As a female-led organisation, HenderCare has decided to support this award as taking the time to recognise the achievements of women is so important, not only for the women being recognised but for all the other women that these high achievers are role models for. Seeing intelligent, determined women celebrated is inspiring for others to witness and will help shape future generations of like-minded, strong women. A great thing!
HenderCare is a business that has long celebrated women. In fact, of an executive suite of 10 people, seven of these are women, with most internally promoted based on proven results and merit. The women in this team are intelligent and strong, dynamic leaders who are not concerned with a glass ceiling, as this simply doesn’t exist at HenderCare, nor should it anywhere.
We congratulate all the nominees for this year’s awards and, in particular, those in the Community Champion category.
Information about this year’s nominees taken from The Advertiser.
HENDERCARE COMMUNITY CHAMPION
Beccy Cole
This hugely talented artist received an OAM in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours and was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown at the 50th Golden Guitar Awards in Tamworth – she has won 11 – last year. The indomitable star’s Aussie Road Crew initiative takes ‘‘happy campers” through Australia’s regions, entertaining country people and bringing customers to local businesses. A proud LGBTQIA trailblazer and a beloved mentor to young artists, Cole has also performed for ADF troops in Iraq.
Jodie Reynolds
Historic flooding in the Riverland has up-ended this Morgan-based business owner’s life and led her to a role as the face of the region. The owner of Foxtale Houseboat, whose other business interests include shack-cleaning, running Morgan slipway and a septic truck round, has become an advocate for flood victims, along with taking a community leadership role. Her daily social media video posts, from her tinnie, have powerfully depicted the devastation wrought by the rising waters for an ever-growing audience, ranging from people living overseas who have scant knowledge of the River Murray, to local shack and houseboat owners desperate to see how their properties were coping in the floods.
Shania Richards
This emerging leader is one of the youngest ever elected members of the Port Lincoln City Council, after finishing up her term as the first regional Aboriginal Youth Governor of South Australia in 2022. A Ndgaju, Gubrun, Bulang, Mirning and Barngarla woman, she began her political career by joining the Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation Committee, where she presented the Foster Care Reform Bill and Raising the Age of Criminal Capability Bill. This year, she will continue her advocacy on mental health, First Nations language revival and environmental protection. She plans on releasing a series of projects, from poetry to performances, through her Nerdy Indigenous Art brand.
Jasmin Wilson
Lived experience is helping this courageous mother of two make an important difference through her work in health promotion and mental health first aid with the Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council. Jasmin is a recovering ice addict who is studying to become a counsellor and wants to eventually work in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
Associate Professor Kate Gunn
Growing up on a farm on the Eyre Peninsula, this clinical psychologist and UniSA senior research fellow’s love of country life and rural communities has inspired her professional pursuits. She leads a program of research that has resulted in improved understanding of farmers’ key sources of stress and some of the barriers that prevent them from seeking help. Working with farmers from across the nation, she has co-designed a web and text message-based program, to help boost farmers’ wellbeing and prevent suicide. Her work was recognised with a research award as part of the Australian Farmer of the Year awards. The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation Program participant has won a swag of accolades in recent years including the SA Tall Poppy Science Excellence Award and a Churchill Fellowship, to investigate sustainable methods of improving the health and wellbeing of rural cancer survivors.
Helen Edwards
Passionately devoted to promoting and growing regional tourism, through fires, pandemic and floods, this remarkable South Australian has proved a master of reinvention and embracing change. Starting her work life as a nurse she has been a SA Health Commission commissioner, CEO of Family Planning SA, president of the Australian Association for Adolescent Health and Registrar of the SA Nurses Board. In 1996, Helen began a second career in wine, hospitality and tourism with The Lane Vineyard.
She has been a director of the SA Tourism Commission, chaired the Adelaide Hills Tourism Board, been president of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region Association, director of the National Wine Centre, judge of the Wine Tourism Awards and chairs the SA Regional Visitor Strategy. For variety, she also has been a member of the Australian Press Council and Guardianship Board of SA as well as Governor of St Peter’s College.