2025 WiBF National Industry Awards – Judges Panel

We are thrilled to introduce and extend our heartfelt gratitude to our 20 esteemed judges who have dedicated their valuable time and expertise to the WiBF 2025 National Industry Awards.

Alison Hernandez

(BSc Hons. MAHRI. GAICD)

Alison is a co-founder and director of ReCreate100 Pty Ltd, inspired by The 100-Year Life, a best-selling business book authored by Professors Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott of London Business School. Based on ground-breaking global research and the nous of 20+ years of practical experience, ReCreate100 is breathing life into longevity. As part of her portfolio career, Alison also represents HSM Advisory in her capacity as APAC Future of Work Lead; is a proud Family Friendly Workplaces Ambassador and Chair of the FFW Employer Advisory Group; Member of the Board of Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT; and provides executive career and executive transition coaching.

Alison is former MD APAC, Randstad RiseSmart, and member of the RiseSmart Global Leadership Team; an organisation she led following acquisition of Sageco, which she co-founded in 2004 and was acquired by Randstad Group in 2017.

Andrew Rooke

Andrew is a former executive director from the banking, finance and technology industry who has led 100m+ companies and teams of 500+ personnel across the globe. His work has been featured on NBC, CBS, Fox News & USA Today. Andrew has been educated at London Business School and MIT, and trained by world-leading authorities in their disciplines such as Sharon Pearson, Dr. Daniel P. Brown, Paul Chek & Dr. Daniel Amen.

Calum Davis

Calum is the Senior Global Alliances Manager at Amazon Web Services and WiBF’s Board Observer. He works with Asia based technology companies (such as Atlassian and Canva) expand internationally and deliver new products to market. Prior to Amazon he worked in Microsoft’s incubation organisation, building out new businesses in advertising, cloud infrastructure and mobile device management. Calum has 15 years of experience in the tech sector leading teams to invent for tomorrow. He is passionate about how automation will affect the future of work (again).

Cathryn Lyall

Cathryn is a highly experienced senior executive, Board member and strategic adviser with over 35 years of experience across capital markets, finance, banking, government and fintech in Australia and the United Kingdom. She is a Partner at Seed Space Venture Capital, a NED for numerous Boards including Wisr (ASX: WZR) where she Chairs the People, Culture and Nominations Committee, the national industry body Fintech Australia, and several start-up and scale-up fintechs domestically and in the UK.

Cathryn’s extensive experience in the Australian and British Financial Services sectors includes an early career running derivatives broking and trading businesses at All-States Futures (one of 5 RBA Official Dealers),State Bank of NSW, and Colonial State Bank. and latterly roles at the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Nasdaq, and the London Stock Exchange. Most notably, as Non-Executive Director Deutsche Bank UK Bank, sitting on the Bank’s Board Risk Committee, the Listed Derivatives Risk and Compliance Committee, and the Nomination Committee as Chair post the GFC at a particularly challenging time for global Banks.

She is a vocal advocate for diversity at all levels of Financial Services and has mentored numerous women in Capital Markets as well as emerging fintech entrepreneurs.

She is a capital markets and fintech specialist who has been named in the Financial News Top 100 Women, Innovate Finance Top 100 Women in Fintech and Top 35 Women in Fintech Investment, and is a mentor for Aspiring Rare Birds. She has twin 11 year olds, is a former slalom canoeist, and juggles work and life from Kiama, NSW.

Cathy Hales

Cathy focuses on helping Australian companies grow, with strength in developing financial services businesses. As CEO of Wealth Pacific at Mercer, she led investments, superannuation, administration, and advice businesses. She previously grew Challenger’s Fidante Partners business from A$15bn to over A$60bn in client assets, becoming Australia’s fastest growing and largest multi-boutique investments platform. Her international career includes leading global product development and marketing at Deutsche Asset Management’s real estate and infrastructure business (RREEF) in New York and senior roles in London. Cathy now engages with boards, CEOs, and executive teams on growth, sustainability, innovation, client engagement, people strategy, financial management and the active management of risk.

