COLLABORATE – INNOVATE – SELF DETERMINE

Program commences at 9am and concludes at 330pm, Bowraville Theatre.

Todd Sampson

Todd is the breakout star of the hit ABC show

the Gruen Planet and a co-host on the

Channel 10 news show, The Project. Todd is

also the writer, producer and host of a

discovery science documentary series called

Redesign My Brain, which won Documentary

of the Year.

He is writer, producer and host for the

Discovery Channels Bodyhack, nominated for

Best Factual Series and Most Outstanding

Documentary of the Year. He is also the writer,

producer and host of ABC documentary Life on

the Line.

Todd was the CEO and non-executive

Chairman of Leo Burnett, Australia. His

company was ranked as the seventh most

creative company in the world.

Todd is the co-creator of the Earth Hour

initiative, which was the largest environmental

movement in history.

The Financial Review and News Limited

ranked him as one of the most influential

executives in Australia.

Todd sits on the Board of Directors of both

Fairfax and Qantas. Outside of work, Todd

enjoys mountaineering and has climbed to the

top of Mount Everest unguided.

Uncle Martin Ballangarry OAM

Uncle Martin Ballangarry (OAM) is the Deputy Mayor of Nambucca Shire Council.

He has worked tirelessly on issues regarding Indigenous affairs in the Nambucca Valley for over 30 years.

Uncle Martin leads an Aboriginal dance group and family band called “Jumbaal (Carpet-Snake) Dreaming and has performed on many stages along the east

coast of Australia.

Luke Hartsuyker MP

Luke Hartsuyker is the Federal Member for Cowper, having served as the electorate’s Canberra representative since 2001. He is currently Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister in the Turnbull Government.

Prior to becoming the Federal Member for Cowper, Luke managed his family’s tourism business in Coffs Harbour. He also has experience in real estate and institutional property investment and development and is a Fellow of CPA Australia.

Luke previously served as the Assistant Minister for Employment, Minister for Vocational Education and Skills and the Nationals’ Deputy Leader of the House.

He implemented the new $6.8 billion Jobactive employment services system, with a stronger focus on getting people into work and on the needs of employers. Luke was also responsible for the development of the $330 million youth employment strategy which supports young people at high risk of long-term unemployment.

While Opposition Communications Minister, he developed the Mobile Black Spot Programme which has since been adopted as Federal Government policy.

John O’Neill, Chairperson RDAMNC

John is a macadamia grower with a farm in the Nambucca Valley. He has been involved with macadamia growing for the past seven years, having retired after thirty years in law enforcement at a very senior level and reinventing himself in rural life.

John is currently and has been for the past 6 years a Director and Company Secretary of a private macadamia processing company owned by shareholders and operating a processing and distribution enterprise in the macadamia industry.

John also has experience as a Director of a number of private companies and since moving to the Nambucca Valley has become a Director of an Aged Care

Facility, which is located over a number of sites and is one of the largest employers in the Valley. He is also a Director, current Vice President of the Island Golf Club, Nambucca Heads.

John is a university graduate with a BA (Psych) degree and a GrdCrt (HRM). He is a Justice of the Peace, an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

Panel 1: Collaboration

Panel Host

Rosemary Shapiro-Liu

Director, Triple Win Enterprises; Author, The Mentor Within

www.triplewin.com.au

"There is nothing more powerful that creating a Triple Win in every decision and action: that's a win for you, for those around you and the world"

Rosemary is the founder and director of Triple Win Enterprises and the author of The Mentor Within. Rosemary is a business mentor, expert facilitator and provides conference strategy advice for powerful, collaborative

community building events. She has an Honours in Social Work, is a graduate of the business accelerator course, Key Person of Influence, and writes as a founding contributor for Smallville, for small business owners who think big course. She is a force for good, creating collaborations through her philosophy of Triple Win which she believes is more powerful than win-win.

