South Australia’s most influential women
WHAT better way to honour International Women’s Day than by celebrating the women most involved in shaping our state, society and our lives?
INFLUENCE is power but it is not the same as power. It is a more ephemeral force that changes, guides and shapes the way our society works. It can be wielded between countries and at senior levels of government, or it can be more intimate, like a teacher expanding the minds of students in a classroom.
In compiling our list of South Australia’s most influential women we have chosen those who are actively shaping events around them, rather than those who have done so in the past.
These women are not necessarily the highest achievers, the bravest or the most obviously worthy. Awards such as the Pride of Australia are more appropriate for that.
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Neither are they there simply because of their job. Our women are doing something extra that is helping to shape our community.
To draw up our list, SAWeekend enlisted outside support – an invited panel consisting of Liz Forsyth, chief executive of the YWCA; Evelyn O’Loughlin from the women’s business group Zonta; and Cassandra Leibeknecht, general manager of Feast.
They joined The Advertiser’s lifestyle editor Jessica Leo and me to draw up a list of women we believed were actively shaping our city and affecting the way it looks and functions; sometimes in surprising ways.
How often do we hear of the work of someone like Diana Hill, who as president of UNICEF in Australia travels the globe with programs that educate girls in Afghanistan and immunise children in Cambodia? Or prominent barrister Marie Shaw QC who in her spare time helps disadvantaged youth?
The list can never be complete. It includes women who have come to our notice. We tried to keep it to 50 but ended up with 64. We have also kept it as local as possible, with the notable exception of the musician Sia. She is given a prominent position because she has become such an international powerhouse in the music scene and still has strong family links to our city and its artists, including a successful collaboration with the Hilltop Hoods.
We hope our list introduces readers to women whose names they may not know, and encourages a wider appreciation of the work done by many women, often behind the scenes.
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POLITICS & POLICY
Natasha Stott Despoja
advocate
The former Australian Democrats leader and for a time the nation’s youngest female MP has found her perfect job as a roving national ambassador for women and children. It adds to her glittering post-political career as a columnist, honorary academic and board member for the non-profit Burnet Institute, which works to improve the health of the poor and the vulnerable.
Penny Wong
SA Labor Senator
Always cool and collected, the former head prefect of Scotch College who became federal Finance Minister is now in Opposition, but she remains influential. She’s Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Shadow Minister for Trade and has Jay Weatherill’s ear. She’s also keen to influence public perceptions on female, Asian and gay rights, even joining the Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney this month.
Amanda Vanstone
broadcaster, board member
Blunt and opinionated, the long-serving former Liberal Senator and high-profile Howard Cabinet minister was Australia’s Ambassador to Italy from 2007 to 2010. Now back in Adelaide, she is on the board of Port Adelaide Football Club and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. She is a presenter on ABC’s Counterpoint, and was recently appointed to the federal razor gang, the Commission of Audit.
Kelly Vincent
Dignity for Disability MP
Elected to the Legislative Council in 2010 the gutsy Vincent has promoted disabled rights since arriving at Parliament House, which she physically could not access until adaptations were made. She is now pushing for a second disability candidate to win a seat on March 15.
Sarah Hanson-Young
Australian Greens Senator
Diva, devil or darling, depending on your view, she’s in her element railing against the conservatives. She’s a bright, passionate advocate for asylum seekers, and gay marriage, both of which will be hot topics this year. And the new Senate from July will be an even more interesting opportunity for her to negotiate leverage.
Felicity-Ann Lewis
Local Government
Last November, Marion Mayor and Australian Local Government Association president was named South Australian
of the Year for her work raising money for the nation’s first memorial for Aboriginal soldiers. The community leader raised $100,000 towards the project and continues to passionately advocate for the cause.
Tory Shepherd
journalist and columnist
Shepherd has rapidly become a champion of the underprivileged and a challenger of the questionable with her incisive reporting and commentary in The Advertiser, Sunday Mail and as former editor of The Punch. She has now transferred her loyal following and sharp wit to the nation’s capital as The Advertiser’s political editor. As a regular on SkyNews and interstate radio, she also gives South Australia a distinct and prominent voice on the national stage.
