Samantha Alkin

Director Human Resources, Australia & New Zealand
Edwards Lifesciences

For the past 28 years, Samantha has dedicated her career to the Human Resources field, specializing in various industries including Banking and Finance, IT, and Lifesciences. Throughout her journey, she has worked with renowned organizations such as Westpac, Lexmark, IMS Health/I@VIA, Cardinal Health, and Edwards Lifesciences.

Samantha’s expertise as a Senior HR professional has been honed through leading HR teams across ANZ and globally for the past 15 years. Her extensive experience lies in developing and implementing strategies that revolve around human capital management. This includes crucial aspects such as workforce planning, talent development, employee engagement, learning and development, organization design, and capability building.

With her wealth of knowledge and skillset, Samantha has consistently demonstrated her ability to navigate complex HR challenges, ensuring that organizations effectively leverage their human resources to achieve their goals.

Belinda Barron

Learning and Development Manager
NEXTDC

Belinda has more than 15 years’ global experience in leading the learning and development strategy in the financial, professional services and technology industries. With passion, curiosity, and the ability to look at talent development through a strategic lens, Belinda is always looking for ways NEXTDC can innovate and leverage development opportunities to support our broader people and culture key initiatives and her vision and leadership inspire and empowers our people to adopt a growth mindset and own their career development.

Belinda is a trusted advisor and subject matter expert in employee engagement, talent management, leadership development and performance management. Most importantly, Belinda is a lifelong learner who leads by example.

David Bellas

Director, LinkedIn Talent Solutions
LinkedIn

David Bellas is a Director for LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions business for Australia and New Zealand. David and his team are responsible for helping organisation the way they plan, hire, and develop talent. This is possible through the disruptive technology and unique data and insights from LinkedIn’s 875+ million members and 57 million companies.

He is passionate about investing in people, everything sales, turning business visions into reality and working with customers to meet their business objectives.

Over the past 10 years at LinkedIn, David has had the opportunity to lead the growth and distribution efforts across all sectors at LinkedIn. When LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com in 2015, an online learning company, David was appointed as Head of Learning for Australia and New Zealand and helped oversee the successful transition to LinkedIn Learning.

Over the past several years David has been recognised with awards such as Diversity and Inclusion Manager of the Year and LinkedIn Manager of the Year and has a reputation for inspiring, coaching and developing talent.

Karlie Cremin

Managing Director
DLPA

Karlie has worked extensively with businesses large and small to formulate and implement strategy, and equip leaders with the ability to lead effectively for 20 years. Karlie has assisted businesses in re-designing processes and procedures, implementing best practice and re-designing entire business models. These efforts are supported through effective training and development activity to ensure the workforce is equipped to deliver the strategy, whilst ensuring an optimal employee experience.

Karlie has predominantly worked in the construction sector, as well as a suite of other industries from finance to car rental. Through her efforts as a consultant, Karlie has supported businesses as they have gone from $10 million turnover to $50 million. Karlie’s academic qualifications have groundings in commerce, law with a focus on employment law, and business administration and finance.

Cam Elliot

Country Director
GoodHabitz Australia

Cam is GoodHabitz Australia’s Country Director. He is responsible for launching and growing the GoodHabitz brand in Australia. GoodHabitz aims to make learning accessible to everyone and intrinsically motivating through outstanding content and customer support.

Cam has been involved in the learning and development industry for over eight years and has been dedicated to helping people and organisations create high performing teams through effective training. His career has seen him work with leaders to help them empower their teams to succeed, running team workshops designed to improve communication and collaboration, leading to better outcomes for individuals and their organisations. Having cut his teeth in sales in the early part of his career, Cam is also an outstanding leader and developer of talent.

Cam successfully founded and ran Elevate Corporate Training, a boutique firm that specialises in leadership training, team development, sales training and recruitment training. He sold the business in 2022 and still advises to Elevate.

Cam’s career saw him working for iconic brands such as Channel 7 and ACP magazines. He was sales director at Reed Business where he oversaw sales operations in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, managing over 50 sales reps and sales managers. In 2013 Cam left his corporate roles to pursue his passion for people development.

When he is not dedicating himself to helping people grow, Cam can be found spending time with his family in Coorabell, just outside of Byron Bay. He is a keen surfer, fisherman and tennis fanatic.

Kara Gear

Head of Learning
Lendlease

Kara is the Head of Learning for Lendlease, responsible for all global learning initiatives for over 7000 employees worldwide.  Kara leads global transformation projects within Lendlease, including a series of Leadership Flagship programs, cultural flagship program and critical capability-based learning interventions. 
 
Kara has a background in instructional design, adult education, developing learning strategies and frameworks and leading learning teams.  She is passionate about connecting the dots between learning, organisational design and business strategy. She has worked across industries, building her experiences in financial services, construction, and real estate sectors.

