NEDC Speakers

Bob Hawes commenced with the Hunter Business Chamber (HBC) as CEO in January 2017. As CEO, Bob is responsible for driving the HBC strategy and program of thought leadership, policy development, advocacy and executing delivery of events and member development programs. Prior to joining the HBC, Bob lead the Hunter Development Corporation (HDC) for over five years. This coincided with a period of significant change and a refocusing of priorities of the State government particularly onto the renewal and revitalisation of Newcastle. During this time, Bob was tasked to not only drive the activity of the HDC, but also establish and administer both the $790 million Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund and the $17 million Newcastle Mines Grout Fund. Bob was also appointed acting General Manager for the Central Coast Regional Development Corporation from early 2012 to mid-2013. Bob has extensive experience and knowledge in the realm of regional development with expertise in infrastructure planning, location analysis, economic and social impact assessment, project feasibility, property and land use strategy. For 15 years Bob was chair of the Hunter Chapter of the Property Council of Australia. He is now a life member of the NSW Division of the organisation. Bob has an Economics degree and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has extensive experience reporting to boards and frequently performed in and ex-offico and executive director capacities. Bob is currently the chair of the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal for the Hunter region and an active rugby union referee and current president of the Newcastle Rugby Union Referee Association. He is also a life member of the Merewether Carlton Rugby Club.

Andrew Jackson has almost 25 years of experience working for the NSW and local government in land use and infrastructure planning and delivery. He has held executive roles in the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Planning. Andrew was appointed as the inaugural head of local government led Western Sydney Planning Partnership in 2018. Amongst other things, this role involves land use planning for the Western Sydney Aerotropolis.

Professor Barney Glover AO assumed his position at Western Sydney University in January 2014. Professor Glover is currently the President of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Trust and the Australian Government representative on the University of the South Pacific Grants Committee. He is also a Board Member of the Australian American Fulbright Commission, the Committee for Sydney, and Westpac Scholars Trust, and, Member of the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, the NSW Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, and the NSW Accelerating R&D Advisory Council. Professor Glover is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (FRSN), and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD). Professor Glover’s esteemed career includes significant expertise and experience at the most senior levels of university management and substantial business leadership credentials. He has also served on the boards of a range of corporate organisations and several state and national centres covering areas such as health and medical research, energy, mineral exploration, and telecommunications.

Melinda Hatton is the Assistant Secretary, NSWACT State Office, in the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. The Department has Commonwealth portfolio responsibilities in Early Childhood, Schools, Skills and Vocational Education, Higher Education and Employment. As the Senior Departmental officer in the NSWACT State Office, Melinda represents the Department in multiple forums and engagements as well as oversights the implementation and frontline delivery of the department’s employment, skills and training initiatives. Melinda has significant experience in place based regional engagement and practise and is an active participant in many regional skills and workforce initiatives across NSW. Melinda has held senior roles in the various iterations of the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, with extensive knowledge in policy, operational policy and program management in employment services and industrial relations. She has also worked across a broad range of public policy and program areas, including regional employment and skills policy, implementation of the now Federal Entitlements Guarantee Scheme, the implementation of the National Economic Stimulus Primary Schools for the 21st Century program, and the implementation of the National Quality Framework for early childhood education. Melinda has formal qualifications in Applied Science (Health Education) and Industrial Relations Law.

Amanda Larkin leads more than 12,000 staff at the South Western Sydney Local Health District as the Chief Executive. As part of her role, Amanda provides strategic leadership and sound governance to achieve safe, equitable and quality healthcare for the booming and diverse population of south western Sydney. Amanda is responsible for all south western Sydney public health services, across an area stretching from Bankstown to Bowral, including small community health centres, five district hospitals and a major referral hospital. She was appointed as Chief Executive in 2011 after working as the General Manager of Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals and the Queen Victoria Memorial Home. Holding a Bachelor of Social Work, Associate Diploma in Environmental Service, Amanda has over 25 years of experience in health service management. She has extensive experience in the areas of community health, corporate services and acute service management in small and large health services. Her specific areas of focus are leadership, governance, patient quality and safety and health service planning and development. Amanda has served on management committees and boards of non-government organisations including neighbourhood centres, day care centres and short term accommodation facilities for men and women, throughout her career. Additionally, Amanda currently serves as a Board member of the Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, South Western Sydney Primary Health Network and Health Infrastructure. She is devoted to further developing south western Sydney as a hub for health, research and education excellence, identified as a key priority in the South Western Sydney Local Health District’s Strategic Plan 2018-2021.