Natasha Malani
deputy Lord Mayor
A self-starter who, as a 25-year-old unpaid volunteer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, put her money and time on the line to be part of the historic event. Malani has continued to seek out career-furthering opportunities. Founding the Australia-India Business Council and becoming a city councillor under Mayor Stephen Yarwood’s leadership in 2010, she is a political star on the rise.
Amanda Blair
columnist
She can be loud and proud but then the voice is part of her trademark. These days the 45-year-old Blair has a more behind-the-scenes influence as a board member for Renewal SA, the Independent Gambling Authority and Australian Dance Theatre. She also writes a column for The Advertiser, is a mother of four and a prolific competitive baker.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Sia Furler
musician
Furler, who grew up in North Adelaide, is one of the most sought-after collaborators in popular music and an inspiration to all aspiring SA artists. She began singing in Adelaide band, Crisp, then moved to LA and built her own career touring with Zero 7. She then crossed over into popular music with songs such as The Girl You Lost to Cocaine and Clap Your Hands.
After a decade touring and performing, in which her health declined, Furler retired but her skill as a songwriter has since come to the fore. She has written songs for Madonna and co-written with Rihanna, Eminem, Katy Perry and David Guetta. Her most recent collaborations were with Beyonce, who called Furler “a genius” for her song about plastic surgery, Pretty Hurts, and Kylie Minogue, who brought Furler in to executive produce her last album.
Furler’s songs have also been used as soundtracks for television and film and she wrote tracks on The Great Gatsby and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Billboard magazine recently ran a cover piece on the artist responsible for 12 million track sales who had turned her back on personal fame, although her sultry jazz vocals are still featured, usually uncredited, on other artist’s tracks.
Gabriella Smart
pianist
Smart has extended the city’s cultural footprint through her experimental Soundstream Contemporary Music Ensemble and New Music Festival. The 50-year-old pianist and teacher is a passionate advocate of contemporary classical music and we have heard many new works by Australian and international composers due to her efforts.
Julie Ryan
film producer
Based at Glenside, Ryan is part of an emerging next-generation of (mainly female) South Australian filmmakers. She worked with Rolf de Heer (The Tracker) but her company, Cyan Films, had a runaway hit with Red Dog (2011), a cult hit with black comedy 100 Bloody Acres and co production credits on the Mia Wasikowska film Tracks.
Angela and Louise Heesom
casting agents
Make you a star? SA’s only independent casting agent Angela Heesom – who is an independent No Domestic Violence candidate on March 15 – screen tested Xavier Samuel when he was at Flinders University, put local actor Teresa Palmer into December Boys and Luke Arnold into Broken Hill. Daughter Louise Heesom-Smith is now part of the business.
Alexandra Reid
arts executive
Since taking over the role of chief executive of Arts SA from Greg Mackie in 2009 Reid has had to implement Mike Rann’s plan to make the Adelaide Festival annual while keeping a cap on funding growth. Given the Festival costs the state up to $10 million, or nearly 10 per cent of the state’s arts budget, this has been tough. The Festival has had to shrink and many of the smaller arts companies have lost their funding, but she seems to have kept a cap on complaints.
The former actor is also running the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Division and the Capital City Committee Directorate. And she’s been having and raising babies at the same time. In her eyrie in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and with Premiers now in the habit of appointing themselves Arts Minister, this former actor is a key ingredient in SA’s cultural growth.
Kerry Heysen
film producer
Heysen, a Flinders University film graduate, is married to and professional partner of Scott Hicks with whom she worked on Shine. She is co-producing Fallen, which is now filming in Hungary. She and Hicks are also revegetating a vineyard on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
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FOOD & WINE
Kris Lloyd
cheesemaker
The dynamic Woodside Cheesewrights owner has taken a humble grocery staple and developed it into a foodies’ delight and a tasty empire. She not only founded Cheesefest – the only event of its kind in the nation – but also holds several board positions that promote the standing of the food and tourism sectors.
