Management & Production Team
Led by highly respected music producer and cultural specialist Vicki Gordon, the AWMA team is made up of experts with extensive experience in the production of large scale event management, digital media, strategic planning and development. AWMA is overseen by a Board of Directors with extensive experience in the arts and the music industry, accountancy, community engagement, not-for-profit governance, stakeholder engagement and law.
FOUNDING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER & PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Vicki Gordon
“The Australian Music Industry wasn’t listening so we fixed it!”
VICKI GORDON (Ngati Kahungunu) is a Helpmann Award winning music producer recognised for her life’s work to empower diverse new voices to the stage as an ongoing commitment to Australian culture.
Vicki has worked as a Musician, Music Theatre & Documentary Maker, Record Label Executive, Cultural Producer, Tour Manager, Artist Manager, Marketing Manager, A&R Director & ARIA Board Director. She brings a wealth of experience as a Creative Producer and Leader in Management, Corporate Sponsorship, Government Lobbying, Strategic Planning in the NFP sector, First Nations Engagement, Cultural Governance and Advocacy.
“a dynamic champion of gender & cultural equality”
In 1990 Vicki established the Australian Women’s Rock Institute, the first organisation of its kind in Australia set up to address the status of women in the Australian Music industry. As Artistic Director she produced Australia’s first Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Women’s Contemporary Music Festival; first All Girl Rock Festival, first Training program for Female DJ’s and the very first Fanzine for female musicians.
She has been Music Manager to First Nations singer/songwriters Emma Donovan and Ursula Yovich and as an independent Record Label Director was integral to the success of Vanessa Amorosi’s 5x platinum debut album The Power and world wide hit, Absolutely Everybody.
As Producer & Curator for the critically acclaimed First Nations Women’s ensemble Barefoot Divas (Emma Donovan, Ngaiire, Ursula Yovich, Whirimako Black, Maisey Rika & Merenia Marin ) Sydney & NZ International Arts Festivals 2012 & QLD Music Festival 2013. In 2014 Vicki independently toured the company to sold out houses in North America, Canada and Hawaii selling out the Hong Kong Concert Hall in 2015.
In 2019 Vicki was the only Australian Music Executive recognised in the AFR Top 100 Women of Influence and was a finalist in the 2020 Telstra Women’s Business Awards.
Vicki commissioned the multi award winning First Nations Women’s Rock Musical Barbara & the Camp Dogs picking up 4x Helpmann Awards in 2019 including Best Musical and Best Score and 4x Green Room Awards in 2020.
She is currently co-producer with Bunya Productions to develop the work as a feature film. Vicki holds a Certificate of Completion in Indigenous Cultural Protocols for Business, a Human Rights Commendation and numerous awards in recognition of her contribution to industry.
LEAD PRODUCER & CEREMONY DIRECTOR
Gina Hall
GINA HALL joined Australian Women in Music Awards in 2020 as Lead Producer for the 2022 event and for 2023 will also take on the role of Ceremony Director. Gina has an extensive career across the broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry with
demonstrated success in producing and directing high profile and large scale festivals, theatrical productions, events, and initiatives both nationally and internationally.
Career highlights include: founding Director/Producer Public Event Group, General Manager Swy (Perth) Theatre Company, Company Manager for commercial theatre productions including Cats and The Buddy Holly Story, Producer Tropfest, Producer Sydney Dreaming, Head of Exhibition for the Biennale of Sydney, Event Manager Sydney Writers’ Festival, Project Director for the Cultural Festival for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and as a Ceremonies Producer for Doha and Jakarta Asian Games.
PROduction MANAGER
Chelsea Clayton
CHELSEA CLAYTON has been immersed in the dynamic world of event and advertising production for photography, film and television for more than two decades.
She has been privileged to be involved with or manage an incredibly diverse portfolio of events, advertising campaigns and artists.
Career highlights: Photographic Producer & Artist Liaison for Natalie Portman and Director Emmanuel Cossu in the Miss Dior Campaign, photographic producer for Bangarra Dance Theatre, Sydney Dance Theatre, Photographic Producer for the “Everyone Matters Campaign”, Head of Production & Artist Management at The Kitchen Creative Management and Senior Photographic Producer at Sam I Am Management.
Chelsea has also worked on numerous other campaigns with companies such as: Australia Post, Queensland Ballet, QVB, OPPO Morocco, Google, VW, Nike, Samsung, Zip Money, Tourism Australia, NYE Fireworks, Destination NSW, Audi AG, Toyota and Iconoclast TV
Berlin.
With a focus on empowering women working in the arts to turn their unique creative visions into reality, Chelsea believes that the profound power of artistic expression is the source of her energetic drive to work on collaborations with visionary storytellers and brands.
