The ITAs are adjudicated by an independent panel of Leading TA Professionals, Previous ITA Winners, and Industry Experts.
Five Judges will assess each nomination against the award criteria, with the Winner announced at the ITAs Gala Event.
*It is important to note that no judge will be assigned to adjudicate on a category where they (or any business they are associated with) have an affiliation. The ITAs are committed to the complete integrity of the awards.
Let’s meet our Judges.
Regional Director APAC – Smart Recruiters – MAJOR SPONSOR
The majority of the time it doesn’t feel like a job to Rich because he is incredibly passionate about people, process, technology and transformation around talent.
Rich has worked in the HR & Recruitment industry for 15 years and has had the pleasure of working for organizations of all shapes and sizes that were open to change and digital transformation around HR and talent acquisition strategy.
Rich’s passion for technology whilst working in this space has allowed him to explore how we can embrace and utilise technology for better experiences, efficiencies and results.
Rich is excited by the “Future of Work” and how we are all either working in or walking towards a world where AI, machine learning and automation will be used everywhere for the greater good.
Founder and Managing Director – TQ Solutions
Living in Melbourne, Australia, Gareth is best known for his role of Managing Director of TQSolutions, a market leading consulting and advisory business solving client’s talent and workforce challenges. He is also a co-founder and Director of The Career Conversation, an early stage micro-learning services business focused on developing human skills for early career and professional workers. In his consulting work with TQSolutions he advises enterprise customers on their talent and workforce strategy; the design and development of service and operating models; and the selection and implementation of HR and Talent technology. Gareth is deeply passionate about optimising the talent lifecycle, from initial talent attraction and employer branding through to talent and workforce mobility, development and retention. He is hoping to shift corporate and leader mindset towards talent, enabling them to become ‘talent makers’ rather than ‘talent takers’, and ultimately moving to a world of high value talent engagement and mobility.
General Manager – ATC Events
Jo works with the talent community to improve the way that everyday people are hired, a flow on effect that impacts most of the working population of Australia.
Jo explores talent and workforce trends around the world, reviews and share in-house talent stories and help to launch new Talent Tech Start-ups as part of her work as Curator and Host of the Australasian Talent Conference.
Her journey through Recruitment, Learning & Development, Career Coaching, Psychometrics to Talent Events began in 1998 but it is the challenges and opportunities of today’s market and workforce that has never been more exciting.
Global Recruiting Leader – Canva
Amy Schultz leads Global Talent Acquisition at Canva. Her thought leadership and insightful commentary on the workplace inspire conversation and action for professionals around the world. Amy has lived in Shanghai, Singapore and San Francisco where she previously led Recruiting for LinkedIn’s Global Product Organisation, partnering directly with Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn’s now CEO. Leading global teams has enabled Amy to better understand the cultural nuances of what we do and how talent, skills and technology should be viewed holistically. Amy has worked in Recruiting Technology, Agency, RPO and In-house teams, which has allowed her to see recruitment from all angles of our industry, demonstrating to her that Talent Acquisition requires instinct, creativity and insights to enable businesses to effectively scale with their Number 1 asset, their People. Amy won Talent Leader of the Year – Enterprise at the ITAs in 2022 and the Canva recruiting team also won 3 ITA awards last year.
Co-founder of ATC Events,
ITA’s Winner 2022- Lifetime Achievement Award
It’s difficult to think of many people who have made a bigger contribution in this country to recruitment and talent acquisition than Trevor Vas. But like most of us, he didn’t start life in recruiting, but as a qualified accountant before becoming an IT Recruitment Consultant over 30 years ago.
For the last 20 years, he has led the way in TA & Recruitment consulting in Australia and NZ. The ‘who’s who’ of companies have had their TA operating model and strategy designed by Trevor.
Many people in our industry owe a lot to Trevor. He has always been Avery generous with his time and guidance, and he has helped build many of the amazing TA careers we see across the country today.
By creating the largest Talent Acquisition Conference in the region in the mid 2000’s our industry was transformed to a level of professionalism not previously seen. There wouldn’t be many TA professionals who haven’t been to the ATC.
Founder of The Future of Talent Institute
Co-founder of ATC Events
Kevin is our resident oracle, and international judge.
Kevin is the founder of The Future of Talent Institute, a research and consulting firm focused on understanding and analysing the future of talent management and acquisition. He is a recognised expert and thought leader, with a particular focus on talent management, leadership development, and workforce planning. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Kevin has worked with some of the world’s leading organisations, providing insights, strategies, and solutions to help them manage and develop their talent.
Through his work with the Institute, Kevin is dedicated to advancing the field of talent management and helping organisations create better futures for themselves and their employees.
With a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the industry, Kevin has been instrumental in shaping the future of talent acquisition. From his groundbreaking research to his innovative programs and initiatives, he has set the bar for excellence in the field.
Kevin is also the co-director of ATC- Talent Acquisition Events & Media.
