Speakers

Liandra Gaykamangu

Liandra Gaykamangu is the Founder of Liandra Swim.

Liandra is a Yolngu woman from North-East Arnhem Land, a busy mum extraordinaire and a stickler for organisation!

Liandra is founder and designer of Liandra Swim, a premium designer swimwear label that fuses Aboriginal culture and swimwear fashion. Liandra Swim allows people, from all walks of life, to authentically engage and connect with Australian Indigenous culture in a new and exciting environment.

Liandra will be participating in Thriving as a remote enterprise.

Professor Hurriyet Babacan AM

Prof Hurriyet Babacan is the Research Director for Rural Economies Centre of Excellence and Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute, James Cook University.

Hurriyet is an international scholar with 25 years’ experience in the higher education, not-for-profit, and public sectors. Hurriyet’s philosophy of ‘engaged scholarship’ is about jointly making societal differences to the industries, government and community. Hurriyet’s recent research has focused on inclusive economic development, Northern Australian development and the Asia Pacific

Professor Babacan will be speaking in the Opening Plenary session.

Erica Hughes

Erica Hughes is the Founder of Farmer Meets Foodie.

Erica has a background in landcare and natural resource management, working in rural and remote areas of Queensland and Western Australia.  She currently lives on a small farm in Far North Queensland with her husband, son and daughter. 

The whole family is passionate about supporting farmers and harvesters in getting good value for their products, sharing the stories behind how food is grown, reducing food waste, reducing food miles and supporting commercial foodies in their commitment to using local produce.

Erica will be speaking at the Working together to create new opportunities event.

Fred Pascoe

Fred Pascoe is the Chairman of Aboriginal Development Benefits Trust.

Fred has been the Chairman of the Aboriginal Development Benefits Trust since 2017 prior to that he was a director since ADBT’s formation in 1998.

Fred was elected to Carpentaria Shire Council from 1997 to 2008 then elected as Mayor in March 2009 and held that position until 2016. Currently, Fred is the CEO of BYNOE—one of the most successful CDP’s in the country. He is also a director on Delta Downs Pastoral Company, a 100% Indigenous-owned cattle property comprised of over 1,000,000 acres.

Fred will be speaking at the Thriving as a remote social enterprise event.

Christine Doan

Christine Doan is the Chair of Startup & Innovation Tablelands.

71 years of a life of purpose; pre-teen start as an environmentalist; founder; immigrant; Olympic equestrian; lucky; holistic community activist; life-long learner;  philanthropist; conscious business woman; change agent; driven; sustainability advocate; baby boomer; linguist; systems thinker; impulsive; speaker/presenter; integralist; social entrepreneur; enthusiastic. Latest gig: Transformative Technology. Steep learning curve area at present: art and science of collaboration!

Christine is hosting the workshop on The art and science of collaboration.

Brian Arnold

Brian Arnold is the General Manager of the Aboriginal Development Benefits Trust.

Brian has 25 years’ experience in economic development in Queensland. His career has included a very broad portfolio of activities including community, youth, economic, tourism, entrepreneurial and indigenous enterprise development. As General Manager, Brian provides support to the 5 businesses ADBT owns, coordinates business loan clients and acts as the Trust’s entrepreneur.

Brian will be hosting the Thriving as a remote social enterprise event.

Susan Black

Susan Black is the General Manager of ImpaQt QLD.

Susan spent the past five years in social enterprise development in Myanmar and Vietnam before COVID brought her home to Queensland.

Her work experience traverses international and local community development, establishing the first Social Enterprise Hub in Australia and building evidence of collective impact and shared value across Australia. Susan loves travel, experiencing cultures and all things community development and social enterprise.

Susan will be hosting the Navigating impact investment workshop.

Laura Egan

Laura Egan is the Co-founder of Magpie Goose and the Founder of Enterprise Learning Projects.

Laura is passionate about inclusive entrepreneurship and the ability for enterprise to be used as a tool for economic empowerment and cultural sharing.

She is committed to fostering startup ecosystems in remote and rural Australia to enable unique creative and sustainable ventures to emerge that nourish people and place.

Laura is speaking at the Getting off the ground workshop.

Steve Williams

Steve Williams is the Program Manager Social Innovation at CQUniversity. 

Steve has been supporting, starting, and leading award winning social enterprises in Queensland for 15 years. Along with colleagues in the sector Steve cofounded the Queensland Social Enterprise Council formally launching in 2013. He is currently developing capacity building initiatives including the new online CQUniversity social enterprise short course iActivate.

Steve is co-hosting the Nurturing networks workshop.

Dr Narayan Gopalkrishnan

Dr Narayan Gopalkrishnan is the Course Coordinator, Social Work at James Cook University and the Chair of Social Enterprise Network for the Tropics (SENT).

Narayan is a social work academic at James Cook University who brings a passion for human development and social justice into his work in social enterprise.

He has over 25 years experience in developmental work in Australia and overseas as an academic practitioner and researcher.