Maggie Beer
chef
A longstanding identity in food circles and Order of Australia recipient, Beer recently unveiled her latest crusade – to improve the quality of food served to the elderly in aged care homes. It’s a personal passion project that stemmed from her Senior Australian of the Year honour in 2010 but has only come to fruition now with State Government support.
Louisa Rose
winemaker
After more than 20 vintages working in all facets of winemaking for Yalumba and Pewsey Vale, Rose is recognised globally for her groundbreaking work with white wines, especially viognier and riesling.
Her broad-ranging leadership in the wine industry both as a winemaker, technician, inspiration and manager has been widely recognised.
She was named the Barossa Winemaker of the Year in 1999 and 2004 International Woman in Wine by the London-based International Wine and Spirit Competition. In 2008, Gourmet Traveller named her Winemaker of the Year.
She is a prominent wine judge and chair of judges, the first female to take such a lead position on the national circuit. She also is an active member of The Barons of Barossa, is co-chair of the South Australian Wine Industry Council, a member of the SA Agribusiness Council, and has been appointed chair of the board of the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).
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PHILANTHROPY
Diana Ramsay
art donor
She began visiting the Art Gallery of SA when she was 10 and with her late husband, James (nephew of artist Hugh Ramsay), has contributed nearly $9 million in cash and donations. Gifts include Diana and her Nymphs Bathing, a Dutch masterpiece and an Indian sculpture.
Diana Hill
children’s advocate
A professional psychologist and educator, Hill spent 20 years as a school psychologist and deputy principal. She was elected to the Board of UNICEF Australia in 1994 and became President of UNICEF Australia in 2002.
Based in Adelaide, Hill speaks out on issues faced by vulnerable children and has been involved in projects including an orphanage in East Timor, women’s shelters in the Solomon Islands, the immunisation of children in Cambodia, a centre for children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates and an education program for girls in Afghanistan.
Kimberley Marshall
charity founder
She wasn’t in Queensland when floods devastated the state in 2011 but that didn’t stop Marshall from wanting to help. Through emailing friends and colleagues she came up with Shoeboxes of Love, which provides care packages of toiletries to affected people in the flooded region. A year later it was officially recognised as a not-for-profit organisation and has distributed some 14,500 boxes to various disaster-affected areas across the country.
Angela Condous
Fundraiser
Renowned for her fundraising might in her pivotal role as The Advertiser Sunday Mail Foundation patron, Condous has harnessed impressive star power and the state’s best local businesses to put on an impressive program of sold-out events. Their attendance continues to break records and over the past two decades the ASMF has raised millions of dollars for SA charities.
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LAW
Frances Nelson QC
Parole Board
Scottish-born, raised in Malaysia, Nelson has had a stellar career at the Adelaide bar and could have gone onto the bench. Instead, the independent-minded lawyer who hunts in her spare time has served on the Parole Board for 30 years and was recently reappointed chair for the 10th time. Never afraid to speak out.
Trish Kelly QC
Supreme Court Judge
Kelly was appointed to the bench of the District Court and later the Supreme Court where she is one of its most senior judges, handling matters including the bid for community release by serial paedophile Mark Marshall, and the long-running Derek Sands civil case.
Marie Shaw QC
Barrister
A prominent, dogged criminal barrister who defended one of the Snowtown murderers, Shaw was appointed a judge of the District Court in 2005 but resigned four years later. She helps disadvantaged youth, including supporting Teen Challenge and runs Ice Factor lifeskills program at Adelaide Ice Arena.
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YOUTH LEADERSHIP
Khadija Gbla
advocate for young women
Born in Sierra Leone, Gbla survived civil war in her homeland, witnessed the murder of her father at 13, and spent three years with her mother and sister in a Gambian refugee camp. She campaigns against female genital mutilation and speaks out for female empowerment.
