Today, Elena Gosse is the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, the 2022 Lord Mayor’s Business Person of the Year, and a highly sought-after speaker, advocate and mentor.

Her company, AIS Water, is an innovative manufacturer of water disinfection technology and anode material for swimming pools. Its technology has been exported to over 55 countries and is currently used in 16 of the 22 council pools across Brisbane – a situation Elena could never have imagined when she first arrived in this city from Russia.

2022 was a particularly eventful year for Elena. Under her leadership, AIS Water constructed and opened its third Brisbane manufacturing facility at a cost of $9 million. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her service to manufacturing and the community; for encouraging female leadership; and for her strong advocacy for victims of family and domestic violence.

Having personally experienced the impacts of such violence as a child, she cares passionately about solving this scourge on society, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities, including Women’s Legal Service Queensland. But it was another award she won in 2022 – the Business Person of the Year Award – that had a particularly special resonance for Elena.

“When I won the Lord Mayor’s Business Person of the Year Award, that’s what made me feel like I had finally arrived,” she said. “When I arrived in this city nearly 30 years ago, I desperately wanted to fit in. I desperately wanted to make Brisbane my second home. So to be named Brisbane’s Business Person of the Year – that’s the recognition that I made it.

“It means I did something for this city that deserved recognition. AIS Water invests in this city. We invest in our people, we create more jobs, we raise money for the prevention of domestic violence, and with our technology, we’re saving millions of litres of water in swimming pools around the city.

“I love Brisbane. I think it’s been the best city for me to grow my business and raise my children – and now, to see my grandchildren grow.”