Coleen MacKinnon

Coleen MacKinnon is a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practitioner with a passion for accelerating positive social change. She is the Founder of Inclusivity Quotient (InQ), a boutique consultancy specialised in authentically engaging men in co-creating safe, respectful, high-performing workplaces. Coleen began her DEI career with Catalyst, a NY-based research and consulting firm serving mainly Fortune 500 companies. She serves as Advisor to the Consult Australia Champions of Change and is a former board member with Women for Election Australia. Through her advocacy work, Coleen has contributed to a range of social issues, both in Australia and in her native Canada: workplace gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights and protections, asylum seeker policy reform and climate action. She was a founding member of Warringah’s 2019 representative democracy initiative that led to Zali Steggall’s successful bid for federal office and launched a national Independents movement. Prior to her DEI and advocacy work, Coleen spent 10 years consulting to the social and public sectors in the area of capacity building and communications. She has also held senior management positions at McGill University and the Montreal Childrens’ Hospital Foundation.

Danielle Dobson

Danielle, a former CPA, honed her leadership skills in male-led finance roles for global engineering, technology, and media companies in Australia, the UK, and the US. She even worked on a steel mill in Italy, showcasing her versatility and determination. Awarded Next Level Speaker of the Year 2024 by Professional Speakers Australia, Danielle discusses finding your “success code” in business, emphasising inclusive workplaces and the importance of belonging for success.

Specialising in helping business professionals, particularly women, manage high-pressure stress, Danielle provides insights on identifying and addressing these challenges. Her extensive research, based on history, neuroscience, social studies, and interviews with over 100 high-performing leaders, examines the Gender Code’s impact on success. These insights are detailed in her acclaimed book, “Breaking the Gender Code.”

Beyond the Gender Code, Danielle explores the various “Codes” that shape our lives, including cultural, familial, and societal codes. She helps individuals and businesses expose, decode, and recode these ingrained patterns to create unique success pathways.

Working globally with organisations and featured in national media, Danielle helps leaders and teams navigate complex landscapes with practical strategies and tools to thrive in dynamic environments. In her most challenging role yet, Danielle applies her leadership insights as Lead Parent and Family CEO to three energetic boys.

Fiona Pearman

Co-founder of Quantum Impact Group and co-author of Core Confidence. Fiona is a highly regarded facilitator, coach and mentor with a focus on supporting leaders to create gender-inclusive workplaces where everyone thrives. Fiona’s passion is ensuring women have clear career pathways to senior roles, leading to better business and societal outcomes.
With experience in global organisations, Fiona supports individuals and organisations to shift the systemic and structural barriers that impede gender equity.

As a facilitator, strategist, mentor and coach Fiona has worked with a broad range of organisations including Optus, Zurich Insurance, Rest Superannuation, Toyota Australia, AIA Insurance, Women for Election, Macquarie University, Commonwealth Bank, CoreLogic, RSPCA, Krispy Kreme, Brookfield Properties, Landcom and several NSW Government Agencies.

Fiona Trigona

Executive General Manager, Group Treasurer, NBN Co. Fiona has been NBN Co Group Treasurer since March 2021 and is responsible for driving the strategic direction of funding, liquidity and interest rate risk management activities, growing NBN Co’s investor base and running a broad range of funding programs. In her previous role, Fiona was Head of Funding and Balance Sheet for NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp), where she was responsible for the interest rate risk management and funding of the $120bn Balance Sheet.

Her career highlights include the issuance of NBN’s inaugural Green Bond issue. The A$800m transaction represents the largest AUD green bond offering by an Australian corporate on record. This was recently followed by NBN’s inaugural EUR1.35bn ($A2.1bn) Green bond in the European market which was the largest Green Bond issued in any currency by an Australian corporate issuer to date.

NBN Co. is now the largest corporate issuer in the Australian market and has issued nearly $17bn in multiple markets including Australia, US, Europe, Japan and non-Japan Asia.

Fiona holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney, majoring in Pure Mathematics and Chemistry, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia (FINSIA). In addition to her accreditation with the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA), she was a member of the AFMA Market Governance Committee and AFMA Professionalism Committee and a former chair of the NSW Sustainability Bond Committee. Her passion for the profession also extends to championing diversity and development and as well as being a regular panellist and speaker at events like the Women in Banking and Finance Conference, she is an experienced mentor and has participated in a number of internal and industry programs.

Juliana Nguyễn

Juliana has 30 years international experience in Marketing, Commercial and General Management roles across a broad range of industries, and with companies at different stages of growth – from large multinationals to tech start/scale up environments in Australia & New Zealand, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US.

She is an accomplished, customer centric, entrepreneurial leader specialising in transforming brands and businesses. Juliana has held senior Marketing roles at Airbnb, Nike and N26, Europe’s largest digital bank.

