FOUR women from four corners of the state have been named as the 2018 NSW-ACT AgriFutures Rural Women's Award finalists.
The Land can reveal they are Infrastructure Collective founder and director Jillian Kilby from Dubbo, Active Farmers founder Ginny Stevens from Mangoplah, rural speaker, photographer, and blogger Shanna Whan from Narrabri, and GOTERRA managing director Olympia Yarger from Canberra.
The winner will be unveiled at Parliament House in Sydney next month.
“These women play a huge role in building confidence, both in the sector and the community. I know everyone will be inspired by these regional heroes,” Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said.
“Each applicant has submitted their innovative project which outlines how their initiative will drive change and improve our primary industries and regional communities.
This year’s winner will receive a $10,000 bursary and will compete for the national award in Canberra, which has a $10,000 bursary of its own.
The three remaining NSW finalists will receive a $1000 DPI Leadership Bursary for skills and development. Last year’s winner was rural education advocate Sandra Ireson, who developed the developed the Hay Inc. Rural Education Program.
The Award is coordinated by the NSW Rural Women’s Network through DPI and supported by NSW Farmers, Office of Environment and Heritage and the NSW Country Women’s Association.