Organizers

Ms Bishop has served as the Member for Curtin in the House of Representatives since 1998. She was Australia’s first female Foreign Minister serving from 18 September 2013 to 28 August 2018, following four years in the role of Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ms Bishop was the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from December 2007 to August 2018.

Dr Catherine Keenan was formerly a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, working as an arts writer and as literary editor. Prior to that, she completed her doctorate in English Literature at Oxford University. She and Tim Dick co-founded the Story Factory in 2012 and Cath has been executive director ever since.

Jane Caro has a low boredom threshold and so wears many hats; including author, novelist, lecturer, mentor, social commentator, columnist, workshop facilitator, speaker, broadcaster and award-winning advertising writer and 2018 Walkley Award recipient for Women’s Leadership. Jane also runs her own communications consultancy.

On the afternoon of 9 November 2005, 18 year old Lauren Huxley was attacked by an intruder who was inside her home in Northmead, Sydney when she returned from a day at TAFE. She was found unconscious, lying on the garage floor bound and gagged with horrific head injuries and covered in petrol while fire ravaged the house.

Natasha Stott Despoja AO is the youngest woman ever to enter Australia’s Federal Parliament, where she served as a Senator from 1995 to 2008, and went on to lead her party, the Australian Democrats. A lifelong advocate for gender equality, Natasha is the founding Chair of Our Watch, the national organisation to Prevent Violence Against Women.

Johnny Ruffo is a singer, actor, dancer and television presenter. He has performed onstage with international hip hop superstars Salt ‘N Pepa, Guy Sebastian and Reece Mastin, and was even hand-selected to support global pop sensations One Direction on their record-breaking tour down under, as well as touring with US pop icons Backstreet Boys and and NKOTB.

Nici Andronicus represented Australia in triathlon and modern pentathlon for more than ten years from 1990. She competed at ten World Championships and more than ninety international events, becoming a three-time Australian champion and world number 2 in 1997. Underpinned by a degree from the University of Canberra, her sporting success brought outstanding opportunities and and Nici travelled the world to train, race and pursue her fledgling career in media and marketing.

Stephen McCabe is Head of the Analytical Risk Management team within Global Markets at CBA. Stephen and his team are responsible for working with clients

Christopher’s background covers business psychology, coaching and HR consulting. For over 17 years Christopher has been supporting both individuals and organisations with their talent and

Geoff Fowlstone is a highly experienced strategic communications professional working with organisations to enhance their engagement with media; investors; government and people. With more than

Greg is the director in charge of William Buck’s taxation services division. Greg joined the taxation services division of William Buck in 1999 after seven

Savanth Sebastian is responsible for analysis of economic trends in the Australian and global economy, as well as the likely impact on equity markets. His

Elias is a Senior Currency Strategist at the Commonwealth Bank. His role encompasses monitoring, analysing and forecasting trends in the currency markets. After graduating in

Having been self-employed for over 30 years, Steve came across the opportunity to join The Drug Detection Agency. Excited by the chance to make a

Nicole Matejic is an internationally recognised military information operations, social media and crisis communications advisor who is a regular instructor and speaker for NATO. Known

Stephen has over 20 years experience in working with and advising SME’s in many areas of business activity. Stephen trained with a large Newcastle based

Marcus has extensive experience in investment roles including over 13 years’ experience in private equity investing. Most recently, he spent just under 10 years at

Craig James is the Chief Economist at CommSec and one of Australia’s most respected economic commentators. Craig regularly provides written commentaries, newspaper interviews, and live

Brendan has a diverse and unique set of skills and experiences having started a career as a research scientist before commencing on a 13 year

Terry is an experienced Sydney based Adviser, consulting with numerous manufacturers and enabling technology companies over the last seven years. These businesses include advanced manufacturing