CEO of Emergent; Author of The Leading Edge; Co-Founder, Chief Curator and Catalyst at Energy Disruptors; Non-executive Director at Port Adelaide Football Club; Board member of Pride Cup, Porter Davis and Hudson.

Holly Ransom is an award-winning keynote speaker, author, and leadership expert. She is an Ironman champion, the youngest director to sit on an Australian Rules Football board, and was Chair of the Youth G20 at 18 years old. Holly inspires audiences with the skills and know-how to lead the change they care enough to make.

As a Fulbright scholar and Harvard Kennedy School Class of ’21 fellow, Holly Ransom is a recipient of the prestigious Anne Wexler Public Policy Scholarship, allowing her to action social and economic inclusion by connecting people with the decisions that affect their lives.

Holly’s first book, The Leading Edge, helps people harness their leadership potential by asking better questions, thinking beyond biased answers, and building collective momentum for change. Holly brings the real-world leadership lessons of so many diverse thinkers and pioneers she’s met to the fore in The Leading Edge.

Holly was identified early as a dynamic thought leader and asked to Co-Chair the G20 Youth Summit in 2014, the United Nations Coalition of Young Women Entrepreneurs in 2016, and became the youngest director ever to be appointed to an Australian Football Club, the mighty Port Adelaide. Holly has been recognized as a LinkedIn Influencer and a credible content producer by the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and her podcast “Coffee Pods” was named in the top ten business podcasts to listen to by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2018.

As an accomplished company director, Holly has compressed a power-packed career into a decade, spanning corporate, non-profit, and public sectors. As founder and CEO of consulting firm Emergent, Holly has led realworld results with clients such as P&G, Microsoft, Virgin, Cisco, and KPMG. Holly has also been a regular Australian television shows, The Drum and QandA. As a proud champion for diversity and inclusion, Holly is Chair of Pride Cup Australia, a non-profit organization and movement devoted to challenging LGBTI+ discrimination within sporting clubs and making them welcoming and supportive environments for LGBTI participation and fans.

A two-time ironwoman, Holly loves to cook, dance, and sing… despite her complete lack of talent at all three.

 

He served as a senior education specialist at the World Bank (Washington, DC), lead education specialist at the European Training Foundation (Torino, Italy), director general at the Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture (CIMO), and visiting professor of Practice at Harvard University. He is a recipient of several awards for his lifelong service in education, including the 2012 Education Award (Finland), the 2014 Robert Owen Award (Scotland), the 2016 Lego Prize (Denmark), Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Resident Fellowship in 2017, and Dr Paul Brock Memorial Medal in 2021. In 2013 his book “Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland” won the Grawemeyer Award (U.S.) for an idea that has potential to change the world. His most recent books include "Let the Children Play: How more play will save our schools and help children thrive" (2019, with William Doyle), "Finnish Lessons 3.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland” (2021), and "In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish way to world-class schools" (2021, with Tim Walker). He is currently Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Pasi lives in South Melbourne with his wife and two sons.

 

Her senior corporate roles have included amongst others: CEO of the Australian Council of Educational Leaders, (ACEL), CEO of AFS Australia, Managing Director of Starbucks Coffee - Australia and New Zealand, Head of Operations   Asia-Pacific of Weight Watchers, Director of Meal Solutions of the Woolworths Group NZ, and Marketing Director of Genetco and National Training Institute, Oman.

Aasha has a proven track record of delivering growth in revenue and bottom-line profitability for the organisations she has led. She builds strong brand equity by reinventing product portfolios, expanding into new markets, designing new delivery channels, and delivering operational excellence. She has stewarded the regional operations of many large multi-national organisations. This has given her an informed perspective on markets in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America across several industry sectors, and a keen and insightful understanding of the key drivers of success in the prevailing global context.

Professor David Hopkins describes “Be!ng’ as a “leadership book for our time” that “goes deep in helping us understand the complex dynamics surrounding us in our post-truth society.” Aasha is also co-authoring “Switching! Productive Change in an iConnected World,” a book on leading and managing change, due for release in late 2021.

Aasha is an active Council Member on the GLG Research Management Platform. She has been the Executive in Residence for the Business School in Auckland University and visiting faculty at the Waikato Management School, Waikato University. She lectures on Leadership, Strategic Planning, Strategic Innovation, and Reaching Global Markets. She has also been a member of the Expert Reference Council of the Evidence for Learning Organisation (ELO), a think-tank of Social Ventures Australia.