Laurie Hibbs

General Manager – Capability
Judo Bank

Laurie has been at Judo since late 2018, when he joined to run the “Go for Growth” project which was responsible for hiring the first 50 bankers and opening a number of new Judo offices.  He has held a number of roles since that that time and is currently responsible for the development and orientation of Judo colleagues as GM of Capability. 

Laurie has a passion for data and has led and implemented a number of broader Judo projects such as their unique engagement methodology (JEDI) and the codification of the Judo Way of Banking aka. “What makes a Judo Banker different?” 

A self-proclaimed adrenaline addict, Laurie’s spare time is full of activities that fulfil this need from kayaking, kite surfing, karate and motorbiking. 

Laurie holds a degree in Accountancy & Finance. 

Kimberley Kelly

Head of Organisational Effectiveness and Learning
TSA Management

Kimberley Kelly is the Head of Organisational Effectiveness & Learning for TSA and has been instrumental in designing and shaping TSA’s acclaimed GROW program – the company’s global learning and development offering. Her passion for fostering a culture of continuous and integrated learning sees her leading and driving transformational initiatives to ensure that people are inspired, empowered, and supported to grow and reach their potential.

Kimberley has extensive experience in the professional services industry, with qualifications in business and human resources. She currently is an active member of the Property Council of Australia People and Culture committee, channelling her expertise towards fostering leadership capability within the Australian property sector.

Gerry Marcus

Associate Director, Learning & Capability Real Estate Management Services
Colliers

Gerry’s career in learning and development has spanned many years across different industry sectors including banking and finance, real estate, education and telecommunications. He’s worked for large and small organisations developing and implementing learning solutions that empower and enable people to adapt and stay relevant.

He is passionate about working with: project teams, leaders, managers and frontline staff to create empowered, engaged and adaptive teams.

Maryna Matthew

Head of Learning & Transformation
Novartis

Maryna leads the learning vision and strategy that builds a skills-based organization. Driving change and transformation needs to secure our future both as individuals and as an organization. In a VUCA world (marked by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) learning agility is paramount as technology impacts the way we live and work and evolves what our customers expect of us in terms of value.   

Maryna believes that the way we learn and what we learn is evolves in keeping with personal aspirations and also technological advances impacting our work. Learning is curiosity and mindset. Incorporating a skills-based learning approach that is democratized and personalized not only amplifies learning agility and impact, but also wins the hearts and minds of our people to consistently bring their best selves to their work. 

Dr. Denise Meyerson

Director
MCI

Denise Meyerson is a renowned expert in adult education, innovation, and people and culture strategy with over 33 years of experience. She is the founder of MCI, an award-winning education and training company dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of students and job seekers. MCI provides high-impact learning solutions for corporates and individuals seeking to grow in their careers.

With a PhD in English, Denise has built and grown highly successful education businesses and has served on several corporate, advisory, and government boards. Herstrong global perspective in Edtech has led her to spearhead efforts
to transform education in Australia, Africa, and Asia. Denise has authored three books, showcasing her expertise and thought leadership in the field of education. She has been recognized as a Telstra BusinessWoman of the Year Finalist, highlighting her outstanding achievements and contributions to the business world.

Additionally, she has been honoured as an EY Winning Woman, recognizing her
entrepreneurial spirit and success. Denise’s trailblazing contributions to education and her passionate support for driving change through the power of learning have earned her numerous accolades. She continues to lead MCI, which is part of APM, Australia’s largest human services provider with a global presence across Europe, Asia, the UK, and Canada.

Evelyn Moolenburgh

Managing Director
Learning Ventures

Evelyn is an entrepreneur with 40 years commercial and business experience. Her belief that leadership really matters to delivering business results has crafted her last 20 years in the Leadership and Learning and Development space.

As Managing Director of Learning Ventures, she is a 4 x time finalist and winner of both AHRI and AITD Awards in categories of Leadership Development, Talent Development and Innovation & Creativity in Learning. In 2021 Evelyn and Learning Ventures won the AHRI Award for Best Leadership Development Program. Her belief is that great cultures and leaders can deliver measurable returns.

Evelyn’s passion for leadership led to her role as Curator of the about to be published book “Leadership Lessons”. This book is a collection of short stories from Leaders in Australia including CEO’s Politicians and Social Entrepreneurs about their leadership lesson from the pandemic years. As a business owner, mum of 2 boys, volunteer fire fighter, mentor to women in leadership in the Pacific Islands, and kayaker, Evelyn brings a variety of perspectives to the table.

Shawna Murray

Learning Transformation Leader

Shawna Murray, a learning aficionado with a 20-year career that has taken her across Europe and happily brought her back to Sydney. While she has worked in various industries, including financial services, tourism, higher education, and insurance, Shawna firmly believes that the art of performance and capability consulting can be adapted to any organisation, fostering the development of leaders and their teams. Whether at Macquarie Bank or Contiki, she holds pragmatic views on how flexible working and high-performing teams can coexist, with digital fluency and leadership capability being key focuses to make this happen.

