Sarah Bailey, Penten CFO and Company Secretary and Sonali Sachdeva, Penten Financial Controller have been named as finalists in the Women in Finance Awards.
Sarah Bailey is finalist in the Director of the Year category and Sonali Sachdeva is finalist in the Mentor of the Year category.
The finalist list, which was announced on Tuesday, 13 July, features over 250 high-achieving professionals across 28 submission-based categories.
Sarah Bailey, began at Penten as the CFO in 2018 and took on many portfolios such as strategic finance while also leading Penten’s governance, secretarial and human resources functions. In 2020, she took on the role of Company Secretary and in February last year Bailey accepted a position on Penten’s Board of Directors. She became Penten’s first female and non-founder board member.
Bailey, set the foundations for Penten’s substantial rapid growth. In the last year, Penten’s staff numbers increased by 73% and revenue by 50%. Bailey has been instrumental in guiding the company through the stages of start-up to SME to large company.
Bailey felt honoured to receive news of becoming a finalist, but was even more proud of her team members; Jenny Rau, nominee for Accountant of the Year and Sonali Sachdeva, finalist for Mentor of the Year for getting involved and putting themselves out there.
Bailey offered advice to others in the industry, “Get involved. Be curious. Finance has a bigger strategic role. You can significantly contribute to business decision-making with your finance lens”.
Sonali Sachdeva has been with Penten from start-up phase and has helped grow the Finance team from two to nine employees in a short period of time. While coaching the many new staff members, Sachdeva continued to keep Penten on track through their first external audit and all the challenges of scaling up rapidly.
Sachdeva set up many of Penten’s finance systems, processes and protocols. She insists Finance can be a creative career choice, despite its “misconceptions about meticulous people”.
Sachdeva encourages others to be themselves and get your hands dirty. “There is no place for ego in leadership. You need to be authentic, be candid and honest about your own abilities and leverage your strengths,” she said.
The Women in Finance Awards was founded by Momentum Media in 2017 to celebrate female leaders, role models and future champions within the financial industry.
This esteemed awards program provides a platform for remarkable women leading in their field to be acknowledged and celebrated for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the industry.
This year, the Women in Finance Awards not only celebrates the trailblazers of the industry, but also acknowledges the work of all women within the financial industry for their exceptional effort and dedication to clients during a year of constant change and challenge.
Annie Kane, editor of mortgages at Momentum Media, commented: “Since its inception, the whole concept of the Women in Finance Awards has been to champion and profile the amazing women working in financial services — an industry that has been, and remains, typically male-dominated.
“This year, we were thrilled to see that a record number of people nominated their friends, colleagues and peers for an award, demonstrating the growing outpouring of support for those leading the way — and a desire to create more female role models in this space.
“Congratulations to all of the finalists of the fifth annual Women in Finance Awards who are helping more Australians than ever to manage their financial situations, improve their financial literacy and grow their businesses.
The winners will be announced at a gala event in Sydney on 2 September 2021.