Biographies of the Asialink Leaders Program participants

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Biographies of the Asialink Leaders Program participants"

Sydney Dawson
5 years ago
Views:

Biographies of the Asialink Leaders Program participants 2016 Brisbane Leaders Nicole Andronicus Manager- International Relations & Multicultural Affairs Office of the Lord Mayor and CEO for Brisbane

1 Biographies of the Asialink Leaders Program participants 2016 Brisbane Leaders Nicole Andronicus Manager- International Relations & Multicultural Affairs Office of the Lord Mayor and CEO for Brisbane City Council Nicole Andronicus is currently the Manager of International Relations and Multicultural Affairs in the Office of the Lord Mayor and CEO for Brisbane City Council. Leading a dynamic team of culturally and linguistically diverse business development professionals, Nicole s strategic focus is on creating economic outcomes for Brisbane, including attracting local SMEs to do business in Brisbane s nine sister cities worldwide. In this role, Nicole enjoys practicing her Indonesian language skills and applying the knowledge gleaned from her recently acquired Graduate Certificate in Executive Leadership which credits into The University of Queensland s MBA program. With a Bachelor of Business & Bachelor of Arts from UQ, Nicole has over 10 years of experience in leadership, business development and external relations. Prior to joining the council, Nicole was the Associate Director of Industry Engagement for The UQ Business School Executive Education and the International Employment Services Manager for the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law. To take a breather from working, studying and cleaning up after her two young sons and husband, Nicole enjoys challenging the biggest blokes at mixed touch football and sampling the occasional (and well-earned) wine or two. Nicole is currently working on growing trade and business with Brisbane s Sister Cities and leading the Brisbane team for the next biennial Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayors Forum in Daejeon, Never missing an opportunity for business networking, Nicole looks forward to personally meeting many of you today and sharing more about Brisbane s dynamic International Relations program. Will Barker Solicitor Herbert Smith Freehills Will Barker is a lawyer at global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. Will practices in crossborder corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and company law and governance. His focus is on assisting Japanese and Korean companies with their investments and businesses in Australia. Will has represented Australia at youth diplomatic conferences in Asia, Europe and the USA, including at the G20 Youth Summit in Washington DC in Will has degrees in law (first class honours) and international relations from Griffith University, where he was awarded the University Medal and the Law Medal. Will is proficient in Japanese and holds 日本語能力試験二級 certification. Outside work, Will enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife and their baby son born in October 2015.

2 Dr Caitlin Byrne Assistant Professor International Relations Bond University Caitlin is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Bond University where she teaches the theory and practice of diplomacy and public diplomacy. She has a special interest in the role of education, sport and the arts in bridging difference and creating opportunities for dialogue particularly in the Asia Pacific region. She is an honorary research fellow of the University of Queensland, and former research fellow of the University of Southern California's Centre for Public Diplomacy (CPD). Her research is published in a range of journals including the Hague Journal of Diplomacy, the Australian Journal of International Affairs, and Sport in Society. Prior to joining academia, Caitlin held a range of management, foreign policy and stakeholder engagement roles across government, including with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ( ), the Queensland Government's Office for Women ( ) and Department of Communities (2009). Caitlin continues to consult occasionally to government agencies on public diplomacy policy and strategy. She received a Bachelor of Laws and PhD from Bond University in 1993 and 2010 respectively. As the mother of four teenagers Caitlin enjoys spending time in the great outdoors, experimenting with social media, and savouring moments of quiet. Michele Fleming Associate Principal Populous Michele directs Strategic Marketing and Government Relations for Populous in the Asia Pacific region. She also represents the region at global strategic marketing meetings. Populous is a global specialist architecture firm designing the places people love to be like Suncorp Stadium, the MCG, the London Olympic stadium, Wembley and Yankee Stadium. Over the past 30 years the company has completed more than 2,000 projects around the world. Populous has key offices in Australia, London and the US. Australia manages all work in the Asia Pacific. Michele has been with the company for 18 years and has a strong background in Journalism having worked in BBC and commercial radio and television in the UK for 7 years. She has also worked within Government and in Government Relations externally and is the main liaison point with Government for Populous. She has been a member of the Queensland Executive of the Australia China Business Council since 2007 and was an member of the Queensland India Council Michele is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She holds a BA with post graduate qualifications in both Journalism and Marketing & Communications.