A major career highlight for Chelsea was in the aftermath of the devastating 2022 floods, running a community kitchen fondly named by the local mob as “The Koori Kitchen Lismore”. This journey became the most rewarding experience of her life, being part of creating a culturally safe space of healing and connection which brought the community together through food.
ARTIST LIAISON & PROJECT MANAGER
Laura Hampton
FIRST NATIONS SHOWCASE CURATOR & ARTIST
Dizzy Doolan
DIZZY DOOLAN (Charmaine Armstrong) is a proud Takalak, Agwamin, Gureng Gureng and Wokka Wokka woman from Townsville Queensland. She is passionate about being a positive role model and making a difference in her community and currently works as a youth worker with disadvantaged young people in Cairns.
Dizzy studied acting, dancing and music at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts completing her Diploma Certificate III and Certificate IV in Screen and Media. As a Hip Hop artist, Dizzy performs at various community events and festivals; facilitating workshops to motivate youth by delivering positive messages through music, song and dance.
She worked with Vibe Australia for six years performing and running workshops across the country promoting healthy living for Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people in different cities and remote communities.
In 2009, Dizzy was invited on the Australian tour and performed as the support act for international artists Fatman Scoop and Omarion in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. In 2016 Dizzy toured to South East Asia for the dance project “Move for reconciliation” where she performed and facilitated workshops in Bali, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur. In 2017 Dizzy was the opening act for international artists Akon, T-Pain, Kevin Lyttle and Grammy Award Winning artist Mya.
2019 Dizzy performed at Australian Women in Music Awards alongside Australian legend Rénee Geyer, their performance was recently featured on Channel 10. More recently she has had the honour of collaborating and performing alongside Troy Cassar-Daley, a highlight of Dizzy’s career. She is currently working on her solo EP.
In 2022 Dizzy is curator for the inaugural First Nations Women’s Hip Hop Showcase ‘Love for My Sisters’ as well as Hip Hop performer and Co-Emcee with Yumi Stynes, for Australian Women in Music Awards in Brisbane.
Assistant Producer
Crystal Wilkes
CRYSTAL WILKES comes from a background in small business management and entrepreneurial ventures.
With her qualifications and experience in Tour Management, Audio Engineering and Music Composition for screen, she joins the AWMA team this year as Assistant Producer working on the Audio Visual content as well as playing a key role in the coordination and delivery of the entire program.
Crystal is passionate about recording, producing and encouraging up and coming female singer/songwriters. With an ear and eye for the finer details she is tech savvy and highly attuned to finding solutions to problems.
Digital Strategy Director
Mia McLeod
MIA McLEOD is a global digital marketing executive with over 20 years of experience building businesses and running digital sales and marketing teams for international brands like Walt Disney, Microsoft, Sony Music and Universal Music.
Head of Social
Remy Taylor
REMY TAYLOR prides herself on her ability to craft effective strategies that grow, engage and translate to the right type of digital audiences.
She embodies the social media generation; she is super creative, spiritually aligned, tech-savvy, inspired, holistic and a little bit of an over-sharer!
REMOTE & REGIONAL LIAISON
Deb Suckling
Music changed Deb’s life at an young age and helped her find her voice and she is deeply passionate about ensuring the next generation are supported to find theirs.
Music Director
Zoe Hauptmann
ZOE HAUPTMANN is one of Australia’s most in demand session musician’s who has recorded and performed with some of the country’s most iconic artists including Paul Kelly, Neil Finn, Wendy Mathews, Kate Ceberano, Missy Higgins, Ian Moss, Kasey Chambers, Katie Noonan, Tim Rogers and Peter Garrett.
Zoe has recorded on over 80 albums, performed at every major Australian festival and at a multitude of venues in both capital cities and regionally. In 2017 and 2018 Zoe was a finalist in the National Live Music Awards for “Australia’s best bassist”. Internationally Zoe has toured throughout Asia, Europe and America.
Juror Chair
Dr Diana Tolmie
DIANA TOLMIE is Senior Lecturer of Professional Practice at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and a D’Addario International Artist. She is also a freelance woodwind specialist in a multitude of genres performing both nationally and internationally.
Her international artistic practice has been supported by a Churchill Fellowship and Queen Elizabeth Trust Scholarship. Passionately teaching performance, pedagogy, musicians ‘health’ and vocational preparation, Diana’s excellence has been awarded an AEL Group Learning & Teaching Citation (2014), Highly Commended in the ‘Employability within the Curriculum’ category of the Griffith University Awards for Excellence in Teaching (2016) and a University Australian Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2018).
Diana continues to contribute to the Australian music industry via her post-PhD research into musicians ‘lives’ and the release of solo and chamber music recordings. She has been an AWMA Juror Council member for the past 2 years.