The founder of She Codes and advocate for women in STEM Kate Kirwin has been named the 2024 WA Young Australian of the Year at a ceremony held at Governor’s House last week.
Founder of CERI (the Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation) in Nedlands, Charlie Bass, was also named the 2024 WA Senior Australian of the Year.
The ceremony also crowned community advocate Mechelle Turvey as WA Australian of the Year, and Nick Hudson (founder of the Push Up Challenge) as Local Hero for WA.
Mechelle lost her 15 year-old son Cassius to a violent attack in Middle Swan last year. She has since worked with WA Police to deliver training sessions to recruits on how to deal sensitively with the victims of crime.
These four will compete against their equivalents in other states, with the recipients being announced by the Prime Minister on 25 January 2024.
Teaching Women to Code
Kate founded She Codes eight years ago with a mission to revolutionise the tech industry’s gender landscape, where only 30 per cent of roles are occupied by women. Through She Codes, Kate not only imparts coding skills but also opens gateways to technical careers, all within the embrace of a like-minded community. Thousands of women from all over the country have been taught to code, and had career changes as a result.
Beyond her work at She Codes, Kate has been one of the driving forces behind the expansion of Perth startup hub Spacecubed, and an integral part of cultivating communities and coordinating programs like Plus Eight and Startup Weekend.
Kate is also one the nicest people you are ever going to meet, and all of us at Startup News wish her well, and celebrate this deserved recognition.
Startup Supporter and Mentor
After a long and successful career in mining, Canadian-born Charlie Bass set up CERI in 2016, to assist researchers commercialise their innovations.
CERI runs various programs, as well as provide office space for several in-house startups.
To date, CERI has trained 600+ West Australians with an “entrepreneurial mindset” and the fundamentals of business formation and growth. The building in Nedlands has provided 19 startups with residency and delivered targeted leadership support with their CEO-In-Residence Program. CERI has also supported a further 25 startups with mentorship, meeting space and advisory work to help accelerate their journey.
In 2021, CERI also set up a startup fund to assist very early stage researchers with their ideas.
National Australia Day Council chief executive Mark Fraser congratulated the award recipients.
The recipients for Western Australia epitomise the values of the Australian of the Year Awards – they are inspirational people whose contributions and achievements are helping to create better outcomes for all of us.
National Australia Day Council chief executive Mark Fraser.
“Mechelle’s grace and courage are exceptional; Charlie and Kate are building the future and Nick has created a movement with understanding and care at its heart.”
The four recipients from Western Australia now stand as contenders for the national Australian of the Year Awards, to be announced in Canberra on 25 January.
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