An international, cross-industry career that has moved from corporate management to extensive research, advisory and capability development services to public, private and third sector organisations. Tim has lived and worked in the UK, France (3 years) and United States (20 years), building an impressive research and entrepreneurial record, with demonstrated commitment to delivering social benefit.

As Founder and President, World Commerce & Contracting (formerly International Association for Contract & Commercial Management), Tim has built a 72,000 member worldwide non-profit association which increasingly influences commercial policies and contracting practices in major corporations and governments. In September 2019, he was presented with the Financial Times ‘Market Shaper of the Year’ Award.

Tim was until recently Professor and Chair, International Commercial & Contract Management, University of Leeds, School of Law, where he taught and led development of inter-disciplinary commercial programs.

Prior to founding World Commerce & Contracting, Tim was on the Chairman’s staff at IBM Corporation and led the development of worldwide commercial processes and skills. His early career included management roles in banking, automotive and aerospace industries, where he led negotiations up to $1.5 billion in value. He has served in advisory roles for government departments in various countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

Jerry Silber is a seasoned legal professional with extensive experience as both an external lawyer and in-house counsel. He specializes in negotiating and managing a range of commercial and technology agreements, including M&A, outsourcing, master services, and professional services agreements. Jerry's expertise spans critical areas such as data privacy, data security, and liability disputes. During his tenure at Verizon, Jerry led a team supporting complex commercial transactions and played key roles on executive committees like the Management Review Board and Integrity Council. Previously, he practiced corporate law at Katten, Muchin, & Rosenman, specializing in broadcast and telecommunication law.

He holds an advisory position with AI2030, a member-based initiative dedicated to "Responsible AI for a Better World," and writes a monthly column for AI2030 on case law impacting AI. Since retiring from Verizon in March, Jerry has been advising several start-ups on commercial and regulatory matters and has just begun a consulting gig with Frontier Communications. For over three decades, Jerry has taught communications law and ethics at various local colleges. His involvement with World CC goes back to the IACCM days when he was on the original team that promulgated the association’s first Contracting Principles. His continuous involvement with World CC since then (including several terms on the Advisory Council) led to his being awarded the status of “Fellow” earlier this year.

Jerry holds a bachelor's degree from the City University of New York, a master's degree in Journalism from Penn State University, and a law degree from Pace University School of Law, where he will be teaching next year. His commitment to pro bono work has earned him numerous awards and accolades.

I have over 20 years of experience as a Contract and Commercial Management leader that thrives on creatively solving complex problems and building strong relationships based on trust and respect. I have worked across a broad range of industries and geographies including Outsourcing and Technology programs as well as the Sports Management & Marketing fields in North America and Asia Pacific. I have a proactive and positive approach with a drive for excellence and exceeding expectations by making the best use of my communication and negotiation skills that focus on integrity and enthusiasm for achieving long term success for everyone.

My role as the Senior Director of Contract Management, Growth Markets (Latin America, Africa, Middle East & Asia Pacific) Accenture enables me to work with a talented and diverse group of 300+ people across Growth Markets and 150+ people across our Global Legal Network. I'm passionate about expanding the overall team capabilities while leveraging their strengths and interests to help them to bring the best of themselves to work every day. Coaching the team to unleash their potential through a combination of commitment to service excellence to the business and our clients and by challenging the status quo is exciting and rewarding.

My top 5 Gallup strengths are: Positivity – Individualization – Empathy – Developer – WOO (Winning Others Over)

Paul Rigo is the Executive Director of stratagility, a commercial and strategy delivery consultancy.

Paul has over 20 years of experience in growing businesses across diverse and challenging sectors, such as renewables, infrastructure, oil and gas, resources, and engineering. Paul’s credentials include a Bachelor of Laws, a Company Directors Course, a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and multiple executive education programs in M&A and corporate strategy.

Paul has a proven track record of leading and delivering multi-million and billion dollar projects in various regions, such as Africa, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, and the CIS, using a range of contractual models and engaging with government agencies, financiers, and stakeholders. Paul has extensive expertise in commercial advisory and management, supply chain advisory and management, transaction advisory and management, project development and management, international and cross-border transactions, and financial and operational management. Paul’s mission is to provide tailored and effective solutions that meet the individual objectives and challenges of each client, while driving change, innovation, and performance in the industry.

