Speakers

iX Summit Sydney 2024 Speakers

Alana Hollestelle

Ali Abbas

Dr. Ali Nezhad

Alice Thompson

Alison Scotland

Allina Fawcett

Dr. Amanda Cahill

Dr. Ana Novak

Andrew Buay

Andrew Hudson

Andrew Morgan

Andrew Peterson

Andrew Steer

Angus McDonald

Ann Austin

Anna Skarbek

Anthony Karam

Belinda Paul

Behyad Jafarfi

Ben Jobson

Brad Archer

Brian Bero

Bronwyn Voyce

Brooke Donnelly

Carola Jonas

Carlos Flores

Carolin Leeshaa

Chloe Hicks

Chris Melck

Christian Kirschenpfadt

Christina Tonkin

Ciaran McCormack

Claudia Papandrea

Connor Shaw

Craig Roussac

Dane O'Shanassy

Daniel Walsh

David Bennett

David Crosbie

David Doral

David McPherson

Deanna D’Alessandro

Dena Jacobs

Dennis Freedman

Deo Prasad

Dermot O'Gorman

Devon Long

Elijah Lemusu

Elissa McNamara

Elsa Dominish

Emma Aisbett

Erik Solheim

Estelle Parker

Felipe Daguila

Gillian Mayne

Grant Caffery

Greg Johannes

Heidi Lee

Heinz Schandl

Henry Adams

Hollie Hynes

Huia Adkins

Ian Overton

Isaac Wall

Isabelle Grant

Jackie McKeon

James Schultz

Jas Chambers

Dr Jennifer Kent

Jeremy Liddle

Jim Osborne

Jo Sanson

Jody Bruce

Joe Karten

Joel Pringle

Johan Rockström

Jonathan Jutsen

John Thwaites

Josh Harris

Judy Slatyer

June Oscar

Karen Cain

Kate Dundas

Kate Hart

Kate Wilson

Katelyn Bonato

Katharine Hole

Katherine Wynn

Katie Dowling

Kirsten Andrews

Kristen Tilley

Kushaal Raj

Lachlan Feggans

Lachy Haynes

Laura Stewart

Leslie Schultz

Libby Pinkard

Linh Do

Lisa Zembrodt

Lizzy Pattinson

Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado

Lynette Mayne

Màiri McAllan

Marcus Dawe

Maria Mendiluce

Mark Jobbins

Mark Rowland

Mark Rodrigues

Martijn Wilder

Matt Topp

Megan Hill

Michael Battaglia

Michael Mazengarb

Michael Simioni

Michael Wright

Michel Colen_ISC_Headshot

Michelle Young

Mick Anderson

My Therese Blank

Natalie Thompson

Nick Chiiarelli

Nick Metz

Nigel Miller

Dr. Nina Terrey

Owen Pascoe

Paul Hawken

Paul Wallace

Penelope Crossley

Penny Joseph

Peter Bakker

Peter Cosier

Phil Harrison

Peter Hannam

Portia Odell

Rachel Lowry

Ralph Regenvanu

Rebecca Mikula Wright

Reece Proudfoot

Richie Merzian

Rob Law

Rob Waterworth

Robert Mullin

Sarah Altmann

Sarah Gorst

Sharelle Polack

Simon Dorries

Slava Kozlovskii

Stan Steinwolf

Stephanie McMahon

Susan Moylan-Coombs

Tejesh Kasyap

Tiana Nairn

Tim Buckley

Tim Grant

Tim Silverwood

Tishiko King

Tony Boatman

Tim King

Tim Lee

Tom Loefler

Dr. Vanessa Pirotta

Vivian Miles

Warren Flentje

Will Howard

Zoe Whitton

Alana Hollestelle

Alana is an Associate Director with Common Capital: an impact-oriented climate policy, strategy, and economics consultancy. She helps clients understand the sources of value and risk and develop strategies to capitalise on rapidly changing international regulatory, market and technology contexts – with particular subject matter expertise in international climate policy. She brings expertise in strategic, design and regulatory matters across industry transformation, climate-related trade policy, and agricultural emissions frameworks. She has a decade’s experience in consulting and banking, with previous roles at Deloitte & Commonwealth Bank, where she managed high-risk international projects.

Ali Abbas

Professor Ali Abbas is Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Engineering, and Founding Director of the Waste Transformation Research Hub in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Ali has 20 years’ experience in the field of Process Systems Engineering (PSE), with applications in clean energy and biological systems. He has published more than 150 papers in international scientific and engineering journals. In recent years, Ali has been working on circular economy transitions, identifying ways to translate the circular economy principles into practice, while employing the PSE approach.Ali works on problems in close partnerships with industry and government on applications in low-emissions technologies, eco-industrial parks, waste, and clean energy.He is active in commercialization, developing breakthrough deep technologies across multiple industry sectors in his capacity as company Founder and Director.Ali is Australia’s first ‘Chief Circular Engineer’, appointed to this role in 2022 by Circular Australia. Ali is the Founding Chair of the ‘Australian Circular Economy Conference’ (ACEC), and Finalist in 2023 Eureka Prize for Innovative Research in Sustainability.

Dr. Ali Nezhad

Dr Ali Nezhad is an Adjunct Professor at UNSW School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Head of Sustainability and Innovation at Boral Limited.

Alice Thompson

Alice commenced as inaugural CEO for the Committee for the Hunter in 2020. A leader in public policy, Alice has worked across all three levels of government and the private sector with expertise in infrastructure, transport, urban planning and regional development. Alice has advised both Labor and Liberal governments, including as Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Director Economics in NSW Premier and Cabinet, and Director of the Major Cities Unit and Infrastructure Australia. She was national lead, cities and regions at KPMG. Throughout her career Alice has championed new, place-based approaches to economic development. This includes City Deals and contemporary approaches to planning, infrastructure, precincts and investment attraction.

Alison Scotland

Alison serves as the Executive Director of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC), a coalition of leading organisations dedicated to advancing the vision of more sustainable, productive, and resilient buildings, communities, and cities. Alison’s professional zeal and expertise revolve around fostering collaborations with industry, government, and third-sector leaders to craft national policies and technical innovations that elevate the quality of the built environment. Under her leadership, ASBEC continues to champion the cause of sustainability and resilience across Australia’s built landscape.

Allina Fawcett

Dr. Amanda Cahill

Amanda is the CEO of The Next Economy, where she works to support regional communities across Australia to manage changes in the energy sector in ways that stimulate local economic development. She has worked successfully to support all levels of government, industry, workers and community groups to understand and manage different aspects of the energy transition across Queensland, the Hunter Valley, the Latrobe Valley and the Northern Territory. In 2023 she completed a Churchill Fellowship to study the energy transition in Europe and sits on AEMO’s Advisory Council on Social License. Amanda has a PhD from ANU and is a Research Fellow at Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne and Industry Fellow at the Sydney Policy Lab.

Dr. Ana Novak

CEO | Founder | Ocean-Based Climate Tech | AI | Turning back the tide.

At Blue Carbon we’re committed to addressing the existential risks from the urgent, two-fold threat of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Our ocean, comprising 70% of the planet and the largest carbon sink, is under threat. Blue Carbon’s tech solution is unlocking the ocean’s potential to secure a livable planet.

As the Founder & CEO of Blue Carbon, I'm on a mission to ensure that the oceans remain a source of wonder for generations to come. Our planet's future hinges on addressing the climate crisis and preserving biodiversity, and our ocean holds the key.

The final chapter on the climate crisis is here, and Blue Carbon is rewriting the narrative in a future where the oceans become our ally in the fight against extinction. It’s time to be part of the most crucial fight of our time. Blue Carbon is not just a company; it's a lifeline for our planet.

Andrew Buay

Andrew is Vice President for the SingTel Group’s and Optus Corporate Sustainability, and a Talent Coach to over 170 of the company’s Future and Emerging Leaders.

Under his leadership, Singtel Group was the first company in Asia (ex-Japan) to have its science-based Scope 1,2 & 3 emission targets approved by SBTI in October 2017. In December 2023, Singtel Group also was the first telco in Asia to have its carbon targets refreshed and approved by SBTi, including advancing its Net Zero ambition to 2045. Singtel was also an early signatory to the TCFD recommendations to progress towards climate-related risks financial disclosures and in 2022 published a full standalone TCFD report.

Prior to this, Andrew held various senior positions across the SingTel Group in Singapore, Australia and the Philippines. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Singtel Group Consumer Chief Information Officer, Managing Director for Optus Technology and Products Division, Managing Director for Optus Products and Delivery Division, and Managing Director of Optus Wholesale and Satellite Division. Andrew was the Chief Operating Advisor at Globe Telecom from 2003-2007, SingTel Group’s mobile associate in the Philippines. He has also held various other senior management positions in the SingTel Group including VP Consumer Marketing, CEO SINGNET, CEO Multimedia Group, Director Corporate Development, Director Business Marketing and Director Corporate Account Management. Andrew also founded and ran SingTel Ventures from 1997 - 2000, a S$150m corporate technology investment fund focused on emerging technologies in the ICT sector to drive innovation and develop new businesses spin-offs for the company.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts (First Class) Honours from the National University of Singapore and Masters in Management from Stanford University, USA (Sloan Program). He is a certified coach with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership and an LSI Accredited practitioner with Human Synergistics.

Andrew Hudson

Andrew Hudson is a dynamic senior leader in the social change movement and has been CEO of CPD since April 2022.
He has 25 years of experience in public policy, advocacy and senior leadership, working with NGOs, the UN, the private sector and government. He is an expert in building collaborations and changing systems to improve the lives of disadvantaged people.
Before joining CPD, Andrew was CEO of Crisis Action in New York, leading a global team across 11 countries. Prior to Crisis Action, Andrew worked at Human Rights First in New York, where he coordinated UN advocacy, managed the Human Rights Defenders Program and led Latin American work. Previously, Andrew was a lawyer in Australia representing disadvantaged clients and spearheading major law reform projects.
He has also worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Ecuador and the UN Regional Commission in Thailand. Australia’s first Youth Representative to the UN, Andrew holds honours degrees in politics and law from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Laws from New York University School of Law. He is a John Monash Scholar and member of the Board of Directors of Australian Progress.

Andrew Morgan

Andrew is the Assistant Secretary for Net Zero from the Australian Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Andrew and his team are leading the development of the Australian Government’s transport sector plan, the Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap, which will examine the potential pathways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all transport modes (road, aviation, maritime and rail), freight and supply chains, active transport planning, and supporting infrastructure. Andrew is a 2020 Sir Roland Wilson Scholar, 2015 Churchill Fellow. Andrew has worked in safety, health and environmental policy development, governance, planning and evaluation.

Andrew Peterson

For over a decade (since 2011), Andrew has led BCSD Australia, the premier national, CEO-led community of over 70 of Australia’s sustainable businesses working collectively to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net zero, nature positive, and more equitable future, bringing collaboration through global partners including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Business for Nature Coalition, the Capitals Coalition, the CDP, and the Global Reporting Initiative.

Andrew Steer

Andrew joined the Bezos Earth Fund from the World Resources Institute, where he served as President & CEO for over eight years. Prior to this, he served as the World Bank’s Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2010 - 2012. From 2007 to 2010, he served as Director General at the UK Department of International Development. This followed 10 years in East Asia, where he was Head of the World Bank in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Dr. Steer is a Global Agenda Trustee for the World Economic Forum, a Commissioner of the Energy Transitions Commission, a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), co-chair of the Greening the Belt and Road Coalition, and board member of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. He is also a member of the Advisory Committees of the Asian Development Bank and on the leadership council of Concordia.
Andrew was educated at St Andrews University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University. He has a PhD in international economics and finance.

Angus McDonald

Angus is the Chief Executive Officer at Barbeques Galore, a retailer of Barbeques and Outdoor products with a network of 90 stores across Australia. Since joining Barbeques Galore in 2019, Angus has led the development of new store formats, acceleration of new product development, and investment in brand and omnichannel capability. During this time, Barbeques Galore has been recognised as one of Inside Retail’s 20 coolest retailers in 2020, Gold and Silver winner at the 2021 Sydney Design Awards, and winner in the 2022 Australian Retail Innovators Awards. Prior to joining Barbeques Galore, Angus was a senior executive at ASX listed Super Retail Group, and was included on Internet Retailing’s 2018 list of the top 50 people in ecommerce.

Ann Austin

Ann has worked with the Lendlease group since 1992 in a variety of sustainability, project and people management roles, including CEO of the Lend Lease Foundation and General Manager of Organisational Development for Bovis Lend Lease. She has worked in sustainability since 2004. In July 2021 Ann was appointed Head of Sustainability, Australia responsible for leading the development and implementation of the sustainability strategy for all Lendlease businesses in the region. She has degrees in Architecture (Hons 1) from the University of Sydney and an executive MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management (University of NSW). Ann is married to Mark and the proud mother of Sam (21), Will (19) and Alice (16). She is a passionate swimmer and singer.

Anna Skarbek

Anna Skarbek is CEO of Climateworks Centre, working to develop the low carbon economy. A former banker and green policy adviser, Anna has led Climateworks since its creation in 2009, analysing emissions reduction opportunities, setting the ambition and unblocking barriers to implementation. Climateworks’ independent and non-partisan approach, co-founded by The Myer Foundation and Monash University, sees Anna working with multiple federal government departments as well as state governments and large corporations along with other stakeholders including investors, and business, environment and civil society leaders.

Anna was a founding board director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Carbon Market Institute, and is currently a director of the Green Building Council of Australia, the Centre for New Energy Technologies and Sentient Impact Group. She is a member of the Blueprint Institute’s strategic advisory council and the Grattan Institute’s energy program reference panel, and was the 2020 Mission Innovation Champion for Australia. 

In 2022 Anna was one of six leaders in climate and finance to join the Advisory Board of the newly formed Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). She was also invited to become a member of the influential women in leadership organisation, Chief Executive Women (CEW).

