On August 14th, The room was electric. Over 500 diversity, equity, and inclusion champions filled the venue for the TechDiversity Awards 2025, marking a milestone 10th anniversary.

This wasn’t just another awards night. It was a powerful reminder that while some organisations retreat from DEI commitments, others are using diversity as their competitive edge.

The Winners in each category:

• Business Category Winner: Press Play Ventures By Jumpstart Studio, Vox360, NiceTo & Evander Strategy.
  Kristina Bennett from Westpac presented this category, emphasising that “sustainable diversity isn’t just about doing good, but doing business better.” Press Play Ventures embodies this philosophy through their pre-accelerator programme helping women transition from employment into entrepreneurship. The initiative recognises that diverse voices aren’t just important for building tomorrow’s tech – they’re essential.
• Education Category Winner: FutureTech – Reimagining Education for Neurodivergent Youth By FutureTech Australia Incorporated
  Student Ambassador Purvang Dave delivered one of the night’s most moving presentations, standing as “the echo of every young person who was told tech isn’t for them – not because they weren’t smart enough, but because no one let them be seen.” His sobering statistics hit hard: 60% of underrepresented students leave tech pathways, yet students are 2.5 times more likely to pursue tech careers with just one mentor. “Get education right,” Dave declared, “we don’t just graduate students – we launch a revolution.”
• Government Category Winner: MyAMES Chat – Empowering Language, Literacy, and Employability Skills Through AI Innovation By Getmee and AMES Australia
  Chief Judge Brett Findlay, CEO of FourPL and a 10-year sponsor, presented this award with heartfelt words: “After reviewing all nominations, I truly value and believe in exactly what we do. We started 10 years ago because it’s your story – your story means we can make a difference.” MyAMES Chat uses AI to revolutionise foundation skills education, offering personalised, real-time coaching to English as Additional Language learners – proving that technology can break down barriers and build bridges to employment.
• Campaign of the Year Winner: HyroBot Rumble Challenge By STEM Hub in collaboration with Australian Grand Prix Corporation, sponsored by BAE Systems Australia
  John Craven, Chair of SPECIALISTERNE, brought powerful perspective to this category. Remembering when both TechDiversity and SPECIALISTERNE Australia launched in 2015, he shared how his organisation has supported over 600 people with autism into meaningful careers. “From people starting out in their room for years to talking on their first day at work,” Craven noted, emphasising how campaigns can create truly neuro-inclusive workplaces. The HyroBot Rumble Challenge used social media, paid advertising, and school posters to drive national engagement in STEM education aligned with Australian motorsport.
• Tech for Good Category Winner & TechDiversity Champion: Make it Easy App By We Make It Easy Pty Ltd
  In a stunning double victory, Make it Easy App claimed both the Tech for Good category and the prestigious TechDiversity Champion title.
  Shivaune Field from Forbes, Editorial Lead for their Women initiative, presented the Tech for Good award from the night’s most popular category with 57 nominations. “Technology, like media, is at its best when it reflects the society we live in,” Field emphasised. “This is how we build tech that is more robust and reflects the community we live in.” The app transforms complex information into Easy English, Easy Read, or Plain English for people with low literacy, intellectual disability, or language barriers. When the team took the stage as overall Champion, presented by last year’s winner Dr Annie McAuley from TalkiPlay, they were visibly overwhelmed. “We’re so thankful to everyone at the awards – we can feel the love on stage!”Dr McAuley reflected on her own journey: “Winning was a defining moment for my team. We had a flood of applications from people who wanted to work where they can make a difference.” Her message resonated deeply: “As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, remember this is more than tech – it’s about equity, opportunity, and having a voice, ensuring everyone has the chance to thrive.”

Distinguished Merit Winners

We also congratulate Merit Winners, to see who they were please download our slide deck (once you click on this it will be sent to your download folder), they represent the breadth and depth of innovation happening across Australia’s diversity and inclusion landscape.

The Unsung Heroes: Every Nomination Mattered

While five initiatives claimed the major awards, the evening celebrated something equally important – the 100+ nominations received across all categories.

“The quality of nominations keeps rising. The impact stories keep getting stronger. The innovation in inclusion keeps pushing boundaries,” noted Luli Adeyemo during her keynote. Every nomination represented an organisation brave enough to submit their work for scrutiny, confident that their DEI efforts were making genuine impact.

The 57 nominations in the Tech for Good category alone demonstrated how deeply embedded the belief has become that technology should serve all of society. Each nomination told a story of teams asking different questions, building better systems, and creating fairer outcomes.

The Data Behind the Celebration

The Tech Reflects survey revealed the remarkable diversity in the room: 278 respondents representing 43 countries of birth, 57 cultural groups, 96 ancestries, and 96 languages and dialects.

Quincy Hall’s humorous presentation of the data revealed telling insights about identity priorities. For women, gender ranked as their second highest identity priority; for men, it ranked 17th. “What’s important to you as leaders in HR or people in culture might not be that important to the people on the ground,” Hall noted. “You need to meet people some of the way by knowing what’s important to them.”

The survey also addressed current political realities: 43% agreed that the backlash against DEI has negatively affected their organisation’s ambitions. Yet 91% still believe DEI is fundamentally good, and one respondent’s comment captured the evening’s defiant spirit: “We have embedded DEI. This will not change with government or US politics. Read more here.

The Launch of Tomorrow’s Solutions

The evening wasn’t just about celebrating past achievements – it launched concrete initiatives for the future. Luli Adeyemo announced Australia’s first AI Impact Assessment Programme, training diverse professionals to assess and govern AI systems. “We’re building a working group with Info Sphere Education, AWS, Accenture, the National AI Centre and others,” she revealed.

The TechDiversity Academy, launching September 1st, represents another concrete step forward. “While some organisations are stepping back from DEI, we’re building the capability they’ll desperately need,” Adeyemo noted.

A Decade of Progress, A Future of Possibility

As the evening concluded, the message was clear: this 10th anniversary wasn’t just about celebrating a decade of progress – it was about launching the next decade where diverse voices don’t just get into the room, they shape what happens in it.

In a world where 47% of companies that dropped DEI policies now report declining morale, the TechDiversity Awards 2025 celebrated organisations choosing a different path – one where difference isn’t just accepted, it’s weaponised for good.

As one survey respondent beautifully summarised the evening’s spirit: their organisation has embedded DEI so deeply that external political winds cannot shake their commitment. That’s not just good values – that’s smart business preparation for a future that belongs to everyone.

The message was unmistakable: diversity isn’t just surviving the current climate – it’s thriving, innovating, and building the foundation for Australia’s technological future.

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