First Nations Foundation chief executive Leah Bennett is the recipient of Women & Leadership Australia's 2026 NSW Award for Excellence in Women's Leadership, announced Tuesday.

The Australian Awards for Excellence in Women's Leadership were created in 2014 to honour women leaders nominated by the public for their outstanding contribution and lasting impact across business, government, and community in delivering positive outcomes for women, girls or other groups facing disadvantage.

Ms Bennett, a proud Wiradjuri and Ngiyampaa woman, leads Australia's only national Indigenous-led financial literacy and education provider. Her work focuses on how economic systems can be redesigned to support self-determination, trust and long-term financial security for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Ms Bennett said she felt "incredibly humbled and honoured" to have been selected for the award, and "grateful to the First Nations women who've received it before me... Their strength and selflessness have opened doors many of us now walk through".

"I think for me, when I was younger, at no point did I think to myself, I'm going to become the CEO of an organisation," she told National Indigenous Times.

"I think throughout my career, my attitude has always been to say yes to every opportunity that's come up. I spent 14 years working in dealing with financial crime, within the financial services sector. When I've been asked to participate on a project or something along those lines, for me, it's built experience. I would always say 'yes, I want to get involved in that'.

"In 2018 I joined the superannuation industry in the midst of the Royal Commission, and found out all the horrible things that were happening to our community. my attitude was 'I want to serve our community, and I want to do something about this'. Since then, it's just been so many doors opened and so many opportunities given to me to step into spaces to advocate for our community and I've said yes to absolutely every opportunity to do that."

Ms Bennett said nothing that she has achieved would have been possible "without the love and support of good leaders".

"I think that's really important to highlight. I didn't just get here because of hard work and determination. I got here because people surrounded me with love and believed in me," she told National Indigenous Times.

"I'm still kind of shocked myself when I think about this award, and I think about the journey that I've been on to sit back and go, 'oh my goodness'. Since 2018 - almost a decade - I find myself leading an organisation I absolutely love and care so much about, with an incredible team of people."

Women & Leadership Australia general manager Karen Surmon said the award recognised Ms Bennett's "outstanding leadership in advancing the financial wellbeing and economic empowerment of First Nations peoples across Australia".

"Leah drives initiatives that benefit NSW communities while contributing to national programs through the First Nations Foundation," she said.

"She has pioneered culturally safe practices in superannuation, led industry-wide initiatives to remove barriers for First Nations members, and developed programs like Train the Trainer, which is scaling nationally, starting with communities in NSW to ensure lasting impact."

Along with Ms Bennett as the NSW Award winner, Women & Leadership Australia has also announced the national, state and territory award recipients including: Kit McMahon (NATIONAL) Chief Executive Officer, Women's Health in the South East; DIrector, Tradeswomen Australia; Katherine Berney (ACT) Director, Gender Based Violence Prevention at the Foundation of Alcohol Research and Education; Taylah Peters (NT) Manager, Specialist Support Services, Relationships Australia NT; Chairperson, Amber NT; Jessica Taylor (QLD) Chief Executive Officer, QENDO; Dr Heidi Mumme (TAS) Director, MI-Fish Consulting; President, Women in Seafood Australasia; Divya Pasupuleti (VIC) Telecommunications Executive, Board Director and Speaker; Drisana Levitzke-Gray (WA) Award-Winning Deaf Advocate, Educator & Speaker; and Anne Tonkin (SA) Lecturer; Disability Advocate; Speaker; Author.