Celebrating Excellence – Our 2025 ARN WIICTA Stars
At Interactive, customer experience isn’t a function – it’s the driving force behind everything we do. It’s how we lead, how we innovate and how we transform. That’s why we’re thrilled to celebrate four extraordinary women whose leadership is shaping the technology industry by also redefining how we serve, support and champion our customers. The ARN Women in ICT Awards (WIICTA) shine a spotlight on the outstanding women leading, shaping, and elevating the technology industry across Australia.
Interactive is proud to announce four exceptional finalists in this year’s awards: Laven Zhang, Jess Maschmedt, Renee Saric, and Angela Logan-Bell. Representing diverse categories, these women are trailblazers, strategic leaders, and drivers of transformation, each shaping the industry’s future in their own distinct way.
Laven Zhang – Finalist, Technical | For technical excellence that’s driving innovation and empowering our teams.
Laven’s not just solving problems, she’s unlocking smarter, faster ways of working across our business. From slashing quoting times with automation to driving major system rollouts, her technical skillset is delivering real results where it counts. But her real superpower? Uplifting others. Through the BI Community of Practice, she’s empowering teams to cut the manual grind, build their own tools, and make confident, data-driven decisions that delight our customers. Laven proves that when technical excellence meets a passion for people, innovation sticks and progress accelerates.
"Laven is leading our cross-business teams through significant technical platform and business process change. Her work in deploying new platforms and integrating data analytics is setting the company up for technical success. Furthermore, Laven approaches these changes with empathy and a humanistic touch, which ensures high business adoption of change.” Fred Thiele, Chief Information Security Officer, at Interactive
Jess Maschmedt – Finalist, Graduate | For campaigns that connect, inspire and build loyalty.
Jess is the kind of graduate who redefines what early-career impact can look like. From day one, Jess made a strong impression after joining Interactive as an intern, quickly standing out for her curiosity, drive, and ability to tackle complex challenges. After completing the graduate program, Jess is now our Marketing Business Partner for Cyber Security, and has gone from strength to strength, leading high-impact campaigns, shaping our narrative in the market, and playing a key role in elevating the profile of our Slipstream Cyber business. Her work supports the growth of our cyber offerings, ensuring more customers can access the expert guidance and strategic advice, along with proactive threat intelligence and protection Slipstream Cyber delivers every day.
“It was clear early on that Jess wasn’t your average graduate! She was soon designing and executing campaigns – and delivering outcomes like a seasoned pro. She’s had great exposure and because she’s so capable, we’ve been able to constantly push and challenge her. It’s given her a diverse range of experiences that have enabled her to get to where she is now.” Theo Triantafillides, Chief Marketing Officer at Interactive.
Renee Saric – Finalist, Rising Star | For transformation leadership that makes doing business with us effortless
Renee’s journey from customer service to program leadership is a story of customer obsession at its core. But through strong relationships and a mindset of grabbing every opportunity, she’s moved fast and grown even faster. Now spearheading our enterprise transformation program, she keeps our customers top of mind – ensuring that every process, every system and every change makes doing business with us simpler, smarter and more human. In just a few years, she’s stepped into a program leadership role, helping to drive our Unite28 strategy that supports Interactive’s biggest priorities. Renee brings both structure and momentum and is great at cutting through complexity, keeping things moving, and bringing people together around a shared goal. She’s not just focused on making progress quickly but making sure it really matters.
“As Program Manager for our first enterprise-wide transformation program, Renee seamlessly balances strategic leadership with hands-on project execution. She fluidly transitions from driving innovative solutions to engaging Executive/Board stakeholders, playing a pivotal role in transforming our business to better serve our customers.” Dan Cox, Chief Technology Officer at Interactive.
Angela Logan-Bell – Winner, Partner Achievement | For strategic change that’s reshaping the customer and employee experience.
Angela blends strategy and execution with an unwavering focus on outcomes that matter to our customers. She understands that customer needs drive market changes and works closely with customers to anticipate those needs.
Angela’s contributions to the ICT industry have not only driven innovation but also created lasting value for her customers. Her strategic mindset, ability to anticipate industry shifts, and commitment to excellence have helped organisations navigate complex challenges, optimise operations, and unlock new growth opportunities.
Angela brings a rare mix of energy, insight, and practical know-how to everything she does – all with the customer in mind. Working at the intersection of strategy and delivery, she helps transform ambitious ideas into real outcomes that improve how we serve and support our customers. Whether it’s annual planning, shifting operating models, or solving tricky cross-team challenges, she’s someone people trust to get things done. Angela has a sharp eye for detail and a clear sense of purpose, but she leads with generosity too, building strong teams, long-lasting systems, and results that make a difference to our customers.
As a passionate advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, Angela has bridged the gap between corporate strategy and hands-on mentorship, which has allowed her to create programs that deliver measurable results. Many of her mentees have gone on to become successful leaders, a testament to her impact as a mentor and role model, and the effectiveness of her guidance. As she puts it, she’s “found the love in what she does” and it shows up in the way she supports people, nurtures talent, and brings out the best in those around her.
ALB leads with purpose and clarity, creating real momentum wherever she goes. But what stands out even more is her commitment to creating impact beyond the business. She’s a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a passionate advocate for women in technology. Her leadership blends empathy with a clear, data-driven approach, and that’s helped foster a collaborative, high-performing culture." Dan Cox, Chief Technology Officer at Interactive
Congratulations to Laven, Jess, Renee, and Angela. Your work inspires us every day, and we’re proud to have you represent Interactive at ARN WIICTA 2025.
For a complete list of all winners and finalists, visit: Winners revealed for ARN WIICTA 2025 – ARN
