Khory McCormick
Senior Partner, Minter Ellison

Khory McCormick is a Board Member and a senior partner of Minter Ellison (Lawyers).  He was admitted to partnership in 1982.  Khory is an approved mediator and arbitrator and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

A past Chairman of Energex Limited, Khory for some thirty years has been at the cutting edge of private and public sector litigation and dispute management.

He has substantive knowledge of many industry sectors but particularly resources, energy, utilities, corporate and agribusiness areas.  He has spoken regularly to such sectors including on the topic Climate Change: The Litigation Prospective (Sydney 2008)

Brett Godfrey
Founding Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Blue Airlines

Brett Godfrey launched, in August 2000, as Chief Executive, Virgin Blue Airlines Group now comprising Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue, V Australia and Polynesian Blue. Today the Group is Australia's second largest carrier moving 20M passengers per year. Virgin Blue Airlines Group has taken an aviation environmental leadership role introducing a series of management initiatives and urging airlines to actively 'reduce and report' their efforts to offset and limit emissions. Brett stepped down from leading the airline after 10 years in May 2010.

 

Mr Godfrey is also a Director on the Board of WestJet, Canada's leading low-fare airline, Tourism Australia and Translink, the Queensland Government's  public transport overseeing authority.

Prior to conceptualising and launching Virgin Blue in August 2000, Mr Godfrey had a 12 year career in aviation and finance which included appointments as Chief Financial Officer Virgin Express in Brussels; and Finance Manager for London based Virgin Atlantic. He started his career with Chartered Accountancy firm Touche Ross in Melbourne.

 

Mr. Godfrey has been recognised internationally for services to aviation, customer service, tourism and business.

Clem Campbell
Chair, Earth Charter Australia

Clem is actively involved with global sustainability with his work at the EcoCentre, Griffith University, as chair of Earth Charter Australia and involvement with Earth Dialogues 2006 Brisbane.

Clem graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree and worked as an Agricultural Economist and Research Development Officer in western and regional areas of Queensland.

Clem was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Bundaberg. He was elected five times and retired undefeated in 1998. He served as the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees and was a member of ministerial committees including Finance, Primary Industries, Health and Education.

Clem has served as a member of the Central Queensland University Council, is currently the chair of Earth Charter Australia and a Director of Football Queensland.

Kerry Gardner
Non-profit sector/environmental and social philanthropist

With a background in consumer goods marketing, Kerry Gardner is a company director of both arts and environmental organizations, as well as producing documentaries in this area.   

 

She sits as a judge for the Australian Business Arts Foundation Awards, The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards, and was on the Steering Committee of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network, and a board member of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and Chairman’s Panel.   

 

Kerry lead the  philanthropic strategy and support for The Australian Conservation Foundation’s partnership with Al Gore and his Climate project in Australia in 2006. 

 

Kerry is an active member of the Myer Foundation in both the arts and environment grantmaking areas, and participates in international environmental and philanthropic discussion. 

 

She has most recently been involved in film and documentary production and loves all things French.

Nadia McLaren
Ecologist and independent consultant

Nadia was one of the first Australian graduates in environmental studies.  She co-founded in Adelaide  in 1980 the company Social and Ecological Assessment Pty Ltd (SEA) and during the 1980s produced over 40 environmental reports and studies in Australia.  During this time she chaired the South Australian Environmental Protection Council (1984-89) and was a Member of the South Australian Water Resources Council (1986-1989), Australian National Estate Grants Programme (1986-1988) and Advisory Committee for the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Adelaide (1988-1989). In 1988, she convened in SA the national conference Greenhouse '88: Planning for Climate Change.  In 2007 she was a judge for the South Australian Food Awards (Environmental Sustainability).
 
Nadia lived in Norway during the “Brundtland Commission period” (1988-92). Together with Sven Björk (as Forum 2000), she arranged presentations of emerging insights in science, economics, ecology, health, futures, systematics, spirituality, psychology, social change and community development - with collaborators including Peter Russell, Hazel Henderson, David Bohm, Henryk Skolimowsky, Robert Theobald, Peter Caddy, David Lorimer, Fritjof Capra, Marilyn Fergusson and Arne Næss.

