Professor of Management in Innovation, University of Tasmania

A graduate of the Universities of Tasmania, Sheffield and Melbourne, David has been instrumental in developing health policy initiatives. His major fields of research concern the locality drivers of innovation and leadership in the public, private and community sectors. He has published extensively in public policy and management focusing on local governance and its links to innovation and wellbeing.

Professor of Philosophy, University of Tasmania

Dirk Baltzly is Professor of Philosophy at University of Tasmania and Adjunct Professor (Research) at Monash University. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Ohio State University and a second PhD in Classics from Monash University. One focus of his research on the late Roman Empire has been the question of paideia or ‘higher education’.

Non-Executive Director, ABC

After developing the highly successful Ashgrove dairy brand, Jane today works as a non executive director in businesses including the ABC, CSIRO, Australian Farm Institute, Van Diemen’s Land Company, Tasmanian Ports Corporation and Nuffield Australia. She has a range of experience in industry advisory bodies for food, agriculture, education and training and in rural and regional economic development.

Chief Executive, Grattan Institute

John Daley is the inaugural Chief Executive of Grattan Institute, which provides independent, rigorous and practical solutions to Australia’s most pressing public policy issues. John’s work at Grattan Institute has focused on economic and budgetary reform with a particular interest in government prioritisation. He has 25 years’ experience spanning policy, academic, government and corporate roles.

Chair, Tasmanian Early Years Foundation

Elizabeth Daly is a semi-retired senior educator with over 50 years of experience in the education sector as a teacher, principal and senior superintendent. She has acted as Commissioner for Children, worked and volunteered in the community sector with the Smith Family and Colony47 and is currently Chair of the Tasmanian Early Years Foundation and Youth Futures Inc.

Economist

Saul Eslake has almost thirty years' experience as an economist working in the Australian financial markets, including 14 years as Chief Economist at ANZ and, more recently, 3 years as Chief Economist (Australia and New Zealand) for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He has also worked for the Grattan Institute and run his own consulting business.

Artist

A musician and media artist who works with young people in remote or regional communities and in tough urban environments, Leon has used art and technology to incentivise attendance and improve literacy. He is currently lecturing at Murdoch University in using tablet technology to deliver the new national arts curriculum in music and new media.

Kindergarten Teacher, Illawarra Primary School, Department of Education

A passionate early childhood educator for 22 years, David has worked in various government and independent schools, including a period of time as Director of the Early Learning Centre at Canberra Grammar School. He is currently convenor of the Tasmanian Reggio Emilia Network and is a recipient of a National Excellence in Teaching Award for innovation in Early Childhood.

Coordinator, Young Migrant Adult English Program, TasTAFE

Ian has been teaching for over 20 years. His current role at TasTAFE is teaching students from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds and has seen him be a vocal advocate for an intensive English language centre for youth from Culturally Linguistic and Diverse Backgrounds (CALD). He currently coordinates the Young Migrant Adult English Program (Y-MEP) at TasTAFE.

Research Associate, Australian National University’s Centre for Indigenous Studies

A regular contributor to public discourse on Tasmanian identity and history, Greg has spent most of his life encouraging the recognition and understanding of Tasmania’s Aboriginal culture and heritage. He has served on a number of boards and is currently Research Associate at the Australian National University’s Centre for Indigenous Studies, investigating the role of deficit discourse in educational outcomes.

Tasmanian State Manager, Beacon Foundation

Nick came to the Beacon Foundation after a successful career working with young people in a range of high performance and community coaching and management positions. The Beacon Foundation assists youth from around the state by partnering with secondary schools to engage business and industry to play a stronger role in assisting schools with their education.

Managing Director, Bitlink

James spent five years at the HITLab teaching courses in virtual reality, augmented reality, entrepreneurship and video game design and went on to establish Bitlink - a technology consultancy and software development house. James also serves as a director of Startup Tasmania, a not-for-profit organisation and networking group for Tasmanian entrepreneurs.

Adjunct Professor, University of Tasmania

Michael’s main interests as a philosophy academic were reasoning in natural language and the philosophy of science, but most of his university career was spent in academic management. Today his interest is in improving opportunities and educational outcomes for young Tasmanians, strengthening support for education in all communities and breaking the acceptance that Tasmania will always lag behind the other states.

CEO, Youth Network of Tasmania

As CEO of the Youth Network of Tasmania – the peak body for the youth sector and young people in Tasmania, Joanna provides input into and responds to policy direction, advocates for the youth sector and lobbies for the needs and initiatives of young people. She has specific interests in the areas of education, homelessness, employment and youth justice.

Population Health and Health Promotion Consultant

Miriam has worked in the community sector, for the University of Tasmania, and for both local and state governments in public and environmental health, health promotion and primary health. Her roles have enabled her to work within local communities and at a population level to help improve and strengthen the determinants of health and wellbeing.

Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania

Alison is Deputy Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and leads its Public Health and Primary Care research theme. Her broad research interest spans the molecular and social determinants of health and as Director of the Tasmanian Cancer Registry and the Tasmanian Data Linkage Unit leads the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study.