As Global CEO of one of the world’s fastest growing non-profits, Sally’s mission is to inspire and support the World Commerce & Contracting (WorldCC) team and global community to collectively drive recognition and excellence in Commercial and Contract Management.

She is an experienced and accomplished commercial and contracts management professional, holding senior commercial positions at a range of corporate and multi-national organizations. Her focus is on the creation of positive and successful business relationships, constantly striving to ensure that businesses realize their true potential and value.

In 2019 Sally was invited to become Chair of the Board for the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) and in 2021 she was appointed Professor in Practice in Strategy and Innovation at the University of Durham Business School.

Stefania Passera, Contract Designer in Residence (World Commerce & Contracting), CEO (Passera Design)

Stefania Passera is a contract design and simplification expert based in Espoo, Finland. She runs her one-woman consultancy Passera Design, and is Contract Designer in Residence at World Commerce & Contracting. In these roles, she helps organizations transform their contracts and policies into user-friendly, effective tools that work better for business.

Stefania is an all-rounder, backing her design expertise with a solid academic background. She has served as Assistant Professor at the University of Vaasa, Department of Business Law, and has earned her doctoral degree from Aalto University School of Science. She has guest lectured at prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, Bucerius Center on the Legal Profession, KU Leuven, UC Louvain, European University Institute, ESADE Law School, and California Western School of Law.

She is a co-founder of the Legal Design Alliance, a co-author of the Legal Design Manifesto, and the creator of Legal Design Jam. In 2020, she has received the European Women of Legal Tech Award.

Hal recently retired from British Telecommunications as its Chief Counsel in the Americas. He is now consulting, and we are happy that he is now associated with World CC in support of our Contracting Principles and in other Speed to Contract endeavors.

Ashish is a seasoned professional in the field of Contract and Commercial Management with over 27 years of experience in global IT, Telecom, Infrastructure and Engineering Research & Development industries. He is currently working with Capgemini as India CCM Head.

He is a Subject Matter Expert with strong acumen of Commercial, Legal and technical aspects of doing business. He has a proven ability to solve complex business problems through simplified commercial alternatives that cover full lifecycle of business relationships. He is a thought leader and influencer who strives to deliver both social and economic benefits in business relationships.

Prior to Capgemini, he worked with Ericsson, IBM and Intel at leadership CCM positions for both buy and sell side.

I have been working as a Contract Negotiator for over 10 years starting in my home country, Argentina, then US and Canada. I am currently a certified contract negotiator senior manager at Avaya LLC and I am passionate about what I do. I am also looking forward to getting my Project Management certification soon to apply that knowledge to my job.

Lita Bollimpalli is an Associate General Counsel for Verizon Business Network Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications. Lita’s responsibilities include negotiation and management of all legal aspects of high dollar global integration deals. Lita also participates in Verizon’s current efforts for contract simplification. Lita’s prior experience includes a role as Senior Counsel at Best Western International, Inc., where she led a team responsible for all contracting, data security and international legal matters for the world’s largest hotel chain. Prior to that, Lita was in private practice at law firms in Denver, Co, Boston, MA and Phoenix, AZ. In addition to her law degree, Lita also has an MBA and an LLM in Tax.

Jasmine is an alumnus of Boston University (B.A) and North Carolina Central School of Law. She has grown her career in contracts management and continues that journey in the area of Consulting with Accenture.

Originally from Glasgow, Scotland; Anne has lived in Perth for 13 years. Since arriving she has worked at various points in the construction and mining industry supply chain including power station build, mine and infrastructure construction, transport & logistics and manufacturing. She fell into commercial management by chance, as her background is law and accountancy, prior to making the move Down Under she was providing financial support for TV production at the BBC by way of outsourcing, investment banking and utilities.

In her role as Lead, Projects Commercial at BHP, Anne is responsible for a team of contracts and commercial professionals who support the WA Asset Projects Division ensuring that they provide their commercial expertise to create and protect value for projects.

She holds an LLB(Hons)Law, a post graduate certificate in Construction Law and is a Fellow of CPA Australia and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).
She is also a proud advocate of Transplant Australia and the life changing benefits of the Gift of Life.
 

