Olympic champion Jo Clark OAM has been appointed General Manager at global software company BrainStorm Software.
Clark was a member of the gold medal winning Australian water polo team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. After her sporting career, Clark diversified into the marketing and events space in the NFP sector, before moving into tech as the Senior Marketing Manager at BrainStorm.
Now, she’s been appointed the General Manager at BrainStorm, which is part of an industry that still lags when it comes to promoting women into senior management and leadership positions.
“It’s an honour to be appointed into the role of GM for Brainstorm Software. We have such a great team and I’m looking forward to growing the business more and more,” Clark said, reflecting on her appointment.
“I’ve held a few management roles in the past but this feels different, we’re a global company and the evolution seems endless.”
“I don’t take the role lightly, I know there is a lot involved in the position and I hope to represent not just BrainStorm Software well but women in the industry.”
In 2014, Clarke launched her own marketing and events agency, which was the catalyst for her move into the tech industry.
“I didn’t mean to fall into the tech industry and I wasn’t sure about it at the start as I didn’t think I was following my passion in helping people, however, BrainStorm doesn’t just create software, they help companies become better and that’s what I love most about it,” Clark said.
Ty Osborne, the owner of BrainStorm Software, said appointing Clark to the role was a “no brainer”.
“Jo has been with us almost since the beginning, she’s helped the company grow and was already at the forefront of management within the company, so it seemed like an easy decision,” Osborne said.
“It’s not about if you’re a male or female, it’s about who can do the best job and Jo was the perfect fit. It’s nice to see women moving to the forefront of our industry, we have six women working over both our Australia and Indian team engaged in all areas, marketing, management, tech, consulting and development.”
Clarke won her gold medal in water polo in 2000, the first year women’s water polo was included in the Olympics. She was the youngest member of the team, at age 21.