Its simple. Leading businesses to find new value in markets, create growth, digitally transform and empower teams through the toughest of challenges to deliver outstanding performance and results is my reason for being. The application of emerging technology, innovation and commercial models is critical to helping businesses of all sizes scale new growth opportunities.

Over the years I've led large complex digital and business transformation projects, turnaround businesses and sales portfolios, create new market entry and now startup/scale-up commercialisation for several cyber security and digital identity firms, fintech and software (SAAS) firms.

Now co-founding a behavioural intelligence (AI) firm to solve old problems in a new way.

My multi-sector sector experience and roles highlight my adaptability, leadership and business acumen.

Driving growth and digital transformation in these sectors means being able to meld legacy systems and processes to transition to practical applications of emerging technology that build new ways of working using AI/ML, geospatial and visualisation data, IoT sensors, 3D modelling and data intelligence.

I bring executive leadership and transformation experience from Global ICT, Large Australian Companies, Mid-Tier Accounting and small businesses including extensive international engagement with partner organisations from USA, UK, India, Spain and France.

“You need a workforce of Influential Leaders to be able to solve real problems”

I know that you can’t have good economics or a healthy organisational culture without leadership. My why is to create a leadership culture and mindset for all people in your organisation for betterment of today and for a prosperous future.

With a vision to change the way organisations think and behave. Working with leaders in a multitude of industries to be able to change their team culture and create a world of thoughtful leaders.

Well-versed in behaviour styles, communication, and emotional intelligence, for you, I have developed a suite of tools to educate improvements in leadership for your organisation to be able to leave behind a legacy that impacts the way business is conducted.

Sarah’s life has been dedicated to growing emotional intelligence in those to believe in themselves and inspire them to achieve more. #Empower

Through my education programs and specifically, sought-out tools, I assist professionals and directors to understand their own behaviour and communication style. Helping them to build strength in their team and understand how to get the most out of their team performance.

Dominic Vrolijks is passionate about manufacturing, and passionate about business on the Sunshine Coast. Dominic rely heavily on my network of colleagues and associates throughout the region. The relationships Dominic has establish have travelled with him throughout his career, and he is very proud of this. Above all Dominic treat people he work with with honesty and integrity.
Specialities: Innovative Mechanical Design, Utilisation of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Rapid Prototyping, Finite Element Analysis, International Trade and Procurement, Project Management, Estimating, Budgeting, Purchasing.

Kathryn has a strong background in technology, sales and early stage start-up companies. Kat has more than two decades of experience designing, coding, building and running large internet-based businesses. Prior to becoming a professional non-exec director, was executive Senior Director of Xbox Games Marketplace as well as Microsoft Store online where she managed the profit and loss and global expansion in over 200 geographies with annual revenue budgets in the low $1 billion of dollars. She has extensive technical and commercial experience in software and hardware solutions and advises companies on strategy and technology.
Kat has started a new venture on the Sunshine Coast, launching highly available and secure datacenters.
Since moving to Australia, is a non-executive Director for two listed companies and a couple of non-listed companies in Australia.
Holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in International Marketing from Oregon State University and Associate of Science (ASc) - Computer Science and Information Systems from SCC Seattle, USA.

Over the last 20 years in the fitness industry I have founded and co-founded multiple companies serving the fitness industry with equipment, education, media/marketing services and technology solutions.

My fitness journey began in 2003 after having returned from playing semi-professional soccer in Italy.

I spent 5 years honing my craft as a Personal Trainer, working in small studio’s, large “big-box” gyms, and managing a team of personal trainers.

In 2009 I created the concept which turned into my first brand, and after two years of R&D CrankIt Fitness was launched in 2011. CrankIt is now an international fitness brand distributed in over 25 countries. We have educated over 6000 fitness professionals who collectively train over 100,000 session per week using CrankIt movement techniques.

The Wellness Program is a wellness technology startup poised to rapidly grow into a technology leader to disrupt the global health and fitness market using a combination of AI, fitness content, biometrics and gamification with cloud-based software to provide a personalized user experience at scale.

I believe in shaking up the status quo and would love to connect with people who care about making a positive difference.

Co-Founder & Treasurer, responsible for engaging with youth entrepreneurs, and based at the University of the Sunshine Coast, has a deep knowledge of the obstacles entrepreneurs face and processes to overcome these and contributes to Silicon Coast’s capacity building and skills development initiatives.

Tackling challenges creatively became my area of expertise, when at 18 years of age I became the youngest person to fly solo around the world, in a single engine aircraft. With the mission named Wings Around the World, I set out to prove to other young people that success isn't reserved for the later years of life.

The journey took nearly 2 and a half years to plan, 54 days to fly and nearly half a million dollars in fundraised cash and services. Overcoming threats of arrest, huge storms and challenging flight conditions, together my team reached millions around the world and began redefining the capabilities of today's generation.

It is now my mission to help organisations objectively examine and redefine their relationship with the millennial generation; creating better understanding of mindsets, beliefs and core values to ultimately lead to improved retention, communication and sales.