David is the Executive Director and founding executive of the Western Sydney Business Chamber. Since its foundation in 2012, the Western Sydney Business Chamber has grown to be the region’s peak business advocacy organisation representing over 110 global businesses, major Australian corporations and the government agencies. As Executive Director, David coordinates members and stakeholders to create communities of shared interest, to explore opportunities for innovation and investment, to champion the future vision for Western Sydney’s public & private infrastructure, to bring jobs to region and, most importantly, to advocate for economic, social and cultural investment that will improve the quality of life for the citizens of Western Sydney. Under David’s leadership, the Western Sydney Business Chamber was instrumental in the successful campaign for Western Sydney Airport. Since the announcement, Western Sydney Business Chamber remain deeply involved with the project including successful advocacy for the formation of Western City and Aerotropolis Authority and Western Sydney Airport Co., continued advocacy for precinct design and working with key stakeholders to help deliver the best outcomes for Western Sydney. David also regularly collaborates with government and industry in support of other transformational projects, including: Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta, the Westmead and Liverpool Innovation Districts, Sydney Olympic Park, Parramatta Light Rail, West Metro and North-South Metro. Prior to this, David served as the Minister for Western Sydney, Minister for Housing, Minister for Roads, and Minister assisting the Minister for Transport and Roads in the NSW Labor Government. As Housing Minister, David oversaw the construction of approximately 9,000 new social housing dwellings – including 6,300 through the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan. David has also worked as an Urban Planner and adviser to the Minister for Planning. At 30 years of age, he is also the youngest person to have held the office of Lord Mayor of Parramatta where he served for three terms. David is currently a Director of Think Planners; and serves as a non-executive director on the boards of the NRMA and Evolve Housing, a trustee of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and a member of the Placemaking NSW Advisory Committee. In the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours, David was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to local and state government

Neil is CEO of CLES www.cles.org.uk – the UK national organisation for local economies. CLES is a ‘think do’ organisation and is at the UK forefront of amplifying workable progressive policy and practice at scale and pace, to meet growing climate, economic and social crisis. Neil is a leading economic development thinker and doer and has recently take up a part time seconded position as Community Wealth Building Adviser to Scottish Government. This sits alongside his past and ongoing commissions, collaborations and advice to a broad range of local, regional and national governments, politicians and agencies across UK and in Europe, Asia, US and Australasia.

As CEO of Coreo, Ashleigh is bold in her pursuit of systemic change. Acknowledged as a future leader, Ashleigh is a Prime Ministers Scholar, an Australian ASEAN Emerging Leader, an invitee to the 73rd United Nations General Assembly and an Ellen MacArthur Foundation Circular Economy Champion, a title granted to only a handful of people worldwide. With recognition of her strategic foresight and experience in the private and public sectors, Ashleigh has met with two Australian Prime Ministers, travelled with the Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment to Japan on a Future Leaders, Future Cities Business Mission and represented Australia as a panellist and speaker at the World Circular Economy Forum alongside the former European Commissioner for the Environment. Ashleigh holds a Bachelor of Environmental Health Science with Faculty Commendation for academic excellence, 1stClass Honours in Environmental Management, and the highest honour a university can bestow,The University Medal.

