Award Winners

2011 QLD Award Winners

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Telstra Queensland Business Woman of the Year

Dr Dimity Dornan A.M.

Hear and Say

“Our vision is for every deaf child globally to hear, listen and speak by the time they are school aged.” – Dr Dimity Dornan, AM.

In 1991 Dimity Dornan came across a crying boy who had lost his bus money. She could not console him and he could not communicate with her because he was deaf. The incident led Dimity to found the Hear and Say Centre in 1992, which teaches deaf or hearing impaired children to listen and speak. One of the world’s leading paediatric auditory-verbal and cochlear implant centres, Hear and Say assists 500 children and families every year across five Queensland centres. It aims for children to achieve speech and language in the normal range for their age by six years - 100 per cent of Hear and Say’s early intervention graduates from 2010 are now in mainstream education. Dimity says clear language is a genuine reality for deaf children through early diagnosis, advanced hearing technology and appropriate therapy. She also Chairs First Voice, an alliance of Australasian organisations that benefit children with hearing loss and their families.

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Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award

Cathie Reid

APHS – Your Pharmacy Partner

“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.

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Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award

Susan Buckley

QIC

“From the outset, in introducing a five-year vision, my focus was on getting the four Ps right – people, process, products and performance.” – Susan Buckley.

As Managing Director of QIC’s Global Fixed Interest business, Susan Buckley heads a 28-member team managing about $46 billion for 56 national and international institutional clients. Previously head of strategy at NRMA Asset Management, Susan joined QIC in 2001 with a mandate for change to build a world class fixed interest capability and diversify the client base. QIC is one of the largest institutional investment managers in Australia and operates a “house of boutiques” business model. When Susan joined QIC, she led a team of six managing $6 billion for Queensland-based clients. Today, QIC’s GFI Business offers investors a mix of mature products and innovative and dynamic investment solutions. Susan said one of the most challenging periods for the GFI business was managing portfolios through the highly volatile and unpredictable period of the global financial crisis – she ensured her team remained close to clients throughout and provided immediate transparency in its exposures.

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White Pages Community & Government Award

Dr Dimity Dornan AM

Hear and Say

“Our vision is for every deaf child globally to hear, listen and speak by the time they are school aged.” – Dr Dimity Dornan, AM.

In 1991 Dimity Dornan came across a crying boy who had lost his bus money. She could not console him and he could not communicate with her because he was deaf. The incident led Dimity to found the Hear and Say Centre in 1992, which teaches deaf or hearing impaired children to listen and speak. One of the world’s leading paediatric auditory-verbal and cochlear implant centres, Hear and Say assists 500 children and families every year across five Queensland centres. It aims for children to achieve speech and language in the normal range for their age by six years - 100 per cent of Hear and Say’s early intervention graduates from 2010 are now in mainstream education. Dimity says clear language is a genuine reality for deaf children through early diagnosis, advanced hearing technology and appropriate therapy. She also Chairs First Voice, an alliance of Australasian organisations that benefit children with hearing loss and their families.

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Nokia Business Innovation Award

Jean Madden

Street Swags Ltd

“My mother instilled a great sense of social justice, responsibility and equality in me – she says ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’.” – Jean Madden.

A decade as a volunteer caring for homeless people gave Jean Madden the inspiration in 2005 to give a swag for Christmas to all of Brisbane’s homeless people “sleeping rough.” Her knowledge of the physical and mental effects of sleeping out led her to design a lightweight, waterproofed canvas swag with mattress, which rolls up to become a bag with room for belongings. The charity Street Swags Ltd was born and, as Managing Director, Jean won community, corporate and private support to sponsor, produce, pack and distribute the swags across Australia. A measure of Jean’s success is that Street Swags has provided this basic bed and shelter protection to more than 16,400 Australians. Her patented swag won the 2009 People’s Choice Award at the prestigious INDEX design awards in Denmark. Jean, who has a Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Theology, was recognised as the 2010 Queensland Young Australian of the Year.

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marie claire Young Business Women’s Award

Vanessa Garrard

E3 Style Pty Ltd

“My motto is ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ so I am always looking for ways to increase my knowledge so I can grow as a person as well as a leader.”– Vanessa Garrard.

Chermside-based product solutions provider E3 Style prides itself on the research and development it does for the consumer goods it offers Australian and international retailers. Director Vanessa Garrard, 33, says the company’s knowledge of products, technology demands and shopping trends means it is developing products that consumers want and need. Throw in international reach and experience and it’s no wonder that E3 Style is turning over $15 million after only five years in business. Vanessa started earning money at eight years old, weeding gardens. At 12 she’d started a business and by 18 she had her first company before moving into the electronics industry. E3 Style was launched in 2006 with a business model to deliver products to retailers and consumers more economically, while being faster and more efficient. The company works with international retailers and distributors to supply products under E3 Style brands, home brands or under licence.