Jillian Kilby received the award from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at a gala dinner at Parliament House in Sydney on Tuesday night.

The winner’s vision  of helping regional start-ups become commercial successes by increasing the capability, capacity and confidence of business owners, particularly women living in rural, regional and remote Australia, proved inspiring.

“With her $10,000 bursary Ms Kilby will conduct the Regional Start-ups Insight Study to better understand the needs of regional business owners, especially those who are on the cusp of starting a new business,” NSW Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said.

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“A key focus will be women who are considering creating new businesses but need support to take their idea from concept to reality. When women in business thrive, communities thrive too and can generate positive impacts for regional areas.”

State Member for Dubbo Troy Grant said Ms Kilby approached life optimistically with the logical thinking of a civil engineer, the roll-up-your-sleeves attitude of a farmer’s daughter from Coonamble and an altruistic passion to create change across rural communities.

“Ms Kilby is well known and recognised right across the region,” he said. “She is a strong advocate for regional NSW and women everywhere. I look forward to seeing Ms Kilby continue to shine a light on regional business and prosper as a leader in our community.” 

Ms Kilby will compete for the National AgriFutures Australian Rural Women’s Award later this year at Parliament House, Canberra. The AgriFutures Australia NSW-ACT Rural Women’s Award is coordinated by the NSW Rural Women’s Network and supported by NSW Farmers, Office of Environment and Heritage and The Country Women’s Association of NSW.