Martin Bliemel is the Associate Dean Research at UTS’ Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation, soon to be relaunched as TD School as a more centrally connected part of UTS. He is also the Course Director for the Diploma in Innovation, a short premium degree that adds value to any undergraduate degree by emphasising entrepreneurial, innovative, creative and collaborative capability development towards solving complex, networked or wicked problems. His research has been published in various top tier journals and encompasses networks, education, research commercialization, entrepreneurial ecosystems and accelerators, where accelerators are effectively miniature ecosystems. Martin’s work on accelerators played a key role in the design of the $23m Incubator Support Programme by the Department of Industry. These days, his main focus is on regional ecosystems and working with councils to stimulate entrepreneurial activity in their area.

Julie Wagner is president of the newly established The Global Institute on Innovation Districts, a global-reaching not for profit organization. Julie is an expert on urban innovation geographies, described as innovation districts, which sit at the intersection of economy- shaping, place-making, and network-building. At The Global Institute, she recently co- authored “The Evolution of Innovation Districts: The New Geography of Global Innovation,” expanding on the findings of the original paper on innovation districts published with The Brookings Institution. She is also president of Urban Insight, a boutique consulting practice that each year works with only select projects determined to be of particular promise in shaping cities. Julie is a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program. She is also strategic advisor to Israel’s National Economic Council. Julie has written articles on the new geography of innovation for the Harvard Business Review, Fortune Magazine, Quartz, and The Guardian. Julie earned a master’s degree in city planning from MIT and holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from Northeastern University.

Joley Vidau speaks from the heart and an issue close to her heart is changing the way we think about waste. As Waste Strategy Coordinator for Bega Valley Shire Council on the NSW Far South Coast, over the past six years Joley has demonstrated strong leadership in major projects such as introducing the Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) bin collection service to over 13,000 households and creating a grass-roots fire-damaged waste disposal system to help guide her region through two significant fire events in two years. A combination of practical, innovative, creative and strategic thinking and a dedication to working closely with her community to change behaviour, has resulted in national recognition of Bega Council’s waste team as leading the way in shifting from waste disposal to resource recovery. Joley is enthusiastic about collaborating with others, sharing resources and working towards a solutions-driven future where people reuse, repurpose and recycle.

Nick is the Manufacturing Manager for Daikin Australia Pty Ltd. With a background in manufacturing engineering, Nick has a special interest in lean manufacturing and Six Sigma business improvement techniques. Nick’s experience includes automotive manufacturing in Australia and China, as well as consulting and management engagements across a range of industries. As Manufacturing Manager for Daikin, Nick has been involved in an overall doubling of manufacturing capacity in the Australian operation. Investing heavily in both manufacturing and product development infrastructure, Daikin has increased the Australian content of its local range from 35% to over 60%. In 2019, Daikin received the “Australian Made” certification on its products produced at the facility.

Chelsea spent five years working in disaster recovery for the US Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance, most recently as Public Information Officer. Prior to that, Chelsea worked for nearly a decade as a Legislative Analyst at a political advocacy and marketing firm. As 3CORE’s Community Resource Manager, Chelsea serves as the connector, convener and liaison between outside groups, program participants and financial partners. The CRM is also responsible for updating the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and coordinating planning activities for the District.

Janet Ady is an experienced economic development and site selection consultant, author, and speaker who focuses on helping both communities and companies meet their growth and diversification goals. As president of Ady Advantage, Janet has worked with over 500 economic development organizations throughout North America. She brings an evidence-based approach to business strategy, marketing and research to help communities and regions grow and diversify their economies. Services range from economic development strategic plans and target industry analyses to talent retention strategies and industrial site development programs. In 2012, she wrote The Rural Economic Development Toolbox as a valueadd for members of the National Rural Economic DevelopmentAssociation (NREDA). She continues to provide thought leadership to rural economic developers, regularly speaking and consulting with this audience. She will be the keynote at the 2020 NREDA Annual Conference. Janet conducts a great deal of field work each year for both her economic development and corporate clients. Over her career, she has interviewed more than 3,000 business and technical decision-makers at a wide range of companies. Her knowledge of multiple industries allows her to provide value to individual businesses as well as communities and regions targeting specific sectors. On the corporate side, Janet consults with companies looking to grow, diversify, expand, and relocate. Services range from site selection to growth planning and business development strategy.

