Speakers

After reading in 2015 that homeless women Australia-wide were making sanitary pads out of public restroom toilet paper because they couldn’t afford to buy them, Rochelle Courtenay started a small sanitary collection in her Brisbane neighbourhood. She donated the items to a local women’s shelter.     Through demand, the not-for-profit charity Share the Dignity was born, providing homeless and at-risk women Australia-wide with sanitary items.  More than 4000 volunteers and some of Australia’s biggest corporates are now behind the charity, which has collected in excess of 1.7 million packets of sanitary items since its formation.    Rochelle, affectionately known as “Pad lady” designed a world-first Dignity Vending Machine, known as the Pinkbox. The vending machines are purposely designed to dispense a free period pack of sanitary items. By the end of 2019, there will be 200 Pinkboxes installed in poverty-stricken schools, homeless centres, domestic violence shelters and areas of severe poverty Australia-wide.    Furthermore, Share the Dignity now runs a Christmas appeal called #Itsinthebag.  In the last two weeks of November, women are asked to donate a pre-loved or new handbag filled with sanitary items plus some of other life’s essentials like shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush and any other gift they may wish to donate.   More recently, Rochelle and her team of national supporters successfully campaigned the Federal Government to abolish the GST on sanitary items stating: “It’s not fair or right to have GST on sanitary items because they’re a basic human right and not a luxury. Ferrero Rochers are a luxury in my house."   Panel Discussion: Revolutionising measurement and evaluation techniques to ensure business adaptability   

• How to keep up with rapidly changing industry trends 

• Ensuring that your business remains ahead of the competition 

Rochelle Courtenay, Founder and Managing Director, Share The Dignity 

Workshop B: Using machine learning and algorithms to make interactions more human   As the technology industry booms organisations need to adapt practices to keep up in an increasingly competitive space. Artificial intelligence is being used in the NFP sector to automate and streamline processes as well an initiate new and inspiring ways to reach donors.    This workshop will explore: 

•  The successful implementation of Artificial Intelligence algorithms at ChildFund Australia 
• How algorithms can radically change, and improve, the way organisations fundraise 
• How to leverage emerging Artificial Intelligence affordably

Tom Schlosser, Head of Data Analytics and Innovation, ChildFund Australia  

Roundtable Discussion: People management strategies for business success   Nina Von Stebut, Head of People and Organisational Development, ChildFund Australia 

Panel Discussion: Merging with like-minded organisations to remain competitive in a saturated market  

• Identifying suitable partnership opportunities for your organisation 
• Developing beneficial relationships with like-minded organisations 
• Remaining authentic to your values in an evolving space  

Caroline Gottardo, Director, Jesuit Refugee Service Australia 

Merging with like-minded organisations to remain competitive in a saturated market  

• Identifying suitable partnership opportunities for your organisation 
• Developing beneficial relationships with like-minded organisations 
• Remaining authentic to your values in an evolving space  

  Tanya Jackson-Vaughan, Executive Director, Refugee Advice and Casework Service 

 Panel Discussion: Merging with like-minded organisations to remain competitive in a saturated market  

• Identifying suitable partnership opportunities for your organisation 
• Developing beneficial relationships with like-minded organisations 
• Remaining authentic to your values in an evolving space  

Maurizio Vespa, Chief Executive Officer, St Francis Social Services (House of Welcome) 

Presentation: Merging with like-minded organisations to remain competitive in a saturated market  

• Identifying suitable partnership opportunities for your organisation 
• Developing beneficial relationships with like-minded organisations 
• Remaining authentic to your values in an evolving space  

Oscar Mussons, Volunteer Coordinator Asylum Seekers Centre 

Melissa Abu-Gazaleh is Founder and CEO of the Top Blokes Foundation, Australia's leading boy's social education organisation that supports young men's health. She founded the organisation at age 19 and to date; Top Blokes Foundation has worked with over 11,000 young men. In 2018, the Top Blokes Foundation was named most Significant Contribution to Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Young Men and Boys and Melissa has been named 2017 EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year, 2016 NSW Young Australian of the Year and Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence. Melissa believes all young people can be change agents and follows the motto 'the best way to predict the future is to create it'.  Presentation: Developing strategies to stand out in a saturated market 

• Identifying value-add opportunities to support beneficiaries 
• Understanding the power of evaluation and measurement 
• Incorporating automation to improve efficiencies and magnify social impact 

