Climate Leadership Accelerator: Into the Arena

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.

As the Co-Founder of Global Leadership Foundation, Gayle is internationally recognised for her capability, enthusiasm and experience in the world of leadership and organisation transformation. She currently works with boards and senior leaders across the globe in a range of areas including transformational change in individuals, teams and organisations, strategic planning and implementation, emotional health and resilience, leading through facilitation, strengthening collaboration, board governance and performance, and Board and Executive mentoring and coaching.

Amongst her professional accreditations, she is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders, a Fellow and former Board Member of Leadership Victoria and is currently a Director of BLabAANZ and The Chalice Foundation. Gayle holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Relations and Organisation Behaviour and a Master of Arts and is the co-author of two books ‘The Emotionally Healthy Leader’ and ‘Working with Emotional Health and the Enneagram’.

Global Leadership Foundation was formed in 2003 with the intent of raising emotional health levels across the globe. It is a ‘for purpose’ organisation and a certified BCorp since 2016. The organisation leads by example in its stewardship role, providing pro-bono support to a number of community programs and non-profit organisations. It strongly believes in sharing its resources and knowledge – as volunteers, facilitators, mentors and more – with a diverse range of important projects and causes that have limited access to funding. Its annual profit has been placed in a philanthropic fund, held with the Australian Communities Foundation from 2006, which allows us to combine pro-bono support with grant-making for the development of leaders in community.

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.

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.

Victoria is the CEO of Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA), and has worked in climate and environmental leadership for the past 17yrs. Her former roles include Chair of the Climate Action Network Australia (CANA), Climate Campaign Manager of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Manager of Strategy at Bank Australia.

WELA is an independent not-for-profit organisation that is empowering, supporting and funding diverse women’s leadership for our environment and climate, in order to transform Australia’s response to these crises.

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.

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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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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