Peter Freedman AM is the Managing Director of RØDE Microphones. Peter founded RØDE in the early 1990s, revolutionising the industry by creating a new market in high-quality microphones accessible to a mass audience.

By developing new infrastructure for the design and manufacturing of microphones here in Australia, RØDE has become one of the world's largest microphone manufacturers, and is an internationally recognised brand in studio, professional broadcast, and consumer electronics.

Peter was recently announced as a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his achievement and service to the community at large. To be identified as a Member of the Order is considered one of the highest acknowledgements that Australia can bestow upon an individual. He was also named the Ernst & Young Industry Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014.

Catherine is Chancellor of the University of Technology; Non-Executive Chair of Pacific National; Non-Executive Director of The Australian Ballet, Saluda Medical, Quasar Satellite Technologies, Australian Design Council Limited.

Catherine’s executive career spanned more than 22 years, where she held general management and finance leadership roles in the field of implantable medical devices. She was CEO of Cochlear Limited from 1994 – 2000, taking it through IPO in 1995.

In her subsequent non-executive career, Catherine has served as the Non-Executive Chair of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Telstra Corporation and CSIRO. Catherine is a former President of the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Museum and Chief Executive Women. She has served on the Boards of Macquarie Group, Goodman Fielder, Rural Press, The George Institute for Global Health and Worley, and was a member of the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, the Commonwealth Science Council and the Industry Growth Centres Advisory Committee.

Catherine is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Academy of Science.

In 2003 Catherine was awarded the Centenary Medal; in 2008 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia and in 2024 was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Tasmanian-born Ros Moriarty co-founded Balarinji and is the company’s Managing and Creative Director.

A former ABC journalist with Radio Australia, prior to establishing Balarinji, Ros held senior positions with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra and Sydney.

Ros was formerly a Commissioner for the Future of Sydney CBD (2021), Inaugural Chair of the Football Australia Women’s Football Council (2019-21), and Board member of Menzies School of Health Research Darwin (2019-21), National Gallery of Australia, Australian Major Events SA and the Australian Academy of Design. In 2023, she was named a Good Design Ambassador.

Ros was named Winner Business Enterprise in the 2015 Financial Review/Westpac Australian 100 Women of Influence Awards. She is an inductee of the Design Institute of Australia, the Australian Graphic Design Association, and the Australian Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame. In 2018 she was named a Companion of the University by Charles Darwin University.

An alumnus of the Australian National University, Ros’ honours include the St Peters Citizenship Award, the Advance Australia Award for Service to Industry and Commerce, a UNESCO Achievement Award, the Good Design Australian Design Prize and the Design Institute of Australia President’s Award.

Ros is the author of the memoir Listening to Country (Allen & Unwin 2010), shortlisted for both The Age 2010 Book of the Year, and the Australian Human Rights Commission Literary Award. She has also written eight picture books for children (Allen & Unwin 2012-18), variously listed for The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award (2012 & 2015), and the 2013 Australian Environment Award for Children’s Literature, illustrated by Balarinji.

She is Co-founder and Co-chair of the not-for-profit Moriarty Foundation, which enables Aboriginal families and communities to unlock the potential of their children.

Dr Stephanie Fahey likes to create with purpose.

Stephanie was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Austrade, the Australian Government agency responsible for promoting trade, investment and international education, and tourism policy, programs and research.

Stephanie has been the driving force of the agency’s redesign to make it future fit. Stephanie believes diversity of thought sparks great ideas that can add true value to our social and commercial worlds.

Previously Stephanie built the education strategy practice within EY across Oceania; as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Global Engagement) at Monash University and Director of the University of Sydney’s Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific she built businesses which contributed to Australia’s deeper engagement with Asia.

Stephanie brings an international perspective to her work and a wealth of experience across business and academia.

Roy is Emeritus Professor and Chair of the Innovation Council at the University of Technology Sydney. His doctorate is from the University of Cambridge and he has published widely in the areas of innovation policy and management, including projects with the OECD and European Commission.

