Institute Fellows

Steve Allan is the founder of Blue Corridor Ventures, focused on identifying pre-seed and seed stage ANZ investment opportunities with expansion potential into the United States.

Steve spent nearly two decades in Silicon Valley working across the venture ecosystem, including 10 years at Silicon Valley Bank and five years running the venture arm of a Bay Area Family Office. He brings deep experience in both scaling and fundraising, and an extensive network across the US venture and technology sectors.

Now based in Brisbane, Steve is focused on connecting ANZ founders to the capital, networks and commercial pathways they need to grow into the US market. He is an Independent Member of the QIC Venture Capital Investment Committee, Chair of the Innovation Bay Horizon Investment Committee, and Chairman of the Langar Technology Board.

Aaron Bergstrum is state manager for Premier Banking across Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where he leads the strategic direction and performance of the business across three states.

Aaron is an executive leader recognised for leading transformation, building high-performing teams and delivering strategic outcomes across Australia's financial services sector. He has held leadership roles spanning frontline banking, regional leadership and enterprise transformation, helping organisations navigate change while improving customer outcomes, organisational performance and leadership capability. He brings practical experience of leading change in complex, highly regulated environments, and is particularly focused on developing people, mentoring leaders and bringing teams together around a shared goal.

Aaron holds an Executive Master of Business Administration with Distinction from Queensland University of Technology, where he was awarded the Chancellor's Award for academic excellence. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has been recognised nationally as both the 2018 FINSIA Young Finance Professional of the Year and the 2026 AFR BOSS Young Executive of the Year.

Lieutenant General Greg Bilton AO retired in August 2024 after more than 41 years of service with the Australian Army. Over the final decade of his career, he held a succession of the most senior operational commands available, including Deputy Chief of Joint Operations, Forces Commander Australia and, for five years, Chief of Joint Operations, where he was responsible for the planning and execution of all ADF operations, domestic and international.

A graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon, the United States Command and General Staff College and the Australian Centre for Defence Strategic Studies, Greg has been recognised for distinguished service with the Officer of the Order of Australia and the Commander of the United States Legion of Merit.

Greg now works at the intersection of strategic leadership and national security, mentoring senior military leaders in Australia and internationally. He is a Distinguished Adviser to the National Security College at the Australian National University, a board member of Humanihut Pty Ltd, a member of the advisory board of Mitre Australia, and a Patron of Wounded Heroes Australia.

Michael Brett is the Head of Go-to-Market for Quantum Technologies at Amazon Web Services, where he leads a global business development team and go-to-market activities for Amazon Braket.

Previously, Michael served as SVP for Applications at Rigetti Computing and as CEO of QxBranch, a quantum computing applications software company acquired by Rigetti in 2019. He has a background in systems engineering and risk analytics for aerospace applications.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Aerospace Avionics and an Executive Master of Business in Complex Project Management, both from QUT. He brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and commercial leadership to the frontier of quantum computing.

Dr Neil Carrington is a leadership educator and former CEO of ACT For Kids, a national charity dedicated to supporting abused and neglected children, where he served for a decade before stepping down.

Neil has held senior leadership and education roles across a number of Australian universities and organisations, including Director of the Leadership Centre at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), Foundation Director of Learning and Organisational Development at Mater Health Services, and Director of Teaching and Learning at QUT, where he held university-wide responsibility for teaching quality and staff development across more than 40,000 students. He has presented at over 2,000 conferences across Australia, the UK, the Middle East, the USA, New Zealand and Asia.

Neil was the Australian Institute of Management Business Leader of the Year in 2016, a three-time finalist in the Queensland Philanthropist of the Year award, and the Harvard Club of Australia Fellow for 2013. All speaking fees earned over his decade at ACT For Kids, totalling more than $3.1 million, were donated directly to the organisation.

Paul Duggan is the founder and managing partner of ParkerBray, and a chief executive and board adviser who scales digital, financial services and marketplace businesses.

