A passionate and experienced governance professional, Mele-Ane’s work explores the intersection of cultural wisdom, purpose-led business, and the “next economy,” and believes in the immense power of storytelling for change. Mele-Ane holds an MBA from Oxford, where she was a fellow of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. She also has an LLB/BA from Monash University.

Mele has over 20 years of experience reporting to Boards and Board sub-committees with over 13 years of experience as a non-executive Director of Boards. Her experience spans ASX-listed companies, not-for-profits and for-purpose organisations across a wide range of sectors.

Simon Sheikh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Future Group, a rapidly growing ethical superannuation group in Australia with $16 billion in assets under management & advice. The business supports multiple superannuation brands, including Future Super, which was Australia's first fossil fuel free superannuation fund. Prior to founding Future Group, Simon was the National Director of GetUp, a leading progressive advocacy organisation in Australia that now has 1.1 million members. He served on the inaugural board of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, which has grown to 120,000 members. Simon has also worked as an Analyst at the NSW Treasury and consulted for various organisations, including Bendigo Bank, Minderoo, and the Queensland public sector union. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics, Accounting, and Business Law from the University of NSW.
Simon is passionate about parenthood and climate action. He is the father of an 9-year-old who loves surfing and cricket.

Tavale is the Creative Director and Founder at Mahana Culture. With a lifetime of work in the Human Services space spanning across New Zealand, USA and Australia as well as a passion for the complex space of difference, Tavale is super curious about the relational space that exists between us and ourselves, us and others and us and the systems we live, work and play in. This curiosity about the relational space is at the heart of Mahana Culture: a movement in the shape of a business with a purpose of Awakening Cultural Dignity for all.

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Tom is an experienced AFL player with 14 years at Melbourne, St Kilda, North Melbourne, and the Western Bulldogs. He is passionate about safeguarding the future of the sport through climate action. As a co-founder of Footy for Climate, Tom supports AFL and AFLW players in reducing emissions, sharing personal climate stories, and driving climate action across clubs and fan communities. He also holds a Bachelor of Business (Management & Innovation) from Victoria University.

Jade is the CEO of Sustainable Table, a Regenerative Farmer, Author and Podcast Host. In 2020 she launched her podcast Futuresteading and with 140 episodes spanning 9 seasons now under her belt she has also released a book with the same name and has a second one due out in April 2025 titled 'Huddle'. To be sure she is putting her efforts where her mouth is, Jade is also a regenerative heritage fruit farmer together with her husband and three kids at Black Barn Farm, a biodiverse orchard, nursery and workshop space in Northeast Victoria which opens to the public for u-pick, schools programs and skills workshops from December to May each year. She’s an active presence in the regenerative space, hosting school programs, permaculture and homesteading workshops while sitting on multiple boards – all in the name of reconnecting people to nature, food and a simpler existence.

Gayle and her Global Leadership Foundation co-founder, Malcolm Lazenby, are passionate about and committed to making a positive difference to people, organisations and communities – both locally and globally.  They each bring over 30 years of experience and internationally recognised expertise in developing, strengthening and transforming individuals, teams, organisations and communities.

As a ‘for purpose’ organisation and a certified B Corp, Global Leadership Foundation, uses its business as a “force for good”, placing its profit each year into a philanthropic fund for the development of leaders in community. It’s pro-bono and low bono work also strengthens and supports individuals, organisations and communities to build compassionate and sustainable approaches to leadership and life.

Global Leadership Foundation along with its Global Fellows, works with boards, and senior leaders all over the world in a range of areas, including: transformational leadership and change in individuals and organisations, strategic planning and development, emotional health and leadership resilience, leading through facilitating, strengthening collaboration, and board and executive mentoring and coaching.

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Nathan will be with you each step along the way as you move through the program. Guiding you with his years of wisdom and deep pull towards helping people find and amplify the stories inside them.

Nathan is a supporting artist for individuals and organisations wanting to tell their story. He was previously the editor of Dumbo Feather magazine for eight years, and now edits the sustainability quarterly, Renew. He enjoys a good ‘deep and meaningful’, as well as shining a light on ideas and work that help bring about a more beautiful world.

Kaj is the Director of the Small Giants Academy Action Labs, where he leads the incubation and development of new initiatives. This has included the creation of Regen Melbourne, launching B Corporation in our region, bringing the School of Life to Australia and co-creating the Mastery of Business and Empathy and Impact Safari. He is a guide on a number of the SGA programs including Impact Safari Scandinavia: the Future of Cities.

Alexa Firmenich is an investor, consultant and facilitator focused on climate and biodiversity. She is the co-director of SEED, a new centre of the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich. SEED is developing the world's most holistic measure of biodiversity that reflects multiple scales of nature's complexity for any location on the planet, with the goal to steer financial and political decision-makers to crystallise the value of nature into the global economy. Alexa is also the founder of Ground Effect, an animist investment vehicle that supports early stage nature-based solutions, scientific research and new economic models. Parallel to this work, she is trained as a group facilitator in leadership development and ecological pedagogy, designing multi-day learning journeys through her role at Leaders' Quest.  She is also an author, podcast host of Lifeworlds, a founding board member of Terra Habitus – a Mexican environmental fund that operates large-landscape conservation and watershed restoration – and a wilderness guide.

Eleanor is a curator of immersive experiences, bringing people together to explore the ideas defining our time.

Eleanor is the Executive & Creative Director of TEDxSydney, most recently co-curated the Forest Economics Congress with MONA (Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania) and designed the Climate Leadership Accelerator for Small Giants Academy.

She was previously the Head of Programs at Small Giants Academy, co-creating deep impact learning journeys including the Mastery of Business and Empathy, Impact Safaris to Israel and Palestine (conflict & innovation), Bhutan (GNH & systems of measurement) and the Tarkine Rainforest (regeneration of people and place), as well as various courses exploring the interplay of wisdom and action required to meet global challenges.

Prior to this, Eleanor was the Managing Director of The School of Life Australia, a platform exploring emotional intelligence through philosophy, anthropology and culture, staging ambitious public programming with interdisciplinary thought leaders across the country.

Eleanor co-founded First Light to contribute to the growing global community investing in climate responses. She is a board director for Groundswell Giving and co-chair of the Atelier Council at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

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Chris is a disinformation expert, founder, and advocacy strategist. He has 14+ years of experience co-designing and implementing social impact programs and campaigns across six continents and numerous issue areas, specialising in disinformation, climate, democracy, responsible technology, and public health - and is at his best working at the intersections of these issues. He is currently the Co-Founder of the Research & Action Hub, which is global infrastructure for collaborative disinformation research and campaigning, as well as the Corporate Accountability Director at Climate Integrity - focused on corporate greenwashing.  Chris is also non-executive director of Sweltering Cities, a grassroots organisation working at the intersection of health, economic injustice and climate change to amplify the voices of suburban communities experiencing the debilitating heat of increasingly hotter summers. His career is built on his academic experience in media production, political science and anthropology, enabling his work with communities to leverage culture and storytelling to change behaviour, policy and systems. He is an Australian based in Indonesia, and working globally.