Queensland women combine engineering, accounting and business skills, to lead the way in our renewable energy sector

In our Women in Renewables series, we share the career highlights of five Queensland women playing an integral role in establishing the state as a green energy powerhouse and opening the doors to jobs for younger women.

A self-described “country chick”, Trudy grew up in Bordertown in rural South Australia. Here she pursued her passion for competitive horse riding from the age of five while also helping her family to run the town’s electrical retail business. Although working in a very senior corporate role, to keep in touch with her roots and maintain her passion for horses, Trudy lives in one of Brisbane’s leafy acreage suburbs with her husband, dog, four horses and the resident python in the horse feed shed, who Trudy says keeps the vermin at bay.

Trudy Walsh began her career journey with an Accounting Degree and CPA and followed up with an MBA a few years later. To keep up her competitive equestrian pursuits she initially studied both part-time and externally.

She is now Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Company Secretary for Redflow, an ASX listed zinc bromide flow battery manufacturer. This means she is responsible for all the company’s financial records and compliance matters - especially in relation to Australian stock exchange requirements.

She says marrying her formal accounting background with an MBA has enabled her to achieve her current role within the renewables industry.

“The MBA enabled me to round-out my education with a whole-of-business approach, not just the numbers,” she says.

Trudy enjoys the challenges of being in a business at early commercialisation within the renewables sector.

This means she comes to businesses that are just starting out or in a high-growth phase and helps them make their business work in a way that will be successful and sustainable. Trudy’s previous roles have included working as Australian CFO for mining equipment manufacturer Bucyrus, where she took the Australian business from a $250 million revenue company to a billion-dollar business.

“My key career highlight is being here as CFO at Redflow, because I have always wanted to be with an ASX listed company and to be involved with an R&D company moving it through its early commercialisation phase to help the company capitalise on what the future holds,” she said.

Her role isn’t just about figures. Trudy says that truly understanding the nature of the green business in which she operates is the key to success.

“It’s not just all about the numbers, you have to look ahead and really ask yourself, what’s the future here?’” she says.

Trudy is excited about Redflow’s recent expansion into the US and says that renewables is an exciting space with Australia lighting up the clean energy path globally.

Vivienne Roberts, State Leader for Neoen’s Queensland development team, is another shining example of the Queensland women who are helping to establish the state as a global leader in the renewables space.

Also pairing her dual qualifications and experience – an established engineering background with formal accounting qualifications and experience – Vivienne works with team that’s building Australia's largest solar farm Queensland.

Neoen is an independent French Producer of exclusively renewable energy, listed on the French stock exchange. The company both develops and runs its clean energy assets. As State Leader, Vivienne is an influential figure in the company and works in a fast-paced, challenging environment. But she says her measure of success stretches beyond meeting business KPIs.

“I took a long and windy road working in many countries across many sectors to get here and, whilst this is a wonderful achievement for me, what I am most proud of is learning to work in a high-paced, dynamic environment, without compromising on empathy and kindness,” she says.

Vivienne’s journey has enabled her to both work and volunteer internationally in London, South Africa and North Macedonia, as well as throughout Australia. She and her family now call Queensland’s idyllic Sunshine Coast home.

Vivienne says it was her earliest engineering role with the City of Cape Town’s Climate Change Unit that ignited her passion for renewables.

“The City of Cape Town was really ahead of the game when it came to climate change and inspired me to dream of a move into really large-scale renewables projects,” she says.

Vivienne has chosen a workplace that meets her ideals, both in the business it runs and the way the company runs it. Neoen prizes female participation and has women working across its projects in many different roles, from hands-on installation to senior management.

Vivienne says renewable energy is an exciting environment for women to work in, and recommends women embarking on study, starting their careers or looking for a career change to consider the myriad of jobs available in renewables right here and right now in Queensland.

“Queensland is the solar capital of Australia. I just love how quickly everything is changing; you can’t turn a corner without some new and exciting development," she said

For more information check out Women in Renewables | Clean Energy Council