Vanessa Picker
entrepreneur
Picker has harnessed social media to create an innovative phone app, FitUsIn, that connects casual gym vacancies with users. She won a trip to New York in the NYC Next Idea competition and is looking to extend her app into other professional sectors.
Jan Sutherland
CEO
For nearly a decade Sutherland has headed Sport SA, a position she took on following three years as director of Netball SA. During her tenure she has championed more funding and less red tape for grassroots sports clubs and has encouraged South Australians to live healthier lifestyles through playing sport.
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SPORT
Jessica Trengove
athlete
The Olympic marathon runner has excelled in her sport of choice but the 26-year-old also has used her profile to wield influence. Recently she signed on as an ambassador for the bowel cancer charity the Jodi Lee Foundation, championed an event fundraising for rare diseases, and has campaigned for the Animal Welfare League.
Jane Woodlands-Thompson
coach
The Adelaide Thunderbirds’ record as the most successful team in ANZ Championship history has significantly raised coach Woodlands-Thompson’s reputation in Australian sport. Her contribution to the largest female sport in the nation is expanded through her role as Netball SA’s high performance manager, where she oversees programs for the state’s emerging talent.
business
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BUSINESS
Corinne Namblard
finance
With a European career at the highest levels in finance and infrastructure on her CV, Namblard decided in 2011 to settle in Adelaide where she was seconded to the state’s Economic Development Board. She also became a director of electronics manufacturer Codan, Flinders Ports and the University of SA council. Former positions include chief executive of Luxembourg-based Galaxy Fund, an executive with Banque Nationale de Paris and adviser to the French Prime Minister. She was a director of Qantas but resigned in February last year.
Jane Kittel
banking
After three years as managing director of BankSA, Kittel is now Westpac Group’s head of customer relations. It’s a key role in an industry where customer satisfaction is a key indicator of performance.
Jane Yuile
board member
Chairman of ANZ in SA, Yuile has a depth of experience in finance, education and arts boards. She has served WorkCover, Scotch College, the University of Adelaide, UniSA, JamFactory, SA Film Corporation and China Advisory Council.
Carolyn Hewson
board member
In a career of more than 30 years, Hewson has been on the boards of BHP Billiton, Westpac, Stockland, AMP, CSR, AGL, SA Water and BT Investment Management, among others. She also has served on the SA Economic Development Board the Australian Charities Fund and the Neurosurgical Research Foundation.
Judy Potter
board member
Active on a number of highly visible boards, including chair of the Adelaide Fringe and the Adelaide Market Authority. Recently took over as chair of the SA Film Corporation and is a long-time chair of the Botanic Gardens board.
Tammy May
entrepreneur
May started personal finance company MyBudget from her kitchen table. Since then the 35-year-old has opened offices in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. In 2007, she was named Telstra South Australian Business Woman of the Year. She is also on BankSA’s advisory board.
Irena Zhang
property
As well as being the driving force behind Chinatown’s reinvigorated Chinese New Year celebrations Zhang has diverse business interests. She owns the International Food Court in Chinatown, the nearby Regency Apartments in Morphett St and also runs a Chinese and French furniture store on Goodwood Rd.
Kate Gould
entrepreneur
A former Adelaide Festival associate artistic director, Gould was frustrated with the legwork involved in managing investment properties and in response launched online tool Our Body Corporate. She holds a position on the Adelaide Crows board and has been co-chair of the Premier’s Council for Women.
Melanie Flintoft
fashion
Flintoft is the creative director of Australian Fashion Labels the multi-million dollar Adelaide-based company she founded with husband Dean. The business is behind global brands Finders Keepers, Cameo and Keepsake, which are worn by celebrities such as the Kardashians and stocked by stores including Harrods and Bloomingdales.