Roy has worked in universities, business and government in Australia and overseas, most recently as Dean of the UTS Business School. He chaired the Australian Government’s Innovative Regions Centre, CSIRO Manufacturing Sector Advisory Council, NSW Manufacturing Industries Advisory Council and Queensland Competition Authority, and has participated in a range of industry reviews, including the 2015 Senate innovation system inquiry.

Currently, Roy chairs the Port of Newcastle and the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub and is a board member of the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre.

Andrew N. Liveris AO is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company and Director of DowDuPont. He previously served as Executive Chairman of DowDuPont.

A recognised global business leader with more than 42 years at Dow, Liveris advocates the criticality of manufacturing worldwide.

He is the author of Make It in America and was tapped by the current U.S. Administration to help identify new ways to spur innovation, revitalise the U.S. manufacturing sector and drive economic growth and prosperity as Chair of the Manufacturing Council and a Member of the Apprenticeship of the Future Task Force.

Previously he served as Co-Chair of U.S. President Obama's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership steering committee and a member of the U.S. President’s Export Council.

He was recently named Senior Advisor to the Saudi Arabian Governments Sovereign Wealth Fund, PIF.

He sits on the Board of Directors of IBM, Worley and Saudi Aramco, on the Advisory Board of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and NEOM.

He is the past Vice-Chair of the Business Roundtable, an Executive Committee Member and past Chairman of the U.S. Business Council, and a member of the Concordia Leadership Council and the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Advisory Committee.

He serves as a trustee for The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the California Institute of Technology, and the United States Council for International Business.

He was the founding member of The Nature Conservancy’s Latin America Conservation Council.

Andrew and his wife, Paula, both natives to Australia, have three adult children, Nicholas (Jemima), Alexandra and Anthony.

An executive leader within the global property and construction sector, with extensive expertise in innovative strategy development and organisational transformation. Simonne is recognised as a thought leader and futurist with a passion for socially sustainable and commercially successful outcomes across communities, drawing on her global experience in property development, project delivery and supply chain.

Simonne’s capabilities include her ability to deliver critical change programs across multiple business strategies, lead high-performance teams to execute new models and create new business concepts to market.

Simonne has a track record is using design-led principles through the lifecycle of an asset whilst implementing innovative large-scale placemaking and building solutions, demonstrated across a variety of sectors including commercial, multi-use, education, social and affordable residential developments.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the property sector, most recently leading Lendlease’s Connected Living business. In 2019 Simonne joined GFG Alliance to create a new property business across Australia which now comprises of over 170 Industrial properties, supporting manufacturing business growth and develop surplus sites to highest and best use.

Simonne recently joined Light Project as Co-CEO with Founder and Co-CEO Matt Hicks. The creative duo have joined forces to accelerate Light Projects growth and set up a disruptive supply chain business model together.

Edwina McCann has been the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Australia since 2012. In 2018 she was also appointed Editorial Director of the Conde Nast brands in Australia, encompassing Vogue, Vogue Living and GQ.

Edwina’s career in media spans senior editorships with publications such as The Australian and Harper’s Bazaar Australia, where she was Editor-in-Chief.

In 2015 Edwina topped B&T’s list of 30 Most Powerful Women in Australian Media. She joined the UTS Business School Advisory Board in 2014 and in 2017 was announced as a board member for The Australian Ballet and chair of The Australian Ballet Foundation Board.

In addition to her role with the Westpac Scholars Trust, Edwina is co-chair to the Australian Fashion Council and is a council member of Australia’s Nation Brand Advisory Council.

Giam Swiegers became Aurecon’s Chair in January 2021 and has been a non-executive member of the board since 2019.

He retired from Aurecon on 31 January 2019 after having joined the company as Global Chief Executive Officer in February 2015.

Prior to working at Aurecon, Giam was Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte in Australia from 2003 to 2015.

David Thodey is currently Chairman of Tyro, Australia’s only independent EFTPOS banking institution and Xero, a cloud-based accounting software provider for small and medium-sized businesses. Mr Thodey is also a non-executive Board director of Ramsay Health Care, a global hospital group. Until recently he was Chair of the Commonwealth Science, Industry & Research Organisation (CSIRO), the national research organisation for Australia.