In 2023, Anna was appointed by the Victorian government to the State Electricity Commission Expert Advisory Panel, to help accelerate the state’s energy transition and deliver 4.5 GW renewable generation assets. 

In 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed Anna to the Advisory Board of the Australian Government’s Net Zero Economy Agency. The Advisory Board will support Agency Chair, the Hon Greg Combet AM, to design and establish the recently legislated Net Zero Authority.

Anna is a former director of Impact Investment Group, the Linking Melbourne Authority, Amnesty International Australia and The Big Issue. She was a member of the Australian Government’s Energy White Paper reference panel, Land Sector Carbon and Biodiversity Board and NGO Roundtable on Climate Change, and of Victoria’s Independent Review of the Climate Change Act and South Australia’s Low Carbon Economy Expert Panel. Anna has a background as an investment banker, policy advisor and lawyer. Before Climateworks, she worked in London’s carbon markets as Vice President of Advisory with Climate Change Capital, an investment manager raising capital for low carbon activities. Anna’s prior career in Australia included senior policy advisor to the Victorian Deputy Premier and Minister for Water, Environment and Climate Change, investment banker in Macquarie Bank’s energy and utilities team, and solicitor with Mallesons Stephen Jaques. 

She has a Bachelor of Commerce/Law with Honours from Monash University. Anna is also a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has completed leadership and management programs at Oxford University’s Said Business School and Melbourne University’s Business School.

Anthony Karam

After more than 20 years of experience as a commercial lawyer, in-house counsel, corporate consultant and an executive-level manager of businesses in the mining and technology sectors, Anthony Karam started on a different journey after seeing, firsthand, the enormous e-waste landfill dumps in West Africa back in 2017. Anthony has dedicated the last six years to solving the e-waste problem by asking, what if we could do better? After months of travelling the world, bringing together some great minds and testing solutions, he has led Sircel to achieve what many along the journey thought impossible – creatng an end-to-end solution that recycles up to 100% of e-waste at scale.

Belinda Paul

Belinda Paul is an energetic, passionate and creative brand product and marketing professional, with highly effective communication skills, building trusted and professional interpersonal relationships with national and international stakeholders. She created RCYCLE to provide a solution for people who think that disposing of clothing is the only way to get rid of clothes that are unable to be upcycled or donated. To date, the market has not catered to the customer and offered a service to take care of ‘worn out clothes’ or textile waste. It has almost been something that nobody talks about, we all clean out our wardrobes, we all have a pile that is intended for the Op Shop and we all ultimately have a pile that is intended for the bin. Now we have the option to send those items back to RCYCL and make an immediate impact on the number of kilograms going to landfill.

Behyad Jafarfi

As CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, Behyad leads the national body representing the electric vehicle industry in Australia; where our efforts aim to increase investment across Australia's electric vehicle supply chain.

Ben Jobson

Ben Jobson is Director – Program Extension at Climate Active, the Australian Government’s carbon neutral certification initiative. Climate Active is an ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and Australian businesses to drive voluntary climate action. Climate Active certifies businesses and organisations that have proven that they are measuring, reducing and offsetting their emissions, with a net result of zero emissions. Some of Australia's best known brands have achieved Climate Active certification for their products, services, events and business operations. Ben has 15 years’ experience in the Australia public service working in climate change and biodiversity conservation policy and program management roles.

Brad Archer

Mr Archer joined the Climate Change Authority in November 2018 and currently leads its advice to the Government on Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction targets, sectoral pathways review. Mr Archer began working on climate change policy for the Australian Government in 2011, and his responsibilities have included advising on clean energy innovation and renewable energy, Australia’s greenhouse gas inventory and international climate change policy. Mr Archer joined the Australian Government Treasury as a graduate in 1991, where he worked on a range of issues including international taxation, economic forecasting, the reform of Commonwealth-State financial relations, and competition and infrastructure policy. He has a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) and a Master of Information Management.

Brian Bero

Brian is a Principal, Director and Co-founder of Jaramer Legal and a member of the steering committee for the First Nations Clean Energy Network.

He is a Meriam man who is passionate about empowerment and socially responsible economic development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Brian is a senior commercial lawyer who has advised State and Federal Governments and large corporations such as Telstra, NBN Co, Oracle and Qantas, as well as Australia’s big banks.

He has a broad corporate/commercial practice including advising on complex contract negotiations and agreements, litigation, risk, compliance and regulatory matters, privacy, corporate structure and governance issues, probity, strategic government direction, technology and telecommunications matters, international instruments, and extensive experience in general procurement advice. He has also advised on Government specific agreements, MOUs, both at local and international levels.

Brian is currently the Deputy Chair of Ilbijerri Theatre Company, and a Director for Aboriginal Community Housing Ltd.

Bronwyn Voyce

Bronwyn Voyce is the founder of Civic Futures Lab, an impact lab for government, ASX and SME leaders seeking to address climate risk and accelerate the global transition to a circular economy. She is also the Chair of Circular Australia’s Industry Taskforce and is deeply passionate about supporting the private sector to lead the national transition to circularity and a low carbon economy.   Bronwyn has spearheaded a range of sustainability initiatives including founding the Women in Sustainability Collective and the world first “Great Plastic Rescue” a circular solution for banned single-use plastics that saved 60 tonnes and 20+ million items from landfill. As a trust Sustainability Partner of NSW EPA, Bronwyn is currently delivering the “Circularity for Climate” Epic Circular Challenge supporting industry value-chains to experiment with the adoption of circular principles, models and materials to decarbonise supply chains and repair nature.   With a unique background spanning regional economic and industry development and shaping policies and the regulatory landscape as an elected Local Government Councillor, Advisor, and Board Member, Bronwyn brings invaluable insights to her innovative approach to complex problem-solving and driving transformative systems change.

Brooke Donnelly

Brooke has over 25 years’ experience working across sustainability, circular economy, recycling, product stewardship and stakeholder collaboration. In her current role, Brooke leads the Coles teams to deliver on circular economy activities, climate and energy initiatives, sustainability reporting and engagement across all Coles businesses to support their ambitious goal to become Australia’s most sustainable supermarket. During her career Brooke has been responsible for the strategic design and delivery of a range of strategic national and cross regional initiatives such as the Product Stewardship Cluster, the 2025 National Packaging Targets, the Australasian Recycling Label and the ANZPAC Plastics Pact. Brooke has worked across a diverse range of recycling, product stewardship and sustainability organisations such as, APCO, Visy Industrial Packaging, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and ANZRP.

Carola Jonas

Carola is the CEO and Founder of Everty, an electric vehicle charging network and charging station management software solution. Everty works with EV owners, businesses, utilities and other organisations to increase the uptake of EVs and making EV ownership and use easier.

Carola is also a member of the Electric Vehicle Council Australia and held a board position on the rotating board and worked with industry partners to increase EV uptake in Australia.

Carola has previously worked as a sustainability and marketing consultant with brands like Enphase Energy to bring storage solutions, micro inverters and smart software to market and assisted EnergyLab, the first clean energy accelerator in Australia, to build and grow a vibrant start-up community of clean-tech companies and female entrepreneurs.

Carola has a background in working for NGOs, multinational corporations and Government. She has worked for household names such as Climate Friendly, NABERS (Office of Environment and Heritage), Transparency International and DB Schenker. Carola has been able to combine her marketing and sustainability skills to positively affect communities and organisations in Australia and overseas.

Carlos Flores

Carlos is the Director of NABERS, the largest building sustainability initiative by government in Australia. He has represented Australia at a wide range of global building decarbonisation initiatives, including at the International Energy Agency, the G20 and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark. Carlos is a Mechanical Engineer by trade, and a regular speaker at major climate change conferences in Australia and overseas.

Carolin Leeshaa

Carolin is the National Lead of Natural Capital & Biodiversity at KPMG Australia, bringing over 20 years of experience in global capital markets, sustainable finance, and risk management. Carolin is a Member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits and BLab’s Regional Advisory Board. She has been lauded in ‘The Australian 2023 Top100 Green List’ for her visionary adaptive leadership and impactful work in bringing nature onto the ledger and into economic decision-making. Carolin is a passionate advocate that businesses today must drive sustainable agendas that positively impact both people and planet.

Chloe Hicks

Chloe Hicks is Executive Director, Strategy and Policy at the Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo) in the NSW Government. Chloe is responsible for driving EnergyCo’s corporate strategy, policy development and advice, and regulatory processes.

Chloe has extensive experience and expertise in energy and government processes, including overseeing the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet and NSW Budget. She has been instrumental in driving energy and climate change policies in NSW, most notably the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap and its enabling legislation. She is passionate about ensuring energy infrastructure is developed in a way that benefits consumers and regional communities, having led the early design of Renewable Energy Zones in NSW.

In late 2023, Chloe travelled internationally to learn about world-leading energy transition policies and programs as part of a Churchill Fellowship.

Chris Melck

Chris is a Strategic Operations Principal in the Kearney Sydney office, and is the Social Impact Co-lead for Kearney ANZ. He has a passion for using procurement as a tool for driving improved sustainability outcomes and his most recent client engagement has been working with one of the biggest global miners to improve their understanding of ESG risks earlier in the procurement lifecycle

Christian Kirschenpfadt

Christian is a value-driven business builder and technology innovator with a commercial career spanning over two decades across (responsible) venture capital, innovation consulting, energy transition, and circular economy. Christian's extensive experience in the corporate world has seen him hold numerous senior management, executive, and advisory board positions in New York, London, and Sydney. With his commitment to responsible business practices and commercial strategies, personal accountability, and integrity he is amplifying and generating tangible positive outcomes for stakeholders. In his current role, Christian is leading all commercial aspects of AirSeed. With a track record of successfully scaling and exiting multiple businesses, Christian brings his expertise and experience to enhance resilience, mitigate risks and expedite growth for all AirSeed partners and collaborators in our joint efforts towards responsible and commercially viable ecosystem and biodiversity restoration.

Christina Tonkin

Christina Tonkin is the Managing Director, Corporate Finance for Institutional Banking at ANZ.Corporate Finance comprises Corporate Advisory, Sustainable Finance, Project & Export Finance, Asset & Leveraged Finance, Loans Agency & Debt Execution, Loan Product Governance & Analytics and Loan Underwriting & Syndications. Corporate Finance also “houses” the Relationship Coverage teams for our global Resources, Energy & Infrastructure customers.Christina has more than 25 years of experience in specialised finance and loan syndications. Since joining ANZ in 2005 from Westpac Banking Corporation, she has held several roles within the Institutional Banking loans business.Christina holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Geology and Geophysics from Sydney University.She is Vice President on the Executive Committee for Women in Banking & Finance, a former Vice President and Director of the National Stroke Foundation and a member of Chief Executive Women.

Ciaran McCormack

Ciaran McCormack is a climate and sustainability education specialist with two decades of global experience across the corporate, government, NFP, and tertiary education sectors.
With AXA Climate School, Ciaran works with organisations to embed a culture of sustainability through their workforces, and value chains. He helps curate and deploy training content — at speed and at scale. Previously, he managed former US Vice-President Al Gore's climate training and advocacy programs.
Thematically, Ciaran’s experience spans diverse environmental and social sustainability topics including: biodiversity; water; waste; energy efficiency; communications; reporting; and advocacy, including on just transition and climate justice.
Ciaran has created ‘COP literacy’ advocacy campaigns for recent COPs and is a member of the COP31 Collaboration Economy and Government Working Group.

Claudia Papandrea

Claudia Papandrea currently leads the Outreach and Engagement team at the Climate Change Authority and she has over 10 years’ experience in government policy and programs since joining the Australian Public Service in 2011.

Her technical policy, regulatory and programs experience extends across climate change and energy issues. Throughout her career, she has successfully contributed to the Government’s response to the Finkel Review of 2017, led the establishment of the Energy Security Board in 2018 and supported the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Partnership in 2015.

Claudia was the lead drafter of the draft National Framework for Disclosure of Residential Energy Efficiency Information, agreed by state and territory energy Ministers in February 2022, a principal policy commitment under the Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings. She has an in-depth understanding of decarbonisation of the built environment, particularly the residential building sector.

Her academic background is in sustainable development, accounting and public policy.

Connor Shaw

As a Wattle Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Connor's project work focuses on opportunities to ensure a human rights approach drives the energy transition, and principally how policies might be leveraged to support First Nations led engagement on key infrastructure projects. Connor has extensive experience in community justice having worked on housing discrimination in remote communities, refugee advocacy at the Emergency Afghanistan Legal Clinic and in generalist services at Fitzroy Legal. Currently working on public interest class actions, Connor is passionate about the intersections of social and environmental justice and believes that the law can be a powerful tool for communities and young people to protect people and planet.

Craig Roussac

Craig Roussac is co-founder and CEO of Buildings Alive, a leading provider of technology for grid-interactive efficient buildings. He has a PhD in architectural science and psychology, and degrees in commerce, finance, construction management and environmental design. He is the recipient of numerous awards in energy and environmental efficiency domains and is widely recognised for his work on the decarbonisation of buildings.

Dane O'Shanassy

Since 2013, Dane has led Patagonia in Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia positioning the brand for responsible growth and steering the company’s regional environmental activism. He finds joy in using business as a force for good, building strong teams and creating strategies that can be disruptive and transformational. A Master’s in Business Administration at Melbourne’s Deakin University underscores more than 25 years working with Australian brands prior to Patagonia including Rip Curl, Bellroy and Colorado. In his role at Patagonia, Dane has the opportunity to demonstrate that business success and environmental stewardship don’t have to be at odds; rather, when they’re pursued in concert, can lead to even greater impact and value for all stakeholders. Dane is energised by the surf and mountains, and through spending time with his family at home on Victoria’s Surf Coast.

