Award Winners

1998 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year

Penny Flett

CEO Brightwater Care Group

Since winning the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year award in 1998, Penny has continued in her role as CEO of Brightwater, one of WA’s largest and best-known care providers offering residential care and at home support services for older people, and younger adults with brain injury and neurological disorders.

Brightwater is a futuristic organisation, involved in many innovative education activities, and researching service models for the next two decades when the workforce will be substantially smaller. She is passionately concerned that we build a successful future for our ageing society in a rapidly changing world.

Penny continues to motivate and support strong leadership in all areas of business, especially for women, who so often benefit from another’s personal encouragement. Penny was the 2009 WA Australian of the Year, and was awarded the Centennial medal in 2003. She is Pro-Chancellor at the University of Western Australia.

1998 Business Owner Award

Barbara MacLeod

1998 Private Sector Award

Di Fleming

1998 Private Sector Award

Penny Flett

CEO Brightwater Care Group

Since winning the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year award in 1998, Penny has continued in her role as CEO of Brightwater, one of WA’s largest and best-known care providers offering residential care and at home support services for older people, and younger adults with brain injury and neurological disorders.

Brightwater is a futuristic organisation, involved in many innovative education activities, and researching service models for the next two decades when the workforce will be substantially smaller. She is passionately concerned that we build a successful future for our ageing society in a rapidly changing world.

Penny continues to motivate and support strong leadership in all areas of business, especially for women, who so often benefit from another’s personal encouragement. Penny was the 2009 WA Australian of the Year, and was awarded the Centennial medal in 2003. She is Pro-Chancellor at the University of Western Australia.

1998 Corporate and Government Award

Jenny Hewson

Dr Hewson began her career as an academic in Australia. Jenny holds a BA with First Class honors and a PhD, and is a regular university lecturer and Guest Speaker. She has applied her university learning to international business forums, successfully blending theory with innovative business reality. Dr Hewson’s substantial business development and consulting achievements were recognized when she was awarded the prestigious ‘Australian Businesswoman of the Year Award’, Corporate and Government in 1998. Her academic work has been recognized by the awarding of an Australian Research Council Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Research Awards, Research Scholarships, Post-graduate Research Grants, and a Research Graduate Fellowship.

Dr Hewson is a creative senior executive with vision, energy and corporate experience in complex arenas. 20 years living and working in the Middle East has provided strong international experience in both the private and public sectors in; medium and large project consultancy, strategic and operational planning, and innovative business development.

Among her significant previous positions, Jenny managed a diverse project portfolio for the National Real Estate Company of Kuwait as their Chief Project Controller. Projects under her direct supervision included the design and construction of a USD1.2b retail shopping mall in Abu Dhabi. Other projects included commercial towers, hotels, industrial warehousing, residential precincts and community infrastructure. The portfolio under her supervision spanned Kuwait, the UAE, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya and Djibouti. Sound financial skills in the preparation of budgets, the monitoring, analysis and reporting of expenditure against performance indicators, and financial modeling underpinned this role.

In 2001 Jenny developed a business concept which led to the establishment of the first Private University in Kuwait, the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK). Accredited by Australian universities and TAFE colleges, ACK commenced the delivery of internationally recognized diplomas and degrees in 2004. Her role involved initial scoping and feasibility studies, market research, sourcing of investors, regulatory approvals, land acquisition, campus master-planning, design and construction management, auspicing agreements and curriculum design, HR planning and recruitment, marketing and government liaison.

The design and implementation of several successful Offset Projects is another of Dr Hewson’s notable achievements in Kuwait. Her expertise in this area has involved multinational companies such as Boeing (Macdonald Douglas), Lockheed Martin, Northrop Gruman and the French Group, Cofras. Her practical experience in innovative project development and her broad knowledge of government, regulatory, corporate, technical and legal environments were fundamental to her successes in the offset area.

Jenny currently works in Abu Dhabi as a leadership Development specialist with the UAE energy giant GASCO.