FLAME - Female Leaders in Construction

The Australian Apartment Advocacy is proud to showcase three extraordinary female leaders in construction for our inaugural Female Leaders in Apartment Management and Excellence (FLAME).

Dominique Gill of Urban Core fell in love with construction 20 years ago and is the owner/founder and CEO or Urban Core which employs 50% women - in a sector that typically employs 13%. Dominque has also established Next Gen which actively seeks to attract women to construction. Dominique was also the recipient of the 2021 Crystal Vision Award from the National Association for Women in Construction.

Drenka Andjelic founded Construction Assignments in 2006, making her the first woman in Australia to found and solely own a client-side project management business. Her vision remains the same now as it was then – to “make good things happen” in development, design, and construction. In her 20 years of business, Drenka has been responsible for the design and construction of almost 30 new hotels, has delivered 13 consecutive series of The Block for Channel 9 and is involved in many residential and trailblazing co-living projects.  Drenka was Chair of NSW Property Council of Australia’s Hotel Property Committee from 2015-2020 and served on the Property Council of Australia’s NSW Divisional Council from 2015-2018. She continues to serve on PCA’s Hotel Property Committee.

Divya Mehta is the CEO of Decode Group, overseeing Decode Construction, Ellipse Development, and various integrated services with a pipeline of $1.4 billion in works and 250 staff. Divya is a co-founder of the industry association, Funding the Future which aims to bring the construction and finance industries together as well as previously a Board Member of Property Council of Australia, Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Divya is also an Ambassador for Women Building NSW, a platform dedicated to fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for women entering construction.  Her leadership has been recognised with the 2025 Women in Leadership Award from The Urban Developer and inclusion in the Top 100 Women in Construction in Australia.

Registration, networking and breakfast from 7.30-7.50am, panel discussion from 7.50-8.50am and then networking. A light breakfast will be supplied.