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9:00am | Opening
MC – Natalie Cook OAM OLY & Ella Sabljak
9:10am | Welcome Address: An Engaged and Active Brisbane
Krista Adams: Deputy Mayor, Brisbane
Krista Adams was elected as Councillor for the ward of Wishart in 2008. Since 2010, Krista has been appointed to a variety of senior management roles. Initially taking on the role of Chair of Council, she has been a Civic Cabinet Chair for Lifestyle, Finance and Economic Development then Public and Active Transport Economic and Tourism Development.
Electoral boundary changes in 2016 mean Krista now represents the Holland Park Ward and following the 2020 Council election, Krista was reappointed as Deputy Mayor and given the Chair of City Planning and Economic Development Committee. With recent portfolio changes, Krista was appointed the Civic Cabinet Chair for Economic Development and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee.
9:20am | Keynote | Our Opportunities in this Green and Gold Decade
Kieren Perkins OAM: CEO, Australian Sports Commission
Kieren Perkins OAM is regarded as one of the world’s greatest distance swimmers having won four Olympic medals.
Following his retirement from swimming in 2000, Mr Perkins transferred his knowledge and experience to build a successful career across the consulting and banking sectors, including 10 years at NAB before taking on the Chief Executive Officer role at Australia’s Unity’s retail banking unit in 2021.
Having seen sport from all angles over four decades, Mr Perkins is passionate about the whole sports sector, from grassroots to high performance. Mr Perkins was President of Swimming Australia until he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Sports Commission in March 2022.
His focus in this role is to ensure sport has a place for everyone and delivers results that make Australia proud.
10:00am | Brisbane 2032 | Keynote Panel: Sport At The Heart of Planning for Brisbane 2032
Cindy Hook: CEO, Brisbane 2023
Cindy Hook is the CEO of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee, responsible for leading all aspect of organising the Games to create an outstanding experience for the athletes and spectators and leave a positive legacy for Brisbane, Queensland, and Australia.
Cindy has more than 35 years of global leadership experience across three continents with Deloitte, including being CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific, and CEO of Deloitte Australia.
Cindy currently serves on the board of Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) and is Chair of GBRF USA. Cindy has previously held positions on Chief Executive Women (Australia), the Economic Development Board of Singapore and the Asia Corporate Leadership Council.
Cindy has lived and worked in locations around the world, including Australia, Singapore and the United States. In her free time, Cindy enjoys spending time outdoors and is the proud mum to two awesome young men, Bryan and Justin.
Kate Meyrick: Director, Urbis
Kate is a passionate urbanist and place maker with more than 30 years of international experience working throughout Australia, Asia, Europe, Middle East and the USA.
She is globally respected for her expertise in visioning and positioning city scale precincts, working sensitively with stakeholders and the community to co-create powerful new futures for well-loved places. She has been influential in shaping thinking about the global competitiveness of Australian Cities, their future identity and quality of life.
A regular key-note speaker, panellist, conference moderator and writer; Kate is recognised as a thought leader in relation to urban performance, city shaping precincts and places and rail-led regeneration. Kate thrives on collaboration and works effectively in partnership with government, community, non-profit and private sector stakeholders.
She has strong experience in conceptualising and delivering complex urban projects: working with a diverse mix of stakeholders to curate a bold and innovative vision for future urban life that will deliver enduring shared value outcomes.
Michael Dobbie-Bridges PLY: Strategic Advisor - Disability, APM & Chairperson, Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association
Michael Dobbie-Bridges is a former Paralympian who represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and 6 World Team Cups.
He has held leading positions across many Government portfolios including as Chief of Staff for the Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services in the Turnbull Government.
Michael is now a strategic advisor at APM, the largest global human services company where he works directly with CEOs to provide greater opportunities and services to people with disabilities.
Michael is also the Chair of Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association.
10:40am | MORNING TEA
11:00am | The Future | Forces That Will Shape Sport & Recreation Over the 10+10 Horizon
Dr Lucy Cameron: Team Leader and Principal Research Consultant, CSIRO’s Data61 & Project Lead, ASC-CSIRO Future of Australian Sport Report 2022
Dr Lucy Cameron is a Principal Research Consultant and Team Leader with Australia’s National Science Agency, CSIRO. Lucy was project lead and primary author of the second report titled: Future of Australian Sport: Megatrends shaping the sports sector over the coming decades. This report was released in December 2023, a decade after the first report of the same name, and was a collaboration between CSIRO and the Australian Institute of Sport.
Lucy is also a digital transformation and new industry development expert. Her book released last year, 'Building an Innovation Hotspot' outlines the policy levers used by governments and industry to support new industry development and local innovation. She is also a leading proponent of foresight, digital transformation and innovation in the Asia Pacific region.