Paul has led Money.com.au and Canstar through transformation and scale-up phases, including new business launches, operating model redesign and brand building. He was Chief Executive Officer of Money.com.au, and spent eight years at Canstar, latterly as Chief Executive Officer of Canstar Gold. His earlier career spans management consulting, marketing and innovation, with senior roles at Shine Lawyers, Budget Direct, AMP and LexisNexis in London, where he led digital transformation for one of the world's oldest tax and legal publishers. He also co-founded and exited an online startup in the UK.

Paul has lived and worked across Australia, Sweden, France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, and has held board advisory roles with Aleeda and CloudFirst. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Wollongong, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Chartered Marketer with the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Carol Fox is an Executive Coach, Leadership Facilitator and Principal Trainer at Carol Fox & Co, with more than 30 years developing leaders and teams across sport, government, education, emergency services and business.

Carol has coached and facilitated leaders within elite and national sporting programs, including Olympians, Olympic coaches and high-performance teams. She served as President of Women Sport Australia and as Deputy President of Surf Life Saving Queensland. Earlier in her career she lectured at Victoria University for 14 years and worked as a training consultant with the Country Fire Authority for 20 years. Her expertise spans confident communication, executive coaching, leadership under pressure, inclusion and high-performing teams.

Carol holds a Master of Arts by Research in Human Movement, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physical Education and a Graduate Diploma in Education. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Director of the Gold Coast Academy of Sport, and a member of the United States Australian Football League Coach and Culture Advisory Board. She is a Minerva Network Mentor and Life Member of Women Sport Australia.

Catherine Fox AM is one of Australia's leading commentators on women and the workforce, an award-winning journalist, author and presenter who appears regularly in the media and at conferences in Australia and internationally.

During a long career with the Australian Financial Review, Catherine wrote the weekly Corporate Woman column and was deputy editor of leadership publication Boss magazine. She has published several books, including Stop Fixing Women, awarded the 2017 Walkley Award for Women's Leadership in Media, and her latest, Breaking the Boss Bias: How to Get More Women into Leadership, launched in 2024. Catherine helped establish the annual Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Awards in 2012 and was named a Woman of Influence in 2018.

Catherine has been a gender equality adviser to the Australian Defence Force, sits on the board of Australians Investing in Women, and is a member of the Sydney Women's Fund advisory council. In 2022 she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to journalism, gender equality and diversity.

Dr Christopher Haggarty-Weir is a biotech commercialisation specialist and founder of Obsidian Ventures & Consulting, working at the intersection of life sciences, corporate finance, and intellectual property strategy for domestic and international clients.

Christopher completed a joint PhD between the University of Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the University of Edinburgh, focused on malaria vaccine development, alongside a scholarship to study business at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He went on to complete an MBA in management and finance, with a final project at Boehringer Ingelheim in Germany on biopharma asset swaps and cultural intelligence. His career since has spanned a decade abroad: board roles in Scottish biotech, a consulting company he founded and acquired by a Dutch multinational, strategic advisory work for biopharma spin-outs at MIT, and healthcare investment banking focused on global vaccine markets.

Christopher returned to Australia in 2023, where he initially lectured and coordinated courses in biotech commercialisation and advanced intellectual property law at the University of Queensland. He sits on the advisory board of Latent Knowledge, an AI-based techbio startup, and is involved in science and innovation policy in Queensland.

Steven Harper is a leadership and organisational development expert with more than 15 years of experience building capable leaders, strengthening teams and delivering practical learning experiences that create lasting impact.

Steven's experience spans major organisations including Komatsu Australia, Domino's, 7-Eleven, Bank of Queensland, Commonwealth Bank and Azstar Technologies, where he has designed and delivered initiatives ranging from enterprise-wide leadership programs to team capability, learning strategy and large-scale development solutions. Alongside his facilitation work, Steven has personally led large teams, bringing real-world leadership credibility to his organisational development practice.

A Certified HBDI Practitioner, Steven is known for his practical, people-centred approach and his ability to translate everyday challenges into opportunities for growth, confidence and performance. He has coached hundreds of leaders in group and one-to-one settings, and is recognised for his ability to challenge thinking, draw out individual strengths and support leaders to step into the best version of their leadership.