Lucy Chandler is the Global Business Operations Manager for World Commerce & Contracting. She has been with the organisation for 7 years and initially joined as an Executive Assistant to support the Europe and UK members but has moved up in her role gaining further knowledge and experience. She provides support to all of the members across the globe with membership, training, and general enquiries. One of Lucy's yearly highlights and greatest passion is being a host the ‘Leaders of the Future' program.

Before Lucy joined WorldCC, she worked in the brewery industry for 16 years so moving from beer to contracts was certainly a big change and challenge but is a journey she has enjoyed. Outside of work, she is married, has two boys in their mid-teens and our family dog, Jack, so she is overpowered by men in the house. She enjoys a bit of baking when she has time and has been known to make some artistic cakes including one for WorldCC when they re-branded from IACCM to WorldCC in September 2020.

Saz is a Director within KPMG’s Contract Assurance and Performance practice, working across industries to support organisations get what they need from their contractual arrangements. She works with clients to uplift their contract performance, enhance contract management maturity and navigate through contractual complexities.   With over 15 years of experience in global procurement and contract management, she enjoys developing pragmatic, people-focussed solutions to governance, risk and compliance challenges. 

Jon started his career in Defence, as an aviator, and spent the last 10 years of his 27 year career in Capability Development and Defence project roles.

Since moving to industry in 2007, Jon project managed large sell side Defence projects and managed large defence support contracts, moving into the Senior Commercial Manager’s role for CAE IPAC Region.

Key interests are in contract renewal, ie how to refresh existing contracts; performance based management contracts; and relation based contracting. He is a firm believer in the most critical factors for project and contract success are relationship and fairness.

Jon holds a Computer Science degree, a post-graduate diploma in Technology Management, is an Aircraft System specialist and certified by WCC as an Advanced Practitioner in Commercial and Contract Management.

Jon is married, lives in Sydney with two sons, both of whom are also Computer Science graduates.
Other interests include solving the world’s problems over a single malt whisky or two with like inquiring minds.

Wendy Chen has been working for Unisys as the Greater China legal counsel since 2016 until now and is an experienced in-house Legal Counsel to provide comprehensive legal support to multiple business units in the Asia Pacific region. With over two decades of professional experience, Wendy has a rich background in the legal sector, starting worked in the leading law firms and transitioning to the global companies like HP and BASF, which enables Wendy to have a 360-degree perspective on contracting risks and mitigation strategies. Wendy received her Bachelor of Laws from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan, and a Master of Law (L.L.M.) from the University of Wisconsin Madison (UW Madison) School of Law in the USA. Wendy lives in Taipei, Taiwan, with her family currently.

Gene leads legal automation firm LawHawk, which helps lawyers and businesses improve and automate their processes. He was a corporate & finance partner at Buddle Findlay before founding LawHawk in 2015. He is a Fellow of World Commerce & Contracting, is on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Legal Innovation and holds an MBA (Distinction) from Victoria University.

Harry Bevan is WorldCC’s Community Manager, lecturer of English and Contract Management at the University of Grenoble, France as well as a PhD candidate. His research focuses on legal jargon and plain English in business contracts. After a master’s in international trade, Harry joined WorldCC (then IACCM) as a research analyst and then moved on to the role of membership advocacy executive. He is now the manager of

WorldCC’s community platform and has been lecturing contract management and business English for four years.

Harry holds both French and British passports and lives in Grenoble, France.

My career has been shaped by bold ambition, determination, and a commitment to transformative leadership. For over a decade, I have worked in the commercial field, navigating
complex legal landscapes and high-stakes environments. At just 27, I became Head of Legal, Europe, for a $25 billion U.S. corporation. By 29, I stepped into a similar role at a Fortune 500 company, where I built a reputation for resolving complex commercial disputes.

