With over 19 years experience in the ICT industry and being the first Australian inducted into the Hall of Fame for Women in Technology International (Silicon Valley December 2005), Sonja has three ICT and management related degrees, including an MBA, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), a Certified Developer of Enterprise™ and was a double award winner in the Achaeus Institute entrepreneurship program (2005).
She is a director of two companies:
Director and CEO of award winning ThoughtWare Australia Pty Ltd, a Gold Coast based technology company.
Director of About Achievement, world leaders in Peer Mentoring and Coaching Programs.
Sonja brings value to an organisation through her action orientation, intelligent rational thinking, business acumen and experience in the Information and CommunicationTechnology sector. In addition her:
- widely acknowledged energy and enthusiasm levels,
- highly developed interpersonal and communication skills,
- experience on high level boards and committees, and
- extensive project and team work,
result in a person who has a proven ability and willingness to operate effectively at all levels, and manage multiple work loads to consistently deliver results.
Sonja's background and experience reveal strong skills in the areas of coaching/mentoring, project methodologies, project management and director roles, strategic planning advice and organisational skills.
Summary Skills and Experience
Key Skills:
- Action oriented
- Highly developed communications skills
- Strong relationship builder
- Strategic and analytical skills
- Human Resource Management knowledge & experience
- Management- General, Professional Services and Project
- Continual innovation is ideas and processes
- An acknowledged inspirational leadership style
Demonstrated examples/outcomes:
- Results are consistently delivered, proven examples of multi tasking
- Open clear communication, honest and direct
- Business relationships established and maintained
- Intelligent thoughtful advice that considers possible impacts and implications
- Taking both the big picture and the detail levels into account
- Able to vision and input to future directions and design appropriate strategies
- People and change management issues considered in situations
- Seamlessly able to work from shop floor to executive and Ministerial levels
- Innovative problem solving techniques utilised
- Productivity tools both developed and continuously enhanced
- Naturally lends itself towards adding value to an organisation by being a positive motivated people mover, someone who initiates action and encourages/charms people into feeling motivated about their environment and work.
Key Experience Includes:
Survey/Reviews - design survey instruments, conduct and analyse survey results (5 years),
Design, development and implementation of project methodologies and tool kits (10 years),
Project director and project management roles for:
- Software Implementation and Upgrade Projects (12 years)
- Software Development Projects (6 years)
- IT&T Infrastructure Projects (6 years).
Download Sonja's work CV here.
Sonja's Style
DISC Evaluation:
Immediately noticeable traits are a high level of :
- enthusiasm
- energy
- motivation
- drive
Further investigation reveals continual innovation in ideas and processes, exceptional organisational and planning skills and an action orientated approach.
Leadership style and Management techniques:
Sonja has an acknowledged inspirational leadership style. This has been validated not only by feedback but also via behavioural profile testing.
Her leadership style naturally lends itself towards adding value to an organisation by being a positive motivated people mover, someone who initiates action and encourages/charms people into feeling motivated about their environment and work.
The key overriding factor to Sonja's management style is an everlasting supply of enthusiasm and energy that fosters motivation and drive in those around her.
Sonja's management style is open clear communication, honest, direct and action oriented, with a focus on continuous process improvement.
Professional Achievements
Sonja's professional achievements include the following awards, qualifications, appointments and publications:
Awards:
Awards & Public Recognition for Sonja and ThoughtWare
Announced as a winner/finalist in:
- One of 18 Australian business women featured in the Australian Federal Government 2007 publication "Women Entrepreneurs" (download Women Entrepreneurs for free: 5.2 MB pdf file)
- Listed in Australian Who's Who of Women in Business (2006& 2007) and the Marquis Who's Who in Science and Engineering 2006-2007 (note: these are credentials qualified listings, not paid listings)
- ThoughtWare was listed in the Top 50 of the Inaugural Anthill Cool Company Awards (2006).