Dr Neal Harvey is CEO of the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, one of Australia's most significant private philanthropic foundations, where he has led the organisation's grant-making strategy since January 2021.

Prior to this role, Neal was a Program Manager at The Myer Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund, supporting the Myer family's arts, culture and mental health grant-making alongside the Merlyn Myer Fund. Before moving into the philanthropic sector, he worked with some of Australia's largest arts and cultural festivals and theatre companies.

Neal currently sits on the Board of the Queensland Children's Hospital Foundation and is a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a First-Class Honours BA and a PhD from the University of Queensland, and an MBA from Melbourne Business School.

Nicole Hatherly CSP is a Certified Speaking Professional, global brand strategist, leadership educator, executive coach and Honorary Industry Fellow at QUT, working at the intersection of leadership, industry, academia and executive development.

With more than 30 years of experience across high-performance leadership, brand strategy and organisational influence, Nicole has held senior and executive management roles for over 24 years, including a decade in financial services leadership. Her client work spans iconic and global brands including CommBank, Cisco, LinkedIn, Woolworths, TikTok and Electrolux, as well as government organisations and universities including QUT, RMIT, Torrens University and NSW Health.

At QUT, Nicole designs and delivers leadership development, thought leadership activation and digital skills programs for professors, associate professors and senior professionals. Her work has been recognised through QUT's Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Symposium for its contribution to raising the visibility and voices of female academics. She is a Non-Executive Director on the Professional Speakers Australia National Board and an Institute of Coaching Fellow.

Jo Keen is a senior executive, lawyer and non-executive director, currently Project Director of Corporate Optimisation at a large public sector agency, where she leads a transformation program across enabling functions of over 1,000 people.

Jo has built and transformed corporate and legal teams across energy, transport, governance and sport, lifting business partner satisfaction, employee engagement and being named ACC Large Legal Team of the Year. Dedicated to creating safe, inclusive cultures, she has served on the Ethics Commission of World Sailing, the Board of Australian Sailing, and the boards of Share the Dignity, the Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland and Reef Check Australia. She brings experience in people leadership, transformation, governance, strategy and risk across large infrastructure organisations and sport, and a commitment to coaching and mentoring leaders to reach their potential and leave a lasting legacy.

Jo is a former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, which took her to Temple University in Philadelphia to complete her Master of Laws. She holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from QUT and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Georges Khoury is an executive leader and Chief People and Culture Officer at the Department of Transport and Main Roads, with a career spanning the public sector, heavy manufacturing, and the health and aged care sectors.

Georges began his career in industrial relations before expanding into organisational development, workforce strategy and enterprise transformation. His interest in human behaviour and decision-making informs a leadership approach anchored in fairness, accountability and building environments where people can contribute and succeed. At the executive level, he is known for connecting people strategy to organisational performance in complex, highly regulated environments.

As the son of immigrants and a first-generation Australian, Georges brings a grounded perspective on resilience and opportunity to his work. He holds qualifications in Employment Relations and Business Administration and is currently undertaking a law degree.

Dr Jemma King is the founder and director of BioPsychAnalytics, an external advisor to McKinsey and Company, and an Honorary Research Fellow in Psychology at the University of Queensland.

Jemma has spent her career at the intersection of psychophysiology and leadership science, building an evidence base on how emotional intelligence, stress regulation, psychological safety and sleep determine cognitive performance in those who carry executive responsibility. She has brought that scholarship into practice through leadership programs for McKinsey and Company and for executives across banking, technology, mining, medicine, sport, government and defence. Her research has extended from work with Australian Special Operations Command, later institutionalised in British Royal Marine commando training, to applied programs with the Australian Olympic Swim Team and the Australian Institute of Sport.

Jemma holds a PhD in Management from the University of Queensland Business School and degrees in business management and psychology. She is an accredited MSCEIT emotional intelligence assessor, an advisor to Defence and government agencies, a faculty member of the Australian War College, and the author of Sleep First (Wiley, 2026).

