Share Your Story to Inspire Others with Your Achievements

As the CEO of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women's Council, Mason now dedicates her time to
delivering support services – such as child nutrition and wellbeing programs, protective services for victims of domestic abuse and mental health awareness programs – to women and families in remote communities of central Australia.

Mason’s extraordinary work for women and children in Indigenous communities, combined with her compelling personal journey, resulted in her winning 2016 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year.

"Being named a finalist or winner gives immediate credibility. I can say that I have had access to opportunities that prior to my involvement in the Awards would not have been as easily accessible. This is both a reward and a responsibility and I feel I have tried to maximise both of these aspects.”    

With encouragement from a former finalist and a facilitator of business networks in central Australia, Mason decided to complete an entry for the Awards. “I felt I had been a witness to many amazing initiatives in central Australia and other places [and] letting other Australian women know about these success stories was possible through the Awards,” she says.

Highly recognised in not just the business, but government and community sectors, the power of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards has helped to elevate Mason’s reach and, furthermore, facilitate strong connections that are benefiting the NPY Women’s Council.

“The Awards have given me opportunities to sit on national bodies and speak on national issues. Many of the national leaders that I speak to today are female. It is obvious that current female leaders are serious about legacy as well as creating structural change to allow women in the next generation to be even more extraordinary in business and government."

Mason is creating major waves in her field as a result of her win and recognises that the entry process has been an integral part of shaping her current business perspective, providing a time of reflection and positive affirmation regarding her achievements. 

“[The Awards process] gave me reason to reflect on where I have been, what I am doing and where I am going. It was a great way to capture this story and acknowledge my commitment to it,” she says.

A strong female figure – one that is admired in her community and now nationwide – Mason believes that women considering entering the Awards should seize the opportunity and use it as a way to share their story to a wider audience.
“Who knows where an entry will end and how far and wide your story can be promoted? There is something to be gained by moving our stories from the invisible to the visible.”

We can’t argue with that.