Previously David was Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Telstra, appointed in May 2009., retiring from this position on 30 April 2015. Before joining Telstra, David was Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand at IBM. During his 22 years at IBM, David held several senior executive positions across Asia Pacific.

In January 2013, David joined the Board of the GSM Association, the global body made up of carriers and related companies that supports the standardisation and deployment of mobile technology around the world. He was also co-chair of the Infrastructure and Investment Taskforce of the B20 leadership group.

David has a keen interest in basketball, and was previously Chairman of Basketball Australia. He is a technologist and interested in customer centred transformation of businesses.

David received an honorary Doctorate in Science from Deakin University in 2016, honorary Doctorate in Technology from University of Technology in 2018, and was recognised for his services to business and ethical business leadership with an Order of Australia (AO) in January 2017. He has recently led a decadal review of the Australian Public Service for the Government (2019).

David now serves on a number of Boards and is also active in consulting, venture capital, public policy, and science, research and innovation while managing his own investment portfolio.

He is often asked to speak about authentic leadership, workplace equity, technology, digital transformation and corporate social responsibility.

Dr Sam Bucolo PhD, MAppSc, GDID, BAppSc (Industrial Design), FDIA, MAICD

Dr Sam Bucolo has over thirty years of experience of embedding design-led innovation within start-ups, SMEs, large organisations, consortiums and industry sectors to solve complex challenges and amplify economic, social and environmental impact. He has held various executive and senior academic roles and is currently the Chief of Design at RØDE. Sam has worked across many sectors including, Consumer Product, Food and Agriculture, Defence, MedTech, Telecommunications and Automotive. He is also the author of the book “Are We There Yet, Insights on How to Lead by Design” and is an elected Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, Director of the Australian Design Council and is a Good Design Australia Ambassador.

Brandon is the Founder and Chair of Good Design Australia, Chair of the Australian Good Design Awards, and Executive Director of the Australian Design Council. He has spent the past 25 years passionately advocating for the value of good design to improve our social, economic, cultural and environmental quality of life.

He is a qualified Industrial Designer and currently an Adjunct Professor of Industrial Design at both the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales.

He became a Senator of the World Design Organization (WDO), the global body for Industrial Design, after serving as President (2013-2015), the first Australian to hold this position.

Brandon was made an Honorary Design Ambassador to Japan, an international design advocacy role organised by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), and is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia.

Steve has focused on advocating for Design and the role it can play across a career spanning 25 years. He is deeply experienced in the business of design, having worked in and led design organisations before co-founding and growing Meld Studios from three Founders in 2009 to twenty-five Designers across four studios today. The company has a string of accolades, winning the Australian Good Design Team of the Year in 2022 and becoming the first Australian headquartered company to become Employee-Owned by Trust in 2021.

Steve has played a critical role in the growth of Interaction Design, User Experience, Service Design and Strategic Design as communities of practice in Australia and around the world, helping to expand the Interaction Design Association from 10,000 to 75,000 members globally; convening Australia’s premier User Experience conference - UX Australia - since 2009; and launching and coordinating the UX Bookclub in 140 locations around the world.

Steve is a Good Design Ambassador and served on the Jury Panel for the Australian Good Design Awards from 2012-2016.

An accomplished speaker and presenter, Steve has also recently published a book on Strategic Design, Designing Tomorrow, co-authored with Dr. Martin Tomitsch of UTS.

Jane Aslanidis is a distinguished global executive with over a decade of expertise in commerce and international relations, serving across the United Nations system, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and the private and public sectors. Her dynamic career is marked by significant achievements in dealmaking, growth, and investment, underscored by a commitment to design, innovation, and sustainability.

Recognised internationally, Jane's work contributed to the World Food Programme’s Nobel Peace Prize, she co-designed The Earthshot Prize spearheaded by Prince William, and served as World Bank Group’s Climate Ambassador. Her leadership extends to her current role as the Australian Design Council’s Program Director, where she continues to drive impactful initiatives.

Jane holds a Masters degree from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Outside of her professional endeavours, Jane is an advocate for quality education and gender equality, and enjoys mentoring young professionals.