Melissa Abu-Gazaleh, Founder and Managing Director, Top Blokes Foundation 

Presentation: Building strong management teams to create an industry leading business  

• Building relationships between governing boards and management teams  
• Training board members to lead with confidence, conviction and purpose 
• Attracting diverse board members for increased innovation 

Robert Crowe, Chief Executive officer, Leading For Purpose 

Paul Ronalds is one of Australia's leading voices on poverty eradication and international development and has been CEO of Save the Children Australia since 2013.   His diverse background encompasses senior executive roles in government, the private sector and domestic and international non-government organisations. From acting as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Australia to co-founding one of Australia's first online companies and then assisting tsunami-affected people in Sri Lanka, Paul's experience gives him unique insights into some of the world's most significant social, economic and political challenges.  Presentation: Adaptability, the new competitive advantage  

• Creating business models that are able to adapt to changing trends 

• Growing your organisation whilst staying true to your core values  
• Working towards the sector’s collective success   

Paul Ronalds, Chief Executive Officer, Save The Children 

Emma Riley is the director of strategic partnerships of award-winning Lonely Whale. In her role, Emma serves as a brand strategist focused on building cross-industry and cross-culture partnerships and spearheading radically collaborative efforts that strengthen Lonely Whale’s global presence and impact.    A leader in strategic marketing, Emma has presented around the world on the value of meaningful campaigns to Northside Festival, the Ministry of Ideas in Miami, New York City Design Festival, Beckman Centre of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine UC Irvine and more. In 2018, she was recognized as a Rubicon Global Waste Fit Champion and as one of the top 100 up and coming female culture creators in the United States by PureWow. Emma has been featured in Brooklyn Magazine, Women’s Health Magazine, MindBodyGreen and L'Express, amongst others. She is a global innovator committed to facilitating positive change.   International Case Study: Using radical collaboration to transform teams into motivated and empowered groups 

• Focussing on brand strategy to build cross-industry and cross-culture partnerships 
• Using radical collaboration to strengthen your organisations presence and impact  

Emma Riley, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Lonely Whale USA

World Vision Australia CEO Claire Rogers is a social innovator. She has been a driving force behind change initiatives, helping organisations adapt to the tech-disrupted economy and aligning physical and digital execution to maximise opportunities.  In her previous role as head of ANZ Australia’s digital banking, Claire spearheaded the bank's digital channels transformation. She is recognised for her capacity to grow customer-facing business.  A highly networked influencer, Claire brings to different environments finely-tuned communication and negotiation skills and a strength and compassion that creates strong community buy-in and support.  She is inspired by World Vision’s pursuit of a just and peaceful world, where every child can experience life in all its fullness. She has a passion for equal opportunity and understands the challenges facing not-for-profits as they adapt to the new economy.  Claire has been chair of Ridley Theological College for the past eight years and is a member of the Australian Council for International Development board.  She, her husband and two children have been World Vision child sponsors since 2006. In November 2016, Claire visited her sponsored child in Myanmar.  Presentation: Enhancing business performance through operational efficiency  

• Assessing business performance to adapt and remain ahead of the market  
• Streamlining core processes to work efficiently  

• Increasing transparency between staff through open communication platforms 

Claire Rogers, Chief Executive Officer, World Vision Australia 

Katherine is the Chief Executive Officer of Fundraising Institute Australia, the largest representative body for the $10.5 billion charitable fundraising sector.   Her experience encompasses both commercial and not-for-profit organisations where she has managed large internal and external agency teams to achieve award-winning, highly effective campaigns that engaged audiences and stakeholders.   Katherine is also a member of the Board of Directors of Girl Guides Australia and was previously on the boards of Synergy & Taikoz, Australia’s leading percussion ensembles, and Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image. She grew up in Minnesota, USA where she completed her undergraduate degree as well as a Master of International Business Management. Katherine is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  Panel discussion: Domestic and global NFP trends and benchmarking 

• Assessing data analytics to anticipate and stay on top of market shifts 
• Using reporting and analysis tools to make sound business decisions  
• Improving member retention through reporting capabilities  