After being recognised for my contributions to business by Baroness Sharmishta Chakrabarti, I was recruited by the UK Government to lead Brexit Assurance efforts, establish its first pan-government disputes practice, and lead and optimise multi-billion-pound commercial portfolios across central government on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

In addition to my professional pursuits, I am a mother of three children, which has deepened my ability to balance competing demands and approach challenges with resilience and perspective. Whether navigating business or the challenges of motherhood, the principles of empathy, patience, and tenacity apply across all spheres of life.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with governments, multinationals, military organisations, and venture-backed startups. Colleagues often describe me as a very calm authority, with very outside-the-box thinking. My contributions have been featured in The Times and Forbes, and I was named one of the top five women in business by Management Today and Accenture.

Today, as CEO of Resolutiion, a global technology company, I am redefining how organizations manage conflicts and disputes, creating solutions that foster resilience, trust, and strengthen relationships. As both a leader and a mother, I’m passionate about building adaptable, resilient organisations that are ready to face the complexities of tomorrow with confidence.

I am honoured to have served as an official UN Women Delegate for a fourth consecutive year, advocating for global gender equality.
 

Yang Xu is a business operations manager for WorldCC APAC, where he supports all WorldCC members in maximizing their membership benefits. He specializes in corporate member onboarding and engagement, event planning for APAC, training coordination, and making sure APAC members are getting the most out of their membership. With a diverse background in fields such as actuarial consulting, digital marketing, copywriting, education, and speaking facilitation, Yang brings a unique perspective to the role. His wide-ranging experience helps him understand the complexity of contracting and commercial relationships. He is dedicated to helping WorldCC members achieve their goals and drive business success.

In recent years Matt has been at the sharp end, working with WorldCC Enterprise Members, Commercial & Contract teams. Matt heads the EMEA region at WorldCC leading on evangelising & delivering on our mission for a world where all trading relationships deliver social and economic benefit. One contract at a time.

A legal professional with 23 years of corporate legal experience in leadership positions across multiple sectors in the Asia Pacific Region, like Financial Services, Civil Aviation, Defense forces, Information Technology, etc. in the Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern Countries. Experience is predominantly in Legal, Commercial, Compliance, Contract Management, Enterprise Risk management, Anti-Trust, Corporate Governance, Board affairs, FCPA/Anti-bribery, Dispute Management, Employment Law, Disciplinary Board management, Intellectual property, etc. Extensive experience in leading commercial negotiations with international government agencies and private parties. Led and supported numerous international M&A activities, and set up joint venture entities across APAC & ME.
 

Richard is currently the Head of Strategy, Policy and Governance at New Zealand Government Procurement (NZGP), Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. NZGP is responsible for governmental system-level leadership, frameworks and guidance. Richard has held leadership, policy and legal roles within the public and private sector.

Matthias is a fully qualified lawyer and equity partner at PwC Legal Germany. He holds a PhD in constitutional and technology law and an LL.M. in International Business Transactions. He has 17 years of experience in various consulting and management positions at BCG, Deutsche Telekom, and Axiom Law. As the Head of Legal Business Solutions at PwC, Matthias supports corporate legal departments in Germany on their transformation journey. One of his areas of focus is the design and implementation of digital solutions for legal teams, including CLM systems.

Rob is a passionate commercial and contracts professional with over a decades experience of program delivery, procurement, and commercial management at both buy and sell side in the United Kingdom and Australia. Rob is a Bachelor and Master of Laws from the University of Manchester, Dean’s Honours listed Executive MBA from Melbourne Business School, and recently awarded Fellow of World CC. Rob’s previous experience in the consulting industry spanned numerous sectors including government and defence, transport and infrastructure, health and human services, as well as commercial consumer facing sectors. A specialist in the Aerospace and Defence sector, Rob is currently the Director of Contract Management for Thales Australia, following Commercial Management roles on some of Australia’s major defence programs with various international Primes.

Rob is passionate about the continued cross-sector professionalisation of Contract and Commercial Management as its own, distinct professional career path, and the enhancement of Commercial Management as the golden thread that facilitates effective commerce between organisations.