Her rich and sometimes surprising journey started as a young social worker in the ganglands and prisons of Cape Town, South Africa, where her goal was to free young people from prison and make them accountable for their actions. Now she frees people from the prisons of their minds and makes them commit to the actions they have promised themselves. She has worked with diverse groups of people including 100s of thought leaders and social entrepreneurs in Australia, and thousands of criminal justice personnel in various parts of the world. A chance meeting with Nelson Mandela had lasting impact on Rosemary's belief that we all have inner wisdom, hence her book 'The Mentor Within. Currently Rosemary is assisting business authors to leverage their books for positive impact on the world, and adapting conferences and meetings to have real impact.

Panel members

Sam Byrne

Secretary, NSW Cooperatives

http://nsw.coop/

'Stronger together: co-operative enterprise is dynamic, democratic and booming.'

Sam was elected to the board of Co-ops NSW in 2013 and appointed Secretary in

2016. In the role he has led a rebranding and energising of the organisation, runs

the co-operative director training program and this year co-authored the second

edition of Co-ops NSW's Co-operatives in Australia: A Manual.

Sam has 20 years of experience in co-operative enterprise and governance. His

home co-operative is Alfalfa House Community Food Co-operative in inner Sydney. He is also a former

local mayor, and currently is a director of the $10 billion superannuation fund Local Government Super.

He has also worked as a management consultant in the community sector. He holds a Masters of

Management from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of

Company Directors.

Co-ops NSW is a peak body supporting, representing and promoting co-operatives and co-operative

enterprise.

Rebecca Minter

Macleay Early Learning Collaborative

“The power of collaboration is infinite”, as it is far greater than any one individual

or single organisations undertaking.

Rebecca has been a teacher and director in early childhood education and care

for the past 23 years. Rebecca is currently the director of Kempsey Children’s

Services, she leads a team of 3O early childhood professionals to deliver quality

education. Rebecca is the Convener for the Macleay Early Learning

Collaborative (MELC) which is group of early learning professionals across a

variety of services types coming together to advocate for early learning in the

Macleay Valley. Rebecca has a bachelor of teaching (Early Childhood) and is the

final stages of completing a Masters of Educational Leadership specialising in early childhood.

Rebecca is extremely passionate in leading pedagogy and curriculum development which is focussed on

inclusion, social justice and advocacy within KCS, the Macleay community and the Mid-north Coast

region of NSW. Rebecca strongly believes in working collaboratively and authentically with community

stakeholders and early childhood professionals to focus on building the capacity of all stakeholders. She

believes that true authentic leadership is underpinned by building capacity of individuals which leads to

empowerment for stakeholders to make informed decisions and choices which results in responsive

outcomes for young children, their families and community.

Kellon Beard

Regional Manager, Mid North Coast

NSW Business Chamber

www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au

“For the future of the Region, we need to Collaborate, in order to lift all

businesses together”.

My role is that of Regional Manager for the NSW Business Chamber on the Mid

North Coast of NSW, my region runs from Forster Tuncurry in the South to

Woolgoolga in the North. NSW Business Chamber is a member based not for

profit business, which traces its history back over 190 years in NSW. We are

the second oldest business in Australia, the oldest business in Australia is a little

know bank called Westpac or what use to be the Bank of NSW

My main duties are ensuring that members that we have are aware of and get full use of our

services. My other major function is to find more members that would use and benefit from our

organisations vast services. I also try and do a lot across the community and I am a member of a

number of local organisations. One that I have been on the Board for over 10 years is the Port

Macquarie Chamber of Commerce. The reason I am on this is because I can see the benefit that

businesses get when they work together to achieve common goals. By collaborating on a range of

issues Small Business is “Too Big To Ignore”.