Annett Koenig is a clinical neuroscientist and leadership expert who works at the intersection of brain science and high-stakes decision-making. With more than 25 years of experience, she has worked at the front line of complex clinical environments, including direct involvement in brain surgery and the introduction of Australia's inaugural robotic techniques for identifying the precise origin of epileptic seizures.

Her career spans the establishment of world-class epilepsy services in Germany and Australia, where accuracy, timing and cognitive clarity were non-negotiable. That experience shaped her core insight: that the early effects of sustained pressure on judgment and performance are detectable well before burnout or visible failure appears. She now translates this into practical, evidence-based programs that help leaders recognise the signs of overload early and build resilience into their systems.

Raina Kumra Gardiner is a placement agent and strategic adviser helping Deep Tech, Space Tech and Climate funds raise capital through her global network of limited partners and investment partners.

Raina's career spans the Obama and Biden-Harris administrations, where she oversaw innovation at US Global Media and served on the Biden-Harris transition team. She has led strategy and investments for the Technology Ethics portfolio at Omidyar Network, co-founded The Fund LA, and previously led digital strategy at Wieden+Kennedy New York. Her brand and technology work spans institutions and companies including Microsoft, Nike, Burberry, IBM, Disney, The Knight Foundation and Brand Jordan. She is registered with Old City Investment Partners and holds Series 63 and 82 licences for private market deals.

Raina holds degrees from Boston University, NYU's ITP and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She is one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business, with work held in the MoMA permanent collection. She serves on the boards of Data and Society and Eat Real.

Peter Laurie is a prominent figure in the Australian innovation ecosystem, recognised for his ability to connect commercial strategy, technical engineering and venture leadership across high-growth environments.

With a background in electrical engineering and an MBA specialising in strategy and entrepreneurship, Peter has spent over 30 years at the intersection of large-scale software development, commercial enterprise and high-performance teams. He lectures in innovation and business strategy for the University of Queensland's MBA program and has contributed to curricula at both UQ and QUT. He has served as Entrepreneur in Residence across more than 20 accelerator programs, including Monash, QUT and UQ, and as a past Visiting Fellow at the Australian Centre of Entrepreneurship Research.

Peter is the recipient of the 2018 Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. Through his ventures Junta and Inductive, he continues to develop investor-ready scaleups, acting as a connector between established corporates and emerging new ventures. He is an expert adviser to UniSeed.

Cecily McGuckin is the CEO and managing director of Queensland Steel and Sheet (QSS), one of Queensland's longest-running independent steel distribution businesses, now in its 40th year.

Having grown up in the industry from a young age, Cecily has spent more than 17 years in the family business and has led QSS as CEO for the past eight years. Under her leadership, the business has grown through a sustained focus on customer service, operational excellence, culture and innovation. She is known for a direct leadership style and a practical approach to business, with a strong belief in the power of small, consistent improvements to transform organisations over time.

As a female leader in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Cecily is passionate about encouraging more women into leadership and operational roles. She brings a grounded, experience-led perspective on building resilient teams, creating strong workplace cultures and challenging traditional thinking within the supply chain and industrial sectors.

Jodie McKenzie is a Chief Executive Officer and strategic leader recognised for her commitment to values-based leadership and her contribution to advancing the counselling profession in Australia.

As CEO of the Australian Counselling Association, Jodie leads a national community of more than 23,000 registered counsellors, psychotherapists and students. Under her leadership, the organisation doubled in size within three years, transitioned to a public company limited by guarantee under ASIC, and exceeded a three-year strategic plan while generating multiple new revenue streams. She has worked collaboratively with government on the development of National Standards for Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Australia, strengthening the professional credibility and sustainability of the sector.

Earlier in her career, Jodie held leadership roles in Healthcare IT, leading large-scale electronic medical record implementations across Queensland and Victoria. She is the Founder of Pracability, an AI-powered simulated role-play platform designed to strengthen workforce capability at scale. Jodie brings a systems-oriented approach to governance, transformation and sector development, grounded in a track record of delivering sustained impact.