Aasha has a passion for leadership and developing early-career and mature professionals by providing them with exciting learning opportunities through both formal education and experiential learning. She delivers a suite of Executive Leadership programs aimed at high-performing school and system leaders. She regularly speaks at conferences and seminars across the Asia-Pacific on topics that include leveraging diversity, challenges of female leadership and leading multi-cultural teams.

Her work in the education sector has led to her inclusion in the prestigious Educator’s 2020 Hot List that recognises and celebrates professionals who represent the cutting edge of educational excellence in Australia. 

 

Having become a household name overnight, Steven Bradbury decided to retire from speed skating following his exploits in Salt Lake City, just as the Australian postal service was issuing a stamp of him in celebration. He subsequently commentated on the 2006 and 2010 Games for Australian television and appeared on the entertainment show Dancing with the Stars. In 2007, he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia and inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. In search of the thrills he had experienced on the ice, the former champion turned his hand to motor racing, obtaining some creditable results on the professional circuit.

 

Anne holds a PhD in Education from The University of Melbourne with a focus in complexity theory, revealing how to craft successful and sustainable practices and cultures in innovative learning environments. She also routinely support education leaders and architects to develop school masterplans and design briefs.

Commencing as a primary teacher, Anne has experience in community development, school system administration, and school-based innovation consultancy. Anne also leads the executive coaching and learning tour aspects of The Learning Future, supporting schools and organisations to integrate the cutting edge of school design, philosophy and practice. Having worked and toured leaders across multiple continents, Anne has depth of knowledge of the international education landscape and regularly connects with a global community of like-minded professionals.

 

The Dawson family have been part of the early colonial settlers over five generations of farming and law enforcement. The Governor's great-great-grandparents arrived in the then Swan River colony in Western Australia in 1830.

Chris Dawson AC APM was educated at Perth Modern School before joining the Western Australia Police Force in 1976, going on to provide 46 years of service in Australian law enforcement. He served in country and metropolitan positions, criminal investigation, training and senior roles.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2002 saw him awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service.

After 10 years as Deputy Commissioner, he left WA for a national role in Canberra between 2014 to 2017 as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Crime Commission, amalgamating several agencies into the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. He also served as Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology during this period.

He was appointed Commissioner of the Western Australia Police Force in August 2017, serving until July 2022. During the period of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Commissioner Dawson coordinated the State of Emergency and the Vaccine program.

In the Australia Day Honours List for 2023, Governor Dawson was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent service to public administration through law enforcement roles, to reconciliation, and as the 34th Governor appointed in Western Australia.

He is married to Darrilyn Dawson, Education Consultant, with two married children and five grandchildren

 

Born in the UK, Paul lived in a fairly rough part of Aberdeen, Scotland’s Oil Capital; his neighbourhood was on occasion like a cold wet version of Beirut.

Most of the kids he hung around with where not the academic type, neither was Paul, in fact by the time he and his mates had all grown up, anyone who wasn’t drug addicted, hadn’t been charged with assault, or done serious time was considered a high achiever.

At the age of 15, Paul moved to Perth Western Australia with his mum who had secured employment working for an American Oil Company. This move was to change Paul’s life in so many ways.

By the time Paul was 16 he was working on drilling tools (thanks to his Mother getting him his first job). At 18 he moved to land rigs and then offshore overseas in third world countries at the age of 23.

His formative years spent largely trying not to get killed during a Coup, Jihad, Up-rising, Insurrection or flat out War, all in the name of hydrocarbons.

In 2001 he was tasked with a seven year drilling campaign in Northern Russia. Securing that work post 9/11 involved a long and convoluted psychiatric evaluation that Paul promptly failed. Paul appealed and a subsequent re-evaluation saw him pass. This was largely as a result of a letter he wrote in his defence. This letter was later sent to a friend in Sydney (just for a laugh), who in turn sent it to another friend who works in publishing and he was offered his first book deal with Allen and Unwin.

Paul Carter was discovered in 2005 by accident. His works are still on shelves today, now published globally in foreign languages, audio books & e-books. To his credit he remains the same funny, often self deprecating down to earth man, and the nicest alpha male you’ll ever meet.