CURTIN chef Sunita Kumar took home the top award at the Canberra Women in Business Awards last night (November 5).

After coming to Australia with a one-way ticket from India in 2012, Sunita started DAANA, a traditional Indian restaurant, with husband Sanjay in 2015 in a 40-foot shipping container out of a love for cooking and a deep desire to change the stereotypical Indian culinary scene in Canberra.

They moved from the shipping container, to a full a la carte restaurant commercial premises in Curtin, in 2016, and it’s been a dream come true for Sunita, who says: “In 2012 if someone was to have predicted this for my future in 2020, I would have laughed! What a journey it has been for my husband chef Sanjay Kumar and myself.”

“Being named the 2020 Canberra Business Woman of the Year reminds me that daring to be different, following your passion and having faith in your dreams is the recipe for success in business,” she says.

“I’m deeply proud of our new home in Canberra and I hope my award will encourage other business women in Australia to follow their dreams as well.”

Last night’s winners also included Indigenous Business Woman of the Year recipient and proud Wonnarura winner Rachelle Towart who set up the business, Pineline Talent, in 2016 to build support for emerging leaders in the Aboriginal community.

As an indigenous woman with a powerful personal story of the effectiveness of leadership development, Rachelle has elevated awareness of the importance of indigenous leadership and governance capacity to the national stage.

Social entrepreneur and scientist Dr Christina DeLay was awarded Young Business Woman of the Year for changing the way Australians drink after she co-founded Altina Drinks, which produces alcohol-free craft cocktails, with her partner Alan Tse in late 2018.

As CEO Christina sets the strategic direction for the business and develops and scales all of Altina’s beverage recipes and manufacturing

Dr Eryn Davies and Jenna Keen jointly took home the award for Small Business Woman of the Year for their work at the Capital Psychology Clinic. With a community focus, Dr Davies and Jenna Keen opened the clinic in 2016, and have since been providing strong career opportunities for early-career psychologists, professional mothers and the LGBT community.

Landscape and nature photographer Tracy Ryan took home the award for Innovation Business Woman for her work in commercial and virtual reality photography. 

In 2012 became a “Google Trusted Photographer”. Tracey’s since created Google virtual tours in Darwin, the Northern Territory, then went further afield and created them in Alice Springs, Katherine, Uluru (Ayers Rock Resorts), Kings Canyon and all through the Kimberley and Broome in WA. 

And, lifestyle photographer Tracy Hebden took home the award for Social Impact Business Woman. The owner of Tracy Lee Photography, Tracy has eight years experience running her own commercial practice, which specialises in weddings, portraits for families and branding images.

Tracy is a strong believer in creating images that capture authenticity, joy and emotion. Her project “Us at Home’” project was the foundation of her award submission and is a pivotal body of work capturing the unprecedented moments of unfolding history during a global pandemic.

The images not only capture Canberrans in isolation but portray how resilient, brave and adaptive Canberrans were during uncertain times.