“My passion is customer service and community engagement and making sure we get it right for the community, victims and witnesses.” – Catherine Burn.

Catherine Burn’s family wanted her to have a career in law or medicine but she chose to be a police officer. Today, having served in the NSW Police Force for 27 years, she runs the business side of policing as Deputy Commissioner for Corporate Services. One of three Deputy Commissioners, Catherine’s role is to ensure the state’s 15,806 police and 4000 civilians have the capability, resources and capacity to do their jobs. Her broad remit covers all police finances, human resources, assets, technology and systems, and education and training. Catherine is passionate about breaking down barriers between police and the community, having previously led difficult inner-city operational commands.. She has spent the past three years introducing cultural change to reduce customer service related complaints against police, improve victim follow-up and increase community confidence. Her ethics and dedication have been recognised with several police and community accolades, including the Australian Police Medal and International Women’s Day NSW Woman of the Year award.

“Medication compliance is a challenge for our nation – our compliance sachet gives elderly Australians the ability to be safe and independent when dealing with medication.” – Cathie Reid.

Cathie Reid is Managing Partner of APHS’ Aged Care and Packaging divisions, a national supplier of pharmaceutical and clinical services for the hospital, oncology and aged care sectors. After being named 1998 Victorian Pharmacy Manager of the Year, Cathie was inspired to co-found the Active Care Pharmacy group with her husband Stuart Giles. Its success led them to merge with the APHS Pharmacy Group in 2002. In 2010 they took full ownership of the combined business that generates annual revenues of more than $200 million. Cathie is responsible for converting APHS’s aged care IP into a solution that allows community pharmacies to outsource their medication compliance packaging. For pharmacies, the solution comes at a third of the cost of manual packing, while increasing safety and independence for self-medicating customers. The product range includes web-based technology that alerts customers when medication is due and informs carers of a missed dose.

“We have empowered women to fully and confidently express their style. We’ve changed the way they shop.” – Jodie Fox.

Jodie Fox dabbled in law and worked in advertising before she, along with husband Michael and friend Mike Knapp, committed to launching a website where women can design their own shoes. Shoes of Prey offers shoppers a choice of style components, colours and materials, leads them through the design process, then ships their handmade footwear in four to six weeks. In just over a year, women all over the world have created tens of thousands of pairs of bespoke shoes. Jodie helps drive strategic direction, while also leading design, product development, human resources and marketing. The success of her innovative fashion concept has seen the business expand to China, Japan, Russia and the Netherlands and attracted international media attention, adding spokesperson to Jodie’s list of responsibilities. Earlier this year, she was invited to Federal Parliament to consult with political leaders on fostering innovation among Australia’s small and medium businesses.

“My passion is customer service and community engagement and making sure we get it right for the community, victims and witnesses.” – Catherine Burn.

Catherine Burn’s family wanted her to have a career in law or medicine but she chose to be a police officer. Today, having served in the NSW Police Force for 27 years, she runs the business side of policing as Deputy Commissioner for Corporate Services. One of three Deputy Commissioners, Catherine’s role is to ensure the state’s 15,806 police and 4000 civilians have the capability, resources and capacity to do their jobs. Her broad remit covers all police finances, human resources, assets, technology and systems, and education and training. Catherine is passionate about breaking down barriers between police and the community, having previously led difficult inner-city operational commands.. She has spent the past three years introducing cultural change to reduce customer service related complaints against police, improve victim follow-up and increase community confidence. Her ethics and dedication have been recognised with several police and community accolades, including the Australian Police Medal and International Women’s Day NSW Woman of the Year award.

“Growing up in India, I would walk past huge mountains of waste supporting communities of rubbish pickers and imagine what it would take to convert "rubbish" into something more valuable.” – Veena Sahajwalla.

Veena Sahajwalla is helping the steel industry combat enormous environmental challenges. As Director at the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology at The University of NSW, Scientia Professor Veena developed technology to reduce carbon-emissions during steel production and recycle end-of-life materials that would otherwise go to landfill. Traditionally, in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, scrap is reprocessed using large amounts of coke and coal as sources of carbon. After successful lab experiments which commenced in 2003, Veena collaborated with manufacturing giant OneSteel to develop technology to recycle plastic and rubber waste in the scrap reprocessing furnace. The “green steel” technology not only produces lower emissions, but reduces reliance on coke and coal and requires less electricity. In addition, plastic and rubber waste are spared from landfill. The innovation has attracted science and technology awards in Australia and the United States and has the potential to transform steel production globally.

“To audit the work of another accountant means I have to know superannuation law better than any other accountant – and lawyer – in Australia.” – Jo Heighway.

A decade after starting her accounting career with Deloittes, Jo Heighway decided to go out on her own at age 27 to be an accountant to accountants. She launched SMSF Outsource Solutions (now Engage Super Audits) in 2005, auditing self-managed super funds in the front room of her home. Today, the Gosford-based business is one of the largest self-managed super fund auditors in Australia, providing independent audits for around 3,000 accountants, advisors and trustees in all states. Now 33, Jo has worked hard to earn the respect of large administrators at a young age through investment in continual education. Her knowledge must exceed that of the accountants and administrators she audits to ensure she can review records accurately, provide correct superannuation advice and report any compliance breaches. With 2500 new self-managed super funds emerging in Australia each month and new rules in train for independent auditors, Jo is currently working on plans to ensure Engage Super Audits is well-placed to capitalise on growth opportunities and future industry consolidation.