Chief Executive Officer, Thoughtware Australia
(profile at the time of induction in 2005)

Sonja Bernhardt is a champion of IT within her home country of Australia and is the innovator behind results-achieving women in science and technology groups across Australia. These groups have lead to wide-scale programs creating professional and academic development opportunities, thus helping thousands of school students and hundreds of professionals.

WITI's first Australian inductee, Sonja is one of the highest profiled women in the Queensland-Australia Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry. Her peers recognize her as an action-oriented, results-achieving role model who consistently delivers benefits through her innovation, pioneering achievement and collaborative contribution to the development of the technology industries.

As the business owner and chief executive officer of Thoughtware Australia, a Gold Coast-based software and services company, she contributes to the development of the Queensland businesses. She is passionate about her industry and for over a decade, has consistently encouraged others to either take up a career in technology or adopt technology in their daily lives through a multitude of career, role model, mentoring and board readiness programs that she has been primarily responsible for designing and managing.

Sonja's tireless efforts in mentorship have facilitated and created programs that motivate young women to chose careers in science and technology, while enabling scientific and technical women to advance in their careers.

IT is about making a difference and that is what Sonja does, with a strong values-driven philosophy that is evident in her continual strength of passion, energy and motivation.

• Profile updated in 2007

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