currently chairs the DE&I committee, the MAD Council, showcasing her leadership skills in driving DE&I initiatives and being influential in business policies and practices. She is a passionate advocate for neurodiversity and has implemented neurodiverse training programs that have been crucial support during high-stress periods and business change. 

Vendor/Distributor:

• Julie Canepa – Cisco
• Rhonda Robati – Crayon
• Sinead Kinsella – Lenovo
• Ash Tyszkiewicz – Okta
• Chelle Morgan – Pax8
• Sumiya Sultan – Schneider Electric

Tied winners: Ash Tyszkiewicz – Okta   

Ash is a DE&I pioneer at Okta, spearheading initiatives across Employee Resource Groups (ERG) to bolster both neurodivergent and women employees with inclusive environments to support growth. She has also transformed Okta’s events to include neuroinclusive spaces.  

 Winner: Julie Canepa – Cisco   

Julie has made it her personal mission to make technology accessible to everyone. She holds a position on the board of the Women of Cisco and Cancer Awareness Group and is an active ally across several communities, including First Nations Allies, Pride, Emerging Talent and Disability Network.  

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 converts ideas into viable and profitable solutions through unique thought processes, designed to continually push the envelope.

Partner:

• Rachel Albrecht – Acclario IT
• Renata Di Stefano – blueAPACHE
• Erin Regan – Data#3
• Lou Compagnone – Datacom
• Laura Flynn – Infotrust
• Angela Noel – Insight Enterprises
• Sunny Andalebi – OutcomeX
• Maxine Wee – PwC
• Faith Rees – SixPivot

Highly Commended: Faith Rees – SixPivot

Winner: Renata Di Stefano – blueAPACHE 

Since joining blueAPACHE, Renata has redefined brand strategy as a revenue driver, using innovation to establish it as Australia’s leading mid-market IT service provider. 

Her bold, data-driven approach has helped to elevate brand awareness and deliver commercial outcomes. This includes multimillion-dollar contracts, exponential inbound growth and industry-first campaigns now emulated by competitors. 

Distributor:

• Rachana Shah – Ingram Micro
• Caitlin Gerrie – NEXTGEN
• Danni Munro – Pax8

Winner: Rachana Shah – Ingram Micro 

Rachana is a results-driven and process-oriented professional, combining strategic vision with strong analytical and organisational skills to drive business expansion, process optimisation and stakeholder engagement. She follows a structured yet agile approach to innovation, leveraging market insights, program management expertise and stakeholder collaboration to develop and scale impactful solutions. 

Vendor:

• Sarah Tan – Atlassian
• Alyssa Blackburn – AvePoint
• Catherine Lee – CrowdStrike
• Jade Meara – F5
• Rachel Wolfe – Five Faces
• Felicity Purdham – HPE
• Shalin Narain – Lenovo
• Iris Chan – MyPass Global

Highly Commended: Alyssa Blackburn – AvePoint and Catherine Lee – CrowdStrike

Winner: Sarah Tan – Atlassian   

Sarah wins this award for her work in pioneering innovating AI features. She led the design and development of Work Suggestions to help developers prioritise tasks by surfacing real-time, actionable recommendations, exceeding expectations as a result with the tool being recognised in Forbes as the next evolution of the developer experience.  

TECHNICAL: This award recognises a problem-solving candidate showing advanced technical and engineering expertise, exhibiting deep knowledge of products, solutions and services. This individual provides exceptional business value through specialised skills, training and competence, spanning technical, pre-sales and support roles. 

Multinational Partner:

• Manasa Yerrabolu – Accenture
• Claire Healey – Deloitte
• Reinal Shetty – NTT DATA

Highly Commended: Claire Healey – Deloitte

Winner: Reinal Shetty – NTT DATA 

Reinal has single-handedly built capability, expertise and business acumen around Cloudflare products, ensuring her own and NTT DATA’s certification as the primary solution partner for Cloudflare’s security portfolio. She authored the internal Cloudflare Consulting manual, guided the company through delivery certification and serves as the Asia Pacific lead for all Cloudflare projects.