Daniel Walsh

Daniel left a career in management consulting and healthcare in 2018 to start Reforest, inspired by the vision of a regenerative economy. Since that early start, Daniel and his co-founder, Tim Stainlay, have built Reforest into a successful Australian social enterprise powering bespoke climate and nature programs for companies such as Flight Centre, Zurich Insurance and many others. The corporate programs Reforest supports have so far planted almost 3 million trees in 30 different project locations around the world.

David Bennett

David Bennett, Risk and Compliance Manager, PF Olsen

David Crosbie

David Crosbie is CEO of the Community Council for Australia. He has spent more than 20 years as CEO of significant charities including over ten years in his current role at CCA, four years as CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia, seven years as CEO of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia, and seven years as CEO of Odyssey House Victoria. In addition to the work he leads at the Community Council for Australia, David served on the inaugural Advisory Board of the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission (ACNC), the Advisory Board of Impact Investing Australia, the Board of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (among others). He is a respected leader and advocate on issues affecting the contribution, performance and viability of NFPs in political, public, business and sector circles.

David Doral

CEO and co-founder of Dovetail Electric Aviation, David graduated from Madrid Polytechnic University with BEng and MSc degrees in Aerospace Engineering, and has an MBA from INSEAD. He started his career in the late 1990’s as an aircraft development engineer for Boeing and Airbus, moving into C-executive positions at different aerospace companies in the last decade, in Europe and Australia. David is a true believer in the disruptive power of electrification as the best option to bring zero emissions to aviation. He is applying his more than 25 years of international experience, running R&D programs, multimillion engineering companies, manufacturing plants and business units to make electric aviation a reality, retrofitting existing aircraft first, and with new designs in the future.

David McPherson

Deanna D’Alessandro

Deanna D’Alessandro is a chemist and Professor in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Sydney. Recently she has been appointed Director of the University’s Net Zero Initiative which aims to help government, industry and communities swiftly manufacture, deploy and adopt cost-effective, low emissions technologies at scale. Deanna has over 18 years professional experience in materials science, working primarily in Australia and the United States. Her own research team is recognised for its expertise in both fundamental and applied aspects of Metal-Organic Framework materials. She is passionate about multidisciplinary efforts to address climate change through Zero and Negative Emissions technologies such as Direct Air Capture.

Dena Jacobs

Dena Jacobs has extensive experience from across a range of infrastructure and economic policy roles. She leads Infrastructure NSW’s sustainability and resilience work programs, including the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery policy and measurement approach that focuses on reducing embodied emissions in infrastructure delivery.
Dena has a background in economics, having previously worked at Deloitte, NSW Treasury, the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Dennis Freedman

Dennis Freedman is the Managing Director Australia and New Zealand for Aquila Clean Energy. Aquila Clean Energy is a subsidiary of Aquila Capital, which has in excess of AUD$20b of renewable assets across 19 countries. Aquila Clean Energy has a pipeline of over 2.6GW in wind, solar, BESS and Solar / BESS hybrids across Australia and New Zealand.

Dennis has more than 15 years of Australian energy experience across renewable generation and electricity transmission.

Dennis is a Board member of the Clean Energy Council.

Deo Prasad

Scientia Professor Deo Prasad AO is among the internationally recognised Australian experts in environment and sustainability of the built environment with a focus on decarbonisation innovation, nature positive and evidence base for technical and policy outcomes. He is current CEO of the NSW Decarbonisation Innovation Hub which aims is to reduce carbon emissions to net zero between 2030 and 2050, whilst creating jobs and economic growth in NSW on a massive scale. He previously was the CEO of the CRC for Low Carbon Living.

Dermot O'Gorman

Dermot is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature, Australia (WWF-Australia) and a global sustainable development leader with 25 years’ experience in envisioning, ideating, and implementing solutions to protect wildlife, the environment and people. He is the Chair of the social venture OpenSC and has been a CEO at WWF for two decades across China, the Pacific and Australia. He is a member of the COP31 Collaboration group, supporting a whole-of-society approach to COP31 to deliver a just, resilient, low carbon future.

As a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Digital Civil Society Lab in 2022, Dermot explored the intersection of digital technology, civil society, and big philanthropy and how it’s fundamentally changing the charity sector. His experience in new technology – blockchain, AI and NFTs has helped shape this thinking about the role technology can play in the Fourth Industrial Revolution in delivering regenerative solutions at scale.

Dermot’s approach brings together his experience in human development, environmentalism, social justice, philanthropy, private equity, and innovation as he continues to collaborate across sectors to help people, governments and NGOs see global challenges as opportunities to co-create a better future for humanity and nature.

Devon Long

Devon Long, General Manager for Asia Pacific (Regrow Ag) Devon Long is focused on solving a defining problem of our time – how to feed a growing population with limited resources. Regrow Ag’s mission is to unlock the power of resilient agriculture to combat climate change and grow profitability, and Devon works to ensure the Regrow's technology is enabling opportunities for reduced environmental impact, as well as enhanced livelihoods for farmers across the Asia Pacific region. 

Elijah Lemusu

Graduating from Brigham Young University of Hawaii in 2021, Elijah Lemusu completed his degree in Pacific Studies with minors in Entrepreneurship, Psychology and Foundational (Pacific) language. In 2020, he was published in the Te Kaharoa Journal and produced various creative media to accompany his academic works. Lemusu's research focuses on the ever changing and evolving identities of Pasifika-Australia, spotlighting the various impacts, challenges and influences that contribute to the "hybridity" of the Pasifika-Australia experience and cultural identities within diaspora. Lemusu is active in the community for and with Pasifika throughout Sydney, serving as a member of the New South Wales Council for Pacific Communities. He is currently writing a book based on his own lived experiences in navigating personal cultural identity via the cultures of other Pacific nations and is working towards obtaining a doctorate of Pacific studies.

Elissa McNamara

Elissa McNamara is the National Lead Climate and Energy at Dairy Australia. Her role is to lead climate adaptation and emissions reduction for dairy farms around the country.

Elissa has driven change in the sustainability space for over 20 years. She has a deep passion for, and expertise, in climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy, water, and the circular economy. Her strengths are in collaboration, strategic planning, complex problem solving and stakeholder engagement for transformation.

In previous roles, she led major pieces of strategic advice to the Victoria Government, addressing the energy transition, the pandemic, the recycling crisis and decision-making in the water sector. She has also worked closely with farmers in the past, reforming water resource management during the Millenium drought.

Elsa Dominish

Elsa joined the Institute for Sustainable Futures in early 2015, with experience working on natural resources and climate change projects within research, non-government organisations and the private sector in Australia and Asia.

At ISF Elsa works across the areas of resources, energy, food systems and international development. She has been involved in several projects developing future scenarios, including for resource demands for renewable energy, employment impacts for energy technologies and the transition to 100% renewable energy for Australia. Elsa is a key researcher in the Wealth from Waste Cluster collaboration, a three-year, A$9m research program led by ISF that is identifying opportunities to progress resource productivity towards a circular economy for the metals sector in Australia. Elsa was a key organiser of the World Resources Forum Asia-Pacific held in June 2015, which brought together local and regional experts in sustainable resource management.

Before joining ISF Elsa worked with an NGO in Vietnam on a capacity building project on climate change, land rights and community forest management. Prior to this Elsa worked as an analyst for a carbon management consultancy, providing technical advice on carbon markets, carbon footprint methodologies and undertaking research on the social and environmental impacts of carbon mitigation projects. Elsa's broader research interests include social equity in natural resource management and land use change, climate change mitigation and global markets for resources and carbon.

Emma Aisbett

Emma Aisbett is Associate Professor at the ANU School of Law and Associate Director (Research) of the ANU Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific initiative. With degrees in Chemical Engineering (B.Eng. UNSW), Environmental Change and Management (MSc., Oxon.) and Economics (PhD, Berkeley) Emma brings an innately interdisciplinary perspective to research on sustainability. In addition to publishing in leading academic journals, she collaborates and provides expertise to leading organisations including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, OECD, UNCTAD, WEF and Australian Government. Her current research focuses on Green Industrial Policy and Trade-related Climate Policies.

Erik Solheim

Estelle Parker

With a distinguished 20-year career at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Estelle Parker brings crucial expertise in government relations, policy-making, and themes important to responsible investors, including human rights and the SDGs. As a leader driving RIAA’s research, certification, policy, standards, and working group programs, her leadership has elevated these initiatives to achieve heightened levels of professionalism, impact, and value delivery for our members, aligning seamlessly with RIAA’s strategic objectives.

Beyond her organisational impact, Estelle is a respected figure in the responsible investment landscape, serving as a strong advocate on influential global and government committees, including the Principles for Responsible Investment’s Global Policy Reference Group, the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance and the Australian Government’s Natural Capital Working Group. Additionally, she serves as the Convenor of the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures official Consultation Group for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Steering Committee for the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute. She is also a member of the Council of the Australian Institute for International Affairs (Victoria).

Felipe Daguila

Felipe is an accomplished global business and technology trailblazer with over two decades of experience leading, designing and delivering transformative business and digital strategies for startups and Fortune 500 companies – including Google and AWS. As both a visionary and hands-on pragmatic leader, he is respected in the technology industry as a catalyst for transformation, customer obsession and building high performing diverse teams.A truly international executive, Felipe has lived and led teams in Singapore, USA, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and Doha, and supported business development and led operations across North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.Felipe is passionate about mentoring and promoting culture and diversity in technology. In addition to the Google Launchpad Accelerator, he has formally mentored and advised several startups in Asia and the US, in addition to being a board member.

Gillian Mayne

Grant Caffery

Grant Caffery has over 30 years experience in the mining industry having worked in operations, projects, business development and technology development. In his prior role as Vice President, Innovation and Ventures, he was responsible for establishing BHP’s Innovation and Ventures portfolio and process. As a seasoned innovation leader with experience in exploration, autonomous mining, mineral processing, leaching and decarbonization, he has developed and integrated technologies across the mining value chain. He has done this by developing deep relationships with the innovation and technology development ecosystem.

Greg Johannes

Greg Johannes has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the Australian public, private, not-for-profit and research sectors. His roles have included Head of the State Service and Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Tasmania. In 2015 he was made a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia for his outstanding contribution to the public sector in Australia over many years. Greg has a deep interest in the oceans and extensive governance experience in the marine science sector. He recently completed a four-year stint as Independent Chair of the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, was a long-serving board member for both the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, and is a former member (ex-officio) of the Australian Antarctic Science Council. Greg also runs a boutique consulting company helping boards and CEOs address complex development and organisational issues. The son of a marine biologist, in his spare time Greg has been in or on the water since he was a young boy living in a remote village in Micronesia, and he snorkels and dives on the world’s coral reefs whenever he can.

Heidi Lee

Heidi Lee is an architect and expert in sustainable buildings and urban design with 20 years of experience in creating sustainable cities. After a decade of leadership and advisory roles with Beyond Zero Emissions, Heidi became CEO in 2020. Heidi led Beyond Zero Emissions’ much-lauded, post-covid Million Jobs Plan that showed how renewables and low-emissions projects can deliver 1.8 million new jobs in just five years.

Heinz Schandl

Dr. Heinz Schandl holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and an MA in Social and Economic Sciences. As a senior science leader at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Canberra, he is the director of CSIRO’s Circular Economy for Missions Initiative. In this capacity, he coordinates circular economy research endeavours. Beyond his primary role at CSIRO, he is an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Nagoya University in Japan. His affiliations extend to global platforms: he is a member of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) International Resource Panel and a past president of the International Society of Industrial Ecology. He also chairs the metrics working group of the Australian Circular Economy Hub. At the core of his research are themes like social theory, industrial metabolism, and environmental and sustainability policy. This expertise forms the backbone of his commitment to promoting evidence-based policies focused on resource efficiency, waste minimization, greenhouse gas reduction, and circular economy principles.

Henry Adams

Henry is a co-founder and Director of Common Capital: an impact-oriented climate policy, strategy, and economics consultancy. He helps government clients design and improve policy mechanisms to unlock private investment and scale the deployment of zero and negative emission solutions. He works across all sectors of the net zero transition, including extensive experience on clean energy demand and supply side policy. Prior to Common Capital his experience includes working in climate policy and regulatory reform roles in the NSW Government, a Ministerial Policy Advisor to, and business strategy constilting with IBM. He is also Director of the non profit Climate Recovery Institute.

Hollie Hynes

Hollie is a sustainability and construction industry expert with over 17 years’ experience in diverse arenas, driving exceptional outcomes across the project lifecycle under a variety of contract models. As Laing O’Rourke’s General Manager – Sustainability and Environment, she oversees a high-performing team of industry experts who are empowered as an army of change agents across the organisation.   She first established Laing O’Rourke’s sustainability function in 2014. She’s the architect of the company’s Responsible Decision-Making Framework, a Roads Australia Fellow, and a member of the QMCA Board and the ACA Culture Board. Hollie holds a Dual Degree in Environmental Science and Genetics, a Graduate Certificate in Executive Leadership and is committed to ongoing learning through the completion of her MBA.    Hollie is passionate about innovation, diversity and inclusion and provides a platform where these critical enablers of the Sustainability Strategy can thrive.

Huia Adkins

An experienced professional who co-creates sustainability strategy and action, Huia utilises her expertise and understanding of the principles, tools and strategies of sustainable practice to help deliver workable solutions that support global sustainability goals. Huia has more than 20 years of working across private, public and tertiary education sectors; facilitating the development and implementation of environmental policy, programs and plans, assessment and analysis of expected outcomes and advice to key stakeholders on pathways forward. She has worked extensively in sustainability, circular economy, waste and resource recovery as well as strategic planning, impact assessment and environmental regulation. She has extensive experience developing strategy and implementation pathways as well as undertaking stakeholder engagement and facilitation processes.