Carmel Monaghan is an experienced executive and company director with deep expertise in large-scale healthcare operations, workforce leadership, regulatory engagement and governance.

Carmel served as Chief Executive Officer of Ramsay Health Care Australia for five years, concluding a 27-year career with the Ramsay Group in July 2025. During her tenure as CEO, she led Australia's largest private healthcare network: a portfolio of over 70 hospitals, 100 pharmacies and 33,000 staff. Her leadership spanned the full breadth of operational complexity, from healthcare governance, quality and safety oversight to navigating some of the sector's most demanding regulatory environments.

Carmel currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Regis Healthcare and EMVision Medical Devices Ltd. She is a QUT alumni, holding a Bachelor of Business (Public Relations) and a Master of Business Administration from QUT, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Gene Moyle is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Programs and Partnerships) at QUT and Co-Leader of the QUT Leadership Institute, with a career spanning senior university leadership, performance psychology and organisational development across elite sport, the performing arts and the corporate sector.

A registered Sport, Exercise and Performance psychologist, Gene has supported Winter Olympic sports across three Olympic cycles and led national sport and performance psychology sector development and service delivery spanning decades. At QUT, she has held a succession of senior executive roles including inaugural Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Programs and Partnerships), Academic Director of New Projects in the Office of the Provost, and Head of the School of Creative Practice, leading partnerships, organisational change and academic delivery at scale.

Gene brings deep expertise in developing human potential and enhancing performance across individual, team, leadership and organisational levels. She holds a Doctorate and a Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Gene serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council alongside extensive board experience across the psychology, arts and corporate sectors.

Peter Price is an energy industry leader with more than 40 years of experience across the Queensland energy sector. He is the former Chief Engineer at Energy Queensland and spent over 20 years in executive leadership roles at Energy Queensland and Energex, where he led across the full breadth of the energy value chain: capital planning and program delivery, asset management, procurement, regulatory strategy and enterprise-wide transformation.

Peter is recognised for his sustained contribution to workforce capability and skills development, having served for 17 years as Chair of Energy Skills Queensland and for eight years as Deputy Chair of TAFE Queensland.

He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of TEN Hold Co and is a member of the Advisory Board for Hantt and Co. He has served on major national energy committees including the AEMO Information Exchange Committee, the AEMC Reliability Panel and the Energy Networks Australia Asset Management Committee. Peter is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds an Honours Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Engineering Science from the University of Queensland.

Mark Puncher is the CEO and founder of Employer Branding Australia, with 25 years of experience at the intersection of marketing, talent, culture and leadership.

Mark has led marketing and employer branding operations across the APAC region and the UK for organisations including Guardian News and Media, DMGT Group, Scout and Hanson Wade. With a conviction that now more than ever, humans need work and that work needs humans, Mark connects the two, by aligning leadership, culture and brand.

Mark is known for bringing commercial rigour to culture-shaping and strategic storytelling, helping organisations build cultures and employer brands that reflect genuine leadership values rather than aspirational messaging. He brings this lens to leadership conversations around connection, recognition, employee experience and advocacy.

Michelle Reeves is the founder and CEO of Xillions, an AI company building IP-protected, brand-safe models for product and content co-creation, where creativity, consumer insight and commerce converge.

With over 20 years of global experience at the intersection of technology, fashion and consumer behaviour, Michelle has led innovation strategies for brands across fashion, sport, entertainment and emerging tech. She has advised Fortune 500 companies including Netflix and COTY and is a trusted voice for executives and boards navigating what comes next. Michelle was named to Marie Claire's Power List and featured in Forbes' 'Queens of Crypto', and her work has been covered by Vogue, the LA Times and NBC.

Michelle is co-founder of Women Who Innovate, through which she has educated over 20,000 women and girls on Web3 and emerging tech across the USA and Australia. She is the founder and host of the What Now podcast, and brings a global lens on the commercial future of technology and creative industries.

Steve Riddle is the principal and founder of CoachStation, a Brisbane-based leadership coaching, mentoring and facilitation consultancy working with leaders and organisations across Australia.