 

For 15 years until 2006, Nadia was based in Brussels at the Union of International Associations (UIA), the research institute and clearing house of information on international governmental and independent sector organizations. There she undertook strategic analysis on civil society, managed projects for the European Commission, NGOs and universities.  She is an Active Member of UIA and still works closely - in 2007 compiling its Annual Report of International Meetings for the sixth consecutive year. 

Peter Ellyard
Director, Preferred Futures Institute

Dr Peter Ellyard is a futurist and strategist who lives in Melbourne.  Peter is a graduate of Sydney University (BSc.Agr) and of Cornell University (MS, Ph.D ), He is currently Chairman of the Preferred Futures institute and the Preferred Futures Group, which he founded in 1991 . He also chairs the Sustainable Prosperity Foundation.

Peter is a former Executive Director for the Australian Commission for the Future.  He held CEO positions in a number of public sector organizations over 15 years including two associated with Environment and Planning, and one with Industry and Technology, and was also Chief of Staff of the Office of Environment Ministers in Canberra for 3 years.

 

He is Adjunct Professor of Intergenerational Strategies at the University of Queensland, and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators, the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Institute of Management. He has been a Senior Adviser to the United Nations system for more than 30 years and has acted as a senior consultant to the UNEP, the  UNDP and UNESCO. In this time he has worked in 25 developing countries. 

 

Peter was a Special Adviser to the 1992 Earth Summit in the fields of biodiversity and climate change, and contributed to the preparation of the Framework Conventions in both these areas. He is an Australia Day Ambassador. Peter is the author of the best selling book Ideas for the New Millennium (1998,2001) and of Designing 2050 ; Pathways to sustainable prosperity on Spaceship Earth (2008) .

Tom Kennedy
Head of Digital, Omnilab Media

Tom has over 20 years experience in media and technology markets. He has been involved in media industry development and policy throughout his career and has been a champion for the future potential of the Australian content and the digital media industry. He has a wide range of business experience from start-ups to public companies. He was the founder and CEO of several of Australia's leading digital companies over the past 15 years including, Media Zoo, Hyro Limited, Beyond Online Limited and Brainwaave Interactive.

 

Before joining Omnilab Media he was head of Digital Strategy at Photon Group and Legion Interactive, Australia's leading mobile marketing service company. In 2006 he won the AIMIA award for outstanding contribution to Industry, and in 2007 he was listed in B&T Magazines Power 40 Digital Leaders list.

 

His past industry roles include, Chairman of the Digital Content Action Agenda Experts Group 2008, Commissioner, of the Australian Film Commission (AFC) 2002-2008, Past Chairman Internet Industry Association (IIA) 2007, Past President of Australian Interactive Media Industry Assoc (AIMIA) 2004. He has been an advisor to Government in the following areas; member of the Digital Television Advisory Group, member of the Joint Singapore Australia IT Council, member of the Australian Information Economy Advisory Council (AIEAC) and a member of the National Bandwidth Enquiry and a member to the Australian Governments Broadband Advisory Group (BAG).

Tony Coleman
Director, Lonergan Edwards & Associates

Tony Coleman is an actuary, company director and corporate advisor with a particular interest in risk management, institutional investment and climate change issues. He is a Director of Lonergan Edwards & Associates. Tony is also a member of the Executive Committee of the International Actuarial Association, a past President of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and a former Chief Risk Officer of Insurance Australia Group (IAG), a major Australian insurer. During his tenure in that role, Standard & Poors recognised the quality of the risk management function lead by Tony by rating IAG as one of only 7 insurers in the world (out of some 250 rated globally) to have "Excellent" risk management processes, the highest rating possible.

Prior to joining IAG, Tony was a senior corporate advisory partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Australia. His 15 year career at PwC included  both management roles leading teams of several hundred people, building significant businesses for the firm, and a diverse range of business valuation, corporate finance and actuarial advisory work for clients in both the public and private sector covering a wide range of industries including mining, resources, retailing, electronic & print media, transport, water supply & wastewater treatment, power generation & distribution, oil & gas, infrastructure, property development, banking and insurance.