John Gilmore

Chief Executive Officer (Acting), Adele House Limited

https://adelehouse.org/

“Collaboration is essential for getting the best for our community”

John’s diverse career has seen him work in private enterprise, politics, the NSW

public sector, philanthropy and NGO’s. Especially skilled at developing and

articulating strategic vision around organisation change his excellent ability with

people results in high levels of stakeholder engagement and sign-on. From

construction projects like the Walsh Bay redevelopment and the re-development of the Conservatorium of

Music, to reform of sentencing programs like the Community Service Order Scheme and the Intensive

Corrections Orders John is very proud of the long list of successful projects he has been involved with.

Most recently John has been working in the philanthropic and not-for profit sector establishing a new

philanthropic foundation for a leading property development and investment company; guiding a unique

drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity through a process of organisational change and restructure; and

establishing a not-for- profit social enterprise agri-business on the Mid North Coast of NSW.

John deeply believes in empowering people and facilitating collaboration both internally and externally.

Passionate about the need to resolve entrenched social disadvantage and inequality and how these limit

a person achieving their potential, John is an advocate of pursuing best practice, outcome focus solutions

with a ‘prevention is better than cure’ ideology.

Panel 2: Innovation

Panel Host

Pete Jeans

Strategic Marketing Outsourcing Pty Ltd

www.smosydney.com.au

Pete Jeans heads up growth-project leader - SMO; is

a member of the Facilitator delivery team at the Australian

Institute of Management MBA School of Business in Sydney;

and writes occasionally for CEO Magazine and Industry

Update magazine on current business issues.

Pete is celebrating 25 years of client success this year. He

says “I’m not a consultant. I’m a mentor and facilitator; particularly for emerging leaders.

I work inside the business with the client’s teams to deliver difficult and complex strategic projects in the

growth and change management spaces.”

“I create more competitive growing profitable businesses; through strong conceptual thinking, sustainable

strategy, continuous innovation, implementation of leading-edge change management processes and

team leadership.

Panel members

Dr. Natalie Gillam

Assistant Regional Manager - Central Coast, Hunter and North Coast

AusIndustry

www.business.gov.au

Natalie is one of the Regional Managers for the Hunter, Central Coast and Mid-

North Coast of NSW for AusIndustry, within the Department of Industry, Innovation

and Science.

Prior to moving to Newcastle, Natalie worked for over 3 years in the Sydney

AusIndustry office within a range of programmes including Commercialisation Australia, Illawarra

Regional Investment Fund, Clean Technology Innovation, R&D Tax incentive and the Emissions

Reduction Fund.

Natalie is across all Federal Government industry assistance programmes. Natalie holds a bachelors

degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Fluid Dynamics). She has

worked in private consulting firms as an engineer and within various government agencies.

Dr. Ben Vaughan

Laboratory Manager, Centre for Organic Electronics

Newcastle University

www.newcastle.edu.au/research-and-innovation/centre/coe

“Innovation provides a way for business to create value and grow regardless of its location or resources”

Dr Vaughan is the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) manager at the Centre for Organic

Electronics (COE), a priority research centre at the University of Newcastle. With a team of 4 staff, Dr

Vaughan helps researchers within the university sector develop new technologies based on

nanomaterials. For example, printed solar panels that are extremely cheap, and lightweight are being

developed at the COE using ANFF equipment.

More interestingly for IGNITE MCN attendees, all the equipment and expertise at the COE and in the

broader ANFF network, which is Australia wide, is available for businesses to access. If you’re looking to

develop a high-tech product or want some detailed information about the materials within your existing

products, Dr Vaughan and his team may be able to help.

Tony Rothacker

Manager, Innovation Hub Coffs Coast

http://www.coffstechpark.com.au/business-services/innovation-centre

"Life is too short to build something nobody wants” Ash Maurya

Tony initially trained as an Engineer and owning and operating a regional

Internet Service Company he gained deep understanding of the Small and Medium Enterprise market. As

a Business Development Manager for an International Software house he has developed extensive

relationships in the Education, Health, Government and Corporate sectors in Australia and abroad.