Katherine Raskob, Chief Executive Officer, Fundraising Institute of Australia   

AJ founded Seaside Scavenge in 2015 with a vision to educate communities on marine pollution and raise awareness for the hazardous impact of single-use plastic and promote upcycling and recycling.     She has helped to organise over 20 events along the east coast of Australia, from Magnetic Island to the Mornington Peninsula. These events use litter as the currency to purchase pre-loved clothes, books and other items at their pop-up markets.  Seaside Scavenge has collected 3,500kg of litter, over 50,000 cigarette butts, traded 2,700kg of pre-loved clothes and connected with over 1,750 people in 15 communities, 90 per cent of whom had never previously attended a clean-up event.  The charity was recently nominated for the Green Globe awards, with AJ winning the Young Sustainability Champion Award.  Case study: The psychology of incentivising volunteering 

• Using a positive and fun approach to empower volunteers 
• Creating solution based programs to ensure volunteer retention 

• The importance of collaboration to create ongoing behaviour change 

Anna-Jane Linke, Founder and CEO, Seaside Scavenge  

PRESENTATION: How to survive Australia’s charity market saturation 

• Evaluating the increased competition in the sector and what it means for your organisation 
• Developing a strong brand to stand out from the crowd 

• Identifying your point of difference to competitors  

James Fowles, Head of Philanthropy, Hello Sunday Morning

Roundtable discussion : Fostering innovation for positive growth and sustainability   Andy Skidmore, Chief Executive Officer, Burn Bright 

Megan Gilmour is a social innovator who has worked on complex social and economic development operations across more than 24 countries, including in health and education. She is CEO and co-founder of MissingSchool, an Australian advocacy group for keeping seriously sick kids connected to their schools. She co-authored an Australian-first report on that subject which received a Prime Minister’s statement of support in 2015. As a Churchill Fellow, Megan studied models in six countries for connecting seriously sick kids to their education. She’s the creator of an Australian-first telepresence robot service giving two-way digital connection to students with serious illness to their classrooms, a TEDx Speaker, was a 2019 nominee for ACT Australian of the Year, and was recently awarded the 2019 ACT Telstra Business Woman of the Year in the For Purpose and Social Enterprise category. Her work is passionately driven by her experience as a mother to a young son who survived a life-threatening illness.  Presentation: Using a systems approach to drive results based management 

• The role of theory of change in uncovering evaluable interventions 

• Using catalytic mechanisms to trigger distributed results 
• Program logic and discovering your “flywheel” for momentum 
• Monitoring, evaluating and managing for results and impact 

Megan Gilmour, CEO, Missing Schools 

 

Nicolas Brown is the General Manager of youth mental health charity Batyr. He is responsible for the overall operations of the organisation day to day and working closely with the Board to motivate the team to look for new opportunities and drive the strategic direction of Batyr. Nicolas sits on the Suicide Prevention Australia Policy Committee and within the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health advisory group. Spending most of his career in the Not for Profit space Nicolas has spent time in roles both in Australia and overseas including working with asylum seekers for the Salvation Army in Naura’s Offshore Processing Centres. In 2015 Nicolas began at Batyr as the School Program Manager and was one of 6 staff members. Today Batyr has 45 permanent staff as well as a large pool of casual facilitators and speakers. Growing up in a small town has shown Nicolas the importance of community and now living in Sydney the energy and drive a big city can provide. Heading back up the coast to spend time with the family, chill out and go surfing is his idea of a good weekend. Nicolas believes everyone should be given an opportunity to succeed and often people just need someone to provide a platform for that opportunity. The team at Batyr aim to operate in a culture of positivity, balance, empathy, inclusiveness and boldness and keeping these values at the forefront of what they do has ensured they are able to maintain a focus on Batyr’s core mission and positively impact as many young Australians as possible.  Presentation: Developing a strong mission and vision for your organisation that your supporters and team will get behind 

• Identifying your organisations’ core purpose 
• Addressing gaps in your organisation to build strong foundations for success 
• Creating an effective strategy to reach your vision 

Nicolas Brown, General Manager, Batyr   

Jan is a highly regarded social entrepreneur, innovator, influencer and author who has spent the past 25 years growing Australia’s youth, social enterprise and innovation sectors. The CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians and YLab, the global youth futures lab, Jan’s lifelong mission is to unleash the potential of young people to lead positive change in the world.   Jan’s enlightening, challenging and entertaining with the aim of transforming the way society talks about and engages with young people – from treating them as a problem to be solved to recognising that young people are contributing to and driving social change.   Keynote Presentation: Creating the workforce of tomorrows demands 