Steve founded CoachStation in 2010 after a career spanning more than two decades in senior leadership and management roles across retail, finance, operations and contact centres. Since then he has coached hundreds of leaders across owner-led businesses, mid-sized organisations and larger enterprises, building a practice recognised for its depth, practical application and long-term client relationships. He is the primary author of Falling Into Leadership, a practical leadership book grounded in lived experience and the stories of leaders navigating real complexity.

Steve brings a practitioner's perspective shaped by 16 years of coaching and more than 30 years of leadership experience, with strength in human connection, leadership capability, accountability and behaviour change. He holds a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from CQU, a Certificate IV in Coaching, a Certificate in Training and Assessment, and a DiSC Behavioural Assessment Accreditation. He served as a board member of Novum Architects from 2015 to 2024.

Mick Say DSC is Head of Australian Defence Force Sport and Gender, Peace and Security, and a strategic adviser with more than 30 years of leadership experience across Defence, government and multinational environments.

Mick's full-time service in the Australian Army included operational service in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Solomon Islands. He commanded Task Group Taji in Iraq, integrating forces from five nations, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. As Commander of the 7th Brigade in Brisbane he led 3,200 personnel, including commanding the ADF contribution to the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands. In his final full-time Army role he led two bilateral force posture programs with the United States and Singapore, overseeing more than $4 billion in infrastructure investment, and received the United States Legion of Merit.

Mick holds a Master's degree from King's College London, a Master of Arts in Leadership from UNSW, and a Graduate Diploma of Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Certified Change Practitioner.

Sharyn Scriven is the Chief Information Officer of Energy Queensland, a senior executive with more than three decades of leadership experience across IT, engineering, asset management, procurement, operations and large-scale investment portfolio management.

Prior to her appointment as CIO, Sharyn served in executive roles responsible for coordinating state-wide regulated capital and operating portfolios and leading safety-critical incident investigations. Her earlier career includes national leadership positions at Telstra. She has served as Chair and Non-Executive Director of Dream Big Australia, a national charity advancing young women's participation in STEM careers.

Sharyn brings deep expertise in strategic leadership, digital and organisational transformation, and the governance of complex, safety-critical environments, with a particular focus on building high-performing, multidisciplinary teams and strengthening decision-making systems that balance commercial, operational and community outcomes. She holds an MBA from the University of South Australia, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is MCIPS-qualified through the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.

Dr Evan Shellshear is a principal in BCG X and an Adjunct Professor at QUT, with expertise spanning AI, innovation strategy and the commercial application of emerging technologies at scale.

Evan holds a PhD from the Institute of Mathematical Economics at Bielefeld University, Germany. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers across game theory, robotics, HR and computer graphics, and has authored or co-authored four books on innovation and AI, including the Amazon bestseller Why Data Science Projects Fail. He has appeared in over 100 articles, interviews and media features as a thought leader in AI and innovation.

Evan serves on multiple advisory boards and boards of state, national and international institutes, and holds accreditations across numerous digital platforms. He brings deep experience in building large-scale AI platforms and translating complex technical strategy into commercial outcomes for organisations.

Ella Shellshear is a senior DEI leader and specialist with deep expertise in health and medical research, recognised for driving meaningful, organisation-wide inclusion outcomes that are built to last.

With a strong command of DEI competency frameworks, Ella has a track record of advising and supporting organisations in establishing high-performing DEI functions, including the governance structures, strategic frameworks and internal capability needed to make inclusion sustainable and self-sufficient over the long term. She specialises in inclusive research practice, equipping research institutions with the tools and expertise to embed equity and inclusion into the design and conduct of research itself.

Ella brings board-level thinking to DEI, connecting inclusion strategy to organisational performance, research integrity and long-term institutional reputation. She partners with leadership teams and governance bodies to position inclusion as an enduring strategic priority, with the structures and capability to sustain momentum well beyond any single initiative.

