Sarah McAvoy, Founder and Managing Director of cyber security consulting company CyberUnlocked, has taken a top gong at the 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.
Officially announced winner of the Information Technology category at the Awards’ glittering National Presentation Evening Gala Event held at the Western Sydney Conference Centre on Saturday 23 September 2023, Sarah was also a Finalist for the title of 2023 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Icon.
An avid champion of greater female representation within the IT industry, Sarah holds more than 15 years of industry experience and is trained in Information Security and as an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor.
Testament to the power of female leadership in an industry largely dominated by men, Sarah has led CyberUnlocked to rapid growth within just a few years and even in the face of the initial challenges of a start-up.
Leading with resilience, resourcefulness and an unwavering commitment to her vision, Sarah has grown her business into a leading cyber security company known for unlocking the complexity of cyber security and making it a less daunting task for small businesses in a continually evolving digital landscape.
As a mentor and speaker, Sarah contributes to developing future talent in the cyber security industry, especially inspiring women into the lucrative sector.
This year marks the second consecutive year of the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards – a prestigious and comprehensive programme that celebrates the growing number of Australia’s most inspiring and influential women in small business.
According to Australian Government data: of the 3.3 million small businesses operating in Australia today, more than one-third are run by women and by all accounts, that figure is soaring.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics during 2022 shows a 46 per cent jump in women business owners during the past two decades.
“There’s no doubting the rising success of female-led small businesses from all corners of this country,” said Steve Loe, Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, which coordinates the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards,”
“Just as the Matildas shone during this year’s World Cup, attracting the nation’s admiration and highlighting the positive contribution of women in sport, the Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards programme has been specifically created to shine a spotlight on the rising economic and social contributions of women in small business – spanning all capital cities as well as rural, regional and suburban towns,”
“Precedent Productions has been running the Australian Small Business Champion Awards since 1999 so we’re generally in-tune with the country’s best performing business operators,”
“We created this standalone female-focused awards programme because frankly, it’s high time for greater recognition of Australia’s female business trailblazers who still face unique challenges with incredible grit and positively-infectious entrepreneurial spirit,” added Mr Loe.
The Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards saw thousands of entries this year and honoured the achievements of approximately 60 category winners from a broad cross section of industries.
Additionally, four individual category winners were recognised at the red-carpet event, which was hosted by accomplished journalist and popular broadcaster, Deborah Knight.