In recent years, Tony has also been active in promoting a better understanding of global warming and climate change in government, the community and business by working extensively on this issue with eminent scientists, business leaders and NGOs. This has included working with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a member of the Australian Climate Group and with the Australian Conservation Foundation on the Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change. Tony also represented IAG as a member of the United Nations Environmental Program Climate Change Working Group, was a contributing author to the IPCC's Report in 2007. He is also currently a director of the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystem Co-operative Research Centre.

In response to frequent requests, Tony maintains an active speaking schedule on climate change and sustainability issues, particularly as they impact business and investment.

Tony is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds BA and MBA degrees.He has attended management development courses at both Harvard University (2000) and Stanford University (2008). The Stanford course focused on Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability and Tony was awarded a scholarship from the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees to enable him to attend this course.

Tony is married with two adult children. He exercises and swims regularly, loves to sail both racing competitively and for relaxation on Sydney Harbour with friends on weekends and still goes snow ski-ing when he can find the time.

Prof. Paul Hardisty
Executive Director: Sustainability, WorleyParsons

Professor Paul Hardisty is Executive Director for Sustainability and EcoNomics^TM for WorleyParsons, one of the world's largest engineering companies.

 

He has spent over 20 years advising industry and government on environmental strategy and sustainability, with a focus on the economics of environmental protection.

 

Paul is a Visiting Professor in Environmental Engineering and at Imperial College London and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia School of Business, where he teaches sustainability and climate change to MBA students.  He is also the author of a new book on the Economics of Sustainability in Industry.  

 

Paul is a Member of the Waste Management Authority of Western Australia, advising the Minister of Environment.

Blair Palese
CEO, 350.org Australia

Blair Palese has more than 20 years experience working with environmental organisations, companies, government agencies and associations on eco and social issues internationally.

 

She is CEO of 350.org Australia focusing on galvanising a public voice for climate change action. Blair is also an Independent Chair for the Green Building Council of Australia, a founding committee member for Human Rights Watch in Australia, an ambassador for the 1 Million Women climate change initiative and a voting member for two environmental organisations in the US and Australia.

 

Previously, Blair was editor of Green Pages magazine and has worked with organisations including the Pew Environment Group, the Climate Group, The Climate Institute, Greenpeace in China, the US and Australia, carbon neutral company Climate Friendly and the NSW Government's Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) and Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA).

 

In the late 1990s, Blair was head of PR for The Body Shop internationally and Director of Greenpeace International Communications, both in the UK. In 1996, she addressed the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York on the role of public communication in addressing global environmental problems.

Andrew Ash
Director, CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship

Dr Andrew Ash is the director of the CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, which aims to equip Australia with practical and effective options to prepare for the impacts of climate change and variability.

 

Andrew works closely with government agencies, businesses and communities, raising awareness of the need to adapt to unavoidable climate change. He oversees a $ 40 million nationwide portfolio of research projects, partnerships and collaborations.

 

Andrew has a keen interest in better integrating our understanding of climate science with decision-making and developing ways to mainstream climate adaptation into policy processes. Throughout his career, a feature of Andrew's research has been a systems approach that strives to examine both biophysical and management aspects of environmental sustainability. Much of his past work has been in the link between climate, ecosystems and management and in particular investigating how climate, grazing and fire influence the productivity, health  and management of rangelands in northern Australia. 

Jackie Branch
Consultant

Jackie holds a Bachelor of Commerce (UQ) (1988) and CPA status and following graduation, she commenced working in financial management and corporate reporting for Government, specialising in advising on cost management and assessing policy impacts from a financial perspective. She has worked for a number of government agencies, including the now Department of Natural Resources, the Queensland Police Service and the Department of Education, Training and the Arts. In recent years, Jackie held the position of Executive Director, Infrastructure and Services, in Arts Queensland during a period of dramatic change in the agency. Employed by the Queensland Government for over 25 years, she has recently left to spend more time with her young family.