Partner:

• Angelina Priya – blueAPACHE
• Cielo Lacandula – Brennan
• Ingrid Zambrano Villota – Data#3
• Yera Patel – Exigo Tech
• Emily Van Gorp – First Focus
• Sheena Shrivastava – Infotrust
• Laven Zhang – Interactive
• Hanieh Madad – Patient Zero
• Candice Lloyd – Smart WFM
• Benajir Khan – Tecala

Highly Commended: Sheena Shrivastava – Infotrust

Winner: Hanieh Madad – Patient Zero 

Originally from Iran, Hanieh has built a formidable technology career spanning three countries. At Patient Zero, she spearheaded the Learning Dashboard project – a secure, scalable portal serving hundreds of thousands of users across more than 150 schools. Her implementation of containerised solutions on Azure Kubernetes Service with comprehensive security protocols resulted in a 40 per cent increase in parent engagement.

Vendor/Distributor:

• Ann Lawoko – Access4
• Linda Wang – Cisco
• Ksenia Turner – Crayon
• Tammie Roy – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• Vanessa Sunassee – MyCISO
• Mila Fedynskaya – Schneider Electric
• Natalie Mead – Snowflake

Highly Commended: Linda Wang – Cisco

Winner: Natalie Mead – Snowflake 

With 25 years of technical expertise in data strategy, Natalie leads as Snowflake’s Asia Pacific and Japan vice president of sales engineering. From her early career analysing sales data to spearheading Snowflake’s APJ AI partner strategy, she excels at bridging technical complexities with business benefits. A passionate advocate for women in tech who believes “if you can see it, you can be it,” Natalie is recognised for challenging the status quo and mentoring the next generation while driving innovation through her technical leadership.

ENTREPRENEUR: This award recognises an enterprising candidate with a risk-taking mentality, exhibiting excellence in launching new ventures, products or services. This individual has a proven background in building successful innovation, evident through converting market-leading ideas into outstanding business offerings.

Partner:

• Natalia Scheidegger – 3rdmill
• Amy Reynolds – AMR Technology
• Brigitte Auguste – Araza
• Shantel Wilson – ASI Solutions
• Mandip Kaur – Cognizant
• Sarah McAvoy – CyberUnlocked
• Kat McCrabb – Flame Tree Cyber Consultancy
• Maryanne Demery – Seccom Global
• Regina Melamed – TechClick

Winner: Maryanne Demery – Seccom Global   

Maryanne’s relentless focus on long-term impact flows through to her championing the integration of AI-driven threat detection, automated response mechanisms and scalable cloud security services within Seccom Global, even at the risk of disrupting the company’s traditional business model. This drive to take calculated risks has not only set the company apart from competitors but has also future-proofed the business.  

Vendor:

• Susan Choy – Cisco
• Denise Farmer – Clio
• Nicole Nixon – Five Faces
• Gabriella Sarnelli – Schneider Electric
• Katherine Persoglia – The Brokers’ Bible
• Angie Keeler – Zella DC

Winner: Nicole Nixon – Five Faces   

Nicole pivoted Five Faces towards healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading it to win work for large public healthcare clients in NSW and Victoria to create digital solutions for frontline workers. After the pandemic, Nicole was instrumental in doubling down on this sector. This resulted in significant revenue growth in 2024, as well as securing Series A funding.  

GRADUATE: This award recognises a standout graduate candidate who has commenced a career within the tech industry, through a graduate program (between 2021-2025). This individual has made an immediate and positive impact on the business through providing a fresh perspective and high levels of professionalism.