Ian Overton

Professor Ian Overton is a sustainability leader with expertise in circular economy, nature positive and climate change. He has extensive experience across Government, industry and academia. His previous positions include Chief Executive of Green Industries SA, the state Government agency driving the transition to a circular economy, Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO and Principal of Natural Economy, a sustainability consulting company. He has a PhD in environmental management, an MBA and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Isaac Wall

Isaac Wall is responsible for the strategic management of the NSW Government’s EV fast charging and EV ready buildings programs. Previously Isaac managed the teams delivering the NSW EV destination charging and EV kerbside charging programs. Isaac brings deep industry experience in the deployment of EV charging infrastructure in a range of settings including public charging, fleets and apartment buildings.

Isabelle Grant

Isabelle Grant is Land Carbon Lead at The Superpower Institute. Author of the chapter on Land Carbon in the recent Superpower Transformation book, her expertise spans the fields of terrestrial carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture and the bioeconomy.

Jackie McKeon

Jackie is Program Director at Business Renewables Centre Australia (BRC-A) and Research Director at Climate-KIC and the Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS). Jackie has over 15 years’ experience in renewable energy procurement, carbon and energy management, decarbonisation strategy, strategic planning, corporate advisory & stakeholder engagement. Her career experience spans energy, property, infrastructure, retail, finance and government sectors.   Jackie and her team launched the BRC-A in 2018 as a partnership of Climate-KIC, ISF and WWF-Australia.  BRC-A is Australia’s leading not-for-profit dedicated to corporate renewable energy procurement,  providing independent training, connection, and ‘how-to’ resources to drive industry decarbonisation.  BRC-A’s goal to help Australian industry to contract 12 GW of renewable energy PPAs to help meet the Federal Government target for 82% renewables by 2030. Learn more: businessrenewables.org.au 

James Schultz

James is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of GreenCollar. James’s interests and expertise lie in exploring how environmental markets can offer innovative solutions that lead to real environmental, economic and social outcomes. He has used his skills all over the world, working across a range of organisations including the World Bank, the African Union and the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. James is a highly regarded advisor to government departments and organisations. He has been involved in the development and implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, environmental markets and natural resource management. James has presented at high profile conferences including the Global Carbon Expo and annual UNFCCC climate talks. Most recently James’s passion for frontier industries has led him to set up Earth Space Robotics, which invests in start-ups focusing on space exploration. He is also adding a Masters in Astronomy to his existing degrees in Anthropology and International Relations

Jas Chambers

Jas works at the intersection of nature (with a focus on ocean), science, business and policy, bringing together people from across sectors and expertise, seeking harmonisation in governance that considers the planet. She has worked in the Australian higher education and government sectors across strategy, communications and international science diplomacy including with United Nations Specialised Agencies and the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, representing Australia. Jas co-founded Ocean Decade Australia - a national NGO connecting Australia's Ocean Stakeholders, galvanised by the UN declared Ocean Decade 2021 - 2030. She is the Director and Principal of Provenance Consulting - a strategic advisory business, and serves as Vice-President to Science & Technology Australia and Chair of the Sydney Institute for Marine Science Foundation.

Dr Jennifer Kent

Dr Jennifer Kent is a Senior Research Fellow and Urbanism Research Lead at the University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning. Jennifer’s research interests are at the intersections between urban planning, transport and human health. She specialises in combining quantitative and qualitative data with understandings from policy science to explore day-to-day mobility, with an explicit mandate to record and theorise shifts away from private car use towards more sustainable transport modes in car oriented cities. Jennifer publishes regularly in high ranking scholarly journals and her work has been used to inform policy development in NSW and Australia

Jeremy Liddle

Jeremy Liddle is Executive Director at Third Hemisphere, a specialist climate, tech, and finance PR agency for innovators, leaders, and investors who are changing the world.

Jeremy is a capital markets, climate, and technology specialist. He is a founding partner of climate tech investment & advisory firm, SDGx, has invested in 25+ tech & climate startups and multiple venture funds, and was President for Australia at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance. He also spoke at TedX, authored the book "From Idea to Startup", and has worked extensively with the UN including co-authoring the G20 & UN White paper on youth entrepreneurship and participating in the formation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Jeremy holds a Bachelor of Business (Monash) and a Graduate Diploma of Finance (Griffith).

Jim Osborne

Jim is a 6th generation farmer, landscape architect and the custodian of Yambulla, 1,200 hectares of inherited land in southeastern NSW.

He is funding a team to develop nature positive ways of managing this land including building a governance structure that enables sharing the rewards and responsibilities of Yambulla with like-minded people. They have invited in Aboriginal knowledge holders, businesses and consultants and are developing productive, equitable and sustainable models. They are now inviting in catalytic capital investors, donors and lenders.

The project includes designing 600 hectares of land as novel forests with capacity to produce Native foods, forest products and carbon credits to support Yambulla for many generations. But also inspire and pay forward to other landowners, enabling change at scale

Jo Sanson

Jo Sanson leads the Land Use Futures program at Climateworks Centre. Land Use Futures is a multi-year initiative established to provide analysis and advice on how Australia can achieve sustainable land use and food systems. Through a partnership with Deakin University, Jo is supporting the upgrade and application of the Land Use Trade Offs model (LUTO 2), providing detailed spatial analysis of how Australia’s land can optimally be used to achieve agricultural production, climate and biodiversity objectives. Jo has over 20 years of experience in program management and research, previously specialising in climate resilience, livelihood and food security programs, and has provided technical assistance to the World Bank and governments in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Jody Bruce

Jody leads Regional Transition work within CSIRO's Towards Net Zero mission, embedding low-emission technologies in regional systems to support just and equitable transitions. While capturing the opportunities of a sustainable economy. Collaborating with internal and external partners, Jody explores how innovation can accelerate regional transitions across different contexts.  Leading the Agri-Food Systems Group in CSIRO's Sustainability program, her work focuses on reshaping agri-food systems for health, sustainability, and equity. Previously, she contributed to the first national assessment of the climate change vulnerability of our national plantation estate. She was also involved in the Bioregional Assessments; a ground-breaking multi-disciplinary approach looking at whole-of-system impacts including ecology, hydrology, geology and hydrogeology, for explicit assessment of the potential impacts of CSG and coal mining development on water resources and water-dependent assets such as wetlands and groundwater. 

Joe Karten

Joe is an industry leader in sustainability with two decades of international and local experience in creating some of the most sustainable buildings. He leads sustainability and social impact at Built. With a focus across decarbonisation, circular economy and nature positivity, Joe contributes to industry think tanks and stakeholder groups to improve the Australia property industry’s response to the environmental and social challenges we face.

Joel Pringle

Joel is the Acting CEO of Solar Citizens, an independent, community-based organisation working to protect and grow renewable energy and transport in Australia. Drawing from his experience consumer policy, housing affordability, cost-of-living campaigns, and anti-discrimination movements, he sees fair access to the cost-of-living benefits of clean energy and renewable technologies as essential to consolidating the successes of climate campaigns.

Joel leads Solar Citizens' national consumer advocacy campaigns, with a focus on energy equity and increasing the roll-out or household energy storage. He understands that it’s up to Australian communities to get involved in making make this happen, and that organisations such as Solar Citizens and its partners can empower everyday Australians to do this.

Johan Rockström

Johan Rockström is the Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam.

Johan Rockström is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues. He led the development of the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development in the current era of rapid global change.

He is a leading scientist on global water resources, with more than 25 years experience in applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability. In addition to his research endeavours, which has been widely used to guide policy, Rockström is active as a consultant for several governments and business networks. He also acts as an advisor for sustainable development issues at international meetings including the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences (UNFCCC).

Professor Rockström chairs the advisory board for the EAT Foundation and the Earth League and has been appointed as chair of the Earth Commission.

Jonathan Jutsen

Jon has been a leader in energy and carbon management for over 40 years. He led the bid process and has been CEO of the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre since its inception.

Earlier in his career, he founded and led Energetics for 25 years, and nearly 10 more years focused on innovation, including establishing an energy tech start-up with VC funding which he took to the US and ran for 4 years. He was co-founder and led the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity for nearly 10 years. He also had a stint on the Board of ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) and has been on the boards of any energy and sustainability organisations including EEC. He is a Chemical Engineer with a Master's degree in Energy Technology. He was named one of the ‘100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia’, is a Fellow of the ATSE, received a Millennium Medal, and was the EEC 2018 Energy Efficiency Champion.

John Thwaites

Prof. John Thwaites is a global expert on developing policies to address sustainable development, water and climate change, bringing together researchers, industry and government organisations to set goals, accelerate action and find solutions.

Prof. Thwaites is well known as a leading politician in the Victorian Parliament, holding the position of Deputy Premier Victoria from 1999-2007, Minister for Health, Minister for Planning and then Minister for Environment and Water and for Victorian Communities. He was Victoria's first Minister for Climate Change. He oversaw major reform in water policy and legislation in Victoria, introducing a water conservation program that saw people saving more than 40% more water per head. And he introduced 5-star energy and water efficient standards for all Victorian homes.

Currently he is a professor at Monash University and a chair of Monash Sustainable Development Institute, a global leader in research and education to find solutions to climate change and sustainable development, collaborating with influential organisations, thinkers and doers for bigger impact.

Prof. Thwaites is chair of ClimateWorks Australia, an expert advisory to help the transition to net zero emissions by 2050. He is also Chair of Melbourne Water, which manages Melbourne's water and sewerage and river health. He is Chair of the National Sustainable Development Council and on the board of Fairtrade Australia New Zealand. He has been on numerous government reviews, taskforces, reference groups and panels bringing together science, policy and people and helping improve decision making by government.

Prof. Thwaites studied at Monash University, graduating in science and law and practising as a barrister before entering politics as a ministerial adviser. He is passionate about social justice and developing cross cultural interactions.

Josh Harris

Josh Harris is a leading innovator in the climate and carbon markets sector. He has more than twenty years of practical experience working in carbon markets in Australia and internationally, including in Beijing, London and Medellin. Josh has worked at Climate Friendly for the past decade, building its carbon farming business and more recently as Co-CEO, growing the scope of the company’s climate, nature and reconciliation purposes. Previously, Josh worked as an advisor to the West Australian Environment Minister and at Climate Group, developing the Verified Carbon Standard.

Judy Slatyer

Judy has been at the forefront of transforming organisations across the corporate and not-for-profit sectors throughout her career.  Her experience spans the corporate, government and civil society sectors as well as working in Australia and internationally.  She is a recognised leader in climate change and sustainability.  She has a portfolio of initiatives which include: Chair, NSW Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board; Director, Climate Leaders Coalition; and President, WWF-Australia.  Judy is also a non-executive Director with Gigacomm and Talent Beyond Boundaries and leads the National AI Centre’s Responsible AI@Scale Think Tank.  Prior to this Judy was the CEO of Australian Red Cross. Before that Judy held the roles of Chief Operating Officer for Worldwide Fund for Nature (Int’l), CEO of Lonely Planet and Chief of Consumer Sales, Telstra Corporation.

June Oscar

June Oscar AO is a proud Bunuba woman from the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. She is a strong advocate for Indigenous Australian languages, social justice, women’s issues, and has worked tirelessly to reduce Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

June has held a raft of influential positions including Deputy Director of the Kimberley Land Council, chair of the Kimberley Language Resource Centre and the Kimberley Interpreting Service and Chief Investigator with WA’s Lililwan Project addressing FASD.

She led a successful community driven campaign for alcohol restrictions in Fitzroy Crossing and is an international advocate on the impacts of intergenerational trauma and the need to restore societal wellbeing through the revitalisation of cultural practices, languages and connection to land and water.

Karen Cain

Karen has significant senior experience working across government, leading strategic innovation, and developing and implementing policy in the public sector.

Karen’s career in education as a teacher, principal and senior public sector manager in two states, Victoria and Tasmania, led to experience in working across communities to link and to build partnerships that harness capacity and growth.

During this time, she led international partnerships and presentations on educational reform in Victoria with regions in the US, UK and China.

These roles, particularly in regional areas, has led to a strong understanding and commitment to the role of the public sector based on system leadership practice that involves and benefits those that it serves.

Her experience in developing and delivering on issues that reflect what matters to community and government led to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer at the Latrobe Valley Authority, which she held from April 2017 to December 2021

.As CEO she led industry and community transition across the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland and contributed to state and national transition debate, practice and policy.

In this role she presented at invitational conferences for the OECD in Sweden and South Korea, an international Round Table in South Africa on transitioning from coal energy and attended an invitation only EU Smart Specialisation Conference in Seville, hearing from key EU speakers on the EU’s regional development policies and strategies. In Australia she has contributed to the debate on investment in renewable and sustainable energy policy and practice and forums on place-based practice.

In addition, as Director Community Transition Forestry with the Department of Jobs Precincts and Regions for two years, Karen successfully led engagement with communities across Victoria as part of the Victorian Forestry Plan implementation.

Currently Karen is chairing an eminent panel for engagement on the future of forests in the Central Highlands in Victoria and has been recently appointed to a statewide ‘Great Outdoors Taskforce’.

Karen is a fellow of Leadership Victoria’s Williamson Community Leadership Program.

She was awarded the Institute for Public Administration Australia, Victorian Top 50 Public Sector Women Award in 2018 and in 2023 was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll for her contribution to transition in the state.

Kate Dundas

Kate is the CEO/Executive Director of UN Global Compact Network Australia, she lead the Australian Network's Secretariat of the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. She work with over 300 businesses and stakeholders to advance the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.Kate has over 20 years of experience in strategy, operations, futures, foresight, data, sustainability, urban design, and community development across the public and private sectors. She is a creative and collaborative leader, designer, and strategist, passionate about solving complex problems and creating positive change. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Harvard's Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership program and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturing, London.

Kate Hart

Kate brings 25 years of experience in both industry and professional services to her work as a Partner at the leading global management consulting firm Kearney. She specialises in transformation, sustainability, supply chain management, procurement and business process design.

