JOB NEWS: Jua Cilliers is already well known to readers of The Fifth Estate for her work as a planning professional with a huge interest in urban landscape and nature and as head of school, Built Environment University of Technology Sydney, where we’ve been based for two years.
Now her star is set for broader impact with the Leadership Scholarship she’s just been awarded by the National Association of Women in Construction.
This $30,000 prize is designed to “catalyse career growth among female leaders poised to drive change through Australia’s property, construction and infrastructure industries, according to NAWIC NSW president Georgia Coulston.
“We designed this scholarship to help the next generation of female leaders build the business acumen and skills they need to catapult into positions where they can drive change.
“Jua’s application embodies our vision. She is a senior leader who already makes a significant contribution to the industry. This scholarship will help amplify her outstanding work and expand career opportunities for other women in construction.”
Judges included Davina Rooney, chief executive officer of the Green Building Council of Australia; independent infrastructure advisor Chris Lock; past NAWIC NSW presidents Harriet Oldmeadow, partner at Baker McKenzie, and Elizabeth Brookes, partner at Lander & Rogers.
Cilliers has already established a Women in the Built Environment network, which she aims to expand into a global Leadership Academy for Women in the Built Environment to foster training, knowledge sharing and connection building.
Part of her work with the scholarship is to Harvard Business School’s Women’s Leadership Forum.
Finalists included MBM’s Autumn Lu who was awarded a commendation for her work driving cultural change in the male-dominated field of quantity surveying.
TNFD new co-chair
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has appointed Razan Al Mubarak, the president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as its new co-chair with David Craig.
Al Mubarak replaces Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, who stepped down from her role as co-chair in March due to the growing demands of her responsibilities as the deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Al Mubarak was elected as the IUCN president in 2021 and is the first woman in the West Asia region to lead the organisation in its 72 year history, as well as its first Arab president since 1978. She was also the UAE climate champion in COP28, where she advocated for a holistic approach to practical climate action with nature at its core.
Craig said the Taskforce had completed its corporate reporting recommendations in September last year, and Al Mubarak will help lead the organisation in incorporating its recommendations into reporting standards.
Nicholas Reece becomes Melbourne Lord Mayor
The built environment has a new champion at the City of Melbourne with Nicholas Reece sworn in as new Lord Mayor of Melbourne.
Reece is an avid supporter of retrofitting and reaching net zero, recently featured as a panellist at the Retrofit Melbourne event, which TFE covered.
Reece has been a city councillor since 2016 and deputy mayor since late 2020. The council said Reece had helped drive Melbourne’s post pandemic boom and bring the council back to surplus for the first time in five years during his tenure as the deputy lead of the finance portfolio.
He is expected as mayor until the council elections in October this year.
WWF Australia new regenerative officer
WWF Australia has appointed Nicole Forrester as its new chief regenerative officer. The organisation’s chief, Dermot O’Gorman said the appointment was to help the organisation implement its “regenerate nature by 2030” strategy. Prior to her new role, Forrester was the vice president of purpose, people and culture in the Asia Pacific for digital consulting firm Fujitsu. She had also spent three years as a director on the board of the Winnam Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation, as well as three years at CSIRO as a director and then executive director of the philanthropic engagement program.
Forrester will continue to be an advisory council member for the Queensland Innovation Advisory Council in her new role. She said that as a Wiradjuri woman, she was proud to return to a role which delivers inclusive conservation and drives the regenerative economy.