Partner:

• Madison Sandiford – Akkodis
• Emilie Hanckel – Chamonix IT
• Stephanie Lloyd – Datacom
• Anna-Marie Diaz – Deloitte
• Jess Maschmedt – Interactive
• Emily Chen – Logicalis
• Isabel Macdonald – Publicis Sapient
• Luna Liu – Rapid Circle

Highly Commended: Emily Chen – Logicalis 

Winner: Stephanie Lloyd – Datacom   

Stephanie leveraged her experience in financials in business management and adapted it to a dynamic business with a goal to underpin implementation of technological solutions. Datacom’s graduate program paved the way for her exploration across a range of areas with practical experience, which culminated in an engagement in a strategic business transformation project.  

Vendor:

• Varan Dhaliwal – Check Point Software Technologies
• Winnie Soemargo – HPE Aruba Networking
• Vanessa Andjanie – NetApp
• Shivangi Singh – Schneider Electric

Winner: Winnie Soemargo – HPE Aruba Networking   

Winnie utilised her degree in commerce, with a major in marketing, in HPE’s Graduate Program and actively sought networking and learning opportunities. She has continuously stepped out of her comfort zone by interviewing worldwide executives in virtual career spotlights, hosting panel discussions between HPE and reseller executives and presenting to school students about careers in IT.   

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

Multinational Partner:

• Chloe Wain – Accenture
• Alicia Stark – Cognizant
• Jackie Xu – Deloitte
• Courtney Cusack – FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia
• Nona Naraghi – Logicalis
• Dhivya Sundarababu – NTT DATA
• Carine Lim – Publicis Sapient
• Brianna Marlow – Sekuro

Highly Commended: Carine Lim – Publicis Sapient 

Winner: Alicia Stark – Cognizant 

Alicia led the establishment and success of a new sector for the Cognizant’s Australian practice, aged care and not for profit, championing the for-purpose sector. She was able to identify a need to support organisations that are currently impacted by large scale reforms. 

Alicia has done this through upskilling the organisation and successfully secured not only one of the most significant and impactful projects in Cognizant Australia, but also the company’s first aged care client globally. 

Partner:

• Jessica Leong – A Corp Computers
• Hailey Abraham – Acclario IT
• Sridevi Jadeja – Araza
• Ashleigh Rose – Arinco
• Marilyn Tiangco – ASI Solutions
• Rishona Elijah – Barhead, an Akkodis Company
• Kate Rawinski – Blackbird IT
• Lily Forster – blueAPACHE
• Rebecca Hetherington – Brennan
• Ravneet Lehal – Cloud Context
• Anneke Crouse – Delta Insights
• Isabella Baker – Infotrust
• Renee Saric – Interactive
• Ivana Taleska – IT&T
• Eleanor Au – Tecala
• Jasmine Anders – The Missing Link

Winner: Kate Rawinski – Blackbird IT 

Kate has experienced multiple promotions since joining Blackbird and is currently the operations officer, where she played a pivotal role in streamlining internal processes, enhancing efficiency and productivity within the Managed Services team. 

Her contributions to optimising workflow and implementing effective support strategies were highly valued by both her colleagues and management. 

Distributor:

• Ashleigh Collier – Crayon
• Sunny McPhillips – NEXTGEN
• Hayley-Rose Robinson – Pax8
• Caecilie Wickstroem – Tech Data
• Dakota Gunning – Wavelink

Highly Commended: Ashleigh Collier – Crayon

Winner: Sunny McPhillips – NEXTGEN 

Sunny’s career trajectory within NEXTGEN is a testament to her exceptional work ethic and ability to make a meaningful impact. Starting as an intern, she quickly distinguished herself with her strategic thinking, initiative and ability to execute projects with precision. These qualities earned her a promotion into a marketing role, where she immediately demonstrated her ability to drive results.  