Social Capital is the currency of our age! Its the most valuable asset you can build.

I am an educator, facilitator, researcher and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience across all sectors of education and a range of industries. I specialise in offering consulting, human-centred program design, facilitation and training with a focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and social capital strategy for individuals and organisations.

I have gained unique skills in building trust, peer and social learning in a range of environments particularly in virtual learning environments (well before a global pandemic) as a program facilitator with USQ’s award winning "Wire Program". This program connected hundreds of geographically isolated women online to help them start new or expand existing businesses, in turn creating jobs for their drought-ravaged regions.

I have founded three training organisations in Safety Leadership (Registered Training Organisation)- Pilbara WA and Central Qld , Neuroscience Leadership and Groei Education. I currently lecture in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Strategy, Organisational Behaviour, Decision Making and Creativity for a number of leading Australian institutions and am undertaking a PhD on social and entrepreneurial capital.

I am a current director of the International Social Capital Association and have recently been appointed as the Australian Chair for leadership and entrepreneurship education to the G100 a global group of female leaders that provide thought leadership to the G20 and policymakers.

On the sunshine coast I mentor for Generation Innovation, The Telstra Mayors Innovation awards and am a judge for the Sunshine Coast Business Awards.

One change I want to be part of is educational reform including developing innovative ways to educate and embed future thinking skills across the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Key Specialities: People and Culture Development, Workforce Planning, Learning and Development Management, Social and Human Capital Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Practice Development, Learning Program Design, Regional Economic Development, Community Collaboration, Extended DiSC Accredited /Workshop Facilitation/Training Deliver/ Instructor-led, eLearning, Microlearning, Peer and Blended-learning.

Tim Kelly is an internationally experienced aeronautical engineer with 20 years of experience in industry. He has worked on programs such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the Airbus A350 in Los Angeles, Nashville, Munich, and Rotterdam. He has a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering, an MBA, a lean six-sigma green belt, and is a Chartered Engineer and RPEQ.

Tim is passionate about building Australia’s sovereign capability through advanced digital engineering and manufacturing.

A forward thinking leader, passionate about business and digital transformation to create outstanding end user experiences. My strong passion for innovation through technology has resulted in delivering high profile healthcare programs that fundamentally change the way that care is delivered across Australia. I take pride in discovering the best solution and outcome for customers and find purpose in driving change, innovation and inclusion for all.

Julian got his footing as a serial entrepreneur in 2010 by starting a small computer repair business, and interest in the field of entrepreneurship and technology brought him to USC, where he completed a degree in Management, Entrepreneurship, and Information Systems. Julian has implemented technical solutions around the world, assisting a range of industries with their IT requirements, and trained teams in remote nations to up-skill in technical areas in order to improve capability within their region.

Julian manages an IT & Data Consulting firm, where he provides specialist technical and R&D solutions worldwide; as well as a regional Cyber Security Consulting firm that provides cyber security preparedness & incident response to Sunshine Coast SMEs, with a team of specialists from the likes of Zoom, Amazon, US/AU Defence, and more.

Co-Founder & Chairperson, responsible local and state Grants a serial entrepreneur and experienced CEO and CTO for the past 18 years. Ben seeks to work with an inspiring technology company while utilising his technology and management skillset to create world-class products while being part of an amazing team who are creating a positive impact for the world.

Ben is also the co-founder of a local programming and entrepreneur group on the Sunshine Coast, QLD since 2013. Ben hosts frequent technical meet-ups presenting new technologies, from using Caffee, building apps in EmberJS, introduction to Tensorflow, how members have built high-performance systems, and more.

As a Sunshine Coast resident, Ben's vision is to promote the growth of tech startups in the
community. Leading a successful campaign for local government to invest in digital
infrastructure, supporting our growing tech scene.

Ben has successfully aligning the interests of the community, mayor, and stakeholders in government, a $4M investment was allocated to build a 750sqm digital hub in our local community of Peregian Beach. Opened in Jan 2018, the precinct encourages local talent to build and launch new startups in the Noosa region. The master-plan includes over 2,000sqm of green-space for community use and recreation, footsteps from the beach.

Director and Board Advisor at Board Associates. Experienced executive with demonstrated history of achievement in business development. Skilled in strategy, planning, transformation, innovation - a graduate member AICD, GradCert in Management (UQ), Bachelor of Commerce (GU).
My passion in life is to assist entrepreneurs achieve their full potential and I have worked with over 180 companies in 5 countries from startups, high growth businesses to large multinationals. As the former CEO of the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast (2012-2020) I assisted founders to succeed, introduced new accelerator programs and had the privilege of leading a team of advisors / mentors and commercialisation experts to provide catalytic support to over 150 entrepreneurial members.

As Manager, Invest Queensland (now Trade & Invest QLD) my team assisted companies to expand into Queensland - clients like Youi Insurance, Lockheed Martin, Virgin Australia, Sandvik, Talisman Energy, Tracknology and Capral.

In the early 2000’s I assisted a range of new ventures to scale, including companies like Dascom (now the centre of IBM's e-security division), QuickBeds (now owned by Flight Centre), FireWire Surfboards and Storey Bridge Climb.