As a previous Queensland Government Smithsonian Fellow, Lucy has a special interest in policy leading to innovation hot spots. Commissioned reports, keynote talks and workshops conducted as part of the Data61 Insights team have advised government and industry on policy and actions to exploit new technology for productivity gains and local business development. This involves combining digital transformation policy with foresight techniques.
Prior to working at CSIRO's Data61 Lucy worked for 10 years in digital economy and productivity policy in the Queensland Government. Her PhD from the University of Queensland studied the impact of broadband on regional development.
Her professional interest lies in determining the geographic patterns of innovation, and what governments and businesses can do to effectively and cost-efficiently promote and exploit innovation.
11:40am | Pathways | Queensland’s Sport and Recreation Pathways Blueprint
Tiani Van Haren: Executive Director, Partnerships, Strategy and Development, Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport
Tiani is currently Acting Executive Director, Partnerships, Strategy and Development within the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport. Tiani has extensive experience in the public sector, in particular within the sport and recreation portfolio. Her team creates the strategic direction and program development for physical activity for the Queensland Government and works in collaboration with the active industry to encourage and support Queenslanders to pursue a healthy and active lifestyle.
Prior to this current role, Tiani was the inaugural Director of the Partnerships Office within Sport and Recreation and in addition to curating partnerships across government, industry and community sectors, Tiani and her team worked alongside State Level Organisations to ensure the safe return to
play for community sport and with professional sport to assist Queensland to become the Sports Capital during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Tiani was an integral part of the team that developed Activate! Queensland, the first ever physical activity strategy for Queensland.
12:10pm | Integrity | Concussion in Sport
Juanita Maiden: Senior Associate, Mullins Lawyers
Juanita is a Senior Associate at Mullins Lawyers in the sports law practice group. She has significant experience in the sporting industry in CEO, board and legal roles.
Current positions include serving on the boards of Queensland Cricket and South East Queensland Rugby League, Chairperson of the AFL Qld Tribunal and as a member of the National Sports Tribunal Legal Assistance Panel. She is also a member of the Australia and New Zealand Sports Lawyers Association.
Juanita advises clients in the sports and events industry on commercial agreements, governance and constitutions, contracts and disputes, disciplinary issues and tribunal matters.
12:40pm | LUNCH
1:25pm | Technology | Digital Technologies That Grow Engagement
Nicolle Kelly: Executive Director, Sports Technology , Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport
With a career spanning both the commercial and public sectors and significant experience in SportsTech, innovation, and strategy, Nicolle is leading the development of the inaugural Queensland Government 2023 SportX Strategy to establish Queensland as a global hub in the rapidly growing SportsTech industry.
Prior to this role, Nicolle has held key Queensland Government senior executive roles in a range of areas including high performance sport, innovation, export and trade, departmental strategy, program and portfolio management, policy development, and transformational change.
The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Queensland to establish itself as a key global player in SportsTech. Nicolle’s leadership experience and expertise will support this aim and supercharge the growth of the Queensland SportsTech industry, contribute to the success of Australia’s athletes at the 2032 Games, and encourage broader involvement in sport, active living and wellbeing in Queensland and beyond.
Ingrid Proud: CEO, Better Events VR
With over 24 years’ experience working in the sport, tourism and major event industry, Ingrid has developed her network and project management experience across multi-functional environments within the private and public sectors globally.
She has worked and lived nationally across Australia and globally in the Middle East, China, Europe, and the United Kingdom working on a diverse range of events such as The Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, international concerts, stadium and Convention centre developments and World Cups.
Ingrid has extensive experience in developing multi-stakeholder governance structures and operational procedures for large scale projects having worked for organisations such as Swimming Australia, City of Gold Coast, Tourism and Events Queensland, Trade and Investment Queensland, the Victorian Government, David Atkins Enterprise, Suncorp Stadium and ASM Global.
Ingrid recently was the Head of Operations for the 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) which was held in Melbourne in December 2022 having only 6 months to plan and deliver the event on behalf of Swimming Australia and World Aquatics.
She currently sits on the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee and is a member of the Queensland XR (Extended Reality) Advisory Board. Ingrid started her career in sport straight out of university with the Sports Federation of Queensland- now QSport – in 1999.
Corey Bell: Head of Commercial and Corporate Strategy, Next Level Racing
Corey has played and worked as an administrator in many areas of sport over the past 25 years. After beginning his career as an AFL player for the Brisbane Lions (Bears), he completed a double degree in Sport Science and Sport Management.
