Service runs in the family. Sunita Gloster follows in father's footsteps to receive King's Birthday award

Sunita Gloster has received a Member of the Order (AM) in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for significant service to the media and marketing industries, and to gender equality.

Sunita Gloster is the founder and CEO of Gloster Advisory and non-executive director of UN Global Compact Network Australia. Credit: Supplied by Sunita Gloster

Key Points

NSW marketing and media professional, Sunita Gloster, was recognised in this year's King's Birthday Honours.
As an advocate for cultural diversity, gender equality and inclusion, her motivation is to galvanise change.
She shares her community spirit with her father who received an OAM in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.

It was a double celebration for Sunita Gloster and her father, John D'Souza, as they became a migrant father and daughter to both receive Australia's highest-ranking civic honours.

Ms Gloster was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in this year's King's Birthday Honours while John Francis D'Souza was recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Sunita Gloster with her parents, Betty and John D’Souza OAM. Credit: Supplied by Sunita Gloster

Ms Gloster told SBS Hindi that, on a personal level, it was a "lovely pat on the back" to receive the recognition.

However, she felt that on a professional level, awards had an enormous benefit in her industry as they genuinely pushed "the needle forward, shone a light on issues that needed to be talked about, and created change and inclusion by demonstrating representation".

She said that both of her parents were very proud.

"My father said he is so pleased that his family has been able to make an impact on a country that we chose to be part of," she said.

"My dad has an untapped reservoir of strength and capacity and community spirit," said Ms Gloster as she explained how her family migrated from India in 1974 when she was four years old.

Arriving in Mt Gambier with no Tripadvisor, no internet, a one-way ticket from Mumbai, with $100 in his pocket, a wife and a child is a brave and courageous move that he made, primarily for me, to give me a better life.
Sunita Gloster

She went on to explain how the community in Mt Gambier was very embracing of migrants at that time and how her Catholic faith had helped her in many ways, including transitioning into the Australian school system.

For both father and daughter, their work within the community was another way to pay back the country that had given them so much in 49 years, she said.

Sunita Gloster has been recognised for her leadership in media and marketing and has consistently ranked in the B&T Women in Media Power list for the last eight years. Credit: Supplied by Sunita Gloster.

Ms Gloster has almost 30 years of experience in professional services across the marketing, media, advertising and consulting sectors. She is the founder and CEO of her own consulting practice, Gloster Advisory.

She is also a non-executive director for Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and the UN Global Compact Network Australia.

She is an industry senior advisor with Accenture, with a focus on media, communications, customer technology, building brands, transformation and sustainability.

I love being a catalyst for change.
Sunita Gloster

She said she thought marketing was about creating change in behaviours and attitudes and in reflecting and serving the community whether it was stakeholders or consumers, or marginalised communities.

Besides the King's Honour, Ms Gloster has twice been voted "Top 35 Business Woman under 35" in the UK by Management Today and among Europe's "Top 40 Marketing Professional under 40" in 2003.

In Australia, she has been ranked in B&T's "Top 30 Powerful Women in Media" for the last eight years.

Ms Gloster is a frequent keynote speaker, commentator and guest panellist at TV and marketing industry events. Credit: Supplied by Sunita Gloster

She acknowledged the support of her husband, James Gloster, who managed the house and said she was happy she could be a strong role model for their three children.

Ms Gloster is a champion for gender equality and said she felt change could be created faster in the gender parity space if people aligned behind it.

Using the analogy of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, she remarked how people could rapidly learn new and resilient ways to adapt when it came to the crunch.

Similarly, when it came to gender equality despite statistics that say it will take 132 years (the World Economic Forum's "Global Gender Gap Report 2022") to achieve gender parity, she said she maintained a "glass-half-full" positivity.

"I am optimistic that change will happen, I don't think it's happening fast enough, but it will happen," she said.

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