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RURAL LEADERSHIP
Penny Schulz
rural champion
Named 2014’s SA Rural Woman of the Year, Schulz, 32, is passionate about the state’s food industry, using her $10,000 prize to set up a National Dairy Challenge. She also co-runs her family’s Schulz Livestock business and provides project management to the dairy, beef and sheep industries.
Sue Chase
rural entrepreneur
As managing director of Cowell Electric, Chase heads a powerline construction and electrical contracting company which is a significant employer on the Eyre Peninsula. Cowell Electric brings work to remote and regional areas.
Dayna Duncan
young rural leader
A member of the Cleve Youth Advisory Committee Duncan promotes the positive impact young people are have on the region while encouraging community acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups who are living in rural areas.
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LANDSCAPE AND PLANNING
Kate Cullity
landscape architect
As the founding partner, with her late husband Kevin Taylor, of the landscape architecture firm Taylor Cullity Lethlean, Cullity has had a profound influence on some of the most significant public spaces in Australia, from Sydney’s Manly Corso to Melbourne’s Docklands and the Canberra Arboretum, in national parks from the Flinders to Kangaroo Island and Central Australia. Her impact is especially evident in Adelaide. From Victoria Square to the Torrens Footbridge, the redesign of the North Terrace cultural precinct and, still to come, Henley Square, Cullity has been a leading part of design and build teams that have helped to shape the way we experience some of our city’s most important public spaces. Much of this work was undertaken in partnership with Taylor, who died suddenly in 2011. That Cullity has continued her work without him is a tribute to her strength and her commitment to her work. In the past two years, TCL has won numerous awards, including the South Australian Medal for Landscape Architecture and the international Landscape of the Year Award at the World Architecture Festival.
Sharon Mackay
urban design
Landscape architect Sharon Mackay is the design director at the Office for Design and Architecture SA, which is working to renew our capital and surrounds. In her former role with project 5000+ she was integral to the Adelaide laneways project, which has brought new life to the city.
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INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP
Khatija Thomas
Aboriginal advocate
Port Augusta-born Khatija is the South Australian Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement and has long championed a change to the Australian Constitution or the alteration of a state-based version to improve the rights of indigenous people. Her passion for indigenous rights began when she read the Constitution as an 18-year-old law student and came across outdated passages reflecting inequality towards indigenous people.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
Sarah Robertson
medical research
South Australia is a global leader in reproductive health and The Robinson Institute bridges the gap between research and medical practice. Robertson heads the institute, which has more than 450 staff and students and five research centres linked to the University of Adelaide.
Maria Makrides
medical research
The theme leader for Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children at the SA Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).Makrides is also the director of the Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute. Her passion lies in developing nutrition strategies – particularly among socially disadvantaged families – to minimise preventable deaths in women and children.
Tanya Monro
scientist
Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) she is also Professor of Physics within the School of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Adelaide. The Institute’s aim is to bring together researchers in physics, chemistry and biology for the benefit of defence, preventative health, environmental monitoring, and food and wine.
Michelle Lane
IVF specialist
From little things big things grow. Respected IVF specialist has multiple patents, co-authored 51 peer-reviewed journal articles, edited two books and has written 17 chapters. She is director of Repromed, senior research fellow at University of Adelaide, and can advise on methods to improve pregnancy odds.
Karen Reynolds
engineer
Named among 100 influential engineers in Australia, Reynolds is director of the Medical Device Research Institute. She heads a Flinders University team, which is finding commercial success at the cutting edge of biomedical innovation.
Jane Lomax-Smith
science
A former pathologist, Lomax-Smith was a Lord Mayor of Adelaide before becoming a Minister of Education with the Rann Labor Government. In 2010, she became director of the RiAus in Adelaide, and since 2011 has been an active chair of the SA Museum board.
Manny Noakes
nutrition
The wildly successful book The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet made Noakes a household name in 2005. Last year she published a budget version of the book and continues to champion healthy eating.
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EDUCATION
Lynne Symons
principal
In 2012, Symons won the Inspirational School/Preschool Leader of the Year Award, which is run by the State Government and The Advertiser. The principal of super school Mark Oliphant College won the prestigious award for educational leadership.
