The Women Leading Tech Awards, presented by Atlassian, are back for 2025!
The Women Leading Tech Awards showcase the very best of the technology industries. It has never been more important to celebrate women in the industry as we face up to unprecedented threats to diversity, democracy, inclusion and even the planet.
This year, there are five new categories: AI Pioneer, Ecommerce, Developer, Recruiter and The Women Leading Tech Award for Society.
The Women Leading Tech Awards celebrate the women who drive innovations, create change, smash glass ceilings and forge bold new paths for everyone to follow–whether they are Rising Stars or established leading lights with the Executive Leader and Woman of the Year trophies.
As an initiative created to support gender parity and representation across the tech industry, the Women Leading Tech Awards are an event inclusive of non-binary and gender-diverse members of the tech industry, as well as any individual identifying as a woman.
Entry deadline ($349 + GST per entry):
11:59pm AEDT, Wednesday 5 February, 2025
Late entry deadline ($449 + GST per entry):
11:59pm AEDT, Wednesday 12 February, 2025
People’s Choice Poll Launches: Monday 17 February, 2025
Judging period: Tuesday 18 February – Friday 28 February, 2025
People’s Choice Poll Closes: Monday 3 March, 2025
Shortlist announcement: Tuesday 4 March, 2025
Early bird tickets end: Wednesday 5 March, 2025
Full price tickets go on sale: Thursday 6 March, 2025 until sold out
Event date: 6:00-11:00 pm, Friday 28 March 2025 – Hyatt Regency Sydney
This award is open to any woman working in the adtech industry either client-side or agency-side. This award is open to women working for Demand-Side Platforms, Supply-Side Platforms, Ad Networks, App Mediation Partners, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), Data Management Platforms (DMPs), Consent Management Platforms (CMPs), Malvertising Solutions, Ad Quality Solutions, Viewability Measurement Providers, Brand Safety Providers, Native Ad Solutions, Publisher Management Platforms, Revenue Amplification Platforms.
This category is open to any technology company which has demonstrated a holistic and long-term commitment to the recruitment, development and retention of women in the business.
This category is open to women who have pioneered the use of artificial intelligence (AI), generative or otherwise, within their organisations. Not limited to technical roles, this category will celebrate those women harnessing the most exciting and important technology of our time to drive business results and improve the experiences and/or lives of users or the general population whilst protecting against the ethical challenges that the tech can pose.
This category is opened to those women who play an effective role within the day-to-day management of their company on behalf of the executives of their organisation, within the eligibility period of January 1, 2024 to February 9, 2025. Roles including, but not limited to: executive assistants, personal assistants, office managers and business support coordinators.
With the Australian tech sector forecast to be worth $250 billion Australian dollars by the end of the decade, the importance of exemplary financial management has never been more important. This award is dedicated to the industry’s all-important financial leaders. Any woman who has the CFO role at a tech company can enter.
This category is open to senior leaders of any gender within businesses who have taken action to drive widespread positive change for the inclusion and empowerment of women and other marginalised groups within the tech sector, as well as the overall diversity of the industry. This is not necessarily (and needn’t be) limited to hiring, training, recruitment and retention efforts. All actions must be within the eligibility period of January 1, 2024 to February 9, 2025.
This category is open to women who have made a significant contribution to the success of their clients’ and customers’ businesses. It is for those individuals who have demonstrated exceptional customer satisfaction, build strong client relationships and driven business growth through their innovative approach.
The category is open to roles such as, but not limited to: customer success manager, customer support specialist, account manager, renewals specialist, technical account manager, customer experience manager, customer success analyst, customer relationship manager and client services.
Open to women working in cyber security and risk management. Strong cyber security has never been more essential to business’ continued success with increasingly stringent regulations and tighter scrutiny. A strong cyber security policy needs to be foremost in any business’ continuity plan.
This category is open to women who are currently in roles such as, but not limited to: data scientist, data engineer, data architect, data analyst, database administrator, data modeller, BI. Judges will look for characteristics and examples of curiosity, business understanding, passion, innovation, intuition and technical acumen.
This category is open to women who currently work in a function within a technology business that supports the delivery of technology products or projects, with job titles such as, but not limited to: project manager, program manager, delivery manager, scrum master, agile coach, release train engineer, producer, traffic manager, change manager.
Judges will look for characteristics and examples of their efforts in and contribution to the successful delivery of a project, program or product, such as the effective coordination and planning, effective client and stakeholder engagement, implementing improved ways of working, improving collaboration and communication, helping teams and organisations overcome product or project delivery risks or issues, creating the environment for teams to succeed and become high performing, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement, engagement and well-being within their organisation over the last 12 months.
This category is open to women who are currently in roles such as, but not limited to: UX designer,
IxD/interactive designer, UI designer, graphic designer, motion designer, art director, web designer, VR designer, AR designer. Judges will be looking for contributions to improved business results as a consequence of entrants’ design work, user experience and other innovations in the sector — and with a cognisance of inequality and accessibility issues.
The developer category is open to women working in in-house or external development roles, creating, honing and crafting products to be used by businesses or individuals. Judges will be looking for exceptional insight, originality, craft and cognisance of issues around equality and accessibility.