Corey then went on to work as a Senior Manager for the AFL and the Gold Coast SUNS, before then being appointed CEO of Queensland Touch Football and then went on to lead the City of Gold Coast in Sport in 2019 for SportAccord and also lead both the 2018 Gold Coast and 2022 Birmingham Games Trade programs.
He is now the Global Head of Commercial and Corporate Strategy for Next Level Racing who are world leaders in racing and flight simulation in 54 countries around the world.
2:00pm | Women & Girls | Strategies to Welcome, Engage and Retain Women and Girls In Sport
Dr Adele Pavlidis: Senior Lecturer, Griffith University
Dr Adele Pavlidis is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology with the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, and previously a DECRA Fellow (2018 to 2021). She is author of two books, Sport, Gender and Power: The Rise of Roller Derby (2016, Routledge, with Simone Fullagar) and Feminism and a Vital Politics of Depression and Recovery (Palgrave, with Simone Fullagar and Wendy O'Brien) and is currently working on her third book, Collision Paths in the Pursuit of Gender Equity: A Feminist Perspective on the Affective Dynamics of Contact Sports (under contract, with Simone Fullagar and Wendy O'Brien).
She has published widely on a range of sociocultural issues in sport and leisure, with a focus on gender and power relations. Theoretically her work traverses contemporary scholarship on affect, power and organizations, and she is deeply interested in social, cultural and personal transformation and the entanglements between people, organisations, and wellbeing.
Currently her work focuses on sport as a key site of change in Australian society and an important context for changing and challenging attitudes towards women. In particular, she is interested in connecting social, cultural and health concepts with sport in the hope of creating more inclusive futures. Her ARC DECRA Fellowship focused on the rise of participation and visibility of women in contact/collision sports in Australia. She convened a number of face-to-face and online seminars and symposiums, bringing together people from industry/community, with academics from around Australia and overseas. These events supported collaboration and strengthened the work happening in Australia in the area of gender equity and sport.
Courtney Fewquandie: General Manager First Nations Football, Football Australia
Experienced Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the sports industry. Skilled in Coaching, Communication, Event Management, Presentation Skills, and Fundraising. Strong professional with a Masters of Indigenous Business Leadership focused in Business Administration and Management, General from Monash University.
Sunaina Jaswal: Women and Girls Lead (QLD), Tennis Australia
Recently nominated as a finalist for the India Australia Business and Community Alliance (IABCA) 2023 Young Professional of the Year Award, Sunaina is a sport management professional and currently the Women and Girls Lead in QLD for Tennis Australia.
She moved from India to Australia in 2015 to pursue her passion in Sport and has graduated with a distinction in Master of Business in Sport Management from the Deakin University. Prior to that she has completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Sociology in India. Her background in Sociology and passion for sport allows her to delve deeper into the intersection of the social in sport and to further understand a range of different socio-cultural patterns that impact our sporting industry.
With years of experience in varied roles of sport development, stakeholder management, marketing, communications, operations and event management along with research and development, Sunaina has worked at international major sporting events like the Australian Open, ATP Cup. United Cup, Brisbane International and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia.
She is passionate about driving growth in local sporting communities by educating and acknowledging that we all have a part to play in creating a safe and welcoming environment for all. She is an advocate for gender equality and feels strongly about encouraging women and girls to develop themselves in leadership roles. Sunaina enjoys a work culture that resonates good leadership and diverse cultures and thrives in an environment that is people-oriented and inclusive.
2:35pm | Volunteers | Sport Volunteers: How and Where to Take Action
Dr Lindsey Reece: Director, Sport Programs and Chair, National Sport Volunteer Coalition, Australian Sports Commission
Lindsey has extensive experience in Policy and Strategy, Research and Evaluation, specialising in Sport and Physical Activity.
Within her current role as Director Sport Programs, Lindsey oversees the Australian Sport Commission’s national participation investment programs, co-ordinates sector engagement with state and territory governments and industry peak bodies including the Community Sport Australia network and leads strategic initiatives including the National Volunteering Strategy and the National Sport Volunteer Coalition action plan.
Lindsey is Chair of the National Sport Volunteer Coalition.
Jessica Cook: Director, Partnerships Office, Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport
Jessica is a highly motivated leader with close to 13 years’ dedicated to the sport and recreation industry, currently working in the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport with the Queensland Government. As the Director of the Sport and Recreation Partnerships Office, Jessica is responsible for driving engagement and collaboration with key stakeholders including government departments to identify opportunities and partnerships that further contribute to a more active Queensland.
Skilled in strategic planning and policy development, Jessica was instrumental in the successful development of Queensland’s first ever 10-year sport and active recreation strategy, Activate! Queensland 2019 – 2029.
