Cairns council’s 2024 International Women’s Day awards revealed
The 2024 Cairns Woman of the Year has been crowned while two other inspiring local leaders have also won awards. See the list of nominees and winners here, plus a photo gallery of the day’s events.
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A champion of the aviation industry has been crowned the Cairns Woman of the Year while two proud Torres Strait Islander female leaders have also been recognised.
The 2024 Cairns Regional Council International Women’s Day awards were held on Friday morning, with close to 30 award nominees among the packed crowd at the Cairns Convention Centre.
The top gong was awarded to Alana McKenna – who was also coincidentally the event’s keynote speaker.
Ms McKenna is the Skytek chief executive and board member of Women in Aviation International (Australian Chapter).
She has been recognised by the state government for spearheading a cadetship program that encourages women to pursue aviation careers, is a mentor with the Cairns Chamber of Commerce emerging leaders program, and has received several national awards for leadership and innovation.
Ms McKenna said International Women’s Day was an opportunity for “reflection, appreciation and action” as she thanked her colleagues and “best friends” for helping her through her successful career.
“While important progress has been made, women face significant obstacles to achieving equal participation in our economy,” she said.
“In our quest for inclusion, we must confront those barriers that hinder women’s progress.
“By excluding women we not only do them a disservice, but also limit the potential that these industries have to thrive.
“What we must remember is that inclusion is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human issue. It affects all of us regardless of gender.”
The Young Woman of the Year award went to Indianna Tillett, a Deadly Choices program co-ordinator and facilitator and more recently a senior project officer with the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.
In both roles she has delivered health education programs for First Nations people in schools and communities while building important connections with stakeholders.
Ms Tillett, a proud Torres Strait Islander woman, has also represented Queensland and Australia in touch football, along with achieving success in local rugby league.
“I’m grateful to have received this award, I feel like it’s a reflection of who’s raised me … now it’s part of my role culturally, and my personal job, to help build the next generation of leaders,” she said.
Libby Cook-Black won the Women’s Recognition Award as well as being highly commended for the Woman of the Year gong.
She is the founder of The Female Co, an elite athlete program based in Cairns which aims to provide opportunities to women from disadvantaged and remote areas.
Ms Cook-Black, who hails from Erub Island in the Torres Strait, is a former Jilaroo and Indigenous Marathon Foundation participant who dedicates her time to mentoring young women to excel in sport while also achieving educational success.
“For many women sport is not yet the resource it is for our male counterparts,” Ms Cook-Black’s mother Amanda, said on her behalf at the awards ceremony.
“The Female Co is here to champion women and girls up north … to teach them that their potential is limitless and to provide the skills they need to shine both in the arena and outside it.”
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Originally published as Cairns council’s 2024 International Women’s Day awards revealed
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