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Reseller News has revealed the winners of the annual Women in ICT Awards (WIICTA) for 2024.
Held on 2 October at the Cordis in Auckland, the event housed the largest gathering in New Zealand for female excellence in ICT with more than 330 attendees honouring female excellence across the IT industry.
Mirroring the entire local ecosystem, 95 finalists made the shortlist from a pool of over 50 organisations and more than 170 nominations submitted, spanning partner, vendor, telco and distributor businesses.
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 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.
Now in its eighth year, WIICTA is the leading forum for setting the industry benchmark for female achievement across New Zealand, honouring the channel across eight categories, spanning DE&I, Innovation, Technical, Entrepreneur, Graduate, Rising Star, Shining Star and Achievement.
The winners were selected by an executive panel of more than 75 industry judges, acknowledging creativity, innovation and excellence.
Reseller News congratulates all finalists and winners, and thanks all organisations and individuals for taking the time to submit nominations.
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 ideas into viable working solutions through a unique thought process designed to continually push the envelope.
- Jenni Powell – Both Brains
- Anisha Punnoose – 2degrees
- Tzarina Smith – Datacom
- Neha Mishra – Deloitte
- Julia Dempsey – Entelar Group
- Kathryn Saxton – Inov8 Limited
- Leigh Couper – Qrious
Winner: Anisha Punnoose – 2degrees
From leading the robotic desktop automation team to leading a team of developers and analysts as part of 2degrees’ AI Focus Group, Anisha’s contributions have made a significant impact on the business. She has showcased her exceptional leadership and innovative skills through leading several proof-of-concepts to solve business problems and improve customer experience.
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:
- May Xie – CCL
- Nancy Dau – Deloitte
- Sophie Tregonning – RUSH
- Sophia Willows – Rye
- Leslie Jonkers – SAS IT
- Zoe Baikie – Spectrum Consulting
Winner: Sophia Willows – Rye
As an engineering leader, Sophia is involved in every project at Rye and is skilled at distilling complicated topics down to their core. She’s involved in multiple initiatives and projects such as designing and implementing a new collection system that has significantly boosted revenues and overhauled the documentation strategy as well as designing a unique AI-solution to track Amazon orders.
Telco/Vendor:
- Nicole Clifton – 2degrees
- Abby Zhang – Kordia
- Diane Carpenter – One.NZ
- Deborah Costello – Spark New Zealand
- Veronica Patterson – Cisco
Winner: Abby Zhang – Kordia
As a passionate and motivated security practitioner, Abby and her team play a critical role in ensuring businesses remain secure against digital threats. She has a passion for problem solving and increasing her technical skillset. She uses her vast technical knowledge of malware and offensive attacks to identify emerging threats as well as understand the potential risks and severity of identified issues.
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.
- Sheryl Logan – AssessHR
- Janine Doherty – CoDigital
- Katja Feldtmann – Cybershore
- Aimee Lin – DataMasque
- Julene Marr – Deloitte
- Iri Ellison – HPE
- Sharon Woodley – Inov8 Limited, Innovate Digital Fiji, Resultex
- Kathleen Webber – LiveRem
- Melonie Cole – Mindshift
- Kathryn Topp – Yabble
Winner: Aimee Lin – DataMasque
As the technical co-founder and CPO of DataMasque, Aimee was inspired to be part of the founding team that spun out from Spectrum. She was also motivated by the challenge of creating and building a product from scratch and taking that to market, enhancing customer experience and partnerships.
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/Telco
- Zeisha Fremaux – Auckland Council – Buzzly & Qippay
- Kate Han – Aura Information Security
- Heni Kimura – CCL
- Wednesday Wilson – Datacom
- Senali Anthoneen Mendis – Deloitte
- Natasha Tiefenbacher – DXC Technology
- Emma Jenkin – PwC
- Lari Ruecker – Spark New Zealand
Winner: Wednesday Wilson – Datacom
Since joining Datacom as an intern through TupuToa, Wednesday has emerged as a natural leader and role model among her peers. From providing valuable guidance and support, her pursuit of knowledge, exceptional professionalism and engaging personality continues to shine. She has embraced all opportunities throughout her graduate programme and consistently delivers high-quality work, whether she’s coding, troubleshooting, or developing new solutions.
Vendor/Distributor
- Jamini Patel – HPE
- Ellie Chen – HP New Zealand
- Lauren Miller – Weston Comstor
Winner: Ellie Chen – HP
Joining HP’s Graduate programme, Ellie has positioned herself at the intersection of her international business acumen and technology. The subsequent rotation into the enterprise sales team has accelerated Ellie’s career trajectory and expanded her understanding of HP’s diverse business operations, applying her skills in a new context and showing her adaptability.
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
- Shannon White – Deloitte
- Noelle Savill – Houston Technology Group
- Erin Chadwick – Inde Technology
- Kelcy Ballantyne – IT Partners
- Sithara Fernando – Network for Learning
- Pepita Dinnebier – Optimus Systems
- Iris Chen – PB Tech
- Corrina McIndoe – Spectrum Consulting Limited
Winner: Kelcy Ballantyne – IT Partners
Recently promoted as head of commercial and operations, Kelcy has contributed substantially to all aspects of the business. This includes establishing a high-performing marketing department, operational management team and several virtual teams. She has proactively revitalised its business communication strategy alongside significantly contributing to product alignment, profitability and oversight of pricing structures.