Funkola Odeleye is a legal practitioner with a breadth of experience in legal advisory, compliance, operations and technology. She has a Masters in Finance and Financial Law from SOAS, University of London in addition to her LLB from the Lagos State University and BL from the Nigerian Law School. She is a Cartier Women’s Initiative 2020 Fellow, 2019 Obama Africa Leader, 2019 Sub-Saharan winner and Global Finalist of the Entrepreneurial Award of the British Council Study UK Alumni Award, 2019 Africa 35 under 35 Laureate and a 2015 Innovating Justice Fellow of The Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law (HiiL). Funkola has also been recognised as 1 of 5 business leaders whose work significantly impacts their countries’ economies by the Reykjavík Global Forum and has been celebrated as one of the Inspiring Women 2022 by World Commerce and Contracting. Funkola enjoys cooking and sudoku in her spare time.

Stephen leads NIP's analytical and consulting functions, with his main focus being the ongoing development and deployment of NIP's Value Management methodology - especially the concept of Things That Matter and supporting online diagnostic tools. Complementary areas of focus for him include collaborative working, complex adaptive systems theory and practice, and B2B relationship management. Stephen has been at NIP for over 20 years, and holds a masters degree from Oxford University.

Matthew is an accomplished Assistant Contract Manager with over a year of experience at the Department for Transport (DfT). He manages a significant £1.5 billion contract within the Great Western Railway (GWR) team.

Matthew's recognition comes from winning WorldCC's Global Leaders of the Future program. He holds degrees in Civil and Structural Engineering and has hands-on experience in railway track maintenance. His training in project management enhances his understanding of the project lifecycle.

Matthew excels at managing complex contract changes and liabilities across a diverse stakeholder landscape while fostering team development. His expertise and dedication consistently drive success in his projects.

With over 20 years of expertise in financial services, Elle is an accomplished commercial lawyer who has worked with organisations such as NAB, Vanguard Investments, and DLA Piper before launching her own firm in 2021. Elle founded Essential Legal Solutions, a commercial law firm that focuses on supporting financial services businesses and startups. Her specialisation lies in General Counsel advice, regulatory compliance and legal project management. Elle has established and managed legal and compliance departments both nationally and globally. Recently, Elle launched ‘The Fractional GC,’ a newsletter providing insights into Fractional General Counsel roles and emerging legal trends.

Sharon is a passionate advocate for driving shared values and positive change in the world. She recognises the advancement of the capabilities of our commercial, procurement, contracting, supply chain, and legal professionals as integral to building a better future for people, prosperity, and the planet.

As the Group Regional Head of APAC at WorldCC, Sharon spearheads the association's activities throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Her commitment extends to supporting the WorldCC Foundation, where she actively champions sustainable and inclusive contracting practices.

With over two decades of executive experience in Australia and internationally, particularly in the non-profit membership space, Sharon has played a pivotal role in advancing global procurement and supply chain expertise, while ensuring diversity and inclusion are top of mind. Whether as the Director of Global Programs at Procurious or as General Manager for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, Sharon has consistently aimed to elevate the capabilities and profile of the procurement and supply chain profession across the region.

Sharon is dedicated to driving positive change in the world—one contract at a time!

Han Sun is a distinguished Procurement and Supply Chain Leader, boasting an extensive 16-year career across various sectors, including infrastructure, finance, insurance, health, and resources. His expertise encompasses strategic procurement, supply chain, contract management and leadership, having held numerous leadership roles across different industries in high-stakes environments. Currently serving as the Manager of Procurement and Contracts Excellence at Queensland Rail, Han highlights his ability to modernise procurement frameworks and foster industry collaborations effectively.

Recently, Han completed his Executive MBA at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), during which he participated in an entrepreneurship immersion program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His dedication to professional development is also highlighted by his attainment of the MCIPS certification from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply. Throughout his career, Han has achieved notable accolades, including being a finalist for the CIPS Australasia Supply Management Awards and effectively executing impactful procurement strategies.

Carol Zhang was the Director of Business and Special Projects, sitting in Group CEO’s Office of Surbana Jurong Group for more than 5 years. Surbana Jurong is the biggest infrastructure, urbanization, and asset management consulting firm in Asia, and 100% owned by Temasek.

In this role, she had the privilege of championing sustainability and social value through collaboration, innovation, and collective action.

Carol’s experience extended to the establishment of a sustainable Co-Investment Platform, leveraging partnerships with entities like the Silk Road Fund to mobilize USD 500 million for new infrastructure investments. This initiative exemplifies the power of collaboration to scale sustainable solutions and create lasting social value.