Kate leads the ANZ Consumer Industry & Retail Practice and co-leads the APAC Sustainability Practice - where she has spearheaded Kearney's thinking in ANZ for the last 10+ years, shaping Kearney’s perspectives and thought leadership in sustainability.

She is a proud member of Chief Executive Women (CEW), facilitates the CEW Leaders program and is a member of Kearney's Global Inclusion Council.

Kate Wilson

Kate Wilson was the Executive Director Climate Change and Sustainability in NSW from 2018-2023. Kate led the development of the first NSW Net Zero Plan, in which NSW established over 1 billion dollars’ worth of investment to support the transition to net zero by 2050.

Kate has a background as a professional scientist. For eight years she led NSW Government delivery of environmental science, spanning biodiversity, pollution, and climate change. She was a Director on the Board of the Low Carbon Living Cooperative Research Centre. She has worked across the globe in universities, government and a United Nations agency.

Kate is now an independent climate, biodiversity and sustainability advisor. Current activities include chairing the international Net Zero Futures Policy Forum, and volunteering to support a net zero future in her local community.

Katelyn Bonato

Katelyn is a Partner in PwC’s Sustainability Reportng and Assurance team based in Melbourne, whospecialises in helping clients to understand the impact of climate and natural capital risk from astrategic, operatonal and reporting level. Having worked in professional services across Australiaand Switzerland for over 18 years, she has significant experience understanding climate risk infinancial reporting and enterprise value, leveraging her deep technical accountng expertse to helpclients understand their impact of climate risk strategies on financial and non-financial reportng,including [draft] ASRS, TCFD, GRI, SASB, ISSB and proposed SEC disclosures.

Katelyn leverages her ESG and financial reporting expertse to work with clients to understand the way in which climate and nature impact business resilience and enterprise value, including undertaking ESG strategies, decarbonisaton strategies, and climate and nature reporting implementatons.

Katharine Hole

Katharine is the Association for the Battery Recycling Industry's (ABRI) CEO. She greatly enjoys working across the Australian battery value chain to support development of a world leading, innovative and sustainable clean energy sector. Prior to joining ABRI, she worked in senior executive roles across the energy, resources, planning, water, infrastructure and environment portfolios within government. University qualifications in economics, Asian studies and environmental management provides her with a strong skill set to take a multi-disciplinary approach to applying evidence based solutions to policy challenges.

Katherine Wynn

At CSIRO Futures, Katherine advises clients on the emerging trends and technologies shaping industries while designing responsive strategies for more informed investment decisions.

Katherine has led the delivery of several reports in agriculture and food, including the:
Growth opportunities for Australian food and agribusiness report
Australia's National Protein Roadmap
Reshaping Australian Food Systems Roadmap
Ag2050 Scenarios Report

Prior to joining CSIRO, Katherine worked at Deloitte Access Economics.

Katherine holds a PhD in Economics which she completed with Agriculture Victoria and the University of Melbourne with a research focus on R&D investment in the field of agricultural biotechnology. Katherine also holds a Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Laws, and Diploma of Language (French) from Monash University.

Katie Dowling

Katie Dowling is co-founder and CFO of Circular Australia Ltd and recently was a part-time lecturer with University of Sydney Chemical Engineering faculty. Prior to working with NSWCircular (an innovation network established by NSW Government and UNSW) and now Circular Australia, Katie worked as a banking executive for over 25 years in a variety of senior Treasury and Financial Markets roles in Sydney and London, with extensive experience in Financial Markets, Balance Sheet Risk Management and Capital Management.

Katie has a Bachelor of Commerce from the UNSW, is a fellow of the Finance and Treasury Association and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and more recently furthered her studies in Circular Economy through Delft University, Netherlands.

Kirsten Andrews

Kirsten Andrews is vice-president of external engagement for The University of Sydney. Her teams work across the globe to inspire people to study, innovate and collaborate with the University to ensure its work is more compelling, and more important to society, than at any other time in its history. Prior to joining the university, Andrews held senior positions in government and the not-for-profit sector, including at the National Heart Foundation, as chief of staff to a federal minister and deputy director of communications to the Premier of New South Wales.

Kristen Tilley

Kristin Tilley is Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change and plays a leading role in Australia’s international climate diplomacy, with a focus on engaging with the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

Prior to taking up this appointment in November 2022, Kristin held several senior positions in the Australian Government, including as head of the Office of Supply Chain Resilience in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and leading the Government’s work on waste and recycling, including designing and implementing Australia’s ban the export of waste. Prior to this, Kristin spent more than a decade working on international and domestic climate change policies and programs, including as a senior adviser to Australia’s Climate Change Minister.

Kushaal Raj

Mr. Kushaal Raj has recently joined Conservation International as the Pacific Policy Director. Kush is based in Suva, Fiji and works closely with CI Pacific Region, CI Asia Pacific Field Division Team, Global Policy Team, and NCS APFD team in furthering policy priorities in the Pacific. His work focuses on supporting policy engagement to facilitate blue carbon, climate, ocean, biodiversity, and other high quality policy outcomes including carbon credits’ generation (REDD+ nesting) and trading in the region (Article-6 NCS credits).

Prior to joining CI, Kush has worked for the Fiji Government as the Director of Climate Change. He provided Managerial oversight to Fiji’s climate change division – through supervision of works in climate change adaptation, mitigation, climate finance and on oceans/blue economy. He also provided diverse and broad strategic advice to the Fiji’s Minister for Economy and to the Prime Minister and to Pacific regional organizations on climate change, oceans, and sustainable development. He also led the development and implementation of Fiji’s Climate Change Act 2021, Fiji’s National Ocean Policy, and the Low Emissions, NDC investment Plan and Climate Financing Strategies for Fiji. He was also the UNFCCC, GCF, and the Adaptation Fund focal point and coordinated the financial management and accountability for the Climate Change Division as well for financing of climate change programs through multi-donor financing including GCF, and through innovative domestic tax and other strategies.

He also provided timely advice on and supervision of key ODA strategies and processes to facilitate budget preparation and execution and also led the implementation of the national plastic bag ban and the ban on Styrofoam, development of national comms information marketing strategy, undertaking of field visits and consultations in order to advocate climate change to the public including the drafting of legislation.He also served as a GCF Board member for the developing countries constituencies in 2022. Kush has also been leading the global front on the inclusion of oceans in the UNFCCC through the Ocean Pathway Partnership, and in coordinating the Friends of the Ocean Network under the convention.

Lachlan Feggans

Lachlan Feggans has been a sustainability professional for over 20 years. He works with Brambles, a supply chain logistics business listed on the ASX, renowned for its circular business model. Lachlan's role involves re-establishing the relationship between the company's dependencies and their impacts on natural capital and creating value through sustainability. Brambles is consistently ranked highly in major ESG indices. Lachlan has played a key role in the company's success by introducing Integrated Reporting and thinking while leading the company's response to climate change. Currently, Lachlan and his team are embarking on the nature journey via the TNFD (Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) framework to help the company inform its ambition of becoming a truly regenerative organisation.

Lachy Haynes

Lachy leads PwC’s New Economy Opportunities group and is a founding member of the global Future Fuels and Critical Minerals networks at PwC.

Lachy was instrumental in the development of the PwC Energy Transition business, an integrated group that works with organisations to identify energy transition scenarios, formulate and implement strategic responses, develop projects and execute transactions, and report out comes to stakeholders.

He has an abiding interest in the development and structure of markets that facilitate the energy transition, and advises on the associated business model innovation, climate technology commercialisation, supply chain and infrastructure development, and funding requirements.

Lachy has a global perspective, having lived and worked in London, with responsibility for projects across Africa, Asia and South America, and Santiago where he established a resources industry practice for a global consulting firm.

Laura Stewart

Laura has over 15 years’ experience in strategy and engagement on various infrastructure projects, and currently leads the ANZ Strategic Consulting business. Her specializations include policy and strategy design, research, issues management, facilitation, and working with diverse stakeholders to create alignment on problem definition and project outcomes. With her extensive experience in senior leadership roles within organizations and significant projects, she has a deep understanding of the infrastructure sector and diverse skills ranging from business cases to delivery. Laura works with clients, teams, and stakeholders on defining problems, strategic design, innovation programs, and transformation. She is passionate about innovation and developing new ways of bringing value, enabling organizations, groups, and individuals to be future-ready.

Leslie Schultz

Leslie Schultz is the Founder & Chair - Ngadju Conservation Aboriginal Corporation, Western Australia. Ngadju hold traditional responsibility for a land mass larger than Tasmania, with declared Indigenous Protected Areas under the International Reserves System. Les has championed cultural heritage protections and was instrumental in the establishment of the Indigenous Ranger program in WA's Goldfields region and the Dundas Rural Bush Fire Brigade, one of the only Indigenous Rural Bush Fire Brigades in Australia. Les is a member of the First Nations Clean Energy Steering Group and a Board Member of the Indigenous Peoples Organisation-Australia (IPOA), where he leads IPOA’s Climate and Environment Sub Committee. Les has co-authored several publications on Ngajdu Kala, including Ngadju Kala: Ngadju fire knowledge and contemporary fire management in the Great Western Woodlands, and a Ngajumaya field guide currently in development with the Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre.

Libby Pinkard

Libby is the Research Director for the Living Landscapes Program in CSIRO Environment.  She has extensive experience in science and people leadership across broad disciplines.  Her background as a systems scientist has enabled her to address issues related to resource supply and security in the forest industry, including climate change impacts and adaptation, and to apply this knowledge to promote environmentally sustainable land management including through natural capital assessment and accounting and nature-related financial risk disclosures.

Linh Do

Linh Do brings a decade of experience in domestic and international climate action through the lens of community organising, leadership development and new media. She is the Director of the Wattle Fellowship at the University of Melbourne and chair of Climate Action Network Australia.

Lisa Zembrodt

Lisa is the Principal and Senior Director of Sustainability Business for Pacific at Schneider Electric. With nearly two decades of experience in the energy industry, Lisa has supported organisations through energy and sustainability transformations through her holistic energy strategies, helping pioneer new approaches in the Australian market.

Lisa advises some of Australia’s largest energy users and is a Certified Energy Risk Professional, holds an MBA, Bachelor degree in International Economics with a minor in International Studies, and a Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate from the Global Association of Risk Professions. She sits on the boards of the Energy Efficiency Council and the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity, and is Treasurer & Non-Executive Director of the Energy Users Association of Australia.

Lizzy Pattinson

Lizzy Pattinson is the Director Strategic Projects and Innovation in the NSW Government’s Smart Places team, sitting in the Passenger, Customer & Asset Division. Lizzy is passionate about delivering meaningful outcomes for the people of NSW through technology and innovation and is particularly interested in energy, sustainability and infrastructure innovation to achieve net zero. Lizzy has a background in leading policy and programs across the NSW Government with a broad range of experience across digital, infrastructure and strategic policy initiatives, as well as time in the private sector and academia looking into AI, open data, digital transformation and regulatory frameworks.

Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado

Ambassador Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado is a career diplomat for more than 40 years. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to Washington, the United Nations in New York and Lisbon. For most of his career, the headed Brazilian Delegations to conferences and meetings on sustainable development and environmental issues, especially those related to climate change and chaired a number of processes in these negotiations. He was awarded the Elizabeth Haub International Prize for Environmental Diplomacy.He is currently the Brazilian Special Envoy for Climate Change.

Lynette Mayne

Lynette has a proven commercial track record as CEO, Chair + Director, and is a successful entrepreneur having established and run globally competitive businesses including a decade in New York. She is: Executive Chair of Richard Branson’s B Team Australasia working with CEOs to enhance what they do with the people and the planet. Initiatives include Future of Work, Mental Health, AI, Carbon Investment Schemes and the very successful Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC), with 50+ major company CEOs working on joint projects to decarbonise their businesses, including its Scope 3 playbook, a global first. Lynette is currently a NED on Accounting for Nature, the global leader in measuring the impact that a company is having on the environment in which it operates. She was Owner and Executive Chair of Work Wear World; and a CEO at Lendlease, among other things.

Màiri McAllan

Màiri McAllan was appointed as the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy in March 2023. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Clydesdale since 2021 and is a former corporate solicitor. while practising law, Mairi specialised in energy and natural resources in a large Glasgow firm. She also cofounded the human rights organisation ‘Reblaw Scotland’ during this time.

Marcus Dawe

Marcus Dawe is a climate thought leader, serial tech entrepreneur, board member and Chair based in Canberra, Australia. Marcus is CEO and Founder of MCi Carbon, an Australian clean tech transforming CO2 emissions into building materials and other valuable industrial products for the circular economy. Marcus focuses his activities on developing and supporting ventures that provide Australia with a global innovation edge, employing strategy, design and systems thinking. Marcus is chair of several organisations and advises on government committees, boards of start-ups, scientific & non-for-profit boards & committees. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Maria Mendiluce

María is an expert in sustainable development, energy and climate action with 25 years of experience. She is the CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, that has mobilised 15,000 companies to date committing to Paris-aligned emissions reduction and has brought the business voice to the G7, G20 and UNFCCC. Maria sits on the boards of the Science Based Targets initiative, the Mission Possible Partnership and is co-founder of the SME Climate Hub. She was former Managing Director of WBCSD and held senior positions at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister, in the CEO’s office of Iberdrola and at the International Energy Agency. Maria has a PhD in energy economics. She is a Commissioner on the Energy Transitions Commission, a board member of the Centre for International Environmental Studies (CIES) in the Graduate Institute in Geneva and is on several companies’ sustainability advisory councils. In 2023, María has been featured in TIME's inaugural list of the 100 most influential climate leaders in business.