Since 2019, she has led projects that earned Platinum LearnX awards for Future Learning Models, User Generated Content, Future of Work, Leadership, and Onboarding using Virtual Reality.

When she’s not at work, you can find her guiding visually impaired runners with Achilles or winter swimming at Bondi Icebergs. Regardless of what she’s doing, Shawna believes in kindness and making the complex simple.

Dori Petrides

General Manager, People & Culture
TSA Management

Dori Petrides, General Manager People & Culture, is part of TSA’s Group Board and drives the people agenda for TSA. Leading a global team, she is the guiding force behind TSA’s acclaimed workplace culture, where she expertly crafts innovative people and culture strategies that support broader business goals.

Dori is a highly experienced Human Resources Director with a demonstrated history of working in various sectors including real estate, pharmaceutical and professional services. With a Master of Commerce degree and Bachelor of Arts, (Psychology), her leadership has been instrumental in guiding the business through significant business growth, culture change and global transformation.

Michelle Pombart

GWF People and Performance Director
George Weston Foods

Michelle joined GWF in 2013 and leads the People and Performance function across the company. With expertise in driving high performance people practices and organisational change, Michelle has held senior leadership roles in companies across industries including financial services, telecommunications, hospitality and retail. Prior to GWF, she was Head of HR for FlexiGroup achieving AON Hewitt Best Employer accreditation; and also held senior HR roles with Vodafone Australia, Dymocks and Mariott Hotels. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resources) from the University of Western Sydney.

Kylie Speer

Host
Key Media

Kylie Speer is a television host, media professional and author with international experience spanning more than 15 years. Since graduating from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kylie’s career has seen her assume posts in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Los Angeles and New York across numerous print, online and broadcast television media outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, nineMSN, the Nine Network Australia and Sky TV in the UK.

Sarah Sprott

Head of Learning and Development
Village Entertainment

Sarah Sprott is a proactive and results-driven L&D professional with a proven track record in transformative strategies and people-based performance improvement aligned with business goals. A dynamic leader with vast experience in developing diverse teams, from junior team members to senior executives. 

Sarah has a strong focus on continuous improvement and constructive reflection, currently as the Head of Learning & Development at Village Roadshow, driving innovative learning interventions and targeted change management in the entertainment and hospitality industry. 

Additionally, her expertise in teaching, customer support, tech, and sales management further showcases her versatility and impactful results in education, technology, travel, and beauty industries. 

Jason Teoh

former Talent Development Lead, APAC & Global Functions, Cochlear

 Jason is a Fellow of AHRI with more than 20 years experience in business, consulting and HR roles in ANZ, North Asia, South East Asia, South Asia and Europe. He brings a wealth of experience in the areas of learning, leadership development DE&I, succession planning and assessments. During his time at Sime Darby, they were awarded the Global Top 20 Companies for Developing Leaders. Jason was recently the Talent Development Lead for APAC and Global Functions at Cochlear Ltd.

Maria Zotos

Head of Learning and Capability
QBE

Maria is an experienced leader in the learning and capability space with 16+ years’ experience in financial services .With a strong background in the insurance industry, Maria has honed her ability to develop capability frameworks, design engaging induction and learning programs from ideation to implementation to enhance capability. Maria is known for having a passion in building and sustaining culture of continuous learning and is dedicated to helping to unlock the full potential of their people and drive business success. Maria is passionate about equipping the workforce with skills in a non-traditional manner to enhance their knowledge to ensure they build meaningful careers. 

George Akle

CEO
GovernHR

George Akle, the founder of GOVERNHR™, is a thought leader in Human Resources structural and procedural Governance. With over 20 years of experience in his field across The Asia Pacific Region, he has headed up HR for Southeast Asia, held the roles of Regional HR COO & Regional HR Business Partner as well as having led large-scale HR transformations, technology implementations, regional payroll, HR Operations, HR Finance and HR Analytics for 17 countries across the APAC region.

Today George combines his business management background and his in-depth knowledge of HR to help companies identify and remediate structural and procedural deficiencies across their HR organisation, build new HR functions or transform existing ones. He also facilitates One-to-One or group HR coaching/training and provides virtual HR Director support services to organisations across the region. He shares his insights into HR in his blogs, through webinars, as a guest speaker at HR events and through his short videos on YouTube.

Gillian Andrews

Learning and Development Consultant

With a dynamic trajectory spanning corporate giants like Apple and Oracle, as well as impactful engagements with government organisations, Gillian Andrews embodies the fusion of education, technology, and communication. Following an MBA and post-graduate studies, Gillian maintained the role of adjunct lecturer at renowned institutions such as Macquarie, Torrens, and Notre Dame Universities. Over the past decade, her focus shifted from Product Marketing and Education to the realm of Adult Learning and Leadership Development within emergency services and health.  