Correna Haythorpe
unionist
After six years at the helm of the state’s education union, she now has dual roles as lead organiser in SA and deputy federal president of the Australian Education Union. The passionate supporter of public education taught in primary schools for 17 years before taking on the women’s officer role at the union in 2006. Just two years later she became state president.
Jane Danvers
education
The dedicated teacher took on the role as head of Wilderness, an independent, non-denominational Christian, day and boarding school for girls in 2006. She moved into the role after leaving her position as inaugural principal of University Senior College, which opened in 2002. She was previously deputy at Eynesbury Senior College.
The mother of three was appointed presiding member of the SACE Board of South Australia in October 2012, after serving as the deputy presiding member for three years. She is also a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools. She is a passionate believer that an all girls’ school offers students the best environment to prepare them for successful personal, public and professional lives. She has also overseen the development of academic scholarships for adolescent girls in rural Nepal with the first graduates completing their secondary schooling last year.
Pascale Quester
academic
The French-born business and marketing educator first arrived in SA when she was appointed a lecturer of the graduate school of management at the University of Adelaide. She has risen through the ranks to become its deputy vice chancellor and president (academic) and has more than 150 book chapters and articles to her name.
Julia Gillard
former Prime Minister
It is unclear yet how big a post-politics role Gillard will try and fill. Back in Adelaide, she has been appointed honorary visiting professor at the University of Adelaide. She is chair of the Global Partnership for Education, which raises funds for 57 million children worldwide. She is also one of 300 experts providing policy recommendations to the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based international think tank.
Barbara Pocock
labour research
Pocock directs the Centre for Work + Life at UniSA. Initially trained as an economist, she has become a leading researcher into women in the workforce and is an advocate for the rights of working women. She co-wrote Time Bomb: Work, Rest and Play in Australia Today.
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WATCH THIS SPACE
Mia Handshin
public policy
A former youth ambassador, Handshin was a policy adviser to federal minister Kate Ellis, and works with the Leaders Institute of South Australia. A former Labor candidate in Sturt, she has not ruled out returning to politics. She has two young children and is chair of the Environment Protection Authority.
Vickie Chapman
politics
Born on Kangaroo Island, Chapman’s father Ted was a former minister in the Tonkin Government. Chapman has been in Parliament since 2002 and is in a prime position to become the most influential woman in South Australia. If the Liberal Party is elected next week she will be the state’s first female Deputy Premier.
Sophie Hyde
film
Hyde scooped the pool at the Sundance Festival in Utah, which acts as a springboard for up-and-coming talent by winning best director for her Adelaide film, 52 Tuesdays. Hyde has young children and decided to make life easier by shooting every Tuesday for a year. After Sundance, which secured an overseas indie release, Hyde went to the Berlin Film Festival where the film won a youth award. She has her own company, a collective called Closer Productions, which in 2011 had a minor hit with Matthew Bates’ Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, a documentary about domestic violence. Hyde is part of a new generation of emerging filmmakers, many of them women, who are making small-to-medium-budget films using largely local cast and crew. She has a number of projects in pre-production.
Emma Fletcher
marketing
Fletcher left the ABC two years ago to join the South Australian Tourism Commission and worked at the side of David O’Loughlin during the creative resurgence that gave us the Kangaroo Island, Barossa and Adelaide ads. O’Loughlin has left and Fletcher was two months ago appointed director of marketing and tourism.
Elaine Bensted
CEO
Bensted understands numbers. She managed a $300 million budget at TAFE SA as chief executive before she replaced Zoos SA chief executive Chris West in 2012. She also held several lead roles at government departments and in the private finance sector. Bensted has a five-year contract in which she plans to pull Zoos SA out of its million-dollar debt.
Who are the influential women you know? We invite readers to email us at saweekend@adv.newsltd.com.au with their thoughts on who might be included next year.