In his current role as a manager of the Innovation Hub Coffs Coast, a joint initiative of the Southern Cross

University, TAFE and Coffs Harbour City Council, Tony is on a mission to attract the “Lifestyle

Entrepreneurs” to the Mid North Coast and would be delighted to help new and existing business to use

Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses.

Panel 3: Self-Determination

Panel Host

Paul Sekfy

Community Development Coordinator, Lifetime Connect

www.lifetimeconnect.org.au

Paul started in community services as a youth worker in Townsville in

1979 after studying marine biology. He has worked in a number of

roles including community arts, research and policy, regional

development, aged and community care, and community

development.

He has board/governance experience in community services, health, the music industry, regional

development and festivals. He has worked as a consultant with federal, state and local governments. His

current employment is as Community Development Coordinator for Lifetime Connect in the Nambucca

Shire.

Paul was the inaugural chair of RDA Mid North Coast and is currently a Board member of the Local

Community Services Association and East Coast Accessibility Experts.

Panel members

Dr. Stephen Saunders

Section Leader Industry and Destination Development, Coffs

Harbour City Council

“Be the change you want to see” Mahatma Gandhi

Stephen Saunders is Section Leader Industry and Destination

Development for the Coffs Harbour City Council. His portfolio

includes economic development and destination marketing for the

Coffs Harbour LGA. He has over 20 years’ experience in general

management, strategic marketing and business development across

a variety of industries including retailing, consulting services, and tourism in the private sector, as well as

within Local Government.

Stephen has lived in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, having most recently lived in Sydney for

eight years. He holds a Doctor of Commerce degree specialising in Industrial and Organisational

Psychology. He has a strong interest in harnessing innovation and entrepreneurial development for

economic growth.

Tracy Singleton

Project Director Bowraville Solution Brokerage, NSW Department of

Planning and Environment

“Self-Determination, is allowing an individual, group, or community

explore their aspirations or goals for the future, and then working to

identify the resources that could change and sustain their social,

economic, or educational circumstance.”

Tracy is a Gumbaynggirr woman, her family is from Bowraville. She is

married to a Yirrganydji man from Cairns in Far North Queensland, and

we have five children and three grandchildren.

Tracy has had a long and varied career beginning with a traineeship with a Commonwealth government

employment program with the Queensland Health, Aboriginal Health Program when I was 18 years old.

She has since worked in Identified (Aboriginal) and mainstream positions with government agencies and

in the non-government sector. Her current role is the Project Director, Bowraville Solution Brokerage, with

the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, and my substantive position is Regional Manager,

Greater Northern Region, Aboriginal Affairs, NSW Department of Education. Both positions are

challenging and rewarding.

Tracy is outcome driven, implementing projects and programs with transparency, equity, ability, and

follow through. Her goal is to build on my current work to influencing and building capability of Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal community, government and non-government organisations, and most importantly

staff.

Ashley Watt

Operations and Innovations Manager, Why Leave Town

www.whyleavetown.com

"If you want to bring upon significant change, you need to be playing

a long term game, and be prepared to be knocked down a few times"

Ashley Watt established Why Leave Town Promotions in 2007 along

with his business partners, Justin Smith and Brad Graham. The

business is built on the foundation of promoting the shop local message and hence has seen Why Leave

Town work with dozens of communities all across Australia.

Ashley is also the author of "WHY LEAVE TOWN - Practical Ways to Encourage People to Shop Locally"

which looks at ways to engage businesses and communities around the shop local message.

Ashley’s professional background is in market research, having spent over 15 years working across a

number of industries. In particular, his area of expertise has been in large scale tracking programs that

have focused on shopper behaviour, attitudes, usage behaviour, advertising, brand health, and customer

satisfaction.

Having been born and raised in a small community in regional Australia, Ashley has seen firsthand the

importance of creating a shop local culture, and the unquestionable fruits that arise when you get it right.

Kim Thomson

Senior Project Officer, NSW Family and Community Services

“if we continue to focus on what a community needs rather than

supporting them to achieve their aspirations, we will never meet all of

the needs and run out of funding.”