Our Judges
When the submission process closes, all stories are reviewed by our independent panel of judges. The panel then develops a list of finalists and ultimately winners in each of the community value categories. The panel may contact the club for further information about a story.
Each judging panellist is required to sign a Declaration of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement to ensure they do not divulge any information from the submissions.
Each judging panellist is required to sign a Declaration of Interest and Confidentiality Agreement to ensure they do not divulge any information from the submissions.
Gemma Rygate
CEO The Centre for Volunteering The Centre for Volunteering is the state peak for the NSW volunteering sector. Gemma has held the CEO position there since 2014. Prior to that, Gemma held the position of Executive Director, National, of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. She also has extensive experience as an executive, manager, consultant and facilitator across the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. Gemma’s career has been in leadership and senior management with close ties to the public sector. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree and Master of Arts. Gemma has extensive experience in leadership and financial management and has a special interest in project management and strategic planning. |
Nathan Hindmarsh
ClubsNSW Ambassador Nathan is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who captained the Parramatta Eels in the NRL and was also a NSW State of Origin and Australian international representative second-row forward. He played his entire career at the Eels and in 2010 broke the record for most games with the club. On 28 August 2018, Hindmarsh was inducted into the Parramatta Eels hall of fame. Nathan is currently a ClubsNSW Ambassador |
Louise Roberts
National Editor 360 Commercial for News Corp Australia Louise's dual role involves leading a team generating editorial content to support external commercial partners in retail, travel, motoring, health and more and also driving editorial support for NCA partners such as HarperCollins, Foxtel, Sky News and REA. |
Steven Pearce
CEO Surf Life Saving NSW Steven has 37 years executive, managerial, crisis and emergency experience in Fire Rescue NSW, NSW State Emergency Service, Surf Life Saving NSW and numerous corporate entities. Steven is responsible for the provision of leadership and management to a salaried and volunteer workforce of 76,000 members. He is acknowledged for his leadership and stakeholder management skills leading significant transformation in numerous organisations both cultural, inclusive, governance, technical and operational. Steven is a patrolling volunteer surf lifesaver at Helensburgh Stanwell Park SLSC, and an active member of both Sydney Branch and Illawarra Branch Rescue Water Craft (RWC) Support Operations teams. |