Mark Jobbins

Mark Jobbins is the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Pure Storage in Asia Pacific and Japan. In this role, he is responsible for driving technology innovations and customer success across the region.  With over 30 years of experience in the information technology industry, Mark is an accomplished technologist with a strong record of driving innovation and leading complex projects to successful outcomes. Mark’s journey began at Huddersfield University, UK, where he earned a BEng (Hons) in Computer Aided Engineering in 1990. Since then, Mark has been at the forefront of the rapidly evolving technology landscape. His passion for technology, coupled with a drive to seek out novel solutions, has enabled him to thrive as a leader in the field. A keen environmentalist, Mark takes pride in delivering cutting-edge solutions that not only have a significant positive impact on business agility, but also reducing the environmental impact of the technology deployed and increasing sustainability. Mark is currently based in Melbourne, Australia, where he continues to be inspired by the vibrant tech ecosystem and the talented individuals who make it up.

Mark Rowland

Mark Rowland is a founder, investor, Chief Executive and collaboration expert with a passion for climate action. Mark is currently serving as the Chief Collaboration Officer at Greenhouse, a climate action ecosystem dedicated to supporting UN SDG 13 by connecting, collaborating, and co-innovating globally.

Mark co-founded ROCeteer, a coaching and consulting company for entrepreneurs, and spearheaded a culture of innovation in the US Air Force as an Innovation Actualizer at AFWERX, led Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project as CEO, and held executive positions at noodle chain Wagamama and Coles Group.

He now resides in Sydney and is helping to build a global climate action ecosystem through the power of collaboration.

Mark Rodrigues

Mark is the Executive Director of the Climate Action and Circular Economy Division at the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. In this role he leads a team responsible for the development of strategies and policies to build a circular economy in Victoria and achieve the state’s climate action targets.

Mark has previously held senior roles at the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance, including as Executive Director of Economic Policy and Executive Director of Budget Strategy. Prior to joining DTF, Mark spent over a decade working on global and domestic macroeconomic issues at the National Australia Bank, ANZ and the Commonwealth Treasury.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics with honours from the University of Queensland, and a Master of Economics from the Australian National University.

Martijn Wilder

Martjin Wilder AM has over 20 years’ experience as a leader in sustainable finance and climate change policy. He is the Founder and CEO of Pollination and has previously held numerous high-profile positions including Chair of the Board of Australian Renewable Energy Agency, Founding Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Director of the Climate Council, Chair of Low Carbon Australia Ltd, Chair of WWF (Australia). He is currently Chair and Governing Board Member of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (Vienna).

Matt Topp

Strategic leader with over 18 years experience in senior private, public, and consulting roles, working closely with Boards and Executives across strategy, sales, transformation, evaluation, market entry and operations. Led diverse commercial teams in Australia, Malaysia, the UK, and New Zealand with a track record of transforming business units and delivering in highly complex environments. Matt is the Director and Head of Sales for Evnex across Australia and a Non-Executive Director at Fairhaven Services. Before Evnex was a Director at Nous Group, Australia’s largest owned consulting agency Nous Group where I directed and managed projects across strategy and transformation. Before Nous Group - managed over $100m account and multi-million-dollar P&Ls with the world’s largest FMCG company and one of the top 50 companies in the world. Moved to coach and support companies exporting into Australia and Asia with New Zealand’s leading international business development agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). Completed an MBA Executive at the Australian Graduate School of Management, currently a Fellow of the Social Impact Fellowship and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Megan Hill

Megan is an environmental scientist and has over 30 years’ experience participating in the environment/NFP sector, and 15 years’ experience with government, statutory agencies and regulators, the last five years representing agriculture. She is passionate about policy design that enables economy wide emissions reductions and supports sustainable food systems, farmers and regional communities. Working on policy and program development across a wide range of environmental, planning and social issues, Megan has used her communication skills to build understanding of complex ideas and foster collective support for change. She is highly regarded for her track record of working collaboratively to advance environment, climate, energy, waste and water policy.

Michael Battaglia

Michael Battaglia is Lead for Towards Net Zero Mission, which looks to build capability to assist Australia's transition to net zero with particular focus on hard to abate sectors (Steel, Agriculture and Transport), regional economies and scaling negative emission technologies. Dr Battaglia was an advisor to the LETs soil carbon area, has held governance on multiple international and international collaborations include the $400M CGIAR Dryland Cereals and Legumes Program, the DFAT Australia-Vietnam Innovation collaboration, and multiple national programs on carbon accounting and mitigation of emissions from agriculture. He received the IUFRO global science excellence prize for contributions to forest systems modelling and carried out the first Australian assessments of our plantation estate vulnerability to climate change. He was a founder and a Board Director for FutureFeed, a company that is commercializing anti-methanogenic seaweed to tackle livestock emissions. I am a recipient of the US$1M Jens Bergfor Global Food Prize, AFR sustainability award winner and a Finalist in the Australian Museum Eureka Applied Environmental Award

Michael Mazengarb

Michael has more than 15 years of professional experience in climate science and policy, clean energy technologies and environmental market analysis, spanning roles in government, not-for-profits, journalism and corporate advisory. Michael has established himself as a recognised voice with a deep expertise in climate science, policy and energy markets, and an ability to translate and apply complex scientific and technical into practical intelligence. Michael’s prior experience includes advising on materiality assessments, scenario analysis, and climate risk assessments for start-ups, fund managers and ASX-listed firms.

Michael Simioni

Dr Michael Simioni is a Chemical Engineer with over 15 years of experience in emerging energy technology, associated markets and business planning. He has worked extensively with the O&G and chemicals sectors in asset decarbonisation across the globe including – USA, China, Japan, Europe, Latin America and Australia. Michael has worked with a variety of clients in aspects of decarbonisation program planning & deployment, development of business cases and establishment of organisational or national level roadmaps involving stakeholder engagement across government, industry, academia and public discussion. Working with clients to deploy new technology, he is experienced in aspects relating to edge of grid technologies including BESS, solar, offshore wind and network optimisation & firming, such as demand response including UPS aggregation.

Michael Wright

Michael Wright is the National Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union. Since joining the Union in 2007, Michael has represented electrical workers across Australia and the region. He is committed to advancing members’ rights and ensuring a bright future for the workers delivering our energy transition.

Michel Colen_ISC_Headshot

Michel has had a background in multiple sectors and industries from power generation, FMCG and sustainability. He is experienced in building teams, developing partnerships and driving results. He is passionate about working across sectors to facilitate great long term sustainability outcomes and to grow the broader sustainability industry.

Michelle Young

Michelle Young is a social researcher and practitioner with a passion for knowledge systems and community engagement in the context of environmental sustainability. As the Director of the Sustainable Farms Initiative at the Australian National University (ANU), she leads a dynamic team that collaborates across disciplines. With a mission protect and restore biodiversity on farms within Australia’s temperate woodlands. Michelle’s work bridges the gap between academia and practical solutions, fostering connections between researchers, farmers, and policymakers. Her commitment to community led solutions to building ecosystem health drives her efforts to work with rural communities on placed based knowledge sharing and landscape planning.

Mick Anderson

Mick has been working in the environment and sustainability space for over 20 years with a background in waste auditing, resource efficiency programs and a short stint with MLA’s off-farm R&D program. Mick spent over 11 years with Goodman Fielder leading the environment and sustainability functions including the launch of the Better Together strategy in 2021. With expertise in finding the commercial value in sustainability Mick took on the role at GrainCorp in June 2022 helping shape the delivery of their ESG ambition. Mick is also the President of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform’s Australian Chapter.

My Therese Blank

My Therese Blank is the Head of Ocean products at Maersk Oceania. She is leading the Ocean decarbonisation strategy for Maersk in the Area and has been a member of the Oceania leadership team since 2016.

In 2022 she was elected board member of Shipping Australia, as the organisations first female director.

Her key passions are business innovation and leading the transformation of the shipping and logistics industry.

My holds a master’s degree in business and economics from Uppsala University Sweden.

Natalie Thompson

Natalie is Senior Manager of Policy at the Electric Vehicle Council, the peak industry association dedicated to promoting sustainable transport through increasing EV adoption in Australia. She is an accomplished policy professional, with extensive experience in the electric vehicle industry and financial services sectors. Natalie's current focus involves identifying and addressing barriers to EV uptake, exploring EV value chain opportunities for Australia and promoting supply chain sustainability, while coordinating efforts across various jurisdictions and industries.

Nick Chiiarelli

Nick has held a number of finance, operations and strategy roles over the last 20 years ranging from start-ups through to being the CFO of an ASX listed data security software company.

Nick believes that a new dawn of ‘conscious capitalism’ or ‘profit with a purpose business’ is necessary in order to achieve the type of rapid and mass change required to achieve a sustainable future.

In 2018 Nick met Tim Silverwood to discuss a vision of an innovation ecosystem and startup accelerator for the ocean based in Australia. That vision is Ocean Impact Organisation.

Nick Metz

Nick leads Terrascope’s growth in Australia and New Zealand, harnessing the power of technology to help large businesses understand their greenhouse gas footprint and use insights to plan their decarbonisation journey.  Terrascope plays a leading role in simplifying the complex data challenge that organisations face when measuring emissions, particularly in sectors with complex supply chains like food and agriculture, CPG and retail.  Nick is passionate about helping businesses drive value through decarbonisation opportunities, either through identifying new revenue opportunities or creating more efficient processes.  

Nigel Miller

Nigel Miller is Chief Operating Officer for Climate Friendly, managing a portfolio of 160 carbon projects across Australia. He has been instrumental in developing carbon farming projects in the Rangelands of NSW and Queensland. Prior to joining Climate Friendly in 2015, Nigel spent a decade in the forestry industry, establishing and maintaining hardwood and softwood plantations in S.A., NSW and Victoria. With a passion for forestry, Nigel has worked with plantation and private forest growers to incentivise plantations using revenue from carbon to improve profitability. His work has resulted in some significant achievements, including the first greenfield plantation project led by a commercial forestry company in NSW and, in Tasmania, one of the first carbon projects to conserve forest that would have otherwise been cleared for other agricultural production.

Dr. Nina Terrey

Dr. Nina Terrey has dedicated her career to design thinking and systems transformation, promoting sustainable changes across sectors. With an academic background in co-design and systemic ecosystem transformation, she specialises in facilitating complex systems change to tackle environmental and social challenges.

Dr. Terrey collaborates with governments, industry leaders, community groups, and organizations worldwide, driving progress towards net zero and socially just societies.  

Recently, she has been instrumental in activating innovation ecosystems in the energy and water sectors, contributing to projects aimed at achieving net zero futures. Beyond her consultancy, Dr. Terrey actively engages in the broader sustainability discourse through teaching, speaking, workshops, and publications.

Owen Pascoe

Owen Pascoe is Director of Research at the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Owen and his team use market leading research to advise on how policy and regulation can drive investment trends, focusing on medium-term investment opportunities in decarbonisation. Over the last two decades Owen has worked on innovative research and major policy reforms to accelerate the energy transition in Australia and globally, working with organisations such as the Australian Energy Market Commission, the Climate Change Authority, WWF Australia, Greenpeace International and the Australian Conservation Foundation. Owen holds a Master of Economics and Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales.

Paul Hawken

Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author and activist who has dedicated his life to environmental sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. He is one of the environmental movement’s leading voices, and a pioneering architect of corporate reform with respect to ecological practices. His work includes founding successful, ecologically conscious businesses, writing about the impacts of commerce on living systems, and consulting with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. Paul is Founder of Project Drawdown, a non-profit dedicated to researching when and how global warming can be reversed. The organization maps and models the scaling of one hundred substantive technological, social, and ecological solutions to global warming.

Paul Wallace

Paul Wallace is an architect who enjoys the challenge of working across multiple sectors and getting out of his comfort zone with complex, large-scale projects. During his 25-year career, he has gained in-depth expertise in transport and infrastructure, education, residential, hospitality and commercial work. With a passion for design excellence and sustainability, Paul crafts buildings that enhance relationships between people and place and demonstrate his nuanced feel for spatial and atmospheric considerations, materiality and detail.

Penelope Crossley

Professor Penelope Crossley is an international expert in the complex legal issues associated with the energy transition, including renewable energy and energy storage law, and electricity market governance. She is known for her sustained engagement with industry and government stakeholders, and for developing recommendations that have been directly adopted into law, international policy documents, and consumer guides. In addition to her academic role, Penelope holds important clean energy industry leadership roles, serving as the Chair of the Product Listing Review Panel (2016 – present) and the Chair of the New Energy Technology Consumer Code Monitoring and Compliance Panel (2023 – present).

Penny Joseph

Penny Joseph is the Director of Climate Resilience at Ausgrid, the largest distributor of electricity on Australia’s east coast. Penny leads a cross-disciplinary program to prepare the organisation for the impacts of climate change including technical climate assessments, regulatory proposals, community consultation and resilience programs (network, community and response). She was previously Head of Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation at Sydney Water, where she led the organisation’s Emergency Response, Net Zero and Climate Change Adaptation programs. Prior to entering the resilience domain, she led transformation programs in manufacturing, including for aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus. Penny has a Bachelor of Manufacturing Engineering and an MBA from UNSW and currently lectures in climate resilience and systems thinking at the UNSW business school.

Peter Bakker

Peter Bakker is a distinguished business leader, who since 2012, has led the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as the President & CEO. WBCSD is the premier global, CEO-led community of over 230 of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working collectively to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net zero, nature-positive, and equitable future. Prior to WBCSD, Peter was the CEO of TNT NV, the global transport, postal and logistics company.

TIME Magazine recently named Peter as one of the Top 100 Climate Leaders in Business. He was also a recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award (2009), the Sustainability Leadership Award (2010) and the Prix Voltaire International (2023). He received the royal order Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2018 in recognition of his long-lasting commitment to engaging business in tackling global sustainability issues.

Peter holds several corporate sustainability advisory board positions, including as Director of GenZero, Commissioner of the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality and Member of the Energy Transition Accelerator High-Level Consultative Group.