Vendor:

• Clare Challis – AvePoint
• Jade Coote – Brother International
• Justine Whatmough – ConnectWise
• Laura Brock – CrowdStrike
• Dipixa Sharma – Equinix
• Orlaith Freaney – GoTo
• Cindy Darnell – Hosted Network
• Monika Marczuk – HP
• Terry Garcia – HPE Aruba Networking
• Samantha Borg – Kaseya
• Lily Fay – Netskope
• Danielle Adamson – Okta

Winner: Lily Fay – Netskope 

Bursting with creativity and initiative, Lily’s rise at Netskope is both inspiring and remarkable, having started as a marketing intern.  

Leaning into her growth mindset, her view of the value she could bring to her stakeholders and the business was limitless. She has delivered major go-to-market initiatives with Netskope partners and spearheaded a global DEI initiative; a high-priority project outside her remit but close to her heart. 

SHINING STAR: Open to females with 11-20 years’ experience in ICT. This award recognises an established candidate with a strong record of achievement, acknowledging excellence in spearheading company initiatives and driving strategic growth. This individual is a consistent high performer, regularly achieving standout business results and increased levels of seniority within the organisation. 

Multinational Partner:

• Sanya Turkalj – Amdocs
• Jessica Finn – Cognizant
• Kellie Nuttall – Deloitte
• Philippa Fleming – NTT Data
• Tania Mushtaq – Rapid Circle
• Rodiya Yusuf – SoftwareOne Australia
• Poonam Arora – Wipro

Winner: Kellie Nuttall – Deloitte  

With over a decade at Deloitte, Kellie has devoted her career to solving real-world business challenges through data-driven technologies. Her trademark strength lies in bridging technical and business perspectives, ensuring AI solutions deliver clear ROI and organisational buy-in. She co-created the University of Sydney Business School’s AI Fluency executive micro-credential and as a faculty member at Singularity University, she designs programs such as Leadership in the Age of AI.

Partner:

• Cecilia Huang – ASI Solutions
• Quinita Lindley – blueAPACHE
• Dorothee Hartmann – Business Aspect
• Fabienne Allen-Grzechnik – Data#3
• Toni D’Angelo – First Focus
• Tara Jafari – Net Communications
• Jade McIntosh – Orro
• Alanna Kane – Otto IT
• Demelza Green – Patient Zero
• Jennifer Favelle – Tecala

Highly Commended: Demelza Green – Patient Zero 

Winner: Cecilia Huang – ASI Solutions  

Cecilia stands out as a transformative account manager who has driven significant revenue growth through her strategic client engagement framework and data-driven sales approach. Her personalised customer engagement strategies have enhanced retention rates while positioning her as a trusted advisor sought after by clients.

Distributor:

• Sandy Vaishnav – Crayon
• Clare Zeynoun – Ingram Micro
• Julie Armstrong – NEXTGEN
• Zoe Edwards – Pax8
• Effie Milosevic – Wavelink

Highly Commended: Sandy Vaishnav – Crayon

Winner: Julie Armstrong – NEXTGEN  

Julie Armstrong has been a pillar of financial leadership at NEXTGEN since 2012, demonstrating unwavering commitment, precision and integrity in driving financial excellence. As GM of finance, she was instrumental in NEXTGEN’s successful acquisition by Exclusive Networks in 2024, where she spearheaded financial due diligence and reporting.

Vendor:

• Stephanie Shannon – AWS
• Lara Wood – Cisco
• Anna Christensen – Cloudian
• Jagakala Thankaraj – Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• Cassie Wallace – Kiandra
• Emma O’Sullivan – Lenovo
• Bhawna Vohra – MyPass Global
• Sarah Sloan – Palo Alto Networks
• Jayne Lewis – Ping Identity
• Crystal Bhavsar – Ricoh Australia
• Jacqui Sommers – Snowflake

Highly Commended: Sarah Sloan – Palo Alto Networks 

Winner: Cassandra Wallace – Kiandra 

Cassandra has been instrumental in advancing Kiandra’s security posture. She recognised the critical need for best-practice robust security measures and developed a comprehensive plan to achieve ISO27001 certification. Under her leadership, Kiandra has achieved the prestigious B Corp certification in 2024, an endeavour that required a multi-year strategy and commitment to align the company’s operations with rigorous social and environmental standards. 

