G - L

Gulalai Ismail a courageous Pashtun human rights activist from Swabi, Pakistan was educated from a young age about gender discrimination and women's rights and encouraged to engage in non-violent activism.  In 2002 she founded 'Aware Girls' with her sister Saba Ismail, aiming to challenge the culture of violence and the oppression of women in the rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area in the north west of Pakistan. They began running workshops providing girls and young women with leadership skills to challenge oppression and fight for their rights to an education and equal opportunities.  Malala Yousafzai was a program attendee 2011. 

Gulalai established the Youth Peace Network in 2010, working to strengthen the capacity of young people as peace activists in their communities.  Joining the United Network of Young Peacebuilders’ Youth Advocacy Team in 2013, this work led to the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 “Youth, Peace and Security.”   The Marastyal Helpline, also set up at this time, provides advice and assistance to women at risk from and victims of, gender based violence.  In 2016 “Pak-Afghan Women Peace Network” was established with partners, a network of Afghani and Pakistani women peacebuilders working towards countering radicalization and towards lasting peace in the region.

Despite repeated threats and danger faced by her and her family as a result of her activities, Gulalai continues her work in Pakistan through “Aware Girls” and the Youth Peace network and in 2017 Gulalai was awarded the Anna Politkovskaya Award by RAW in WAR for her courage to speak out and to defy extremism in the context of violence and armed conflict in her country.

Holly Ferling is a current member of the Brisbane Heat WBBL side and the Queensland Fire. She began playing cricket against the boys in her hometown of Kingaroy before progressing to the mens competition where she took a hat trick off the first 3 balls she bowled. At the age of 17 she made her debut for the Australian Women’s Cricket team at the 2013 World Cup in India, where she was named in the Team of the Tournament for her performances. Since then she has played in 3 Ashes series and has toured New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Dubai for cricket.

When she’s not playing cricket, she’s promoting grassroots cricket through her role as an ambassador for MILO. Holly is at university, studying a Bachelor off Mass Communications majoring in Journalism and Public Relations and she also works in the newsroom at the 4BC radio station.

Hon Jackie Trad MP is the Member for South Brisbane and Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.

Ms Trad was elected to the Queensland Parliament in April 2012.

With a Bachelor of Arts from Griffith University and a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Sydney, Jackie has always been interested in how public policy shapes and forms our cities, our communities and ultimately our lives.

The influences of economics and politics on public decision-making and policy development, together with a genuine love of her community, drew her to a career in politics.

A second generation Lebanese migrant who grew up in a small business family on the inner-Southside of Brisbane, Ms Trad and her husband live in West End where they are raising their two young sons.

Dr Jackie Huggins AM, FAHA is Bidjara and Birri Gubba Juru from Queensland. Jackie is the Co-Chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples. She was the National Co-ordinator for the Aboriginal Women's Unit in DAA in 1984 and on the Steering Committee for the Aboriginal Women's Task Force which produced the Women's Business report.

She was the Co-Commissioner for the Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.  She was the first Indigenous woman to Chair the Qld Ministerial Council for Domestic Violence and on the Indigenous Reference Group for 14 years, Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research, Central Qld Uni, Mackay. In honour of this work she was granted an Honorary doctorate from CQU in December 2017. She has written widely on women's issues, feminism and history.

Jane Caro is an author, novelist, broadcaster, columnist, advertising writer, documentary maker and social commentator.

She has published nine books, including two novels “Just a Girl” and “Just a Queen” about Elizabeth Tudor and a memoir “Plain Speaking Jane”. ‘Just Flesh & Blood’ the third and final book in the Tudor trilogy will be published in 2018. She is currently working on a book about women over 50 for MUP.

She appears in the media often including on Agony, Q&A, The Drum, Sunrise & Weekend Sunrise. In 2013 she co-created and presented a 6 part radio series for ABC Life Matters - ‘For Better, For Worse’, now a 5 part TV series for ABC Compass. In 2016, her second series with Compass “Mum’s Boy, Dad’s Girl” went to air. In 2017, Compass broadcast her third series “The Staffroom”. She writes regular columns for ‘Sunday Life’ and ‘Leadership Matters’.

Jane Camens is a writer, editor and literary events organiser. She founded Asia Pacific Writers & Translators and was co-editor of ‘New Asia Now’, Griffith Review 49 as well as 'Commonwealth Now’, Griffith Review 59.

Dr Thomason started her own company in 1999 which merged with Abt Associates in 2013. Since then, Dr Thomason has led the growth and diversification of the company to achieve a tripling of revenue and diversification into governance and women's empowerment, with $200m revenue and 650 staff across Asia and the Pacific. She has been a leader of a wide range of international development programs globally, regionally and in Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Team Leader for Asian Development Bank, WHO, World Bank, USAID and AusAID.