• Ensuring young Australian’s have skills and experience for jobs of the future 

• Encouraging innovation to ensure economic and social progression 

Jan Owen, Chief Executive Officer, The Foundation for Young Australians  

PANEL Discussion: Domestic and global NFP trends and benchmarking 

• Assessing data analytics to anticipate and stay on top of market shifts 
• Using reporting and analysis tools to make sound business decisions  
• Improving member retention through reporting capabilities  

Scott Lockie, Chief Executive Officer, The Australian Charity Guide and emPOWER Your Mission 

Alison Covington is an innovator, passionate about creating change that disrupts industries, empowers communities and creates a better world. It has often been said she sees opportunities where others see problems. Her business success has become a platform for her philanthropic ideas – today, she uses her corporate expertise to benefit others and make a positive social difference as the Founder and Managing Director of Good360 Australia.  Alison’s goal is to connect $1 billion of brand-new goods to Australians who need them most.  Presentation: Optimising resources to ensure that your business gets value for money  

• Effectively using technology to cut costs and save time 
• Identifying where you’re resource poor and finding effective solutions 
• Utilising industry connections to share resources 

Alison Covington, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Good360 

Michelle Jenkins was born in the UK and has lived in Australia for the past 22 years.  She has an extensive background in the Finance Sector having been head of commercial banking for Westpac and State Manger for St George. In 2012 she transferred into the Aged Care and Disability sector and is currently the CEO of Community Vision Australia.  Community Vision supports people with a disability, older people and those with mental health issues to remain living well in their community.  As well as being a CEO Michelle is also a Justice of the Peace, Marriage Celebrant and was a finalist in the 2019 Telstra Business Women’s awards.    Panel discussion: Revolutionising measurement and evaluation techniques to ensure business adaptability   

• How to keep up with rapidly changing industry trends 

• Ensuring that your business remains ahead of the competition 

Michelle Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer, Community Vision 

Donna originally studied Fashion Design/Business, and after battling chronic health conditions, Donna went on to study Holistic Nutrition and Homeopathy. In 2018, Donna was named in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence and was Blackmore's Women & Wellness - Change Being for 2019. Donna is a Member of the Federal Steering Committee for the Implementation of the National Action Plan for Endometriosis. She is a Director of Australian Traditional Medicine Society and is an Australia Day Ambassador.     Donna was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2001 at the age of 31. Donna’s personal experience has motivated her to set up Endometriosis Australia. Her goal is to pay it forward for the next generation of women so that successful treatment and cure can be found.  Presentation: Using technology to engage and connect with stakeholders for organic business growth  

• Analysing your market demographic to effectively target stakeholders   
• Optimising communication between your business and stakeholders through streamlined conversation 
• Increasing the visibility of your organisation through content creation  

Donna Ciccia, Director and CoFounder, Endometriosis Australia   

David Jack is Principal Advisor and CEO at Social Impact Institute, one of Australia’s leading advisory services dedicated to the social sector. He was previously CEO at Cystic Fibrosis Australia, Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, and ADRA. David was an appointed member of the Consumer and Community Advisory Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council from 2013 to 2018. He is passionate about social justice and helping social sector organisations have an even greater impact.  Round table discussion: The benefits of a social impact framework on organisational transformation  David Jack, Chief Executive Officer, Social Impact Institute 

David Crosbie has been a leader in Australia's not-for-profit sector for over 20 years, where he has offered a leading voice on drug and alcohol recovery, community belonging and accountable and consultative policy. He has since been a critical player in building the impact and viability of the not-for-profit sector, becoming Chief Executive Officer of the Community Council for Australia (CCA) in 2011. David currently serves on the Advisory Boards of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and Impact Investing Australia.He is formerly CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia, Odyssey House Victoria and the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia. He has served on a range of other key national bodies including as Chair of the National Compact Expert Advisory Group, a member of the NFP Sector Reform Council, and the Community Response Task Group.

• Evaluating the increased competition in the NFP space and what it means for organisations and communities
• Discussing digital disruption and its impact on the NFP sector
• The rise of nationalist popularism and the challenge for NFPs working towards the just, fair, inclusive, kind, authentic and generous Australia we want