Professor Jessica Vanderlelie (Chair)

Board of Director, Engagement Australia and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Students at La Trobe University

Professor Vanderlelie is the inaugural Deputy Vice-Chancellor Students at La Trobe University leading the university to develop and implement a sustainable, and integrated strategy to deliver an excellent student experience and transform equity outcomes. Jessica is co-chair of Universities Australia Women and is a passionate advocate for improving institutional and sector wide approaches to supporting diversity and inclusion. Jessica has demonstrated sustained leadership in learning and teaching in Australian Higher Education, she is an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow and has been recognised nationally through receipt of an Australian Award for University Teaching and AFR Award.

Mitra Gusheh

Executive Manager, Social Impact, University of Technology Sydney Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion

Mitra is the Executive Manager, Social Impact at UTS’s Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion. Her role builds on 20-years of experience across the social impact space. Most recently Mitra led the process for developing the Social Impact Framework at UTS and is responsible for the University’s community-engagement portfolio. Before this, Mitra worked for a range of for-purpose organisations where she was responsible for the strategic design, implementation and evaluation of large-scale social change programs. This included Oxfam Australia’s national youth program, an advocacy program on child rights in Sri Lanka, and an ICT-project in partnership with UNESCO in Nepal.

Libby Hackett

CEO of the James Martin Institute for Public Policy

Libby Hackett is the inaugural CEO of the James Martin Institute for Public Policy, a ground-breaking government-university partnership that is transforming how policymakers and research experts work together. Libby is an award-winning public policy expert, with over 20 years’ experience of bringing government and universities together to solve complex problems. She first served as a CEO in 2009 and has held senior leadership and advisory roles in government, parliament, university peak bodies, think tanks and private sector consultancy in Australia and the UK. Libby read PPE at Oxford and is a visiting fellow in global higher education policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU.

Dr Brahm Marjadi

Associate Professor of Community Engaged Learning and Associate Dean for Engagement at the Western Sydney University School of Medicine (WSUSOM)n

A/Prof Marjadi’s community engagement works started 30+ years ago as a medical student and continues to date across medicine, public health, and social care in Australia and Indonesia. He strongly believes in Social Accountability and exhorts his students from all health professions (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and public health) to identify and respond to local community needs during their studies and in their professions. For over ten years he has been overseeing hundreds of WSUSOM community partnerships and multi-award-winning Medicine in Context program. A/Prof Marjadi transformed the WSUSOM community partnerships from a focus on student placements to the full range of Boyer’s Scholarships of Discovery, Integration, Teaching, and Engagement. His community partnerships also include curriculum co-design, co-delivery, co-assessment, and co-evaluation, and several co-authorships and international co-presentations with community partners. His community-engaged learning leadership and scholarship have been recognised with a Senior Fellowship of the Advance Higher Education UK and his appointments as the inaugural Associate Professor of Community Engaged Learning at Western Sydney University, a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification Australia Network, and a Tier-One Reviewer of the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification USA.

Chris Robinson

Co-Founder and Director, Capire Consulting

Chris Robinson is the Co-Founder and Director of Capire Consulting. Chris has over 25 years’ experience in stakeholder engagement and execution, partnership development and planning/management for complex infrastructure, urban development, community and business initiatives.

Prior to co-founding Capire in 2007, Chris was General Manager at Lend Lease’s not for profit Hornery Institute. For over 11 years Chris was senior management / planning consultant and shareholder at GHD Pty Ltd. During this time, he founded and then for 3 years was Service Line Leader for GHD’s new global Sustainability Consulting practice. Earlier in his career, Chris worked as a strategic planner / urban designer and led multidisciplinary projects as diverse regional sustainable development plans in Borneo (Sarawak, Malaysia); coastal reserve masterplans in Tasmania; airfield masterplans for the Australian Defence Force; post war reconstruction initiatives in Bosnia; Tokyo river renewal projects in Japan and sustainability software tool development in California USA. In 2018 Chris also created www.yourmantime.com, a global movement for men and their supporters dedicated to providing inspiration, support and tools to get men physically and mentally healthier by sharing ideas, stories and tips about getting busy on their own healthy ‘man time’.

Chris has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Planning) with Distinction from RMIT, Strategic Planning from Monash Mt Eliza Business School, Master of Planning Design (Urban Design) from University of Melbourne and a Master of Science (Environmental Impact Assessment & Management) from Oxford Brookes University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Leadership Victoria. He is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, Australian Institute of Company Directors and the International Association of Public Participation.

