The finalists for the 2015 Women of Influence Awards in the Board and Management category, proudly sponsored by MYOB.

Anya Anderson

Anya is the founder and CEO of online training provider RedSeed, which has been a finalist in the New Zealand HiTech Awards in 2014 and 2015, a regional winner in the ANZ Flying Start Competition and a finalist at the Champion Canterbury Awards in 2015. The company now boasts a majority share of its target market in New Zealand (an estimated 60%). As Anya has grown and developed RedSeed, the business has taken on national and international brands, including Samsung New Zealand, Revlon Australasia, Icebreaker Merino, The Warehouse Group, Briscoe Group and FoodStuffs South Island. 2014 also saw RedSeed launch the first online version of the National Certificate in Retail. This was the outcome of a strategic partnership that Anya has fostered with national qualifications provider ServiceIQ (formerly the Retail ITO). Currently in its first iteration, the online version has the potential to double annual revenue from the New Zealand market and solidify the company’s presence for the foreseeable future.

Sharon Cooke

Sharon is head of global training at Airways New Zealand, charged with implementing the vision to become the Air Navigation Services industry’s preeminent outsourced training provider. She has established a growth strategy for the business, set up a student exchange programme to China and implemented an e-learning framework for the business.  Sharon was previously a college manager in the College of Education at the University of Canterbury, where she established monthly reporting systems, workload database systems, a marketing plan and a 15% decrease in general operating expenditure in 2008 to 2009. She is also a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

Serena Fiso

Serena is co-founder and executive director of Connect Global Limited, an outsourced contact centre based in Porirua, servicing many large organisations such as Genesis Energy, NZ Herald, OMV and VTNZ.  The company was the only call centre to set up and run the Red Cross Hotline after the Christchurch February 22nd earthquake, answering 20,000 calls for help in the first day alone. Connect Global generates turnover in excess of $10 million annually and has provided employment for over 500 people over 13 years in business, directly contributing to lowering unemployment in the Porirua region. The company was a Porirua Business Awards finalist in 2008 and 2009, a Pacific Business Trust Awards finalist in 2005 and 2007, and the only 100% New Zealand-owned call centre to be a finalist in the TUANZ Outsource Contact Centre of the Year award (2007 and 2008). Serena herself was a 2014 NEXT Woman of the Year finalist in the business category and is a leader in Porirua’s current Youth 2 Work movement, which is a collective of business, community and education leaders banding together to invest in the next generation.

Linda Jenkinson