Western Sydney Women Awards 2020
The Western Sydney Women Awards is the only awards program representing women at all stages in their life, business & career across the Inner West, Greater West, North West & South West of Sydney.
It is also the only awards program that is free to enter and free to attend to ensure it is accessible to all women.
2021 Winners and Finalists
Western Sydney Executive Woman of the Year Award
Queenie Tran
Queenie is the COO of Summer Housing, specialising in residential design for people with significant disability and tailored solutions for accessibility. Summer Housing has successfully delivered 90 new dwellings and currently have over 360 additional housing options commissioned for some of the most vulnerable members of the community.
Sponsored by KPMG
Western Sydney Woman in STEM Award
Mai Mai Yeung
Mai Mai Yeung, a professional engineer with over 35 years’ experience and has worked on major projects across Australia, UK and Hong Kong. Mai Mai was instrumental in the installation of the innovative photovoltaic street lighting at Sydney Olympic Park which was the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and is an industry leader in the area of airfield lighting. Mai Mai is also a major advocate for women in engineering, having previously chaired the Women in Engineering of Engineers Australia.
Sponsored by Western Sydney Airport
Western Sydney Woman in Construction Award
Merylese Mercieca
Merylese is the business manager of Blue Eco Homes (BEH), an award-winning building company that constructs environmentally sustainable, low energy use homes. Meryleses’ vision to build on BEH’s reputation for high-quality construction whilst developing and promoting sustainable building has led BEH to construct the first Certified Passive House in Australia that also met the development requirements for the highest bushfire risk rating.
Sponsored by Multiplex
Western Sydney Woman in Performing & Creative Arts Award
Natalie Verriest
Natalie from Natalie Verriest Fine Art and Film is an artist and film producer who works focus on highlighting ethical and social issues, such as domestic violence, mental health and the environment through creative and visual mediums. Natalie’s recent exhibition, PARADIGM/SHIFT highlighted these difficult social issues and aimed to raise awareness in the community for these worthwhile causes. The artist also writes and produces film content for government and education clients and has helped to establish theatre content on an ABC iview Arts portal.
Sponsored by Bankstown Sports
Western Sydney Woman Leader of Change Award
Lena Nahlous
Lena Nahlous is the Executive Director at Diversity Arts Australia with a passion to support cultural development and racial equality. Lena has been instrumental in advocating for diversity through platforms such as Artfiles, the foundation of the Arab Film Festival and the launch of The Colour Cycle Podcast which was a finalist in the Australian Podcast Awards. Lena works alongside researchers at Western Sydney University and was part of the team who produced the ‘Shifting the Balance’ report – the first diversity audit on Australia’s Cultural Institutions.
Sponsored by Canterbury Bankstown City Council
Western Sydney Community Woman Award
Kylie Ellen Pussell
Kylie Pussell is CEO and Co-Founder of Miracle Babies Foundation, a Sydney based charity supporting families of premature and sick newborns across Australia. The foundation is responsible for developing vital programs and resources used in more than 25 Neonatal ICUs (NICU) and Special Care Nurseries (SCN) across Australia. These include developing a national volunteer base and peer support networks to educate and empower families. Kylie has also created a national community of ‘miracle families’ through initiating and managing Miracle Babies website and social media accounts and established NutureTime Online in response to the suspension of face-to-face programs during COVID-19.
Sponsored by ABC Radio Sydney
Western Sydney Educator of the Year Award
Christine Huynh
Christine Huynh is a teacher and year advisor at Liverpool Boys High School with a passion for curriculum development and innovation. Christine has led the path towards assessment and reporting using the General Capabilities in the syllabus. Each student has a skills profile of the general capabilities which is tracked through software she has helped implement. In addition to sharing the Assessment Framework and reporting software to staff members, Christine has also shared the assessment practices with other schools presenting at the Secondary Principals Conference.
Sponsored by Matthews Folbigg Lawyers
Western Sydney Woman in Trades Award
Maxine Merle Colligan
Maxine Merle Colligan is a recently qualified Automotive Refinishing Technician (Spray Painter) and has represented Australia at the Worldskills International Competition in Russia, winning the best of Nation Award in 2019. She is also prized with the award in the technician category of the 2019 Women in Collision Awards. Maxine is a strong advocate for Vocational Education and Training (VET) and has advocated to high school students and their families about the viable career options VET offers.
Sponsored by Nepean Regional Security
Western Sydney Woman Start Up of the Year Award
Corinne Blight
Corinne Blight, Founder & Owner of Limitless Fitness & Nutrition aims to empower women to find a love for fitness, movement and great nutrition. During COVID-19, Corinne took the leap and established the Limitless Fitness & Nutrition Online fitness community, running online group fitness classes daily, offering online personal training sessions and nutrition coaching sessions. During this period, the business has established a growing and thriving online fitness and nutrition community that grew from 0 to 217 members in less than 3 months. Corrine has presented Corporate Nutrition Workshops to MTV/ Nickelodeon/ Comedy Channel, the Western Sydney University Community and Paramount Pictures.
Sponsored by Bright Print Group
Western Sydney Sporting Woman of the Year Award
Melissa Wu
Melissa Wu is a 3 time Olympian and 4 time Commonwealth Games athlete in Diving who is currently hoping to make the Tokyo 2021 Olympic team. In addition to training full time, Melissa runs two successful businesses (HrdKAW Strength & Havok), and coaches a squad of young divers at NSWIS. Melissa established a youth mentoring program last year to help young up and coming athletes, has written book on a mindset to complement the program and also volunteers her free time to mentor other young athletes.
Sponsored by Australian Turf Club
Western Sydney Woman Small Business Growth Award
Michelle May
Michelle May is the Principal of Michelle May Buyers Agents and since its inception the business has grown exponentially, doubling its turnover from 2018 to 2019 leading Michelle to have to triple her staff numbers to meet the growing needs of the business. The company is exceedingly proud of their 5* Google Review ratings which is an enviable achievement in this demanding and competitive industry and listening numbers on the podcast continues to grow with every episode.
Sponsored by Western Sydney Advisory
Western Sydney Young Woman of the Year Award
Yasmin Zaman
Yasmin Zaman is a 6th year Aerospace Engineering/Neuroscience student at UNSW who is passionate about women in STEM. Yasmin is most notably a co-founder of UNSW Hyperloop, a team that came 7th place in the 2019 SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. Currently, she is an Engineering Student Ambassador at UNSW and Vice Chair of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics - UNSW Branch. Though Yasmin is not yet in the Aerospace industry, she has used her voice to motivate future and current university students, especially females, to pursue careers in the Engineering industry.
Sponsored by Women NSW