3 Amber Forster Partnerships Specialist Tourism and Events Queensland Amber is a tourism professional and currently holds the position of Partnerships Specialist at Queensland s peak destination marketing agency, Tourism and Events Queensland. She is a self-confessed Asia enthusiast with language skills in Mandarin and Cantonese. Amber commenced university at the young age of 16 and received a Dean s award for Academic Excellence in Chinese Language. She was fortunate to be able to put these language skills to use when she represented Australia at the Shanghai World Exposition in After returning from China, Amber gained front line experience in aviation as an In-flight trainer with Virgin Australia. In 2015, Amber was a delegate of the China Australia Millennial Project a world first bilateral incubator program that brought together young innovators from Australia and China to tackle global challenges. Amber is a committee member of the Australia China Young Professionals Initiative (ACYPI). Amber is passionate about tourism, languages and culture. She is committed to breaking down stereotypes and believes that travel is the most authentic way to foster cultural understanding at a people to people level, and ultimately strengthen relationships between nations. In her spare time, Amber enjoys exercising, tap dancing, musical theatre and trying different foods of the world. Pablo Hinojosa Strategic Engagement Director APNIC Pablo Hinojosa is Director, Strategic Engagement at APNIC. He is responsible of representing the organisation in a senior diplomatic capacity, cultivating and managing relationships with governments, key intergovernmental organisations and member communities. Previous to joining APNIC, he was responsible for managing the Latin American portfolio at ICANN. Previous to joining ICANN, he was Director for Multilateral Affairs in the Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission. As a government official, he was the Representative from Mexico at ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), where he held the position of Vice- Chair. Pablo was part of the Mexican delegation attending WSIS and also Advisor to the Chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APEC-TEL).

4 Gary Hwang Senior Trade and Investment Officer Trade and Investment Queensland Your job description: Facilitating trade and investment in terms of food and agribusiness sectors in Queensland. Your length of time in the industry: since Nov 2006 (15 years). Your particular expertise and professional interest: Queensland food and agribusiness sectors. Bronwyn Klepp Head of Marketing Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) Bronwyn is currently Head of Marketing at the Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). She has been at the Gallery for more than six years and is an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team with a wealth of experience in delivering integrated, audience-focused marketing strategies and major cultural tourism initiatives. She also has a very strong interest in digital strategy and development. Prior to working at the Gallery, Bronwyn was Marketing Manager and Publicist at the Queensland Theatre Company and has also held marketing and sales roles within the tourism industry. She also volunteers her time mentoring emerging arts marketing administrators. Bronwyn holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Queensland and a Graduate Diploma in Business from Queensland University of Technology.

5 Jason Milton Business Development Manager Herbert Smith Freehills Jason is a Business Development and Marketing specialising in the professional services sector. Throughout his career Jason has worked for accountancy firms, construction management consultants and law firms, with the majority of them being in London. He has covered various sectors such as energy, TMT and chemicals as well as managing client relationships for international clients. He also was responsible for the China group at Mayer Brown, an international law firm. Jason is currently the Business Development Manager for Herbert Smith Freehills focusing on winning work in Queensland across a number of sectors including mining, energy, financial services, real estate and agribusiness. He is also responsible for winning work across the Asia Australia corridor. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Chartered Marketer, and lives on the Gold Coast with his wife and three children. Ross Tilly Senior Trade & Investment Officer Trade & Investment Queensland Ross Tilly has an agricultural upbringing and studied Business and Marketing at the University of Southern Queensland. Prior to joining Government he managed his own manufacturing business for five years, including exporting products to several markets and investigated a joint venture operation in central China. After selling his business, Ross returned to the family earth-moving equipment business in Toowoomba. Since then, he has held a range of regional management roles in human services and government including State Development, Enterprise Connect and joined Trade & Investment Queensland in Currently Ross is a Senior Trade & Investment officer with Trade & Investment QLD (Govt), this role involves assisting regional export firms to enter new/additional markets and supporting overseas investment attraction into QLD projects. Ross is also a TradeStart Export Adviser, this is a contract role by Austrade to deliver export development and advisory services to regional enterprises. Both roles draw upon and connect with the overseas office teams of these agencies and leveraging resources towards successful client outcomes.

6 Robert Worrall Managing Director Sustainer (Consulting) I am presently founder and managing director of a startup consultancy, Sustainer ( advising and facilitating trade in new environmental technology (cleantech / greentech) between Australia and China:. I have a Bachelors degree in civil engineering and Masters in natural resources management and have worked in many capacities as a professional environmental practitioner for almost 25 years. Notably, I have particular interests and experience in spatial regional land use planning, environmental impact assessment and landscape ecology. In 2009, I won an Australian Government Endeavour Executive Award, and spent three months in China undertaking a project "Administrative systems for land use planning, environmental assessment and statutory approval in coastal areas for resource-related development and trade-related infrastructure". I wish to use the Asialink Leaders program to build and deepen my connections and practical relations especially with academics and professionals in China (initially Shanghai) in environmental and social sciences concerning sustainable development and environmental technology. Further into the future, I wish to successfully manage my consultancy, and facilitate enduring communication, activities, events and trade between Australia and China in the field of environmentally and socially sustainable development. In my free time I enjoy learning and practicing yoga, jazz guitar and Mandarin Chinese.

Biographies of the Asialink Leaders Program participants

Biographies of the Asialink Leaders Program participants 2017 Brisbane Leaders Geoff Bianchi Manager, Communication and Intelligence - Global Engagement The University of Queensland Geoff Bianchi is currently