On a glittering red-carpet night at Doltone House, Darling Harbour, Captain Shiny also took home the Government and Academia Award at the 21st annual Telstra Business Women’s Awards.
A passionate advocate for cohesive, inclusive and respectful workplaces, Captain Shindy said one of her greatest strengths is the ability to clearly communicate the benefits of shifting prevailing attitudes and behaviours.
“I love to inspire people to be innovative and step out of their comfort zones to see things from a different perspective,” she said.
“I want people to be true to themselves without fear or discrimination and be respected for their varying views and contributions.”
The Telstra Awards judges applauded Captain Shindy’s commitment towards cultural change within the Royal Australian Navy and her ability to push for diversity to make Australia’s defence force a more inclusive one.
“Mona has been a trailblazer during her career with the Navy, driving huge organisational change,” said Telstra Chief Operations Officer and Telstra Business Women’s Award Ambassador, Kate McKenzie.
“Her ability to influence change is a rare thing to witness and is truly inspiring.”
Captain Shindy, Director Littoral Warfare and Maritime Support, has amassed a wealth of experience throughout her 26 years in the Royal Australian Navy, including representing the country in Washington DC on the Australian Air Warfare Destroyer Program.
In her current role, she is responsible for the acquisition of the nation’s major defence assets.
With a strong passion for cultural diversity and inclusion, she was recently appointed Chief of Navy’s Strategic Adviser on Islamic Cultural Affairs and was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for her commitment to cultural change in the 2015 Australia Day honours.
The other award winners come from diverse industries, including defence, real estate, marketing, technology and healthcare.
The Corporate and Private prize went to Penelope Diamantakiou, CFO and HR Director at Yahoo!7, while the Start-Up Award winner was Zoe Pointon, who co-founded OpenAgent.com.au, a free online real estate agent site that ranks and reviews thousands of agents across the nation.
The Young Business Women’s Award was presented to Lindsay Rogers for her creative content company, Chello, the Entrepreneur Award was picked up by Naomi Whitfeld, who founded all-natural beauty skincare brand iKOU, and Libby Davies, CEO of White Ribbon Australia, took home the For Purpose and Social Enterprise Award.
The NSW winners will proceed to the national finals in Melbourne on November 18.