- First Australian inducted into the Hall of Fame for Women in Technology International (Silicon Valley, December 2005)
- Winner Best Financial Plan - Achaeus Financing Innovative Growth (FIG) Program (2005)
- Winner Best Business Plan presentation - Achaeus Financing Innovative Growth (FIG) Program (2005)
- Finalist - Women in Business - Technology Category (2006)
- Finalist - International Women's Day Leadership Awards (2004)
- Finalist - Inaugural Queensland Pearcey Awards (2003)
- Finalist in the National Work and Family Awards - First Steps Categories (August 2001)
- Finalist in the National Work and Family Awards - Small Business Categories (August 2001)
- Finalist - Zonta - Woman of Achievement Award (August 2001)
- Finalist - Queensland University of Technology (QUT) - Outstanding Alumni Award (July 2001)
- Finalist - Telstra - Business Women's Awards (Queensland) (1998)
- and noted as one of Australia's top 15 women in ICT (1998)
Formal Qualifications:
Sonja holds three management and information technology related degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts majoring in abstract algebra and psychology (UQ, 1987)
- Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management (QUT, 1989)
- MBA (Masters of Business Administration) (QUT, 1992)
Sonja is also an immediate past member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Board, Advisory Council and Executive Appointments:
Sonja's string of impressive industry involvement and appointments include the following:
- Member of Federal ICT Summit Advisory Group - this group reports directly the Senator Helan Coonan the national Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
- Appointed to the prestigious Queensland Government ICT Ministerial Advisory Group — Industry Development — this group reports directly to the Honorable Chris Cummins
- Member of the “Diversity on Boards” Round Table that provides advice to the Queensland premier on board appointment policy
- Treasurer of the Australian Mentoring Institute
- Past President of eWomen Global
- Founding Chairperson of AWISE (Australian Women in IT and Science Entity)
- Founder of Women in Technology (WIT), a very active (and high achieving) network for women in the technology industries
- Chair of Senior Stateswomen (ex WIT presidents and vice presidents)
- Foundation member of GIDGITS (Girls Into Doing Great Information Technology Society) Steering Committee
Prestigious Judging Appointments - Current
Board & Committee Appointments - Immediate Past
- 2003-2005 - Business Higher Education Round Table (B-HERT) - science & technology careers taskforce
- 1998-2004 - Board member of the Prestigious Queensland Government Communication and Information Advisory Board (CIAB), that provides advice directly to the Minister. Sonja has chaired or deputy chaired associated CIAB working groups (eBusiness, industry development, investment attraction, knowledge portal and electronic service delivery)
- 2004 - Leader of the GCRITF (Gold Coast Regional IT Forum) Industry Image Group
- 2003 - Member of the Asia Pacific ICT Awards Board (Australia)
- 2003 - Foundation member of GIDGITS (Girls Into Doing Great Information Technology Society) Steering Committee
- 2003 - Advisory Group member - Rural & Remote IT program (technology & training for Year 10's)
- 2003 - Steering Committee member - "Skilling Cape Communities" technology training & education for indigenous communities in far north Queensland
- 2002 - Member of the Australian E-mentoring Reference Group
- 2001 - Member of the Federal Government auDA (australian dot au domain) Competition Advisory Panel
- 2000 - Member of the Gold Coast Regional IT Forum - eWomen Committee
- 2000 - Deputy Chair of the Asia Pacific IT&T Awards - Advisory Council (Qld)
- 2000 - IT&T Careers Stuff Steering Committee (developed career kit for Queensland students)
- 1997 - 1999 Inaugural President of Women in Information Technology
- 1998 - Member of the Queensland IT&T Combined Forum
Judging Appointments - Immediate Past
- 2003 - Overall Chair of the Australian Judging Panels for the Asia Pacific ICT Awards
- 2003 - Australian representative on the International ICT Awards Judging Panel
- 2002 - One of a select group of judges in the prestigious 2002 World Congress "Secrets of IT Innovation" Awards
- 2002 - Judge in the WIT Business Innovation and WIT Managers Awards
- 2001 - Judge in the WIT Managers and WIT Executive Awards
- 2000 - Judge in the Westpac/WIT Business Innovation Awards
- 2000 - Judge in the WIT Undergraduate Scholarships
To discover three reasons why you want Sonja on your board, click here.
The CIAB is the Queensland Government Communication and Information Advisory Board. Sonja has had these appointments related to the CIAB:
- In November 1998 Sonja was appointed a Board member of the CIAB. This is a prestigious appointment to the board that provides advice directly to the Minister for Communication and Information. The role of the board is to develop and implement a strategic plan for Queensland's IT&T industry. This appointment was renewed in November 1999 and again in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
- Chair of the Queensland E-Business Working Group. This was a working group of the CIAB. The group's Vision was: "To facilitate industry and Government reaching an agreement and support for a common direction for E-Commerce for the State of Queensland."
