INCLUDE   RESPECT   INSPIRE

Winners’ profiles

  • By Corrie Cook
  • 29 Sep, 2019

in 2019 NAWIC Excellence Awards, in partnership with BCITO

Helen Tippett Award (the premier award):        Colleen Upton, Hutt Gas & Plumbing, Lower Hutt

Colleen is passionate about making the industry a “better place,” and is universally seen as a strong female role model. She encourages and empowers women outside her own area of knowledge by pushing herself and others forward.Colleen had been self-employed with her own accounts and admin business until joining Hutt Gas and Plumbing over 20 years ago, where she grew her role and ultimately became General Manager and Director of the firm.

She has held many governance positions, and became accustomed to being the only female at industry events. When she was approached by her first future female apprentice she knew it was time to do something about the gender balance. The apprentice had previously approached 25 plumbing businesses for an apprenticeship and been rejected every time - something she attributed to her gender. This lady went on to become Hutt Gas and Plumbing’s first female registered plumber and gasfitter. Another female tradesperson had been bullied, had her tools stolen and been disrespected on a daily basis – until taking a role with Colleen.

Highly Commended:   Helen Trappitt, Lewis Bradford Consulting Engineers, Christchurch

 

Apprentice of the Year:                                               Corinna Bohny, Contract Construction, Christchurch

Corinna is the first (and so far only) female apprentice or tradeswoman at Contract Construction, a carpentry and concrete main contractor. The judges recognised that Corinna is a huge asset to her company because she gets in early, reads the documents to make sure she is prepared, knows why the detailing is the way it is - and ensures everyone else understands as well. Corinna is a go-getter who takes the initiative to step up in any way she can to better support her team, the company and to develop herself. Corinna’s referees said she has a contagious charisma – she is on a mission to make the best of herself. She is not scared to question, she figures it out and then gets everyone on board. Corinna’s volunteer work includes being an Arthur’s Pass volunteer for the fire brigade and Search and Rescue. Corinna is also currently building her own house.

Highly Commended:   Kirsty Currie, Beelee Homes Ltd, Dunedin

Special Merit:      Paris Ternent-James, MB Brown, Masterton

 

Student of the Year (2x):              Danielle Platt, Rider Levett Bucknall, Christchurch                                                      

Danni had her daughter at 17, and has worked full time since her daughter was four months old. Since 2009 she’s studied constantly, completing a Business Diploma and a variety of other papers before discovering quantity surveying in 2014. In 2017, she was awarded the NZIQS Student award, and now at 31 she is completing her Bachelor of Construction maintaining an A+ average. Danielle is also a small animals volunteer at the Christchurch SPCA every second Sunday. She is justifiably proud of what she has achieved in her life so far, and hopes to become a director one day.

                                                                Anna Winskill-Moore, Osborn Brothers Construction, Dunedin

Anna became an apprentice builder after taking voluntary redundancy from the University of Otago when she was 40. Her early love of woodworking led her to gain a pre-trade qualification prior to the apprenticeship, where she ‘cleaned up’ in the student competition – the first woman in the 42 years that it’s been running to win it. Anna isn’t just passionate about learning – she’s also seen as a   people person, baking for classmates and organising a team for the relay for life. She has assisted peers with tutoring and conscientiously builds a team environment. Anna has become a role model for those following in her footsteps – she motivates and inspires women to enter the carpentry course.

Highly Commended:       Georgia Danford, Johnstone Construction, Auckland

          Divya Kataria, AUT, Auckland

 

Tradeswoman of the Year:         Elizsabeth Watson, Stone Roofing Ltd, Hamilton

Liz is clearly driven and both takes and makes her opportunities. Her career progression grew from leaving school at 15, helping her boyfriend roofing in the weekends, being a Waikato netball representative and bagging metal and pumice products in a yard during the day - through to driving infrastructure machinery, laying drains and building roads. She now manages her own roofing business with the same partner, where she runs the roofing jobs as well as working on them. She has completed the metal tile roofing apprenticeship where she was the top roofing trainee, and is now one year into her wall and roof cladding apprenticeship. Liz gives her all and is enthusiastic about helping other women enter the roofing industry.

Highly Commended:       Dana Kingsbeer, Vogue Kitchens, Gisborne

                                                Jade Robertson, The Robertsons Ltd, Hanmer Springs

                                                Jodie Wallen, Wallen Concreting, Papakura

 

 

Excellence in Construction Administration (2x):              Tracy Shaw, Higgins Contractors, Hawke’s Bay

Following in her HR father’s footsteps, Tracy began her human resources career over 20 years ago. She is currently People and Performance Advisor at Higgins Contractors, a portfolio she holds across three branches and for over 500 people. Tracy loves that her role gives her the ability to have a positive impact on people’s lives and to facilitate their professional development. Four years ago Tracy was tasked with developing a programme to support unemployed and directionless youth within the region, and in May 2015 Higgins Hawke’s Bay launched their ‘At Risk Youth’ Initiative. Over 50 percent of the intakes still work with Higgins or are employed within the industry.