Angela Barney-Leitch

Pro Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Australians), QUT

Ms Barney-Leitch is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Australians). Ms Barney-Leitch is a Woppaburra woman with over 30 years of experience working in and with State and Federal Governments, the tertiary sector, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-based organisations. For over 20 years she worked within and led Queensland government policy and strategy units. Prior to joining QUT in 2019, Ms Barney-Leitch was the Director of Indigenous Policy and Strategic Innovation for the Queensland Department of Education. Ms Barney-Leitch is also a Land Trustee and Native Title Holder for the Woppaburra Nation. At QUT she has successfully refocused Indigenous Australian priorities, plans and spaces to align with Indigenous sovereignty and voice, as well as QUT’s overall strategic planning to incorporate the needs and visibility of Indigenous Australians.

Professor Sarah Todd

Vice President (Global), Griffith University

Professor Sarah Todd commenced at Griffith in late 2013, having previously been with the University of Otago in New Zealand.

As well as leading Griffith’s internationalisation activities, Professor Todd serves on a number of boards related to international education, which currently include APAIE (Asia Pacific Association of International Education), of which she is also immediate past president, Deputy Chair of Study Gold Coast, IEAA (International Education Association of Australia), Universities Australia’s and the Innovative Research Universities’ International Committees, (both of which she is former Chair of), MSM’s Global Advisory Board and the UAE University’s College of Business & Economics Advisory Board.

Before moving to Australia, Sarah was Professor of Marketing at the University of Otago, as well as formerly being Academic Dean of the Otago School of Business and the University’s inaugural Pro Vice Chancellor (International.) Her academic research expertise is in the general area of consumer behaviour, particularly lifestyles and values research, children as consumers, and sustainable consumption.

Colette Rogers

Partner, National Education Sector Lead, Deloitte

Collette Rogers is a Deloitte Partner and their National Education Sector Lead as well as a member of the Committee for Melbourne’s Future Skills Steering Committee. Ms Rogers has worked with Universities and TAFE institutes on a range of complex programs and initiatives in response to strategic change and policy reform impacting the sector. She has led the redesign and implementation of service delivery models that have enhanced the customer experience and improved the efficiency of operational processes and supporting structures including governance arrangements. Ms Rogers holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration, both from the University of Melbourne.

Monique van Veen

Associate Director, International at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, NZ

Monique is the Associate Director, International at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC). Moving to UC in 2021 to head up the international support and partnerships teams, Monique brings a decade of experience working in international education throughout the Asia Pacific region. Monique’s portfolio includes developing UC’s TNE and international partnerships strategy. She is deeply interested in Te Ao and Mātauranga Māori (Māori world views & knowledge), and how these can be fostered to strengthen Aotearoa, New Zealand’s international education industry. Monique sits on the board of the Confucius Institute at University of Canterbury and the New Zealand Centre at Peking University, and is a member of UN Women Aotearoa.

She holds a Master of Human Rights from Auckland University of Technology.

Professor Marie Wilson

Former Chief Academic Services Officer, University of South Australia

Professor Marie Wilson has a distinguished leadership record in business and higher education. She is the former Chief Academic Services Officer for the University of South Australia (2020-2022), with executive responsibility for student services, academic administration, student equity and engagement, and UniSA International. In her former role (2013-2020) as PVC of Business and Law, she led the Business School to top level accreditations, international awards for innovation, impact and student services, and commendations for an enterprising research culture. Prior leadership roles at Griffith University and The University of Auckland involved organizational transformation in large infrastructure projects, reform of postgraduate education and development of research performance.

Marie has studied and worked in eleven countries across four continents and has been a senior manager in strategy and HRM for seven public companies, including one of the world’s largest IT firms. Professor Wilson is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a State Advisory Council member (SA/NT) of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).

Amber Marks

Director, Business Development – Charles Sturt University

Current Position: Director, Business Development – Charles Sturt University Amber is an experienced business development, marketing and engagement professional and has held a number of roles in strategic partnership development, stakeholder and community engagement, communications, marketing and product development. With a commitment to regional areas and communities and creating stronger partnerships for growth; working in tourism, economic development, and higher education has been the perfect fit for her career. As part of that, creating opportunities and growth for people through education has been her professional 'WHY' for over 16 years with Charles Sturt University.

Professor Dawn Freshwater

Vice Chancellor, University of Auckland

A globally recognised leader in world-class universities for more than a decade, Dawn Freshwater became the University's first female Vice-Chancellor in March 2020, after serving as the University of Western Australia's Vice-Chancellor and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Registrar for six years (2014-2020).

Since taking up the role of Vice-Chancellor at the University of Auckland, Professor Freshwater has led the development of the University’s ambitious Vision 2030 and Strategic Plan 2025, Taumata Teitei, which has an emphasis on sustainable eco-systems, just and cultured societies, health and well-being and trusted technology.