Luke Sherwin is Editor in Chief at QIMR Berghofer, one of Australia's leading medical research institutes, and has spent two decades shaping the strategic, digital and branding agendas of globally recognised organisations.

Luke was Chief Marketing Officer at IMD Business School in Switzerland and Global Head of Digital Marketing at Egon Zehnder in New York. He returned to Australia to consult with clients including National Storage, Coles and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, having earlier worked on the launch of Australia's first large-scale digital hospital at the Princess Alexandra. His work spans executive search, higher education and medical research, with a focus on the communication, digital and AI capabilities leaders need at board level.

Luke holds a Bachelor of Business, a Master of Business and a Graduate Certificate in Business from QUT, and is an International Scholar Laureate. His work has won Platinum at the MUSE Creative Awards, Gold at the International Content Marketing Awards, and the Premier's Award for Innovative Excellence. He judges the Australian Web Awards and sits on the St Joseph's Nudgee College Alma Mater Advisory Board.

Andrew Spicer is an experienced executive and company director with deep expertise in building and scaling technology businesses, and in the strategic and cultural challenges that come with rapid growth.

Andrew spent 16 years as CEO building Canstar into Australia's leading ratings and comparison business. Before that, he built and listed WebCentral Group, Australia's first cloud business, and served on the Executive Committee of Suncorp Group, leading strategy, marketing and the wealth division. He began his career as an engineer before moving into management consulting with McKinsey and EY.

Andrew holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and has attended executive programs at Harvard and London Business Schools. He is an Industry Fellow and QUT alumni, an Executive Adviser in the EMBA program, and a coach and mentor with Entrepreneurs Organisation. He currently serves as a non-executive director on several boards, including an ASX-listed company.

Narelle Wagner is the founder and director of Studio Connect, with more than 20 years designing and delivering programs that develop leaders, transform businesses and reshape how people experience work.

Narelle has driven change from the inside, as a Culture and Performance Manager in large Australian companies, and from the outside, as a consultant to global brands. She brings cross-industry insight into what makes culture, safety and leadership programs work, and the practical skill to develop leaders at every level, from first-time managers to executives. She builds programs that hold up in practice: aligned to the business, built for the people, fitted to industry context and delivered in the flow of work, so that positive change sticks.

Narelle holds a Bachelor of Business (Communications and Public Relations) and a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) from QUT, and is a Certified Practitioner of Human Resources. A leadership development program she designed as lead strategist won Australia's Best Leadership Development Strategy at the Australian HR Institute awards.

Tiffany Wann is a leadership and organisational development specialist with more than 30 years of leadership experience and over 15 years designing and facilitating leadership capability programs across corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors.

Tiffany is recognised for creating learning experiences that move beyond theory into practical application, helping leaders think more strategically, communicate with greater impact and lead with intention in complex environments. Her work spans organisations including Telstra, Energy Queensland, Shell Energy, the Queensland Police Service, a range of ASX-listed companies and international not-for-profits. She has worked with leaders at every level, from emerging talent through to senior executives and enterprise leadership teams.

Known for her authentic and engaging facilitation style, Tiffany creates environments where leaders are challenged to think deeply and lead more effectively. Her approach is grounded in the belief that meaningful development strengthens how leaders think, decide and act in practice, not just how they feel in a room.

Terry Weber is the regional director for Queensland, the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea at Cisco, where he leads the company's business across those markets and a team of sales professionals spanning public sector, enterprise, commercial, services, engineering and channel partners.

Terry has spent more than 16 years at Cisco, progressing from partner and account management roles, including responsibility for Cisco's higher education customers, to general management of the Queensland region. His earlier career spans senior sales and channel leadership positions at Oracle, where he led partner services and ISV sales across the Asia-Pacific.  Across three decades in the technology sector he has built a reputation for strategic selling, channel development and building high-performing teams.

Terry is a prominent voice on Queensland's innovation ecosystem and the role of connectivity in the state's economic future. He is closely involved in Innovation Central Brisbane, the partnership between Cisco and QUT advancing digital skills, industry collaboration and applied research. He studied Electrical Engineering at QUT.