She is currently a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration, Nomination and Culture Committee at Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI), Non-Executive Director at The Royal Hospital for Women Foundation and an Operating Advisor to AirTree, one of ANZ’s largest venture capital firms.

Peter Cook

Peter is the Chairman of AUDC Pty Ltd with its leading Australian dollar backed stablecoin AUDD, Executive Director of public listed Novatti Group Limited (ASX:NOV) and the Chair of Web3 gaming company RealGo.io. Peter’s career has been largely based on founding and leading fast growth telecommunications and payments companies in Australia, Canada, Africa and Asia. Peter is a regular speaker and thought leader on entrepreneurship, innovation, digital transformation and payments.
Peter is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon; has completed a BSc (UNSW), a Grad Dip Computing (Canberra) and the Graduate Diploma in Securities course from the Securities Institute of Australia. Peter is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ricky Nowak

Ricky is a highly versatile and intuitive leader, speaker and executive coach specialising in working with high-performance individuals, teams and organisations through APAC and EMEA regions. She is a true champion of leaders helping them dramatically increase their influence, build their internal and external networks and personal brand. Ricky is committed to helping clients enhance their reputation, improve their short- and long-term career objectives while maintaining their focus on wellbeing.

She is an Executive Coach for the AICD, is a Certified Human Resource Professional, Presenter for Brave Feminine Leadership Group, Advisory and Mentoring (Singapore) The CEO Institute and Hargraves Institute of Innovation. She is one of only 98 Australian women to obtain the global Certified Speaking Professional Accreditation and is certified by the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Coaching Group. Ricky has thousands of hours of practical experience working with managers and leaders in professional services and 30 years of experience in education and leadership development. She has authored four leadership books and is a well-known Media resource and commentator.

Sally Loane

Sally is a Chair, Non-Executive Director, business leader and former journalist and broadcaster.
Chair of Destination NSW and Ignition Advice, she is also sits on the board of Chubb Insurance Australia and the Garvan Medical Research Foundation. She is a member of the Advisory Board of consulting firm Orizontas and a mentor with McCarthy Mentoring.

From 2014-2021 Sally was the CEO of the Financial Services Council, the peak industry organisation for financial services, members of which included global and domestic fund managers, retail superannuation funds, advice licensees and life insurers. Sally was the first female Director of Waratahs Rugby in its 135-year history (2010-2017), and is a former Director of Venues NSW, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, and PanKind.

Sally’s passion is women’s financial independence and economic security, and to this end has utilised her experience in financial services policy development, mentoring (Minerva Network; Super Stars of STEM) and has advised government via corporate advisory boards.

She has had a long history of service to the community and charity sectors, currently as a Trustee of the ANZAC Memorial Building in NSW, Governor of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation, Ambassador for Business Events Sydney, a member of Chief Executive Women, patron of Lou’s Place and member of the Nominations Committee for Sydney University Sport and Fitness Ltd. Sally chaired the Salvation Army’s Sydney East Doorknock Appeal (2008-2011) and was Deputy Chair of the Committee for Sydney (2015-2018).

Sophie Ray

Sophie is an experienced Chair and Non-Executive Director. After an Executive Career as a commercial and regulatory lawyer at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Australia and the UK, Sophie is now a full time Non-Executive Director, leading organisations across a range of sectors. Currently, she is the Independent Chair of RSL NSW; Independent Chair of Peak Care Equipment Pty Ltd; Chair of ROCC for Women; and Director of Silos Estate Winery. Previously, she was Chair of NAWO (the National Association of Women in Operations); and a Non-Executive Director of GO2 People (ASX:GO2), Big Fat Smile, and Settlement Services International (SSI).

Sophie has worked in diverse sectors including law, retail & wholesale, manufacturing, logistics & supply chain, hospitality & tourism, early childhood, gender equality, education & training and social & welfare support. Having lived or worked in the UK, China, France, Uganda and Sydney, she now lives in regional NSW. Sophie is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, an Honorary Life Member of the National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO); a graduate of the Women on Boards ASX program and a member of Women on Boards.

Teresa Curman

MSc (Coach Psych), MBA, ACC

Teresa has been a WiBF Peak Performance coach since 2022. Examples of the challenges WiBF members have addressed with her during coaching include positioning for career progression; setting up for success in a new role / restructure; addressing challenging 360 feedback; building effective leadership behaviours; strategies to avoid burnout; rekindling a sense of purpose; and harnessing strengths and other positive psychology interventions to protect well-being.