Professor Freshwater was the first female Chair of the G08 Research Intensive Universities in Australia, and Deputy Chair (2018-2020) having previously been a Director. She is Chair of Universities New Zealand Research Committee, past Chair of the Partnership Board of the World University Network (WUN), Deputy Chair and Board Director of Research Australia, and the APRU Steering Committee. She is also a member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) and Global Women New Zealand.

Professor Freshwater was awarded her PhD at the University of Nottingham (1998) contributing to the fields of Public Health (specifically Mental Health and Forensic Mental Health) and in researching Leadership practices which have won her the highest honour in her field - the Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing (FRCN). She was recently elected as Member Academia Europea (MAE) and as Fellow Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (FRCSI).

A strong advocate of industry engagement and of the role of higher education in supporting trade agreements, Professor Freshwater maintains strong professional ties with key figures in education and industry in Asia, Europe and the United States.

Ken Gideon

Director (Alumni), University of Southern Queensland

Ken is the Director (Alumni) for the University of Southern Queensland, where he strategically leads all aspects of the alumni program. He is also the co-founder & co-chair of the Australian Universities Alumni Professionals Group, which is a forum for all Australian University Alumni Professionals to share knowledge and learnings. Ken has been working and volunteering in alumni relations programs for more than 20 years at the University of Southern Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and The University of Queensland in Australia, as well as Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia (USA). He holds a Bachelor of Arts - Interdisciplinary Studies (Higher Education Administration) and a Master of Education – Higher Education Administration, both from Old Dominion University and he holds a Graduate Diploma in Organisational Communication from The University of Queensland. He has been working full-time in higher education for 31 years in both Australia and the USA. He has given more than 20 presentations at conferences, has been a coordinator for 4 alumni relations tracks at international conferences (CASE Asia Pacific and UAMCD), and been a judge for a variety of sector awards on 6 previous occasions (CASE Asia Pacific 3 times, CASE global 1 time, and Engagement Australia twice.)

Associate Professor Annelies Kamp

Former Head of the School of Educational Studies and Leadership and Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor of the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury, NZ

Associate Professor Annelies Kamp (PhD) is former Head of the School of Educational Studies and Leadership and Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor of the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury. She has over 25 years of experience in senior leadership roles in Crown agencies, industry training and the not-for-profit sector. She has been a Ministerial Board appointment in the post-compulsory education sector in Australia and New Zealand, and Deputy Director at the Higher Education Research Centre at Dublin City University in Ireland. Her academic teaching has focused on post-graduate level programmes in leadership (particularly educational, youth and community). Her books include Rethinking Learning Networks: Collaborative Possibilities for a Deleuzian Century (2013), A Critical Youth Studies for the 21st Century (2015), Re/Assembling the Pregnant and Parenting Teenager: Narratives from the field(s) (2017) and Education Studies in Aotearoa: Key Disciplines and New Directions (2019), Leading Educational Networks; Theory, Policy and Practice (2022), and Wellbeing: Global Policies and Perspectives. Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond (2023).

Dr Megan Fisher

Pro Vice Chancellor (Industry Engagement), La Trobe University

Megan has over 20 years’ experience in executive management and leadership positions in higher education and research-based organisations in the public and private sector, most recently as Director of Research, Innovation and Commercial Engagement at The University of Melbourne. In this position Megan led a large team of business development, intellectual property and commercialisation professionals responsible for partnering with university stakeholders to support industry engagement and increase industry related revenue.

Megan has a PhD in Organic Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney, as well as qualifications in business and executive management. She has held previous roles as Director of Business Development and Commercialisation within the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and as Vice President of Research and Development for an ASX and NASDAQ listed Australian biotechnology company. Megan has extensive experience in leading and advising on a broad range of commercial transactions, including establishing relationships with global venture capital, spin outs and licensing with local and global companies.

Megan’s appointment as PVC (IE) comes at a critical time for La Trobe as we intensify our efforts to develop the Research and Innovation Precinct as part of our vision to be a University City of the Future. Megan sees industry engagement and commercialisation as pathways connecting academics and institutions to the communities and sectors where they can have most impact. Her connections to government agencies, local and international organisations and her understanding of the nexus between the higher education, community and commercial sectors will be invaluable in leading and improving La Trobe’s Industry Engagement activities.

Professor Myriam Amielh

Dean, Innovation & Industry Engagement, Australian Catholic University

Professor Myriam Amielh has been Australian Catholic University’s Dean, Industry & Innovation since February 2021. Utilising a career of industry engagement, Professor Amielh has set up the Industry & Innovation office at ACU, which is responsible for commercialisation and partnership activities across the university.