Peter Cosier

Peter Cosier is Chair of Accounting for Nature Ltd, a new not-for-profit company established in late 2018 to offer affordable, transparent and verifiable ways to measure changes in environmental condition, both at an enterprise and at an ecosystem scale.

Peter is a Founding Member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists which developed the Accounting for Nature model between 2008 and 2018, with the assistance of leading scientists, economists and statiticians from state and territory government agencies, including the CSIRO and the ABS, and NRM Regions Australia.

The Wentworth Group is a private institution established in 2002 with the aim of connecting science to public policy. It has been active in water reform, native vegetation management, climate change, optimising carbon in the landscape, and environmental accounting.

Peter has a broad background in science, natural resource management, and urban and regional planning. He has worked in local government, the private sector, has held senior management positions in state government, and was a policy advisor to the Australian Environment Minister.

Phil Harrison

Phil Harrison comes from a farming background and has been a passionate volunteer, storyteller, and nature-action advocate for the best part of 40 years since he began conservation volunteering as a university weekend passion. He has always loved getting his hands dirty and taking practical action for nature. However, he also knows that individual efforts alone are not enough, it’s a consistent and sustained effort from everyday Australians and corporate entities we need to be able to scale our response to the environmental challenges we all face. Now CEO of Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), Phil has worked in almost every role within Australia’s leading practical environmental charity over the past 35 years, gaining unique insight and expertise.

After studying management at Brunel University and Henley Management College in the UK, Phil travelled around the world. He became increasingly aware of both human impacts on our environment and the growing efforts to take practical nature-positive action. Subsequently and now for the past 35 years, Phil has devoted his career to the CVA vision of creating a world in which people and nature flourish, together. At the heart of this is CVA’s mission to connect people with nature by creating 1 million nature stewards by 2026.

Starting in the early days of CVA as a pioneer of operations in both Victoria and Queensland, Phil became a National Program Director when CVA was appointed to manage Green Corps - the Australian government's national youth environment training program – where he provided strategic leadership and managed relationships with the government at a political level. He then held multiple Director roles within CVA in Corporate & Government Affairs, Business Development & Partnerships, and ultimately for the Green Army, which was the largest-ever example of a government policy to join environmental action and youth training and employment.

Integral to the growth of CVA over the past four decades, Phil now leads an enviable team of nature stewards, from volunteers in the field to CVA’s expert staff and multiple partners in the government, community, and corporate sectors; enabling CVA to become Australia’s leading conservation engagement expert.

He’s a true pioneer in his field and a master of his craft – whether it’s CEO of CVA or simply planting trees and creating a nature block in his own backyard.

Peter Hannam

Peter Hannam covers economic and energy news for Guardian Australia. His 35-year career in journalism spans stints in China, where he opened Bloomberg's Beijing bureau, Japan, Singapore and Mongolia.

Portia Odell

Portia Odell is the Cities System Lead at Climateworks Centre, leading the strategy to reduce emissions within cities across the built environment, infrastructure and transport sectors in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. Portia holds a PhD in building decarbonisation and social impact and has over a decade of experience working on climate solutions in academia, social enterprise and not-for-profits, including co-founding a social enterprise that helped schools reduce carbon emissions. As the former Director of the Cities Power Partnership, Australia’s largest network of over 185 local governments tackling climate change, Portia spearheaded strategic research and advocacy initiatives to drive impactful change on climate policy for cities nationwide.

Rachel Lowry

Prior to joining Bush Heritage Australia, Rachel was the Chief Conservation Officer at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia, was an Advisor to the Federal Government's Threatened Species Commissioner and was the Director of Wildlife Conservation and Science for Zoos Victoria.

In addition to advising numerous industry Board’s, Rachel is Past-President of the International Zoo Educators Association and former Chair of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership.

Rachel has developed award winning programs that have tackled conservation and sustainability issues both locally and globally. Rachel was awarded Sustainability Leader of the year by WME (2010) and was profiled in Melbourne’s Top 100 most influential people through The Age newspaper (2011). In 2016, the Australian Geographic Magazine listed Rachel amongst Australia’s Top 30 conservationists. In 2018 Rachel’s contribution to conservation and gender equity in the workplace was awarded a position on the Top 50 Women in the Victorian Public Service by the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

Rachel’s current focus is to lead a team and movement towards securing the protection of healthy country forever.

Ralph Regenvanu

Ralph Regenvanu is Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Environment, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards and Disaster Management. He has previously served as Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and as Foreign Minister, and is currently serving his fifth term as the Member of Parliament for Vanuatu’s capital city – which is also Vanuatu’s largest urban centre - Port Vila. From 2013 until 2015, Ralph was co-chair of the taskforce which was responsible for developing Vanuatu’s ‘National Sustainable Development Plan 2016-2030’. He is currently the Pacific Ministerial Champion for Loss and Damage

Rebecca Mikula Wright

Rebecca is the CEO of the Investor Group on Climate Change for Aus/NZ as well as the Asia Investor Group on Climate change. She is a founding and current steering committee member of global net zero investor initiatives including Climate Action 100+, Net Zero Asset Managers and Paris Aligned Asset Owners.

Reece Proudfoot

We're living through a period of great change, and this brings with it huge and exciting opportunities. The lines between non-profit and for-profit are increasingly blurred and we've reached the point where great impact will only be achieved if unlikely allies work together.

I work at the intersection of impact, innovation, program delivery and systems change - made possible by strong partnerships across community, business, government, and the non-profit sector - often between the unlikeliest of allies.

I deliver systems-level programs with positive social, environmental and economic outcomes and am a regular contributor on the Future of Impact, regenerative innovation, innovative partnerships, and joint ventures - though mentorship, podcasts, panels, thought leadership and round tables.

In 2017 I launched the WWF network’s first innovation lab: “Panda Labs” – which has now been scaled into 10 countries around the world. Successful Panda Labs ventures and initiatives include OpenSC.org, Impactio.global, Wildlife Credits, Innovate to Regenerate and The Greenhouse Sessions.

Most recently I led WWF’s post-bushfire resilience and innovation Program “Innovate to Regenerate”, with a mission to help transition Australia’s economy to a regenerative economy and future-proof Australian communities and natural environment, involving a $2 million innovation challenge and solutions fund, impact investing strategy, nationwide narrative and storytelling initiative, capacity and capability building and partnership engagement. A first of its kind for Australia.

My career began in the media in Sydney before making a significant pivot to work for two years in the Kingdom of Tonga - on capacity building and climate change adaptation with the Tongan business sector.

I have a Masters Degree in International Social Development from UNSW, and am especially motivated by building public participation in problem-solving and solution design.

Richie Merzian

Richie Merzian is the International Director at the Smart Energy Council, a peak renewable energy industry group. His newly created role focuses on how to use the clean energy industry and international opportunities to accelerate local and regional climate solutions. Richie was the inaugural Climate & Energy Program Director at The Australia Institute, a public policy think tank. During his time there he helped make the case for solutions in electricity and transport public policy, while challenging roadblocks like EV taxes and fossil fuels subsidies. He is a former Australian Government representative to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, was lead negotiator on adaptation and helped coordinate the UN-backed Green Climate Fund Board during Australia’s tenure as co-chair.

Rob Law

Rob Law is the Senior Manager Energy Transitions with WWF-Australia. In this role he coordinates the Renewables Nation campaign, a program to ensure Australia’s position as a renewable exports superpower is on track ensuring a fast, best and just transition to 700% renewable energy by 2050. He has over 20 years experience working on climate and energy projects, advocacy and communication for not for profits, state and local governments and universities. Prior to WWF Rob worked for 8 years for the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances. In this role he was a key member of the Victorian Energy Collaboration that brought together 50 local governments to enter into a long term Power Purchase Agreement for renewable energy. He also initiated and implemented the roll out of Australia’s largest local government owned electric vehicle fast charging network through the Charging the Regions project. Rob also currently works as a Producer for the WOMADelaide festival Planet Talks program, and has developed a number of award winning climate and environmental themed podcasts and audiobooks.

Rob Waterworth

Robert is the co-founder and Chief Science, Policy and Innovation Officer at FLINTpro where he has led the development of FLINTpro, the world's first SaaS-based system designed to maximize the utility of models, spatial data and satellite products for land sector reporting. Rob has over 25 years of experience in land sector monitoring systems across the private sector, academia, and state and federal governments. This has given him a profound understanding of the intricacies involved designing and building technical systems to meet policy and reporting needs. He is a sought-after expert and is an IPCC lead author, UNFCCC expert reviewer and has authored numerous peer-reviewed papers and guidelines, including the upcoming land sector guidance for the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.

Robert Mullin

Rob has significant experience in the delivery of major infrastructure projects across the public and private sector, ranging from highways and transport transformation projects to major aviation and nuclear developments in Europe. Aligned with Jacobs’ Climate Response objectives, Rob’s role over recent years has focused on delivering effective, efficient, and sustainable solutions and supporting the energy transition through green mobility projects and developing innovative DER micro-grid solutions.

Sarah Altmann

Sarah Gorst

Sharelle Polack

Sharelle has over 25 years’ experience working in agriculture, sustainable land management, food systems and biodiversity conservation. This has included working for international organisations, state and federal governments and non-government organisations. She is currently leading WWF-Australia’s Sustainable Agriculture program, which is working to support farmers and graziers to retain or restore vegetation and implement sustainable management practices for environmental stewardship, profitability and climate change resilience. Sharelle Polack has a degree in Agricultural Science and Honours in Environmental Science from the University of Adelaide and a Master of Environmental Law from the Australian National University.

Simon Dorries

Simon Dorries is the Chief Executive Officer of Responsible Wood (formerly the Australian Forestry Standard Ltd). Responsible Wood is accredited as a Standards Development Organisation by Standards Australia to write, maintain and updating the Australian Standards which underpin the Responsible Wood Certification System. These Standards include AS4707- Chain of Custody for Forest Products and AS4708 Sustainable Forest Management. Responsible Wood is the National Governing Body for PEFC in Australia.

Simon holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and has worked in the Forest and Wood Products Industry for over 39 years. Commencing with the Plywood Association of Australia in 1985 as a cadet scientist while undertaking a science degree through part-time study. Simon stayed with the Plywood Association for 30 years through a number of name changes to eventually become General Manager of the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia.

Simon has significant experience in:

Developing product certification systems.
Compliance testing and assessment
Delivering education and training across the Wood Products Sector.
Product development
Standards development.

In addition to his role at Responsible Wood, Simon is currently Chair of Standards Australia Committee TM-011 Engineered Wood Products.

Slava Kozlovskii

Slava Kozlovskii is the founder and CEO of evee, Australia’s pioneering electric vehicle sharing platform. Since migrating to Australia and founding evee in 2016, Slava has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable transportation. Under his leadership, evee has not only grown to feature Australia’s largest fleet of rentable EVs but also stands as the first car-sharing company in the country to achieve B Corp certification, emphasising its commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

An engineer by training with an MBA from UTS, Slava’s career trajectory is marked by a deep commitment to innovation and sustainability. His journey from overcoming substantial initial challenges - including securing insurance for high-risk EVs - to leading a successful platform, exemplifies his resilience and strategic vision.

Today, Slava continues to drive evee towards new heights with expansions into New Zealand and plans for the UK, further cementing his vision of making electric cars accessible to all and fostering a cleaner, greener future.

Stan Steinwolf

Stan is an adaptable team-builder and scaling expert with expertise from department head to starting a business from scratch. In his current role as Director and CPO at Ofload, Stan is passionate about execution, using tech in business, and developing talent. Across 5 years at Woolworths, Stan led teams that contributed $600m+ top-line growth and $70m+ cost- out. Stan holds previous experience in blue-chip professional services at Boston Consulting Group, as well as 2 years at Goldman Sachs.

Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie McMahon is the General Manager Strategy and Sustainability at Queensland’s largest electricity generator, Stanwell.

Stephanie has been in the energy industry for the past 15 years. She set up Stanwell’s sustainability team at the beginning of 2022 and has spent the past two years leading the establishment of the business’ sustainability framework. She also heads up Stanwell’s corporate strategy area, which is responsible for the ongoing development of the business’ corporate strategy and business planning, in response to the large-scale change occurring in the energy industry.

Stanwell is transitioning its electricity generation portfolio from coal generation to large scale wind and solar farms, along with firming capacity such as batteries, low to zero emissions gas peaking plant and pumped hydro. By 2035, the business plans to have between 9 and 10 GW of renewables and 5 GW of dispatchable capacity in place.

Susan Moylan-Coombs

The Gaimaragal Group’s founding director is Susan Moylan-Coombs. The company was established to create a new story of connection and wellbeing for all Australians.

Our aim is to facilitate the voice for our Elders in the contemporary social space, empower our youth to realise their full potential, and provide two-way cultural translation to bring individuals and communities together

Susan’s ancestry is Woolwonga and Gurindji from the Northern Territory. She has extensive experience working with First Australian communities nationally and internationally, with specific expertise in community consultation, empowerment and the facilitation of voice and storytelling. Susan previously held the positions of Executive Producer ABC’s Indigenous Programs Unit and Head of Production, NITV a division of SBS.

Today, Susan uses her expertise to work with mainstream organisations and communities in the provision of cultural competency and immersion sessions as well as social planning processes. Susan is part of the group known as the Stolen Generations and has lived experience of the trauma associated with removal, loss, dispossession and disconnection.

Tejesh Kasyap

Tejesh is a Project Officer at Climate Change think tank Beyond Zero Emissions and is a Climate Change and Policy Specialist. Having worked previously in both the private and public sector, Tejesh brings a unique blend of business development, stakeholder engagement, and data analysis to BZE. His primary focus area is looking at pathways to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors of the economy. His notable achievements include:

• Co-leading BZE's 2022 Gladstone Renewable Energy Industrial Precinct Briefing Paper, showcasing its potential for green manufacturing investment, decarbonization of existing industries, and new green energy exports.