Gillian is an empowering force, equipping leaders to conquer change, ignite team inspiration, and flourish amidst transitions. Rooted in her mantra of curiosity, courage, and compassion, she propels individuals, organisations, and teams towards excellence to create a better future. 

Treasa Branagan

Head of People and Culture
Kablamo

Treasa Branagan is the Head of People and Culture at Kablamo Pty Ltd, a fast-growing digital and product technology consultancy. She is also a Director at The Culture Movement, a values-driven Leadership and Organisational Development Consultancy. Her work is committed to the positive evolution of the world of work and creating inclusive workplaces where people and businesses thrive. Treasa has more than 20 years of experience in learning and development, organisational development and human resource management, having held senior leadership roles in the Financial Services, Technology and Hospitality sectors. Her experience includes building and implementing human resources frameworks for startup organisations, developing and implementing workforce management and learning frameworks for large IT corporations to building human resources strategy, culture, diversity and leadership transformation programs. Her previous positions include Head of People and Culture at 1Cover Travel Insurance Group and Head of Learning and Organisational Development at NTT Australia (previously Dimension Data Australia). Treasa holds a Bachelor of Business degree with a major in Human Resource Management. She holds a Cert IV in Training and Assessment, Hogan Assessment Certification, Coaching Level 1 Certification from the Institute of Executive Coaching, and is a Certified Online learning facilitator. 

James McIlvena

Managing Director Australia and New Zealand
LHH

James is the MD of LHH Australia and New Zealand and the Executive Sponsor of LHH partnerships with large customers. James is passionate about helping build better careers, better leaders and better businesses. His strength is in developing solutions to complex problems and addressing these through mobilising and managing talented people. He is responsible for connecting local businesses with the best of globally available LHH solutions helping individuals and organisations reveal and harness their talent and providing tools to support a renewable workforce.  

Prior to LLH, he gained extensive experience of in-house recruitment and RPO models across a range of industries and ASX100 companies. James has a degree in Psychology/ Psychophysiology and a Post Graduate qualification in Human Resources and Industrial Relations. 

Gavin Nelson

Productivity Ninja
Think Productive Australia

Gavin Nelson is a learning and development specialist consultant, professional facilitator and a certified Productivity Ninja practitioner. 

In 2020 Gavin formed the microlearning agency Microgo to help organisations create and implement highly engaging training programs easily, quickly, and conveniently via any platform including mobile phones. Gavin recently opened up the Australian office of Improvement Sciences and now provides micro learning content development services across Australia / Asia Pacific.  

Having spent many years of working life leading L&D initiatives in the corporate world, Gavin has first-hand knowledge and experience to understand today’s fast-paced learning environment. 

Gavin’s passionate about helping people – by understanding what motivates them, their wants, and their needs. 

He has experience in multinational, large and small organisations as well as leading sporting organisations. This provides a broad perspective when discussing learning and development, instructional design, stakeholder management and project requirements. 

Gavin’s style has been described as “engages well with everyone”, “a great facilitator”, and “super-helpful”. 

As a presenter and certified facilitator, Gavin receives highly positive participant feedback. 

Gavin’s passions are productivity, micro learning, his family, and his interests include running as well as kayaking and cycling far and wide. 

Birthe Nohrden

CEO & Founder
TeamTalks

Birthe Nohrden is a thought leader in the realm of human connections at work. With expertise as an innovative learning designer, she has become a sought-after speaker and facilitator, specializing in leadership, productivity, workplace wellbeing, and personal development. In 2022, her company TeamTalks Pty Ltd achieved a significant milestone by winning a seat in the prestigious EY Foundry Start Up Accelerator Program. Leveraging a unique combination of technology and human-centered design, Birthe’s company has successfully created an innovative employee experience that fosters connection among hybrid teams. Her proprietary teaming framework is a simple, yet effective way to build psychological safety in teams in a fun and sustainable way. 

Nithya Ramaswamy

Solutions Director
LHH

Nithya Ramaswamy is Solutions Director within the LHH Leadership Development practice, for Australia and New Zealand. Nithya brings over twenty years of experience in providing insights, consultancy, client engagement, leadership development design and delivery to leaders across a range of client organisations globally. Having led complex projects that span multiple levels of leadership and across various markets and functional areas, Nithya has a proven track record in partnering with stakeholders to co-create learning architectures and bring to life robust leadership development experiences. 

Having a career background as both industry leader and consultant, Nithya is a credible and commercial learning professional who brings insightful, practical and innovative approaches in her work. Nithya has diverse global and industry experience spanning banking and financial services, insurance, infrastructure, agribusiness, professional services, telecommunications, public sector, education, and pharmaceuticals.