Professor Amielh has worked in senior roles in the Higher Education sector in Australia since 2016, and prior to this held leading roles in Research and Development for the commercial sector. Professor Amielh holds a PhD and Masters in Computer Sciences and Mathematics, which she studied in France and Canada.

Career highlights include the establishment of UTS’ prototyping unit (UTS Rapido), which has delivered research translation to multiple UTS industry partners, and the creation of the Wanago program to address STEM gaps for over twenty NSW High Schools. Professor Amielh also coordinated the development of UTS’ strategy for ‘Precinct, partners and community’, delivered new Work-Integrated-Learning programs as well as a large industry and government consortium for future secure research facilities in NSW. Additionally, Professor Amielh is credited with the creation of numerous patents, through leading teams in both Philips and Canon.

Professor Margaret Jones

Director of Research Services at Edith Cowan University

Margaret has been the Director of Research Services at Edith Cowan University for almost 10 years.

Margaret earned her PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Massachusetts and has worked at Monash University, Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, The University of Western Australia and in the Middle East. An internationally successful medical researcher, she published more than 70 journal articles before transitioning into research administration and governance. She is a graduate of the AICD’s Company Directors and University Governance courses and has served on ECU’s University Council for three years, as well as on a number of Boards and state and national committees. Her passion for research leadership drives her to deliver best practice across portfolios that include Research Governance, Administration, Systems, Graduate Research Students and importantly, Research Engagement and Impact.

Carly Evans

Associate Director, Development and Alumni Relations, Charles Sturt University

Carly is passionate about connecting people, opportunities, ideas and resources to build capacity and create impact for a better world through education and research. With roles spanning higher education, government, not for profit and private sector organisations, Carly’s work has delivered partnerships and programs that showcase regional capabilities, volunteer engagement, corporate social responsibility and innovation. She has worked with the NSW State Emergency Service to redefine their partnerships framework to create an ecosystem to enhance collaboration and break down silos.

With a background in strategic marketing and events, media management, intellectual property management and business development Carly has a core skill set in spotting synergies, creating rapport, and establishing powerful communities of practice. Carly holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Certificate in Disaster Risk Reduction.

Dr Vafa Ghazavi

Executive Director for Research and Policy at the James Martin Institute for Public Policy

Vafa is a public policy strategist and political philosopher. He has worked in the policy planning branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, among other roles, and previously served as a diplomat in Afghanistan and to the United Nations in Vienna. Vafa also worked as an adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He has been a visiting researcher on ethics with the AI lab, DeepMind, and taught political theory at the University of Oxford. In addition to his academic work, Vafa has written for publications including the Boston Review, The Guardian, Public Seminar, The Philosopher, The Interpreter, the Oxford Review of Books, and The Times Literary Supplement. He is currently a Carr Center Fellow at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Vafa is a graduate of the University of Sydney, where he won the university medal, and Harvard University, where he completed a master’s in public administration as a Fulbright Scholar. He completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford, where he studied as a John Monash Scholar.

Professor Olivia Mirza

Professor Olivia Mirza was one of the sixteen Golden Jubilee Scholarship holder at University of New South Wales in 2000. She graduated in Honours Bachelor of Civil and Environmental in 2002. She worked as a structural engineer for 10 years before pursuing her academic career. She worked for Leighton Contractors (Student Engineer), Australia Consulting Engineers (Structural Engineer) and Cardno Group (Senior Engineer – International Projects). Professor Mirza is currently Professor and held Associate Dean Engagement in School Engineering, Design and Built Environment. She is Research Theme Champion at University level under Pro-Vice Chancellor Research, Enterprise and International.

Some of her outstanding projects she worked on was M7 motorway, One Shelley Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney where the external structural support system supported by diagrid for sustainable purposes. The building was awarded a 6-star Green Star "World Leader" rating and the highest environmental building rating achievable in Australia. She is also leading the fire design in the Tower 5 of the New York World Trade Centre.

She is distinguished in her forensic bridge rehabilitation. She was the lead design engineer for Sydney Harbour bridge where she proposed a resilient alternative by incorporating steel-concrete composite theory and capability of being precast and modular. This project also involved in retrofitting the new precast modular section onto the existing steel girder.

Professor Mirza is a strong advocate to increase female in engineering profession. Australia like most other countries in the world has a shortage of engineers and it is Olivia's vision to increase the number of women engineers.

Maree Graham

Director Indigenous Students and Community Engagement, University of Technology Sydney