![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1_2-Shanna-Whan-900x600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Shanna is the CEO, creator and founder of grassroots charity Sober in the Country Ltd – and winner of the prestigious 2022 ”Australian of the Year” Local Hero award.<\/p>\n
In 2015, Shanna Whan was fighting for her life after a two-decade battle against alcohol addiction. A series of traumas she had experienced as an 18-year-old jillaroo fresh out of boarding school would lead to heavy binge-drinking and hiding behind a wild party girl persona. Eventually, this would all result in a life of undiagnosed and untreated alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n
After making a full recovery despite endless odds, Shanna decided to dedicate her life to creating positive change in the alcohol culture of the bush through Sober in the Country (SITC) Ltd.<\/p>\n
Shanna founded SITC with a simple mission to educate her peers that it is ‘okay to say no’ to beers in the bush. Today, SITC works through advocacy, peer support and awareness, and is creating radical impact across the entire outback through a message of health and inclusion.<\/p>\n
Catherine Velisha<\/strong><\/p>\n Catherine Velisha is a third-generation vegetable grower and Managing Director at Velisha Farms. Amongst her many accolades, Catherine was the recipient of both the AUSVEG Boomaroo Nurseries\u2019 National Women in Horticulture Award in 2021 and the Victorian Women in Horticulture Award in 2022.<\/p>\n Catherine has worked in the fresh produce sector for over 19 years and has been involved in all aspects of the horticulture and industry supply chain. Known as a pioneering industry and education advocate, Catherine is the founder of VEG Education, a registered training organisation created specifically for the horticulture industry that is underpinned with practical and legal experience.<\/p>\n The VEG Education platform enables Catherine and the wider horticulture industry to share their love of vegetables with consumers, as well as communicating with the next generation via a variety of unique school and community programs.<\/p>\n We look forward to welcoming Shanna and Catherine to what we anticipate will be an insightful and engaging event and hope that you can join us there also.<\/p>\n When:<\/strong> Day 02, 7th June, 2pm to 3pm, with lunch\/networking from 1.30pm National Women in Horticulture Award for Excellence<\/strong> Janne Dipple<\/strong> Tracy Campbell<\/strong> Nicole Stevens<\/strong> Jenny Margetts<\/strong> Jade King<\/strong> Rien Silverstein<\/strong> Dr Julie O\u2019Halloran<\/strong> Catherine Wall<\/strong> Nancy Gaeta<\/strong> Phuong Le<\/strong> Karen Thomas<\/strong> We wait with anticipation for the announcement of the Women in Horticulture Award at the Gala Dinner, as well as the announcement of all award recipients.<\/p>\n When:<\/strong> Day 03, 8th June, 7pm to 11pm Want a chat? Visit our team at the Boomaroo stand in the exhibition hall (stand 293, 294, 337, 338) and say hi!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hort Connections 2022 is nearly upon us! After three years of pandemic-induced disruption, this year\u2019s event offers a much anticipated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3728"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3747,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3728\/revisions\/3747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boomaroo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/1_3-Catherine-Velisha-900x600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Brisbane Conference and Exhibition Centre, Meeting Room M4<\/p>\n
\nThe Hort Connections Gala Dinner will again play host to the AUSVEG National Awards for Excellence, celebrating outstanding achievement in the horticulture industry. Boomaroo is proud to be sponsor of the National Boomaroo Nurseries\u2019 Women in Horticulture Award, and congratulate the recently announced finalists on their achievement:<\/p>\n
\nFarmReady Pty<\/p>\n
\nKalfresh<\/p>\n
\nSA Potato Co<\/p>\n
\nP2P Business Solutions Pty Ltd<\/p>\n
\nGreen Valley Finger Limes<\/p>\n
\nSilver Orchards<\/p>\n
\nQueensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries<\/p>\n
\nMcKINNA et al<\/p>\n
\nGaeta & Sons<\/p>\n
\nDepartment of Primary Industries and Regions<\/p>\n
\nMelbourne Water Regional Agriculture and Landcare Program<\/span><\/p>\n
\nWhere:<\/strong> Brisbane Conference and Exhibition Centre, Great Hall<\/p>\n