REAL ESTATE TODAY ANNOUNCES WINNERS FOR THE 2026 TRAILBLAZER AWARDS

Real Estate Today announces the winners of the 2026 Trailblazer Awards, recognising the individuals, businesses and networks making a measurable impact across the real estate industry in Australia and New Zealand.

The Trailblazer Awards were created to move away from traditional popularity-based awards and instead recognise genuine contribution, execution and leadership.

This year’s program used AI-led judging as the primary evaluation panel, applying consistent scoring across all submissions, supported by editorial oversight for governance and category alignment.

Every finalist scored 87 percent or higher.

In several categories, the difference between winner and runner-up was as little as half a percent, reflecting just how strong the overall field was.

Real Estate Today Founder Nic Fren said the intent was simple.

These awards were designed to remove politics and popularity from the process.

Every submission was assessed against published criteria by advanced artificial intelligence, focusing on real-world outcomes, leadership credibility, execution quality and sustained industry contribution. Human oversight ensured integrity, but the scoring itself was AI-driven.

If you entered, you were judged fairly. If you won, you earned it. And if you did not take out a category, your work still stood at an exceptionally high level.

The 2026 Trailblazer Awards set a new benchmark for industry recognition, prioritising substance over spectacle and contribution over perception.

Real Estate Today congratulates all winners and finalists and thanks every entrant who trusted this new model and put themselves forward.

🏆 Real Estate Today 🏆

Trailblazer Awards 2026 Winners

WINNERS

INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

• KOLMEO

WELLNESS AND CULTURE - Group

• Shannon Welch, Property Assist

WELLNESS AND CULTURE - Corporate

• Rachel Atkin - Harcourts Australia

RISING STAR - Australia

• Karan Vaghela, Ray White Judd White Glen Waverley

RISING STAR - New Zealand

• Tommy Laybourn, Professionals Lower Hutt

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION - Australia

• Julie Davis, AD360

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION - New Zealand

• Mitch Logan, Ownly

BOUTIQUE NETWORK (UNDER 40 OFFICES)

Australia

• Agency HQ

BOUTIQUE NETWORK TRAILBLAZER (UNDER 40 OFFICES)

New Zealand

• Ownly

MAJOR NETWORK (OVER 40 OFFICES)

Australia

• LJ Hooker

MAJOR NETWORK (OVER 40 OFFICES)

New Zealand

• @realty

EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES - Australia

• Rod Fitzgerald - Raine & Horne

EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES - New Zealand  

• Cat Dearlove - PMC 2025

COMMUNITY

• Jo Black - Black Book Solutions

  
  

THOUGHT LEADER

• Nick Georges - Wingman Group

MARKETING - Australia

• Ellen Bathgate - Content Collab

MARKETING - New Zealand

• Lyall Russell - LJ Hooker

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT - Australia

Joe Shannon - The Efficiency Co

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT - New Zealand 

Monita Keshwan - Head of Property Management | Barfoot & Thompson

SALES TRAILBLAZER - Australia

• Mac Dawson - One Agency Scone

SALES TRAILBLAZER - New Zealand 

• Kylie Johnston - LJ Hooker

RURAL AND REGIONAL

Megan Dale - LJ Hooker Property Plus

These announcements will be followed by a series of in-depth editorial profiles exploring the strategies, innovations and leadership approaches behind this year’s most influential contributors.

“These awards reflect the true engine room of our industry,” Fren said.

“The people who build systems, elevate teams, innovate under pressure and support their communities. These finalists are the ones setting new benchmarks for what excellence looks like.”