First nations initiative leads to NAWIC project management win

Brooke Emmett of construction company Fulton Hogan has been named Project Manager of the Year at the National Association for Women in Construction (NAWIC) Awards for Excellence for her management of the Newell Highway upgrade in northern New South Wales.

NAWIC judges applauded Emmett’s strong engagement with local Indigenous communities, which saw her project surpass minimum employment requirements. Thirty-seven local people of Indigenous heritage were employed on the project, including two students.

Emmett also received praise for her astute management of a large team of more than 150 staff and subcontractors, where she built a culture of working hard, working smart and working safe.

Her strategic planning and re-sequencing of the program reduced construction duration by an impressive 25%.

The NAWIC Project Manager of the Year award was sponsored by Probuild.

Other key award winners included Aurecon’s Global Leader for Rail and Mass Transit Rowenna Walker, who won the Laing O’Rourke Award for Business Woman of the Year, and Growthbuilt Director of Strategy & Business Relations Melanie Kurzydlo, the first woman to join its executive leadership team.

Kurzydlo took home the Lendlease Crystal Vision Award for Advancing the Interests of Women in the Construction Industry for championing diversity in all its forms and driving “progressive change within her company and throughout our entire industry,” noted NAWIC co-president Harriet Oldmeadow.