Winner: Emma O’Sullivan – Lenovo 

Emma has successfully led projects that enhanced profitability, insights and financial forecasting across 12 markets, managing billions of dollars in annual revenue. Over the past 12 months, Emma has played a pivotal role in transforming financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and commercial strategy at Lenovo. Recognising inefficiencies, Emma led an initiative to streamline and automate FP&A workflow outputs, ensuring faster and more accurate reporting across Greater Asia Pacific. 

ACHIEVEMENT: Open to females with 21 years or more experience in ICT. This award recognises a standout candidate who has delivered unrivalled business contribution, evident through outstanding professional achievements. This individual has earned a reputation as an esteemed thought leader resulting from her distinguished career as both a business leader and role model.

Multinational Partner:

• Clare Elizabeth Cranston – Cognizant
• Petro Nel – Datacom
• Natalie Rice – Insight Enterprises
• Lisa Fortey – Logicalis
• Helen Airiyan – SoftwareOne

Highly Commended: Natalie Rice – Insight Enterprises

Winner: Lisa Fortey – Logicalis

Lisa has made a significant impact throughout many of her leadership roles in her career. At Logicalis, she led the significant business transformation towards specialist sector-aligned sales model that has led to increased revenue, improved markets and a productive ‘customer obsessed’ sales team. She is deeply committed to nurturing talent, driving innovative training programs and works with Victorian Local Learning and Employment Networks to co-design work experience programs for school students.  

Partner:

• Dimity Holliday – Chamonix IT
• Olga Rankin – Connetico
• Renee Mortlock – D6 Consulting
• Galit Jona – Delta Insights
• Kelly Drewett – Expose
• Angela Logan-Bell – Interactive
• Debbie Watson – Nexon
• Philippa Lyons – RTV Group
• Tanya Hain – Spirit Technology Solutions

Highly Commended: Debbie Watson – Nexon

Winner: Angela Logan-Bell – Interactive  

A journey marked by exceptional leadership, strategic vision and the pursuit of excellence, Angela has established herself as a high-performing leader. She has an ability to navigate complex sales environments and driving business growth – in most cases more than doubling revenues for multiple companies she has worked for. Building strategic partnerships has been a key pillar of her success and she continues to make a lasting impact on the industry. 

Distributor:

• Roshantha Pillay – Dicker Data
• Jenelle Carmody – Ingram Micro
• Linda Volker – NEXTGEN Group
• Julie Malcolm – Wavelink

Highly Commended: Linda Volker – NEXTGEN

Winner: Roshantha Pillay – Dicker Data   

With more than 32 years of experience, Roshantha has led multiple cross-functional marketing strategies with a steadfast commitment to driving business results. She has made a mark for herself as an industry thought leader in integrated marketing and helping brands launch in competitive markets.  

Vendor:

• Kelly Johnson – (formerly Acronis)
• Vanessa Gill – Cisco
• Sally Hakim – Dell Technologies
• Yvette McEnearney – GoTo
• Karen Drinan – HP Australia
• Cheryl Woods – NetApp
• Philippa Cogswell – Palo Alto Networks
• Anita Carbone – PowerShield
• Linda Motherwell – Pure Storage
• Astrid Groves – Schneider Electric

Highly Commended: Yvette McEnearney – GoTo and Kelly Johnson (formerly Acronis)

Winner: Astrid Groves – Schneider Electric  

Astrid’s work extends beyond organisational growth to industry leadership. Her initiatives such as the Sustainability Tech Coalition, IT Channel Sustainability Manifesto and the launch of the Schneider Electric Sustainability School have empowered over 120 partners, demonstrating her commitment to sustainability education and action. Her efforts in brand building underscore her ability to elevate the business’s voice, influence in the industry and industry-wide collaboration.