In addition to working for Sport and Recreation, Jessica has been recognised for her extraordinary commitment to her local AFL club, the Sandgate Hawks, where she volunteers her time coaching and helping out her local sporting community.
3:10pm | Sustainability | Playing Our Part in Sustainability: Ideas and Initiatives That Work
Dr Sheila Nguyen: Head of Sustainability, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
Dr Sheila Nguyen is a leading regenerative built environment design professional who has consulted with several sport organisations and professional clubs globally on strategic and operational environmental sustainability issues with the most recent work with the Australian Olympic Committee’s Climate Action Plan.
Sheila was given the Honorary Lifetime Member award from the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS) and recognised as an Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence in 2019 for her leadership in galvanising the sport industry to protect and respect the natural environment.
She has contributed to over 50 internationally peer-reviewed research outputs and media outlets, has been an invited speaker for TEDx in 2015, and presenter at a number of natural environment and sport industry forums, most notably, at COP21 in Paris (2015), the first-time sport has been invited to the climate agreement discussions.
Sheila was the invited Chairperson & MC for the Sustainable Innovations in Sport Forum in Amsterdam in 2018 and was the co-MC and Chairwoman for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sport for Climate Action Framework Signatories Forum- Sport Positive in 2020 among other changemaking forums.
Sheila is on a number of boards and advisory committees including as an Independent Director on the World Lacrosse Sustainability Committee.
Sheila is the Co-Founder and an NED of the Sports Environment Alliance, the coalition of sport and planet leaders in Australia and New Zealand working to protect the places where we play so we can continue to do what we love- watch and play sport.
She is currently the proud Head of Sustainability for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Dr Kimberly Camrass: Director, Climate Positive Brisbane 2032, Department of Environment and Science
Dr Kimberly Camrass is a sustainability professional with extensive experience in driving positive environmental and social outcomes across government, not-for-profit and corporate sectors.
In her current role as Director Climate Positive Brisbane 2032 and Climate Futures, Kimberly leads a team delivering the Queensland Government's response to the climate positive and sustainability commitments made for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Embedding these commitments across Games-related decision-making and driving sustainability change with legacy benefits for the state are key focus areas. Her team also implements a range of policies, programs and partnerships to drive Queensland's transition to a net zero, climate resilient economy.
Flynn Pearman: Student and Liveris Academy Scholar, University of Queensland
Flynn is in his final year of a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and Bachelor of Mathematics dual degree, majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Queensland. He is a Vice-Chancellor’s scholar and a scholar of the Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership at UQ.
Flynn grew up playing cricket and basketball for school and junior clubs, and continues his involvement in sport playing social netball, cricket, and golf. He is passionate about sustainability and interested in leveraging the power of sport to create positive and sustainable impact.
3:45pm | Youth Voice | Future Leader Perspective
Keira Rawlins: Esport & Technology Officer, QUT
Keira Rawlins is a 2022 graduate of QUT, where she studied a Bachelor of Communication. Since graduating, she has worked in the Esport & Technology Officer role with QUT Sport, assisting in the development of Esport programs for universities, high schools and the broader community.
Jasmine Peters: Youth Ambassador / NQ Youth Advisory Board Alumni
Jasmine Peters is a first-year university student studying a Bachelor of Behavioural Science and Laws. She has played netball since 2018, and despite starting later than some players, she loves it and has continued since.
After starting netball with Phoenix Netball Club, she has played for both Queensland Catholic Netball Association and Downey Park Netball at intermediate levels and has umpired for Phoenix Netball.
Jasmine was Deputy Chair of the inaugural Netball Qld Youth Advisory Group from July 2021 to Nov 2022. During this time, Jasmine led the Youth Advisory Group sub-committee collating youth sentiment to contribute to the Netball Qld Inclusive Uniform Policy. Jasmine hopes to use her understanding of the “behind-the-scenes” aspect of sport to encourage players of all ages to continue playing netball, and to continue influencing change in the community of netball to ensure all players feel welcome.
4:00pm | Closing Remarks | Key Reflections and Thanks
Tim Klar: CEO, QSport
Influential strategy and stakeholder engagement leader with expertise in sport and NFP environments developed over 15 years in roles spanning participation growth, high performance success, governance, community engagement and major projects.
A trusted counsel to CEOs and Directors, sounding board for Executive leaders and experienced company secretary.
A curious and divergent thinker that loves connecting dots and solving problems in new ways. Energised by opportunities to exercise and experience people-centred leadership, and inspired by teams that lean in and level up.
4:10pm | NETWORKING DRINKS
5:00pm | EVENT CONCLUSION