Before joining Surbana Jurong, Carol worked in CITIC Group for more than ten years, based in London and Africa before with a touching base on more than 50 countries market development experience with political and commercial top leaders.

For example, U.K. former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, U.K. The Right Honourable, The Lord Chadlington, African richest woman Isabel dos Santo(Angola President’s daughter) and President of Real Madrid C.F.& Grupo ACS, Florentino Pérez Rodríguez, etc.
Carol holds a Master’s Degree in Cross-Border Business and Finance Law in Asia, Singapore Management University.

Pia has over twenty-five years’ consulting experience working with Fortune 500 organisations. She has specialist knowledge in the areas of executive coaching, leadership, organisational transformation, and the development of high-performance teams.
An educator throughout her career, Pia has a passion for performance and for creating innovative, high-impact learning solutions that ensure sustainable behavioural change.

She was the CEO of a global leadership development consultancy for fifteen years where she designed, developed, and facilitated leadership development solutions for organisations including Macquarie Bank, Cisco, Oracle, Telstra, Sanofi, the World Bank and the Government of Tanzania. She led an eight-year project to develop the leadership of the transformational public reform of Tanzania, which included over 3000 public servants, the future president, global Ambassadors and other senior government officials.
Pia studied her Masters of Organisational Coaching at the University of Sydney Business School and later transferred her deep industry experience and proven approaches to specialise in leader and team effectiveness, in complex work environments.

Marissa is a commercially focused senior procurement leader with 20 years’ experience across a broad range of industries including Government, Facilities Management, Retail and Terminal Fuels, Construction, and Defence. Marissa is the Deputy Chief Procurement Officer for the Department for Education (SA) and and has extensive expertise in senior stakeholder management, procurement transformation and managing critical spend portfolios and supplier relationships. Marissa holds a Master of Supply Chain Management (Melbourne Business School).

As Regional Director for Southeast Asia and Oceania, Mrinalini (Minnie) provides support to WEConnect International by enhancing brand visibility and conducting outreach to women entrepreneurs and corporate buyers in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania. Her region is probably the fastest growing for small and medium enterprises, including those that are women owned. There is a large diversity in types of products, particularly in the sectors of finished consumer goods, commodities and professional services. This has the potential to create mass appeal, especially amongst large established FMCGs and retail chains. Consistency in quality also allows these businesses to remain sustainable, thus providing employment and allowing communities to thrive.

With experience spanning over a decade, Minnie has worked to bridge the gap between unmet social needs and service providers, giving large corporations, government agencies, community organizations and social enterprises the platform to create measurable social impact. She?speaks regularly at schools, community events, corporate gatherings and conferences about the role that gender equality plays in achieving a more sustainable world for everyone.?

Minnie has been awarded the Singapore Women’s Weekly’s Great Women of Our Time Award in the Public Service and Education category and has been nominated as one of Cleo Singapore’s 2016 top ten Changemakers.

Yhana Lanwin (she/her) (LLB, BComm, GAICD, Leading Strategic Change and Growth (Columbia Business School) and Inclusive Leadership Through Behavioural Science (London School of Economics)) is an experienced strategy and transformation leader who has worked across industrial automation, knowledge management and digital projects throughout the resources and energy sector with some of the world’s largest organisations. She is the Founder and CEO of Reflectal, an innovative research-backed social enterprise tech startup targeted at improving workplace psychological safety through existing leadership routines. Yhana is a published, award-winning research author with a particular focus on work and workplace design, inclusive leadership and the role of technology in inclusion, equity and psychological safety.

Fotini is the Founder and Principal Lawyer at Prisma Legal, a commercial legal practice, specialising in commercial legal and governance advisory services to private business owners, the not-for-profit sector, boards and leadership teams in the corporate sector. Prisma Legal breaks traditional legal conventions, humanising law and focusing on relationships, collaborative lawyering and securing the best commercial outcomes for clients.

Prisma Legal is a certified B Corporation, verified as a business that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability to balance profit and purpose.

