Swinburne celebrates Alumni Impact Awards 2021 winners at virtual ceremony

Swinburne University of Technology has announced the three winners for its inaugural Alumni Impact Awards held on Wednesday 13 October 2021.

Hosted by Emmy award-winning foreign correspondent, author and commentator, Sara James, the virtual ceremony was celebrated with Swinburne alumni, staff, family, and friends from inside their homes across 30 countries. 

Swinburne Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Pascale Quester congratulated the winners and all finalists for 2021.

“The Alumni Impact Awards celebrate our alumni who epitomise what we have chosen to stand for: people and technology for a better world, innovation and social impact.

“Our finalists and winners are a testament to Swinburne and we are truly fortunate to count these bright leaders as our alums. Their success is our success,” she said. 

Meet the winners

Winners were chosen by a broad selection committee from rigorous criteria, for their exceptional contribution to building a better world. 

Jacqueline Savage – Technology Impact Award 

Founder of MedCorp Technologies, an Australian medical device company dedicated to improving the healthcare industry through technology and innovation, developing products for global distribution.  

Nicole Lamond – Innovation Impact Award

CEO and Founder of Universal Village and Eloments, two innovative fair-trade companies with ethical and moral approaches to support farmers and communities around the world. 

Lidia Thorpe – George and Ethel Swinburne Impact Award

a Senator for Victoria, a proud Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman and the first Aboriginal woman elected to the Victorian Parliament and as a Senator for Victoria. Lidia is The Greens spokesperson for First Nations, Justice, and Sport. She is a passionate advocate for First Nations rights, women’s rights, public health, environmental protection, public housing and child protection, social and environmental justice.

The three winners were awarded trophies designed by Blair Kuys, Mathieu Lewis and Matthew Blythman; a team of Swinburne alumni who studied across design and engineering. 

Meet the finalists

The nine Swinburne Alumni Impact Award finalists were:

Technology Impact Award 

Jefferson Harcourt, Executive Chairman of Grey Innovation Group, Director of Eco Detection, GreyScan and TALI Health Ltd. Jefferson’s 20-year career has been built on using technology to make the world a better place across the medical, security and environmental fields. 

Peter Nguyen-Brown, Co-founder and CXO of LiveTiles, an award-winning global software company that provides technological solutions and tools to transform organisations and build employee engagement through AI, analytics and user interface design. 

Innovation Impact Award  

Andrew Collins, Group CEO at Mailman, a global sports digital consultancy and agency, headquartered in Shanghai, with offices in London, Singapore and Los Angeles. 

Wesa Chau, Founder and CEO of Cultural Intelligence, a consulting firm offering training and research to promote cultural diversity and innovative thinking within organisations across Australia.  

The George and Ethel Swinburne Social Impact Award

Brendan J Doidge, drives the five-year strategy at Common Equity Housing Limited, Victoria’s largest community housing association. Brendan is guided by the Triple Bottom Line philosophy, advocating for an economically inclusive, environmentally sustainable and socially cohesive society. Outside of work, Brendan volunteers his time through 1:1 careers advisory and strategy consulting to Australia’s emerging non-profit and community organisations through Goodwill Collective. 

Stephen Graham, Founder of BildGroup, Boat O’Craigo Winery and The Graham Family Foundation. Stephen is a successful businessman, vigneron and philanthropist who enabled Swinburne academics to create the Swinburne Australian Leadership Index, a research initiative to improve and increase the practice of ethical leadership.

Each of their stories are available on Swinburne’s Alumni Impact Awards website.