The e-commerce category is open to women working both brand- and vendor-side, developing, honing and improving user experiences of e-commerce tools and websites, with a view to boosting conversions.
This category is open to women in roles including but not limited to: e-commerce coordinator, manager and director; digital coordinator or manager, head of digital, digital director, chief digital officer; head of or chief technology officer; chief information officer; customer experience coordinator, manager and director; digital marketing coordinator, manager; director; founder; customer/client success manager, account executive, manager, director; sales coordinator, manager, director; partner manager, head of partnerships; country manager, MD and GM.
This category is open to women who are currently in roles such as lecturing, researching or teaching within a technology discipline at either high school, tertiary or post-graduate levels. Judges will look for characteristics and examples of curiosity, passion, innovation, intuition, technical acumen and original, game-changing research. A special emphasis should be placed on how the nominee has made a future in technology more accessible to women.
This category is open to women who are currently in roles such as, but not limited to software engineer, full-stack engineer, full stack developer, frontend engineer, frontend developer, backend engineer, backend developer, systems engineer, system automation engineer, QA engineer, design engineer, DevOps engineer and scrum master.
Judges will look for examples of industry-leading engineering and technical development, leading to groundbreaking user, business or client success.
This category is open to women who are leading a technology, digital or ecommerce startup and have been in business for five years or fewer (as of 9 February 2025). Entrants must be able to demonstrate exceptional innovation, growth and the creation of a business that has the potential to scale up and remain sustainable. Judges will review the entrant’s vision, innovation, risk optimisation, strategic perspective, passion, market knowledge and her ability to navigate a dynamic business environment.
This category is open to women who are currently in c-suite leadership roles within a technology business, such as, but not limited to: CEO, CIO, CTO, CMO, CRO and COO. Judges will look for exceptional leadership, a strong vision of the future, cohesion with company culture, outstanding management skills as well as growth and innovation within their organisation over the last 12 months.
This category is open to any woman working in the fintech space, including lending, banking, payments, insurance and personal finance. Judges will be looking for entrants who can demonstrate genuine innovation in the sector that would not have been possible with traditional financial services providers.
The Glass Ceiling Award is for women who have smashed the glass ceiling themselves or who have opened a crack so wide other women can proudly ascend above it. The winner of this award will be able to demonstrate how they have set the tone, led by example and then swept aside all barriers so others following didn’t even notice a bump. Those who subscribe to Cindy Gallop’s infamous Highlander Syndrome (there can be only one) need not apply.
This award is dedicated to the road less travelled. To the mavericks doing things differently and making discoveries and advancements that impact us all. This award is open to women who have changed the game within the tech sector or indeed the broader community through the use of technology.
This category is open to women who are currently in roles within a technology business such as, but not limited to: CMO, head of marketing, head of brand, head of communications, marketing director, brand director, communications director, marketing manager, brand manager, communications manager, channel/partner marketing manager, product marketing manager. Entries should show how they have changed the game in marketing their technology brand and drive remarkable growth in the process.
This award is open to any woman working in the marketing technology (martech) industry, either agency or client-side. This can include anything from SEO to automation tools and market mix modelling and beyond. Judges will be on the lookout for examples of driving innovation, producing results and advocating for women.
The mentor award will celebrate a woman who, by means of advising, has helped other women progress in their careers, driving learning and development. The winner can be working and guiding others in any area within the tech industry. They will be recognised for actively helping attract more women into the technology sector and/or helping to promote women within the sector to more senior roles.
Open to individuals who have demonstrated excellence by creating and driving successful HR strategies promoting diversity and inclusion within their tech company.
This category is open to women who are responsible for leading the success of a product within a technology company, in roles such as, but not limited to: product director, product manager, product lead, head of product, VP of product and CPO. Judges will review the entrant’s innovation, strategic thinking, customer/user knowledge and ability to navigate multi-team collaboration.
Open to women working in the tech sector in either an in-house communications or public relations role or similar as well as women working for external communications agencies that spend the majority of their working time with clients from the tech sector.
Australia’s bold vision of being a digital economy by 2030 will not happen alone. This category is open to recruiters and HR professionals attracting, honing and retaining top female talent and making the industry more inclusive and diverse.
The Rising Star category is open to any woman who is shifting paradigms, breaking new ground and smashing glass ceilings. These winners will go on to be the leading lights of the tech industry in the years to come.
Open to entrants must be UNDER the age of 30 as of 9 February 2025.
This category is open to women who are currently in a commercial role within a technology business such as, but not limited to: sales director, account director, sales manager, business development manager, product sales manager, account manager, technical sales consultant, pre-sales consultant, pre-sales engineer, sales engineer, implementation sales consultant.
This category is open to women ensuring that technology gives us the better future we have been promised. From advocating for human rights to protecting the flora and fauna of our planet, the Women Leading Tech Award for Society celebrates those using their position, skills and drive to make our society and our planet better for everyone and everything.
– Via poll
– Chosen by B&T
– Chosen by B&T
Rosie Oakshott
Managing Director
rosie@bandt.com.au
0431 387 971
Erin Green
Head of Marketing
erin@bandt.com.au
0432 993 388
Aakash Panjabi
Business Development Executive
aakash@themisfits.media
0405 887 543
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