- Deputy Chair of the Queensland Industry Development & Investment Attraction Working Group. This was a working group of the CIAB whose objective was to make recommendations to the State Government about enhancing industry development and attracting IT&T industries to Queensland.
- Co-Chair of the Queensland Industry Portal Working Group. This was a working group of the CIAB whose objective was to make a recommendation to the State Government about the design of a web portal showcasing Queensland's IT&T Industry.
- Member of the Queensland Electronic Service Delivery Working Group. This is a working group of the CIAB whose objective is to make recommendations to the State Government about Electronic Service Delivery (ESD).
- From 1998 to 2002 Sonja was a member of the Asia-Pacific ICT Board (Australia).
- In 2000 Sonja served as Deputy Chair of the Asia-Pacific ICT Board (Queensland)
- In 2001 and 2002 Sonja was appointed as an Australian representative on the International ICT Awards Panel.
In May 1997 Sonja founded Women in Information Technology (WIT), a professional association that aims to sustain an active network of women in the Information Economy, facilitating ICT career development and promoting enhanced industry management. In 2002 WIT became Women in Technology, extending its target audience to include women in the engineering and science sectors.
WIT has a Queensland member base of approximately 500 and a mailing list of over 1,200, and Sonja is leading meetings with like groups across Australia to form a national coalition of women in ICT groups.
As part of her active involvement in WIT, Sonja has designed, managed and implemented projects and activities that address issues such as:
- increasing board readiness among women
- ICT careers awareness
- mentoring
- role modelling
Sonja served as the founding President from May 1997 to August 1999, and is now known as the Founder and Inaugural President. In these roles Sonja is responsible for developing relationships with key government and industry representatives, and for ambassadorial type activities.
Radio / Podcast
December 2006 – podcast in Silicon Valley USA: “Secrets of an Entrepreneur” plus “My life in IT”.
Late 2005-Current - Resident "Geek Girl" on ABC Coast FM 91.7, 90.3 and 95.3 radio stations – providing a weekly spot highlighting technology issues. Ad hoc geek girl presentation on 613 ABD Brisbane.
2002 - Weekly radio spot, ABC 91.7 Coast FM, as technology & communications expert, on topics including:
ICT on the Gold Coast
- the impact of science & technology
- future technologies
- augmented reality
- nanotechnology
- artificial intelligence
- viruses, worms and trojan horses
- spam, scams & urban legends
- careers in ICT
- mobile technologies, e.g. Bluetooth & WAP
- ICT acronyms
- movies and technology
- history of the Internet
- Distributed computing
- Microsoft history
- Humorous technology quotes
- women in technology
as well as providing timely, practical advice.
Sonja regularly provides general commentary and opinion articles in technology trade journals, and general media publications (online and in print).
Professional Publications:
IT Workers: Human Capital Issues in a Knowledge-Based Environment (2006: Information Age Publishing). Sonja co-authored a chapter of this book titled "Employment Sharing for IT Micro and Small Business."
The Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology is the only reference work that provides an all-encompassing perspective on the way gender and information technology impact each other. Idea Group Publishing in early 2006. Sonja wrote a chapter for this encyclopedia: “Boards, IT Skills and Women - the Australian Context.”
Regular contributor to The education Technology Guide (published by the Australian Media Group). Topics have covered gender and ICT, ICT on school boards and nanotechnology.
HR Monthly magazine - March 2000: "The Failure of Integrated Systems" (arguing that specialist HR systems are probably now superior to those integrated with Payroll).
Author of an article on balancing IT and HRM input in HR systems selection and implementation projects in HR Monthly magazine, March 1999.
Author of an article on workflow in HR Monthly magazine, March 1998 (a magazine distributed to members of AHRI [the Australian Institute of Human Resource Management]).
Author of an article in the Asia Pacific Journal of Quality Management, Volume 4 Number 3, 1995: "Relationships between TQM, Marketing and Strategic Management".
Sonja has also written a number of eBooks.
See Public Activities for further details of Sonja's publications, conference and media presentations.
