Three women from the Gosford area are in the running to become Business and Professional Women Central Coast’s (BPW) Woman of the Year.
Ms Yvonne Lamont, Sgt Jess Bradbury and Ms Wendy Malonyay are up against six other competitors from the Woy Woy Pensinula and Wyong. BPW’s Woman of the Year will be announced at its Woman of the Year dinner on February 27. BPW president, Ms Chris Levis said the nine fi nalists were: “Fabulous, talented, tireless and successful women all working or volunteering and living on the Central Coast”. One finalist is Ms Yvonne Lamont, director and founder of WOW Girls, who has received an empowerment award from BPW.
WOW Girls was established in February 2008 and has provided a diversity of opportunities for women of all ages and beliefs. Ms Lamont arranges activities and events for women including water sports, fi tness, public speaking, breakfasts and camps. According to BPW’s reasons for her nomination: “Yvonne has empowered women on the Central Coast to undertake activities and keep physically and mentally fi t. “Her networking group brings women of all ages together to cross-market activities that will benefi t a wide cross section of women”.
In terms of her contribution to women, “Yvonne has given generously of her time to establish the Waves of Wisdom (WOW), to organise events and activities, educate and improve the awareness of social and humanitarian issues and to inspire women to do more with their lives”. Sgt Jess Bradbury from Brisbane Water Local Area Command Domestic Violence Unit is another Woman of the Year fi nalist who has received an empowerment award for championing the cause of domestic violence in her role as a police offi cer. The domestic violence unit is dedicated to the reduction of domestic and family violence through victim and offender focused strategies and community education.
Sgt Bradbury is the domestic violence leader for the seventh largest police local area command within NSW. She leads her team as they review and ensure appropriate responses to every report of domestic and family violence. She prepares and supports victims when attending court, educates the community, targets offenders and ensures offender compliance. Sgt Bradbury received the BPW empowerment award because she requested a transfer into her role. “Sgt Bradbury is leading a change management process that she has designed to both improve the command’s response to reports of domestic violence and increase community awareness of the issues. As the leader of the team, she has increased the arrest rate of domestic violence offenders, increased the awareness of all Brisbane Water police offi cers of the challenges in supporting victims and increased community interaction with the NSW Police Force.
Ms Wendy Malonyay from Avoca Beach is another Empowerment Award recipient in the running for BPW Woman of the Year. Ms Malonyay is a member of the Homicide Victims Support Group, an organisation established 30 years ago by the family of Anita Cobby who was raped and murdered by fi ve men. The organisation provides counselling and ongoing support for families of homicide victims. Ms Malonyay is now supporting women in domestic violence situations following the murder of her daughter, Ms Kate Malonyay by her former partner two years ago.
According to information from BPW Central Coast, Wendy is raising funds for a home to be funded to support families in crisis and has already personally, with the help of her family, raised $60,000 for the project. She is a member of the Domestic Violence White Ribbon Committee on the Central Coast and speaks about her daughter with a view to highlight domestic violence issues. She is involved with the local police as a volunteer to assist women in domestic violence situations. She also attends the Goulburn Police Academy to provide an insight to domestic violence training for police.
She was nominated for the empowerment award by a member of Zonta Central Coast where Wendy was a guest speaker last year. “This was the first time Wendy had spoken publicly about Kate and the effect that domestic violence had had on her own life,” the BPW nomination notes said. “We were moved to tears by Wendy and her gracious presentation, which was about recognising and supporting women in violent situations. “Wendy is living and reliving her own nightmare so that other mothers and families can begin to recognise the effects domestic violence has on all of us as a community.”
Email, Jan 6, 2016 Chris Levis, BPW Central Coast