Fotini is a commercial lawyer of over 24 years’ experience, a Specialist Accredited Adviser through Family Business Association and is Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, a qualified governance professional and company secretary, and she is the Board Chair of the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HACCI), Chair of the National HACCI Federation, and Chair of the B Council for B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Joana is a deal expert at Deutsche Bank's Office for Negotiation with extensive international experience. She has conducted trainings on negotiation, gender and culture in negotiations, conflict management, and emotional intelligence. Through her work with Rational Games Inc, she has taught at esteemed organisations like the German Foreign Ministry, BBC, University of Zurich and the United Nations. She has also trained for Ernst & Young.

Joana holds advanced mediation and negotiation certifications from Harvard's Program on Negotiations, an MBA from Reykjavik University, a Master's in Humanitarian Action and Conflict from Uppsala University, and a diploma in Protocol and Diplomacy from the International School of Diplomacy in Brussels. She also specialises in Humanitarian Negotiations from the Clingendael Institute and is a PhD candidate in Negotiations and AI at Twente University.

Joana believes in the universal benefits of negotiation skills and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of negotiations and communication in business and diplomacy.
 

Nathan has worked in startups and a variety of media organisations across the US, UK, and Australia.  Most recently he spent 11 years at Google, where he was Australia’s most highly sought after Team Development facilitator.  Nathan grew up 50 miles from the centre of California. After studying Theatre at Santa Clara University, and much to the relief of his parents, Nathan joined a startup in Seattle. That job took him to London more than 20 years ago.

At Google Nathan first discovered the concept of Unconditional Positive Regard, and grew to appreciate that approaching his life through this lens could lead to radical transformation.  Since then, helping individuals and teams develop new ways of thinking about feedback has become his favourite topic.
 

Former New Zealand GM for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and former Director of Champions for Change with Global Women, Joe is an independent Diversity Equity and Inclusion Consultant working with a range of organisations and industries.

While at Chartered Accountants ANZ Joe published the Gender Pay Gap Playbook which had a reach of over 840,000 people and was recognised by the New Zealand Minister for Women.

Joe’s mission is to help organisations create world class workplaces of the future where cultures of inclusion and belonging sit at the heart of high performance.

Joe is the co-founder of Mobilise - a dedicated leadership development and allyship program specifically for men.

Strategist, practitioner and a keynote speaker for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) with a track record of awards and eminence.
Leading all-rounded scopes and initiatives on DEI in Japan and Asia Pacific, especially from communication strategies, culture, and social impact perspectives.
Born, raised, and educated in Japan while developed her professional career/expertise in various/global fields -from center of excellence, professional services, global mobility consulting, corporate planning, and communication in various industries.

Tara’s career has spanned strategy, business development, innovation, marketing and cross-sector collaboration at executive and Board level. She has worked across the for-purpose sector in Australia, the UK and Europe. She has led large scale collaborations, designed and implemented organisational-wide strategies for growth and diversification, and repositioned brands for increased impact.

She is currently the CEO at Social Traders, a leading social enterprise intermediary. She was a Founding Director at Social Enterprise Australia, the peak body for social enterprise. She is passionate about the intersection between business and purpose, and the social enterprise model.
Tara has an MBA from Bayes Business School in the UK, a Masters in Social Innovation from Danube University in Austria, and a degree in Media and Communications from Melbourne University.

Nok has been serving as the Laos Coordinator at PEFC APAC for nearly two years, overseeing finance, HR, and administration for the team. In addition to her role at PEFC, she is a certified yoga instructor, leading online classes each morning and evening through the Art of Living organization in Laos. Her yoga expertise helps her foster a stress-free and productive work environment within the APAC team.

With nearly a decade of experience in finance across banking, automobile manufacturing, and private sector businesses, Nok brings a wealth of knowledge to her role. She is fluent in Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, and English, showcasing her global perspective. Nok holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and a yoga teaching certification from Sri Sri Yoga School under the Art of Living organization in India.

• Principal Consultant, Capgemini Netherlands
• Involved in Agile Transformation at as well public as commercial Clients
• 25+ years in IT
• Core Member Capgemini’s Agile Value Center, where new service offerings are developed. A knowledge hub on Agile within Capgemini NL:
• Agile Contracting
• Lean Portfolio Management
• Generative AI in Agile
• Author of ‘Agile, the times they are a-changin’’