• Leading the industry engagement for the 2023 Deploy Report, demonstrating Australia's 81% emissions reduction by 2030 with existing technologies.

• Project Lead for the 2023 "Safeguarding Our Future" report, highlighting the economic benefits of clustered decarbonization in Kwinana and Gladstone.

Co-leading recent pivotal reports on Commercial EVs (2023), Heat Pumps (2024), and Wind (TBA April, 2024).

Tiana Nairn

Tiana is the Group Manager – Policy for LMS Energy, engaging about waste, circular economy and carbon-related policies and laws across Australia and New Zealand. Tiana has over 20 years’ experience in policy and environmental assessment. She is the immediate past EPA SA Waste Reform Policy Program Manager, where she led a series of progressive and responsible strategic waste policy and law reforms for the SA EPA and via inter-jurisdictional policy development. Tiana is the SA Branch President of the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia and an active member of Bioenergy Australia’s Renewable Gas Alliance.

Tim Buckley

Tim Buckley is director of independent public interest think tank Climate Energy Finance. He has 30 years of financial market experience covering the Australian, Asian and global equity markets and is a highly influential energy finance commentator. Tim has written more than 100 reports on the global energy transition, and the roles of finance and policy in accelerating critical decarbonisation trends. Tim was Australasian Director of the global Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis 2013-2021, and formerly Head of Equity Research at Deutsche Bank, Managing Director, Head of Equity Research at Citigroup for 17 years, Head of Institutional Equities at Shaw & Partners and co-Managing Director of Arkx Investment Management P/L, a global listed clean energy investment start-up jointly owned with Westpac.

Tim Grant

Tim Grant is the CEO of Lifecycles, Australia’s most experienced provider of circular economy and sustainability research, consulting, tool development, emission factors and LCA training.

With more than 30 years’ experience working in LCA, he has been instrumental in the development of data and leading-edge scientific support for sustainability tools andcontributed to a number of books, including co-author of Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects (CSIRO Publishing).

Tim is a pioneer of LCA, both domestically and internationally. As the founding President and long-time board member of Australian Life Cycle Assessment society (ALCAS) he makes a large contribution to LCA in Australia, and additionally, is the chair of the Ecosystem Services task force within the United Nations supported Life Cycle Initiative.

Tim's expertise has been sought to adjudicate the 'sustainability' category for esteemed design awards, notably the Good Design Awards (2023) and The Premiers Sustainability Awards (2013). At present, Tim leads Lifecycles Lab - intense workshop process to rapidly assess emerging designs for sustainability risks and opportunities.

About Lifecycles:

Lifecycles is Australia’s most experienced provider of circular economy and sustainability research, consulting, tool development, emission factors and training. We provide quantification and metrics to inform sustainability decision making, from the micro level of design and material selection through to the macro level of policy development and strategic interventions.

Website: www.lifecycles.com.au

Tim Silverwood

Tim Silverwood is an award-winning environmentalist committed to reducing human impacts on the natural world. A keen surfer, Tim became alarmed at the risks plastic pollution posed to oceans and wildlife, co-founding the not-for-profit organisation ‘Take 3 for the Sea’ in 2009. After ten years leading Take 3, Tim co-founded Ocean Impact Organisation (OIO) in 2020. OIO is Australia’s first startup accelerator and innovation ecosystem dedicated to scaling solutions improving ocean health. OIO has supported 99 startups and entrepreneurs since 2020 through a range of innovation programs and initiatives.  Tim is a passionate presenter who delivers a firm, reasoned and insightful case for ‘business as unusual’ to transform the way we treat Planet Ocean and its inhabitants.

Tishiko King

Tishiko King is a proud Kulkalaig woman from the Island of Masig, Torres Strait Islands. Recently with Australian Communities Foundation as their First Nations Philanthropy Manager, Tish continues to shift traditional practises of Philanthropy, working collaboratively with the sector to redistribute wealth back into protecting and caring for Country. Working together with the Australian Environment Grantmakers Network, Tish uses her expertise in Climate and Torres Strait Island Justice to deliver their annual conference for 2024. Tish continues to collaborate with Groundswell Giving leading the Caring for Country Grant Round, in collaboration with the Eisen Family Private Fund and Oranges and Sardines Foundation, led by First Nations people for First Nations and Pacific diaspora people.

With studies in Marine Biology, Tish is an Ocean Advocate, working with Patagonia Australia and NZ team for impact and purpose to increase the protection of oceans by 30% by 2030. She continues to be a part of grassroots organisations, supporting the Our Islands Our Home campaign, is a current Board Director of Divers 4 Climate and is part of the Climate Solutions Centre Advisory Committee with the Australian Museum.

Tony Boatman

Life can take you to surprising places. And sometimes, when you look back, you can’t help but think, How did I get here from there? Tony Boatman grew up on a small farm in Australia. He used to milk a cow before school. The first in his family to attend university, Tony went on to lead marketing for Nokia, Asia Pacific. At Nokia he launched the world’s first smart phone. Later as Head of Marketing at Microsoft he brought the Xbox 360 to millions of users. After leaving the corporate world, Tony co founded a Swiss health tech company (Sold in 2019), a social enterprise called Bicycle Barista and in 2012 was named Global top 100 Sustainability Leader for his work with Al Gore's Climate Project. Tony is an authentic leader and proven team builder who strives to disrupt the traditional idea of a job. “I get up each day feeling grateful for what I have and motivated to make a positive impact. Experiences excite me, things don’t.”

Tim King

Tim co-founded Melior and is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO). He has worked in capital markets for more than 25 years and has over a decade of experience in ESG research. Tim was Head of Company & ESG Research for Colonial First State Global Asset Management’s Australian Equities Core Fund from 2016 to 2018. Prior to this he was Head of Advisory for governance research firm Regnan and Head of Company & ESG Research for Deutsche Bank from 2003 -2013. He was also a top 3 rated sell side analyst.

Tim serves on the board of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust and has served on the boards of The Gold Standard Foundation, based in Geneva, and Fauna and Flora International (FFI), the world’s oldest international conservation organisation. Tim is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He has received an Advanced Certificate in International Economics and Finance from the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Germany and attended the University of Rochester in New York on a Fulbright Scholarship. Tim has both a Master of Arts with First Class Honours (Economics) and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Tim is an Industry Fellow at the University of Technology Business School.

Tim Lee

Tim is the co-founder and CEO of Utilitarian, a company founded in 2021 after a decade of studying and applying knowledge on the complex relationships between government policies, business management for sustainable change, commercial priorities, and consumer behaviour change. Realising circularity will require collective effort, which is often underestimated. Utilitarian aims to facilitate this by offering a unique software platform that allows governments and businesses to educate, engage, support, and reward every Australian towards a circular future using a free mobile app. Utilitarian's platform eliminates confusion and builds trust by breaking down silos that hinder product stewardship across sectors, with unprecedented data insights. Utilitarian is currently preparing to pilot with two major partners, Planet Ark and Liverpool City Council.

Tom Loefler

Tom is an inventor, industrial designer and tech innovator on a mission to use robots to improve ocean health. As co-founder and chief executive of Hullbot, he focuses on product vision and company leadership. Hullbot develops underwater drone platforms that can inspect, map and interact with submerged structures.

Prior to founding Hullbot Tom had a career as an industrial designer bringing new products from idea to reality. Tom gained experience in developing product concepts and prototypes across various industries including transportation, medical devices, scientific equipment, architecture and consumer products. He has also worked as a freelancer and contractor in TV & film, creative fabrication, architecture and the construction industry. Before this Tom worked in boat manufacturing and fitout. He studied naval architecture & mechanical engineering before ultimately graduating with first class honours in Industrial Design. More recently Tom has worked as an industrial design educator and mentor.

Tom has a passion for the ocean and wild places, and grew up surfing and sailing in Sydney. He has a passion for wildlife, the beach, the mountains, camping, 4WDing and woodworking.

Dr. Vanessa Pirotta

Wildlife scientist, science communicator and woman in STEM. Vanessa's research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation. Her zoological background has taken me around the world for wildlife research. Notable projects include leading pioneering research in collaboration with industry experts to develop custom-built, waterproof drones to collect whale snot (lung bacteria) for an assessment of whale health. Vanessa is also a chief investigator on a major illegal wildlife trafficking detection project with Rapiscan Systems, the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.

Vivian Miles

Vivian is the Chief Strategy Officer at The NRMA - Australia's largest member-owned organisation that operates a range of mobility and tourism offerings. She is passionate about electrification and accelerating the clean energy and EV transition. At the NRMA, she is growing and broadening the range of electrification offerings including EV charging, roadside assistance for EVs, 50% electric fleet target for SIXT car rentals, EV charging and e-bikes at holiday parks and lodges, electric / low emissions ferries, policy, advocacy and community activities including hosting EV Drive Days and the EV Hub. Together with the Clubs, NRMA owns ChargeFox - Australia's largest EV charging network.

Warren Flentje

Warren leads industrial decarbonisation for CSIRO’s Towards Net Zero mission with a focus on low emissions steel and sustainable aviation fuel.

The Mission develops multidisciplinary strategy to support an accelerated transition for hard-to-abate sectors to a low emissions future while growing long-term sustainable value.

Working with internal cross-disciplinary teams and external stakeholders from government, industry and international partners Warren helps to define a national strategy to position Australia for long-term growth in a global low carbon economy and coordinates CSIRO research to target critical research goals. 

Will Howard

Dr Will Howard is Lead Scientist at the Australian Government Climate Change Authority, working across climate science, emissions reduction, carbon removal, adaptation, oceans and other climate policy issues.

He got a Ph.D in Geological Sciences from Brown University in the USA, was a U.S. Department of Energy Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, a lecturer in oceanography at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole USA and a researcher at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.

He worked at the Commonwealth Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment as Lead Climate Scientist to mid-2022. He worked at the Office of the Chief Scientist in Canberra from 2010 to 2017, serving as Head of Science there in 2016 to 2017.

In 2013-14, he initiated the Sedimentary Basin Management Initiative at University of Melbourne School of Earth Sciences, an integrated approach to understanding and managing sedimentary basins.

He is a member of the Australian Academy of Sciences National Committee for Earth System Science.

He continues to research marine climate change, with particular emphasis on ocean acidification and its impacts on the past, current, and future ocean, through affiliation at Australian National University.

Zoe Whitton

Zoe Whitton is Managing Director, Head of Strategy and Impact at Pollination Group, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm. Zoe helps companies and investors navigate the impacts of climate change and to build and invest in new businesses and products which take advantage of transition opportunities. She previously led the award-winning APAC ESG Research team at Citi, advising institutional investors globally on climate change and sustainable development. Earlier in her career Zoe covered ESG and climate change at Credit Suisse and at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and served as a youth delegate to the UNFCCC. She serves on the boards of the Investor Group on Climate Change and the Centre for Policy Development, is a member of the Government’s National Hydrogen Strategy Advisory Council, and a member of the Expert Advisory Panel of the Federal Powering the Regions Fund. She was previously a member of the ASFI TAG and a member of the Expert Working Group for ASFI’s formation. Zoe also sits on the Advisory Council of the Climate Governance Initiative and the Gold Standard Enabling Impact Working Group. Zoe has won numerous awards for her research and work on climate finance and risk, and regularly contributes to the wider conversation on sustainable finance by commentating in the Australian and international press along with various publications.

What Past Attendees Say About The IX Summit

"The most authoritative line up of climate speakers ever in Australia. The IX agenda goes deeper than anything comparable with regards to subject matter depth across 5 industry sectors”

Patrick Sieb, Investment Director, Investible

“The highlight for me at Impact X was the Working Group industry streams, which will be highly engaging and collaborative. It is a real feature of the Summit, to bring together so many experts and leaders to co-create solutions to dramatically reduce emissions in the accelerating race to zero”

Jonas Bengtsson, CEO, EDGE Environment

“The big international keynotes draw the attention, but if you dig deeper into the agenda there is so much value from innovators and technologists who may not be famous…yet!”

Alan Jones, M8 Ventures

“For the financial services sector, the shift of capital into ESG and away from hydrocarbon assets, is already underway. The IX Summit is going to accelerate the shift.”

Chris Larsen, CEO, Ironbark Asset Management

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iX Summit Sydney 2024 Speakers

Alana Hollestelle

Ali Abbas

Dr. Ali Nezhad

Alice Thompson

Alison Scotland

Allina Fawcett

Dr. Amanda Cahill

Dr. Ana Novak

Andrew Buay

Andrew Hudson

Andrew Morgan

Andrew Peterson

Andrew Steer

Angus McDonald

Ann Austin

Anna Skarbek

Anthony Karam

Belinda Paul

Behyad Jafarfi

Ben Jobson

Brad Archer

Brian Bero

Bronwyn Voyce

Brooke Donnelly

Carola Jonas

Carlos Flores

Carolin Leeshaa

Chloe Hicks

Chris Melck

Christian Kirschenpfadt

Christina Tonkin

Ciaran McCormack

Claudia Papandrea

Connor Shaw

Craig Roussac

Dane O'Shanassy

Daniel Walsh

David Bennett

David Crosbie

David Doral

David McPherson

Deanna D’Alessandro

Dena Jacobs

Dennis Freedman

Deo Prasad

Dermot O'Gorman

Devon Long

Elijah Lemusu

Elissa McNamara

Elsa Dominish

Emma Aisbett

Erik Solheim

Estelle Parker

Felipe Daguila

Gillian Mayne

Grant Caffery

Greg Johannes

Heidi Lee

Heinz Schandl

Henry Adams

Hollie Hynes

Huia Adkins

Ian Overton

Isaac Wall

Isabelle Grant

Jackie McKeon

James Schultz

Jas Chambers

Dr Jennifer Kent

Jeremy Liddle

Jim Osborne

Jo Sanson

Jody Bruce

Joe Karten

Joel Pringle

Johan Rockström

Jonathan Jutsen

John Thwaites