Telco
- Kerry McKellar Bailey – CCL
- Sophie Witteman – Cello
- Storm Waugh – Spark New Zealand
- Dena Al-Abuwsi – 2degrees
Winner: Sophie Witteman – Cello
Sophie was the first female NOC engineer at Cello and has paved the way for other women to follow in her footsteps. She has since been promoted from the NOC to Cello’s delivery team and has been an instrumental team member in improving its processes and running large scale projects. This included completing the largest roll out in the South Island for Cello.
Vendor
- Aimee Jones – HPE
- Abby Menezes – HP New Zealand
- Stephanie Whittred – Lightwire Business
- Anusha Ahluwalia – Microsoft
- Yujin Kim – RUSH
- Sophie Brown – Snowflake
Winner: Yujin Kim – Rush
Demonstrating remarkable developer skills and a strong dedication to learning, Yujin has quickly progressed within the company. Recognising her continued growth and expertise, including her work on several high-profile clients and projects, Yujin has received multiple promotions and her work ethic is characterised by her growth mindset, constantly seeking out opportunities for professional development.
Distributor
- Dicker Data NZ – Lauren Nobbs
- Entelar Group – Angel Lim
- Ingram Micro – Rebecca Norton
- Westcon-Comstor – Rosie Teague
Winner: Angel Lim – Entelar Group
From a support role to becoming an indispensable part of the Entelar team, coupled with her innovative initiatives and unwavering commitment to excellence, Angel truly stands out. To date, she has displayed consistent innovation, professionalism, and leadership qualities. She has enhanced data management and reporting capabilities within the organisation, unearthing new deals along the way.
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
- Libby Allen – CoDigital
- Tammy Lynn-Jones – Datacom
- Emily Howard – Delta Insights
- Ada Tan – Deloitte
- Kim Lander – IT Partner
- Sarah Marsden – FIRN
- Priscila Bernardes – Lancom Technology Ltd
- Natasha Hay – Liquid IT
- Jane Davidson – Spectrum
- Melanie Visser – Virtual Blue
Winner: Priscila Bernardes – Lancom
Priscila has demonstrated exceptional leadership and business acumen throughout her career starting out as a customer experience manager to landing the top CEO role at Lancom. Her swift move through the ranks is a testament to her dedication to partnerships and her outcome-focused approach has been instrumental in driving Lancom’s success. Priscila also invests significant personal time and effort to help others to both see and achieve their potential.
Telco
- Merita Tagaloa – Chorus
- Xia Zhang – Kordia
- Simone Cuthbert-Scott – One NZ
- Michele Wong – Spark New Zealand
- Surangi Sharma – 2degrees
Winner: Simone Cuthbert-Scott – One NZ
Navigating a career path through sales operations, sales assurance, and business transformation, Simone has recently focused on service management and customer success as she steps into her latest role as general manager. Simone is distinguished by her proven ability to drive transformative change and achieve positive outcomes with a blend of operational excellence, deep commercial acumen, and empathetic people skills.
Vendor/Distributor
- Shellee Davey – Cisco
- Janet Moralde – Entelar Group
- Bridget Batchelar – HPE
- Gill Brown – HP New Zealand
- Victoria Atkins – Ingram Micro
Winner: Victoria Atkins – Ingram Micro
Maintaining more than a decade of experience in cyber security, partner relationship management, and sales enablement, Victoria has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence and innovation. Throughout her career, Victoria has not only met but exceeded sales quotas, driving significant business growth and establishing herself as a leader in the field.
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.
- Rana Stephan – CCL
- Jessica McFadden – Cisco
- Suz Miller – Datacom
- Kate Reid – Deloitte
- Dalia Raphael – Delta Insights
- Georgie Ivey – Ingram Micro
- Donna Robinson – One NZ
- Cat Morgan – Westcon-Comstor
Winner: Rana Stephan – CCL
Her success as a leader, mentor, customer and community advocate, salesperson, and technologist is outstanding. Rana’s career spans more than 30 years, starting out in 1996 as a PLC programmer at Auckland International Airport. She switched into a sales role and soon embarked on a rewarding journey at Spark, making her way through the ranks to delivering strategic, million-dollar projects.
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 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.)
- Leissa Wheatley – Deloitte
- Sarah Morrison – Houston Technology Group
- Fran Smaller – Inde Technology
- Tash Bettridge – Microsoft
- Diana Sharma – Mission Ready Limited
- Nicky Blackmore – UPS Power Solutions
Winner: Fran Smaller – Inde Technology
At Inde Technology, Fran has become a real force leading DE&I efforts and initiatives within the business. Since taking leadership duties of the team, Fran has run several successful internal awareness and education campaigns, highlighting the importance of neurodiversity in the workplace. She has a roadmap of initiatives planned for the rest of 2024 to help strengthen Inde’s DE&I posture in the market.