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.”
This article was independently written and edited by Real Estate Today. © Real Estate Today 2026 – All Rights Reserved.
Real Estate Today is the most engaged & influential real estate industry publication throughout Australia and New Zealand.
