Hills Grammar Original Alumni Award

This year, marked the 37th Annual Presentation of Awards ceremony. For the past three years, the School has celebrated both staff and student achievements as a whole School in front of parents at the ICC located in Darling Harbour. At this ceremony, the Hills ‘Original’ Alumni Award is awarded to a past student of Hills Grammar to recognise sustained excellence in their field of endeavour. The recipient of the 2019 Award is Ms Rebecca James. Having attended Hills Grammar between 1987 and 1992, during this time, Rebecca’s leadership journey began with her being elected as the School Vice-Captain.

Her time at the School shaped her career. It was during her time at Hills Grammar, where her passions for the humanities, especially English and drama, and all things creative, were fuelled by her favourite teacher. Once graduated, Rebecca made the decision to be part of the founding team for what is now the largest independent digital advertising and customer experience agency. 

At 27 she was the youngest Managing Director in her field with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington.

After a number of years, Ms James accepted the role of Chief Marketing Officer at a renowned Australian Bank. Furthering to her success, Ms James was voted #12 in the top 50 CMOs in Australia.

As her career continued, so did the leadership roles that she took on, including becoming a Chief Marketing and Enterprise Officer, and becoming a mother. One year into the role saw the biggest opportunity of her career as she was approached to lead a financial services company, making her the Chief Executive Officer. Rebecca is one of only 14 women to run an ASX listed business in Australia.

This Award was accepted with grace and valuable insight into the passion and opportunity that attending Hills Grammar invoked from within. Something she shared with the members of the School to create further motivation for our students to truly become Hills Originals with the message of ‘You do you’.