Kenny McDonald, CEcD, joined the One Columbus (formerly Columbus 2020) team in July 2010. As president and chief economic officer, Kenny serves as the primary leader of all economic development and business attraction efforts for the 11-county Columbus Region. Kenny has an extensive background in site selection, regional economic development, community marketing, business recruitment and international business development. Most recently, he served as executive vice president at the Charlotte Regional Partnership. He has also held positions at the Albuquerque Economic Development Corporation, Fluor Daniels Global Locations Strategies and Savannah Economic Development Authority. Kenny graduated with a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Dickinson State University and a Master of Public Administration from Georgia Southern University. In October 2019, Kenny was elected to serve as chair of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). He also serves on the boards of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, Columbus Collaboratory, Columbus Regional Airport Authority, Experience Columbus, SciTech and Transportation Research Center.

Scott MacKillop is responsible for stakeholder and government relations, community engagement and communication for Sydney’s new airport, Western Sydney International. 

Before joining the airport project, Scott was a marketing and public relations consultant at a leading agency, providing advice to some of Australia’s biggest brands and events. He has also held public affairs roles for Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains, Including periods as media and comms advisor for senior NSW Government ministers.

Scott started his career in broadcasting, including as a producer at leading news/talk station 2GB and writing for News Australia digital channels.

CEO of leading cluster Food & Fibre Gippsland, and part of the Food Innovation Australia network, Nicola’s experience has been built globally over many years across multiple sectors (food and fibre, education, technology, visitor economy and venue development), delivering economic and regional development at both local and country levels.  Quadruple helix collaborative engagement to drive sustainable growth outcomes, and using innovative ways of working such as clusters and Smart Specialisation are at the forefront of what Food & Fibre Gippsland does as a peak advocacy and industry representative body.  Gippsland has an annual GDP from the food and fibre sector of $7B annually.

Eamon Waterford is the Deputy CEO and Director of Policy at the Committee for Sydney, an influential urban policy think tank who are advocates for the whole of Sydney, developing pragmatic and innovative solutions to the most important problems the city faces. He has lead research across affordable housing, the innovation economy, density done well and high-speed rail.

Eamon is passionate about supporting young people. He sits on the board of the Monkey Baa Theatre for Children and Young people, and previously sat on the board of the NSW Council of Social Services.

Sally Macdonald is a communications and government relations professional with a passion for small business resilience. Her extensive work supporting economic recovery following the 2009 Victorian bushfires led to her co-authoring several resources to guide small businesses and regional business communities through the crisis planning, response and rebuilding journey. Her personable and engaging manner and depth of experience make her a popular Business Victoria workshop leader.

Michael joined TAFE NSW in October 2016. Michael believes that the right training and the transfer of skills are fundamental to Western Sydney harnessing its potential. He has a strong background in economic and regional development and a passion for delivering programs that provide communities and businesses with the tools they need to grow and prosper. Prior to commencing at TAFE NSW, Michael held roles including Acting Chief Executive Officer and Director, Economy & Engagement with Liverpool Council and Executive Director, Enterprise, Regional Development and Small Business with the NSW Department of State and Regional Development. As part of these roles Michael led or supported NSW Government Trade Missions to Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE, India and China, as well as implementation of a range of small business programs and initiatives.

Amelia is a social scientist specialising in community and stakeholder engagement. She is passionate about representative open government, sustainable development and civic innovation and does all she can to enable it.

Amelia has spent her career helping governments to consult community, work with stakeholders and consider social issues and impacts in the design and delivery of policy, programs and services. She has worked with governments across Australia and New Zealand, and British Columbia in Canada.

She now runs two organisations, a consultancy called engage2 and The Centre for Civic Innovation.