The annual award recognises and celebrates the achievements and community impact of local women in Greater Shepparton.
Ms Lea is the director of JL Productions and Hire as well as holding myriad roles in the events space, including being the creative director of Shepparton Festival for four years.
She said it was an honour and privilege to receive the award and said it made her more motivated than ever to do “what I love and help make the GV a better place”.
“I think more than anything just standing up and using my platform and my very privileged position to advocate for things I believe in,” she said.
“I continuously think back to when I was a teenager and the great opportunities I was given and now I make sure I allow that space and opportunities to be available.”
Ms Lea’s passion for the Goulburn Valley shines through her motivation to show off the best of the region through her events.
“It’s about how we can use the amazing talent in all levels of events regionally – we’re really passionate about supporting local, showcasing local and upskilling local,” she said.
Ms Lea said equity and equality were a work in progress every day, not just on International Women’s Day.
“I would challenge every human of the world to try their best to have equality at the front of their minds 365 days of the year,” she said.
Ms Lea described Wednesday night’s event as a “special, heart-warming opportunity to connect”, and congratulated the other nominees, the Flamingo Project and everybody involved.
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali congratulated Ms Lea on her award and said she was recognised for her love of Greater Shepparton, its people, places and community spirit.
“Jamie shares her own personal story in order to engage and educate others to be strong, independent and determined women and she is a very deserving winner of the women’s award in 2023,” he said.
“To choose one recipient from the five outstanding nominees would have been a difficult task and I would like to thank all the nominees for the significant contribution they each make to the Greater Shepparton community.”
The other nominees for the award were Kirsty Thomas, Lisa Hueston, Holly Purton and Neha Samar.
The event was hosted by the Greater Shepparton Women’s Charter Advisory Committee in partnership with The Flamingo Project, with guest speaker Melissa Griffiths.
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