2006 Winners of the CLW LEADERSHIP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR WOMEN
I would like to congratulate all of the candidates below whose achievement demonstrated a high level of engagement, caring and personal investment for the community for which they were trying to achieve an improved vision. They have achieved outcomes which have made a difference to a number of people's lives and their leadership abilities strengthened through the process. Each area of concern and activism deserves strong recognition by government, the private sector and the community, and greater support than exists at present.
Hélène Gonski as the Winner of the Award receives a CLW Leadership Achievement Award Certificate, an Honorary Membership for CLW for 4 years and a prize of $500 from Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs. Hélène Gonski is being recognised for what she achieved on a grand scale in relation to raising and working on the issue of grandparenting that up till then had not been given any mainstream focus. Hélène's efforts extended over more than a decade and it was at her instigation that COTA (NSW) first took up the issue of grandparenting which subsequently gained support at both the state and national level. In addition to establishing practical support for grandparents through the Grandparenting Association, Hélène Gonski advanced the issues with policy makers and wrote two informative books, Grandparenting: a new challenge and A Gong for Grandfathers. Mrs Gonski is seventy-six years old.
The two Finalists of the Award are Melanie Mumford and Louise Bannister. Melanie Mumford's vision was to influence change in refugee and asylum seeker policy by sending a clear message that Australians support the fair treatment of refugees. She achieved this vision by persuading the Bass Coast Shire Council to declare the Bass Coast Shire a ‘Refugee Welcome Zone’. Melanie Mumford is twenty-one years old. Louise Bannister as the Award's Finalist is being recognised for creating the six month Well and Able program that aimed to be an inclusive, fun, affordable fitness and social inclusion program in the form of a weekly fitness class with an individual program developed for each woman followed by social activities. Well and Able is the first project of its kind in Australia. Ms Bannister is forty-two years old and has impaired mobility due to Cerebral Palsy. Both, Ms Mumford and Ms Bannister receive a complimentary CLW Membership for a year and a 3 month Opal Membership to Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs.
Further information about the above candidates can be accessed through the table below.
Christina Borisavljevic, Mary Hollingworth and Kathryn Keen are the Award's Short-listed Applicants. Ms Borisavljevic is being recognised for establishing a Counselling and Support Service in Boambee East, NSW where she together with others, provide free counselling for members of the community and the disadvantaged. Mary Hollingworth is being recognised for reviving the Glen Innes Show Society Ladies Auxiliary committee of forty-five years standing and achieving outstanding outcomes for the catering/hospitality needs of the Show. Kathryn Keen is being recognised for providing an online Ozark and Ozbird communications and information network for wildlife carers across Australia. Each of the Short-listed candidates receive a complimentary CLW Membership for a year.
I am very pleased that this award in its inaugural year attracted candidates with such an impressive calibre of achievements. It testifies that grassroots self-appointed leadership by women is alive in the community, but is in need of much more government and private sector support so that the women behind them are assisted to continue their role or create new leadership ventures that fulfill a need in the community.
I would like to thank the Panel of Judges for their generous support, time and effort in the judging of this Award: Dr Jocelynne Scutt, Dr Shirley Randell, Carmelita Steinke, Carolyn Leigh and Dr Lynette Dumble. My thanks are also extended to the Sponsors of The CLW 2006 Leadership Achievement Award for their support of women's leadership in the community: Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs, motherInc.com.au – The online glossy magazine for modern mums – and Living Now Magazine.
I am delighted to announce that the 2007 CLW Leadership Achievement Award will be sponsored by NRMA Motoring & Services. The Award will be open for applications from 1 September 2006 to 22 December 2006. Further information about the Award will be announced at CLW closer to the time.
Thank you
Diann Rodgers-Healey
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The Winner of the 2006 CLW Achievement Award for Women is
HÉLÈNE GONSKI
The Finalists of the 2006 CLW Achievement Award for Women are
MELANIE MUMFORD & LOUISE BANNISTER
The Short-listed Applicants For the 2006 CLW Achievement Award for Women are
CHRISTINA BORISAVLJEVIC
MARY HOLLINGWORTH
KATHRYN KEEN