This year The Australian Women’s Weekly and AGL searched for three young women driven by a desire to bring positive change to the lives of others and achieve success in their chosen fields.
The three categories this year included Innovation and Technology, Entrepreneur and Business and Community Health and Charity and after countless applications we were able to narrow it down to nine exceptional finalists.
The 2018 Women Of The Future Award finalists.
The Weekly‘s editor-in-chief Nicole Byers says, “To say we were impressed by the calibre of entries in this year’s awards is an understatement. All nine finalists have accomplished so much, breaking ground in their respective fields, and it’s truly exciting to anticipate what they’ll do next.”
“It’s been wonderful to see such a talented group of women recognised for their ideas and passions,” AGL General Manager Product and Marketing, Alison Wild added.
RELATED: Meet the judging panel for the 2018 Women Of The Future Awards.
Despite their amazing efforts, our judging panel were only able to select three winners. Get to know the winners below.
Community Health and Charity award winner: Caitlin Figueiredo
Caitlin Figueiredo is helping women to avoid and stop assualt.
Jasiri Australia founder, ACT’s Caitlin Figueiredo, took centre stage to pick up the Community Health and Charity award.
The Canberra local is a survivor of gender-based violence and co-founded Jasiri Australia at just 21 to educate women on resilience and skills to both avoid or stop assaults.
Caitlin is an Ambassador to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and was even invited to the White House where former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, named her a Global Changemaker for Global Equity.
She even attended the Queen’s Youth Leaders Awards in June where she met royal newlyweds, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“The evening at the Palace was mesmerising. But the most incredible moment was not that they pronounced “Figueiredo” correctly, but it was right before I walked up to meet Her Majesty. I felt like I was going to faint from excitement, that’s when the Duchess of Sussex – Meghan Markle, locked eyes with me, smiled and mouthed “breathe, it will be okay!” Honestly, it felt like a dream, but she got me over the line. Later, Meghan came up to me and said, “Did you see my message?” It was real,” Caitlin posted on Instagram.
Community Health and Charity award winner Caitlin Figueiredo with her award.
Innovation and Technology award winner: Ally McLean
Ally McLean is helping women in the male-dominated gaming industry.
25-year-old former cosplayer Ally McLean is the recipient for the Innovation and Technology award, thanks to her groundbreaking work promoting women’s progression in the male-dominated gaming industry.
The Sydney local has established her mentorship platform The Working Lunch, which matches entry-level women with experienced women in the gaming industry for mentoring opportunities, advice, to help establish contacts and improve networking skills.
“Making games is more accessible than ever,” Ally told The Weekly. “Women can learn how to tell their stories, and that’s what’s exciting about being a games developer at the moment, the walls are breaking down.”
Innovation and Technology award winner, Ally McLean.
Entrepreneur and Business award winner: Sarah Moran
Sarah Moran wants to help women learn to love coding and technology.
Melbourne’s Sarah Moran is the co-founder of Girl Geek Academy, an initiative that aims to place one million women into the tech start-up industry by 2025. And she’s also this year’s Entrepreneur and Business Award winner.
Sarah was coding when she was just five years old and with her four fellow Girl Geek co-founders, she wants to create a lifelong community of women who love technology.
“Exposure to tech can ignite new ways of thinking, but if you’ve never been taught, you miss out,” Sarah told The Weekly.
She also added that she wants to take Girl Geek to regional Australia.
“We want to ensure all women in Australia have the opportunity to explore this for the benefit of themselves, their businesses and their families.”
Congratulations to all our winners and nominees, your work is truly inspirational.
Entrepreneur and Business award winner Sarah Moran with her award.
The Women of the Future award winners Sarah Moran, Caitlin Figueiredo and Ally McLean.