Her evidence-based approach is informed by her Master of Science in Coaching Psychology (University of Sydney) and her contextual understanding of the workplace comes from decades of experience in senior national, regional and global business development roles and an MBA (AGSM). She has ICF accreditation, Strengths Profile certification, is an approved Leadership Circle Practitioner, is ACT qualified, and is a Mental Health First Aider.

Her mantra is improving the workplace, one coaching conversation at a time.

Tim Hewson

Tim is a passionate mental health advocate, driven by a mission to create mentally healthier workplaces, communities, and humans. In 2021, he founded Mongrels Men, an award-winning mental health charity that equips men with the tools, support, and confidence to take control of their mental health and prevent suicide. With 27 years of leadership experience working for corporate giants like CBA, Rabobank and ING, Tim brings unparalleled expertise to his mission. He works tirelessly to inspire, empower, and educate leaders in fostering workplace cultures where employees feel connected, supported, and valued.

Tim is committed to breaking down the negative stigma surrounding mental health by giving it a face and a voice. His work encourages everyone to build a ‘brave space’—a place to connect, feel supported and have more meaningful conversations.

Tim is a keynote speaker, Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and Mental Health Response workshop facilitator.

Tim has received several awards for his work in mental health and has also been recognised in NSW Parliament.

Troy Roderick

Troy brings over 30 years of experience specialising in diversity, equity and inclusion. In his current engagements across business and government, Troy advises CEOs and other leaders on how to achieve key business objectives through all-scale, system-wide change that creates more inclusive organisations, and customer and employee experiences. This strategic approach includes initiatives focussed on gender equality, intercultural diversity, inclusive leadership, flexible work, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, pay equity, respectful workplaces and workplace responses to domestic and family violence. His consulting engagements include industries such as financial services, insurance, FMCG, professional services, legal and regulatory, higher education and mining.

Vincent Chin

Vincent was appointed to the position of Group Head of Treasury at Goodman Group in 2005. Goodman Treasury is made up of 5 treasury professionals in London, Brussels and in Sydney. It has a strong focus on Capital Management and Planning focusing on strategic management of debt, liquidity and financial markets risk. It manages exposures in EURO, GBP, USD, RMB, JPY HKD, NZD and BRL with a debt portfolio of over A$14.5bn. Goodman and its managed partnerships are active debt issuers in the Australian, New Zealand, US, Asian and Euromarkets tapping the US144a, private placements and using local and Euro MTN Programs.

Vincent has over 25 years’ experience in financial markets and treasury management spanning banking, property and construction.

He has a Master of Business (Accounting and Finance) and completed his Bachelor of Business from UTS in 1995. He is married with two children and interests include sport, travel and reading.

Virginia Malley

BA, MAppFin, Juris Doctor, GradDipEnvLaw, LLM, FAICD

Virginia Malley is currently a Non-Executive Director of icare and Perpetual Equity Investment Co Ltd (ASX:PIC), Chair of the Review Panel of the Australian Carbon Industry Code Of Conduct, and Chair of Pinnacle Fund Services and Bell Asset Management Compliance Committees.

Virginia Malley has over 30 years of experience in financial services and environmental markets, corporate governance, risk management and regulatory compliance. Virginia has previously served on the boards of NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, Macquarie Investment Management Ltd, Perpetual Superannuation Limited, the Clean Energy Regulator, Morphic Ethical Equities Fund Ltd and the Nature Conservation Trust of NSW. In her executive career, she was the Chief Risk Officer at Macquarie Funds Management Group, overseeing risk management of portfolios worth more than $85 billion and invested in clean technologies, publicly traded debt securities, listed equities, derivatives, currencies and private equity.

Will Liang

Will Liang is a senior technology executive leading technology, data, and AI initiatives at some of Australia’s leading companies, including MA Financial Group, KPMG, and over a decade at Macquarie Group. He is currently the CEO of Amplify AI Group.

In addition to his executive commitments, Will serves as a Non-Executive Director for the RegTech Association and is a former member of the Forbes Technology Council. In his spare time, he is an AI educator who has delivered numerous highly rated masterclasses for the financial services industry and is also a sought after keynote speaker, most recently appearing at TEDxSydney.

Will is recognised as a LinkedIn Top Voice in AI and was distinguished as the most influential Asian-Australian under 40 in the Corporate category. He was named a Global Top 100 Innovator in Data & Analytics and a Top 100 CIO in Asia in 2024.