I helped establish our local Startup Weekend in 2014 (now an annual event), Annual Business Pitch Competitions, SunCoast Angels (early stage investment group) and the Sunshine Coast Regional Innovation Program (which secured $1M in project funding) to assist SMEsand has been a strong advocate for the subsea cable.

I first started assisting startups at Griffith University in 1989 and then formally via The Office of Economic Development City of Brisbane Ltd in 1992. Mark’s team played a key role in business facilitation and establishing Australia TradeCoast (1992-98), BNE Airport Corporation Ltd (1996-97), ourBrisbane portal (1997-98), Smart State Strategy (2000-2003) and Cities of Asia Pacific Conference (1992–1999).

I Chaired the Sunshine Coast Health Panel (2018-19), have been an active member of the local Chamber Alliance and was President of the Brisbane Junior Chamber of Commerce (1995-96).

Ben is an 25 year veteran of the IT industry and has extensive experience in growing technology businesses and people. He has worked with customers around the world on a large range of technologies, platforms and Software Solutions.

His career started in the Australian Defence Force as an IT Engineer where helped build Australia’s 2nd largest computer network (WAN). Then he progressed into Technical Instruction on the Microsoft Suite of applications (Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, SMS) and other technical material (Citrix, Vmware, Linux etc). After several years of teaching Ben's managed 40+ staff across Asia and oversaw the Training and IT Departments.

Ben then moved into the Professional Services / Consulting space and has improved and grown 3 businesses as General Manager. He has built processes, implemented new products and services and grown the revenues of each business significantly. His network of trusted partners, colleagues and suppliers is very extensive as Ben is a long term trusted advisor in many areas.

As part of growing businesses over the last 10 years, Ben has implemented Channel Sales Programs, and a delivered a range of business advisory services including Collaboration solutions, Information Management, Cloud Solutions (Azure and AWS), Workflow / Automation solutions, Change Management programs and Digital Transformation strategies.

Outside of work, Ben enjoys spending time with his two children and an excitable Labrador. He enjoys a healthy lifestyle on the Sunshine Coast with a particular enjoyment of sports and the outdoors.

Feda Adra is an inspiring business and industry leader, renowned for her entrepreneurial mindset and unwavering commitment to achieving 'the greater good.' As the Chief Business Officer at Spur, a consulting firm turned ventures studio, she oversees the development and building of products that address significant social problems in partnership with impactful organisations."

At the core of Feda's leadership success is her ability to connect, influence, and inspire. With a compelling vision, foresight, and the courage to challenge the status quo, she empowers people to embrace change and foster creativity. Through an entrepreneurial culture founded on the core values of "doing and being more," Feda cultivates an environment that encourages innovation and continuous growth.

A passionate collaborator, Feda has established strong industry and cross-sector connections, fostering collaboration to find game-changing services and products that improve the health and well-being of communities. Feda's leadership and achievements have been recognised with several business leadership awards across her career.

I am passionate about scaling purpose lead businesses that are making a positive impact on society and the environment.

The success of any business is not just having a great strategy. What is more important is being able to effectively execute the strategy. Strategy execution is the art of translating visionary goals into actionable tasks.

In addition, the secret to any business's ability to drive rapid growth and success comes downs to 2 key elements: 1. Developing a high-performing culture and 2. Effective capital management (raising and deployment).

I am lucky enough to have over 25 years’ experience as an executive and scaling businesses in Australia, UK and North America. Over this time I have developed a proven leadership model for scaling businesses. Centred around these three core pillars of:
• Strategy + Leadership
• Execution + Culture
• Capital management

I have seen over and over again the positive impact this type of leadership model delivers, not only for the business itself but more importantly for the lives of the business owners and their employees.

My passion is to continue to learn, grow and share what I know to positively impact the lives of as many business owners and employees as possible.

An esteemed professional, Kieran brings a wealth of experience in both business and real estate marketing. With a passion for building long-standing business relationships and helping businesses thrive makes for a winning combination.

Kieran’s relentlessness and commitment to deliver on his word the best he can has seen many doors open in his career, and the success that comes with that is a testament.

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity”

Surfer, mother and lousy-but-enthusiastic shower singer, Charlotte is an award-winning sustainability leader. As Climate Tech Ambassador for Greenhouse and Director of Impact for Climate Zeitgeist, Charlotte works at the nexus of climate innovation, investing and corporate demand.

Charlotte founded The Sustainability Collective to democratise sustainability so that all businesses can create positive change for people, planet and a prosperous future. Working with innovative businesses to ensure they're not just solving customer problems but also creating solutions for people and planet.

She’s also Fishburners Expert in Residence for Sustainability and recently developed the Founder Institute’s first global Sustainability Accelerator program. And mentor for the NFP Climate Focused accelerator Subak.

An advocate for social change, Charlotte volunteers her time as a Director on the Board of the international charity One Wave which raises awareness for mental health issues through surfing, saltwater therapy and community. As well as combing her passions for climate and surfing as a board member of Surfers for Climate.