THE coveted Barbara Cox Award, which recognises women making a difference in the automotive industry, is now open for nominations.
Now in its fourth year in Australia, Cox Automotive Australia and Manheim Australia are accepting nominations for women who demonstrate innovation, leadership and a commitment to advancing the industry.
Previous recipients include Eleni Mitakos (2023), Shai Copelin (2024) and Tegan Blockey (2025), all of whom Cox Automotive and Manheim said exemplify women who ‘are making a real difference’ to the automotive industry.
Cox Automotive said nominees would be “those who are driving progress in their own way and helping to shape a more inclusive, innovative automotive industry”.
This could be through leading change within their organisation, supporting and championing others, contributing to their local community, or bringing new ideas, perspectives or ways of working.
The award is named in honour of the late Barbara Cox, a business pioneer and director of Cox Enterprises, the US-based parent company of Cox Automotive.
Barbara Cox
Nominations are open to any woman working in the Australian automotive industry and can be made via the Cox Automotive website.
The 2026 winner will be selected from a shortlist of four finalists and announced at the annual Women in Automotive luncheon in Melbourne in October. She will receive $5000 towards professional development and be recognised as a role model and leader inspiring the next generation of women in automotive.
Interstate finalists will receive flights and accommodation to attend the event.
Cox Automotive Australia is a key partner of the Women in Automotive platform that works to recruit, celebrate and support women and non-binary people working across the automotive industry in Australia.
“The Barbara Cox Award is not about job titles or seniority – it’s about impact,” the company said.
“Whether someone is early in their career or already established, what matters is the difference they’re making, and we want to celebrate that.”
2025 Barbara Cox Award winner Tegan Blockey (2nd from left )L-R Rachel Reed Butler, Tegan Blockey, Silvia Balovcikova, Matt McAuley
The 2025 winner, Tegan Blockey, worked her way up from the showroom floor to become dealer principal at Bridge Toyota and Lexus of Darwin, becoming the first woman to hold the dealer principal role at any Lexus dealership in Australia.
According to one of her nominators, Ms Blockey “transformed team culture, elevated customer satisfaction, and positioned the dealership as a pillar in the Darwin community”.
Ms Blockey has set a goal to increase female representation in her roughly 160-person workplace from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, backing the target with a traineeship program designed to give students entry points into the sector.
She promotes the scheme by visiting schools, engaging with students and educators, and advocating for career pathways in the industry.
She also leads events such as the Women in Wheels workshop, opened to the wider Darwin community, which teaches attendees essential automotive skills including how to change a tyre.
Ms Blockey has strengthened the dealership’s community role through partnerships with AFL NT, Netball NT and the Darwin Salties while supporting charities including Cancer Council, Foodbank NT and the Starlight Foundation.
Shai Copelin, winner Barbara Cox Award 2024 and Silvia Balovcikova, head of people solutions
The 2024 Barbara Cox Award winner, Shai Copelin, is automotive product manager at TAFE New South Wales. She was recognised for her role in training Australia’s future automotive professionals and for helping shape the industry’s future workforce.
Silvia Balovcikova, HR Director, Cox Automotive; Rachel Butler, Women in Automotive; Eleni Mitakos, Founder, Galmatic & Stephen Lester, CEO, Cox Automotive
The inaugural Australian Barbara Cox Woman of the Year Award, presented in 2023, was won by Eleni Mitakos, founder of Galmatic, which delivers vehicle maintenance workshops and school incursions for girls.
Since 2007, the organisation has educated and inspired more than one million females.
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By Neil Dowling
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