Director of Talent Acquisition – VMware
Esha has over 18 years of experience in Talent Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Digital Transformation & People Leadership.
Through her own experiences, she has a passion for breaking down barriers and stigmas and educating teams on how they can build an inclusive culture and purposeful team environment.
Esha’s podcast interview around Candidate Experience and Diversity & Inclusion on TaPod is one of the most downloaded episodes in the podcast’s history.
Founder – Talentrich & The Circle back Initiative
Steve Gard was an In-house Head of Talent Acquisition for over 12 years prior to starting his own TA Strategy & Consulting business, Talentrich in 2019. He then launched The Circle Back Initiative in the middle of the COVID pandemic in July 2020 after seeing the stress and anxiety job seekers were experiencing.
He has over 20 years recruitment experience and extensive experience in leading major transformations of in-house Recruitment strategy, process & capability for Global organisations.
Founder of Createfulness & Rubberband
Edan can be described as one of the Talent Acquisition industries most versatile leaders. He is currently wearing multiple hats including: Founder of Createfulness and Creator/ Moderator of Rubberband.
Createfulness is a team development program- helping teams shift from their REACTIVE mindset to their CREATIVE mindset to solve business problems. Using fresh flowers, the workshops are hands on, and help employees shift into their Createfulness zone.
In his spare time, Edan is the creator and moderator of Rubberband, on online Facebook networking forum, with a core focus on mental health support for the Talent Acquisition Industry.
Bedi is a passionate human resource professional with over 10 years of experience within banking, law, and the Victorian Public Sector. Her areas of expertise include Graduate and Early Career talent management, Diversity & Inclusion Recruitment, and Diversity Employment Program Management.
She is also the proud co-founder of DivTal, an online job platform that connects inclusive employers to Black Indigenous People of Colour (BIPOC) talent.
This all in addition to her work with the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission.
Together we can create a more inclusive future of work.
Director – Monash Talent Solutions
Paul is the Director of Monash Talent Solutions, with a proven track record of developing successful talent acquisition strategies globally for large scale TA programs. He is passionate about creating memorable experiences and leveraging technology for positive impact, Paul’s team at Monash connects early-career talent from Monash with industry at scale.
General Manager- TQ Solutions
Nadine is the General Manager of People Solutions at TQSolutions, the leading advisory firm in Australia for talent and people strategy, recruitment, and careers consulting.
With over 20 years of experience in Senior Leadership roles within Talent for top employers, including Citigroup, Macquarie Group, Amgen, and Mission Australia, she now leads a team of over 50 experts at TQ Solutions, supporting clients with specialist talent acquisition, engagement, and mobility capabilities to retain talent and scale.
Nadine’s passion for HR and talent development is evident in her regular contributions to industry newsletters, media, and speaking engagements.
Employer Brand Project Lead – Woolworths Group
Ella Cullen is a dynamic Talent Acquisition and Employer Brand Leader, currently leading Employer Brand at Woolworths Group. With over eight years of experience in the technology industry, specializing in Talent Acquisition and Social Media Marketing, she has led global initiatives and built employer brand functions from scratch at Concentrix Tigerspike and Immutable. Ella has a passion for content and storytelling. She brings the company EVP to life via multiple channels attracting top talent and showcasing the power of the Employer Brand via data and analytics.
Head of People & Talent- Mindset Health
Pavi is a highly experienced Global HR and Talent professional with an exceptional track record of driving business results through people strategies.
Co-hosts – TaPod podcast
TaPod understands that the world of ‘Talent’ is serious. So they talk to serious people. But they also blend it with story-telling, humour and a hint of self-deprecation.
TaPod combines over 40 years of industry experience and what they don’t know they get a guest in to explain. Simple.
Both Lauren and Craig come from a strong background in recruitment and business. With key-note speaking experience and published content in the TA space they are widely viewed as experts in the ever-changing recruitment landscape.
Lauren & Craig bounce off each other to get to the ‘nitty gritty’ of the issues facing the TA community.
Head of Talent Acquisition ANZ & Global Talent Sourcing Leader- Toll Group
Jess has spent almost 18 years within talent acquisition with some amazing brands including Toll, CBA, AMP, GE, Cisco and Thales, building, scaling, and leading strategic sourcing functions.
Having been an early adopter of recruitment technology, Jess started early in the world of proactive sourcing and thinking about different ways to identify and engage talent, well before the concepts of strategic sourcing had become mainstream.
Jess has built strategic sourcing functions from scratch which enabled organisations to significantly reduce recruitment costs including cost per hire, improve quality of new hires, reduce time to fill, reduce external recruitment agencies, right through to building proactive talent communities of critically aligned talent for future recruitment.
One of Jess’ core skills and passions is designing and operationalising talent sourcing functions and models and really designing talent solutions that solve for today’s challenging talent environments.
Jess is a true leader in the Talent Acquisition and Sourcing space.