                          Kylie Wech, Downer, Whangarei

Kylie is a contract manager at Downer for the Whangarei District Council South Maintenance Contract, the first female to be appointed as such for any authority contract in Northland. Partly as an example to her daughters, Kylie works full time in a demanding career, raising them as a solo mum and in her words “jumping on any opportunity to extend her brain.” She’s recently completed the Inspiring Leaders Programme level 1, Wahine Toa Leadership and Trainer certificate, and is studying toward a Diploma in Business. In her spare time, she has raised more than $160,000 over five years for local charities. She is inspirational and says that construction is where she fits.

Highly Commended:       Gillian Darroch, MetroPerformance Glass, Mt Maunganui

                                                Alison Glover, Lawton Building, Auckland

 

Outstanding Achievement in Design:    Hedda Oosterhoff, T&R Interior Systems, Wellington

Hedda initiated and led the development of Vertibrace, a product that has the potential to have a big impact on the industry and those in the workplace. The product separates a partition wall from the main structure, allowing enough movement to absorb forces from an earthquake or strong winds without compromising the overall integrity of the building. It is very cost effective, and a portion of the sales of Vertibrace are donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ.

Highly Commended:       Sarah Hewlett Diprose, Warren & Mahoney, Auckland

                                                Barbra Van Zyl, Jasmax, Auckland

 

Rising Star – Office (2x):               Lisa Mace, Beca, Christchurch

Lisa is a senior process engineer with BECA with a passion for ensuring the safety of drinking water, particularly in small towns in New Zealand. She has been leading a confidential study for the Ministry of Health which will help develop a new regulatory framework for drinking water, and has the potential to improve the safety of drinking water throughout the country. Lisa is also doing language studies, ceramics and Toastmasters and is passionate about fostering the next generation. She has been a Future-in-Tech Ambassador and recently completed her first Rocket Challenge project with a classroom of children in years 5 and 6. She finds it particularly rewarding when young girls start to think of a career they may have previously thought of as inaccessible.

                                                                Neha Sharma, Jacobs Ltd, Wellington

Neha is a transport engineer at Jacobs, where she has developed a ground breaking transportation modelling system initially with application in NZ and Australia. Neha works with school children as a Project Wonder Ambassador, to teach them about rockets and engineering, and is also involved in the Innovative Young Minds residential programme, where she promotes careers in engineering and construction. She has also touched on subjects such as unconscious bias that one may face in the field of engineering and construction, and how this might be tackled. While Neha is a strong academic and talented engineer, she has stopped to rethink her life and has now taken up meditation and martial arts to centre herself.

Highly Commended:       Gaya Paranisamy, Beca, Wellington

 

Rising Star - Site:             Morgan Raby, HEB Structures, Auckland              


Currently a project engineer on the bridges team for the Northern Corridor Improvement Project that connects SH 1 with SH 18 in Auckland, Morgan’s passion is to make a positive difference within her community. So far she’s worked on the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery, the Kaikoura Rebuild Alliance, reconstructing a SH1 bridge south of Seddon. She says that moving mountains to rebuild and reconnect communities cemented her drive to work on important infrastructure projects. In her current project, she holds the budget, programme and procurement responsibilities for two 260m long, 8-span, super-tee viaduct bridges. Mentoring a fourth-year university student as part of Women in Engineering and leading a team researching banana drying technology in Samoa with Engineers Without Borders keeps Morgan busy away from work – coupled with training for a triathlon.

Highly Commended:       Sarah Duggan, Beca, Wellington

 

 

Professional Woman of the Year (2x):    Erin Black, Beca, Christchurch    

Erin Black is an Associate Business Development Team Leader for the southern region at BECA, and holds several other governance positions. One of Erin’s referees said her performance around the table is exceptional, and her ideas are compelling. Erin has a lived experience of disability through caring for her late daughter Ayla, who was born with a neuromuscular disorder. She is an advocate for the disability community through her directorship at Brackenridge, and she also volunteers for a Whānau Ora initiative that brings together Māori with disabilities and their whanau, to support and guide each other to gain the confidence and knowledge to be Māori first. Erin also mentors and supports the development of young ambassadors from the Forward Foundation, inspiring the next generation of young female leaders in New Zealand. She is an active supporter of the Chambers’ Next Gen group and is a member of the Chambers’ Women in Leadership Advisory Group.

                                                                                   Kathryn Kitchen, Fisher Aluminium, Gisborne

Kathryn is Fisher Aluminium Gisborne’s manager and director, and the only female life member of Registered Master Builders in New Zealand. She started in the industry in the 1960’s with an after-school job completing drawings for her father’s construction company, then becoming a draughtswoman for the Ministry of Works in Gisborne. She gained a Certificate of Engineering and topped the class ‘despite the culture,’ and soon became an assistant to one of the few women architects at the Ministry. In the 1980’s Kathryn left to have children and started a draughting business she still works in. She joined her father’s company which had evolved into aluminium fabrication, kitchen and timber joinery and a garage door business, where she is now manager. Her father had been a Master Builders’ Local and National president and Kathryn followed in his footsteps, first as a secretary and then organising golf days, House of the Year, and becoming one of the first female presidents of a local branch. One of her major achievements was a community build to raise Master Builders’ profile and give back to the community – the Tui Te Ora facility was born.

Highly Commended:       Leonie Metge, Cube Dentro, Takanini Auckland

                                                Victoria Read, Aspect Architecture, Martinborough

                                                Simone Sharp, AECOM New Zealand, Auckland

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