Narayan will host the Opening Plenary and speak in the Nurturing networks workshop.

Kantesha Takai

Kantesha Takai is the CEO of Lola Digital.

Kantesha (KT) is a published writer, website designer, graphic designer and social media marketing expert.

In a nutshell, she’s a savvy content marketing specialist with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. Kantesha has turned over 10 years of marketing knowledge and experience into a heart-driven creative content agency called Lola Digital.

Kantesha will be speaking at the Thriving as a remote social enterprise event.

Elise Parups

Elise Parups is the Executive Office of QSEC.

Elise has worked at a senior level in business, government and NFP positions focused on business development, team building, stakeholder engagement, partnerships management, project management, communication, and professional networking.

Elise is passionate about all things impact-led and often describes herself as being an “impact whisperer, using amplified communications.”

Elise is co-hosting the Nurturing networks workshop.

David Williams

David Williams is the CEO of Social Enterprise Australasia.

David Williams is a Chartered Accountant tax agent and registered company auditor. He holds a Bachelor in Business Accounting and post-graduate Diploma in Financial Planning with over 40 years working across for-profit and not-for-profit organisations. David is passionate about creating a more inclusive society, consulting on the best outcomes for the most vulnerable communities.  We recognise that complex social issues need to be addressed by complex business models..

David will be leading the Finance and business structuring advice workshop.

Francis Walker

Francis Walker is a Kuku Yalanji Elder and Red Earth partner.

The idea for the first Red Earth immersion came from a conversation between Arthur (Founder, Red Earth) and Francis and Kathleen Walker about getting students to visit their Country and learn from the Traditional Owners. The rest is history. Francis and Kathleen have also founded and operated their own successful tourism business for the past 10 years. They're inspired to be an example for their community and the next generations on how to create a better future for themselves.

Francis will be speaking at the Working together to create new opportunities event.

Kathleen Walker

Kathleen Walker is a Kuku Yalanji Traditional Owner and Red Earth partner.

The idea for the first Red Earth immersion came from a conversation between Arthur (Founder, Red Earth) and Kathleen and Francis Walker about getting students to visit their Country and learn from the Traditional Owners. The rest is history. Kathleen and Francis have also founded and operated their own successful tourism business for the past 10 years. They're inspired to be an example for their community and the next generations on how to create a better future for themselves.

Kathleen will be speaking at the Working together to create new opportunities event.

Nick Brown-Graham

Nick Brown-Graham is the Head of Operations at Red Earth.

Nick has worked in the experiential education sector for 15+ years. This led him to join Red Earth to foster understanding and connection between remote Aboriginal traditional owners and Australia's youth.

Nick is passionate about driving reconciliation through allowing genuine connection and providing Traditional Owners the opportunity to share their culture with students on their country.

Nick will be speaking at the Working together to create new opportunities event.

Brian Van Wyk

Bryan Van Wyk is Fleet Operations Manager at Austral Fisheries (Northern Division)

Bryan covers a diverse range of operational aspects in his role including crew management, procurement, logistics and liaisonship.

Bryan holds a degree in marine science and is extremely passionate about the marine environment. He is also a keen recreational diver and fisher who values and understands the critical role commercial fisheries play in the long term sustainability and ecosystem management.

Bryan will be speaking at the Working together to create new opportunities event.

Sarah Mort

Sarah Mort is the Founder and Director of MiHaven Group.

With over 30 years’ experience in the property industry and having worked with some of Australasia’s leading firms, Sarah Mort's vast experience has allowed her to utilise her many skills and experience in community consultation and project management.

Sarah’s experience has been greatly enhanced by the diverse businesses she has been involved in, including environmental planning; property development and construction. She is passionate about 'business with purpose' and is focused on delivering exceptional social outcomes.

Sarah will be speaking at the Navigating impact investment workshop.

Seamus Campbell

Seamus Campbell is Co-Chair of Startup & Innovation Tablelands and owner of Boldacious Digital.

Seamus has been remote-working since the last century (web-design and remote software/consulting). He has been a committee member of Startup & Innovation Tablelands for 4 years, and Vice-Chair for 2 years— during which time he pushed to make ST a partially-distributed organisation.

Seamus is also the owner of three related businesses: Boldacious Digital (remote-work specialist), where he consults about remote-work software and workflow automation, as well as advising about and building business websites; Sandfly and Mosquito Repellents; and, Australian Travelling Entrepreneurs.

Seamus will be speaking at the workshop on The art and science of collaboration.

Sorrell Ashby

Sorrell Ashby is a Gamilaroi woman, social entrepreneur and founder of Guumali.

In 2019, Sorrell founded Guumali in response to the gap in coordinated and culturally appropriate support for community controlled economic development.

Sorrell leads a new wave of Indigenous-led social innovation working to achieve long term results by facilitating genuine partnerships and effective collaboration.

Sorrell will be speaking in the Opening Plenary session.