Jane is a thought leader in the applications of blockchain technology to solve non-fintech problems.  She is a frequent commentator and blogger on blockchain and social impact and in 2017 has spoken at blockchain and disruptive technology conferences on social impact in London, Washington, Silicon Valley, Port Moresby, Jakarta, Singapore, Ottawa, Sydney and Brisbane.  She has published two peer revised articles in 2017, one on blockchain and climate finance and the poor and the other on blockchain as an accelerator for women’s and children’s health. 

She is an adviser to several blockchain startups with applications that solve global problems, and is currently working on several blockchain POCs in emerging markets.  She was a judge and mentor at London Blockchain Week, London Fintech Week and the Consensys Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition Hackathon.  She is an advocate for the education and empowerment of women generally and #WomeninBlockchain.

Born and brought up in Derby, England Jasvinder, a survivor of a forced marriage, founded Karma Nirvana, a British award-winning charity that supports both men and women affected by honour based abuse and forced marriages.  

A highly acclaimed international speaker and an expert advisor to the courts in matters of child, civil and criminal proceedings, chair of domestic homicide reviews Jasvinder was instrumental in ensuring that all UK police forces are required to improve their understanding of honour-based abuse and forced marriage by inspections conducted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.  

Her memoir ‘Shame’ was a Times Top 10 Bestseller.  Jasvinder is recognised as bringing the issue of forced marriage into the public domain with her work recognised as being pivotal to the creation of a specific UK forced marriage criminal offence in 2014.  She has received numerous awards including the prestigious Woman of the Year 2007, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Derby in 2008, the Pride of Britain Award in 2009 and was named Cosmopolitan Ultimate Woman of the Year in 2010.   In 2011 she was listed in the Guardian's top 100 Most Inspirational Women in the World, received the Global Punjabi Award in 2012 and was awarded Commander of the British Empire in 2013 in recognition of her outstanding contribution for the victims of forced marriage and honour-based abuse.   In 2014 Jasvinder was awarded UK Legal Campaigner of the Year and in 2016 she received the International Woman Award for human rights from the Italian media.  

On 21 May 2016, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala became the first Sri Lankan (male or female), to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In recognition of this accomplishment, and her professional career as a feminist, women’s rights activist over the past 14 years, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs appointed her the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for Women’s Rights. She is also Goodwill Ambassador for ‘Think Equal’ – a global campaign which seeks to teach three to five year olds emotional intelligence, including values of equality, empathy and respect for diversity.

Jayanthi holds a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Sussex. As her journey to Everest has combined two of the things she’s most passionate about - gender equality and mountaineering – she continues to use the public platform that she has now received to challenge gender stereotypes and promote the rights of women and girls at every opportunity.

Jocelyn Klug is a clinical sexologist and relationship therapist and past chair of the Society of Australian Sexologists. Jocelyn has been in private practice for the past 15 years and has worked with many women and their partners experiencing sexual difficulties. Jocelyn is passionate about women understanding their sexuality with an emphasis on pleasure.

John Nicholas Saunders B.CI, B.Ed, M.Ed (Research) is a former secondary school teacher and the current Education Manager at Sydney Theatre Company.  John has extensive experience in Arts Education and has held positions as a senior curriculum writer with the Queensland Studies Authority, Head of Department: The Arts at Southern Cross Catholic College; Board member of Playlab Press, Associate Academic at Australian Catholic University, President of Drama NSW and Drama QLD, Education Consultant to the Brisbane Festival and guest lecturer at the University of Sydney. 

He currently holds positions as: President, Drama Australia; Chair, Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG) Education Network; Drama representative, National Advocates for Arts Education and Drama Mentor to ACARA.

Jude Kelly has been the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre in London for over 10 years. Southbank Centre is Europe’s largest Arts Institution and London’s 3rd biggest tourist attraction, and includes the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery over 21 acres.

Jude is the recipient of an Olivier Award for her production of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ at The National Theatre, a BASCA Gold Badge Award winner for contribution to music, a Southbank Award for her opera work, Red Magazine’s 2014 Creative Woman of the Year, CBIs 2016 First Woman Award winner for Tourism and Leisure and in 2017 won the inaugural Veuve Clicquot Woman of the Year Social Purpose Award.

She created the WOW - Women of the World Festival in 2011 which celebrates the achievements of Women and Girls. WOW is now entering its 7th year at Southbank Centre as well as taking place in other parts of the UK and 20 countries in 5 continents across the world.

She founded Battersea Arts Centre, Solent People's Theatre and was the founding director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse. She has directed over 100 theatrical and operatic productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the Châtalet in Paris. In 1997, she was awarded an OBE for her services to theatre and in 2015 she was made a CBE for services to the Arts.

She is a regular broadcaster and commentator on a range of issues relating to society, art and education.

Professor Julianne Schultz AM FAHA, the founding editor of Griffith REVIEW, the award-winning literary and current affairs quarterly established by Griffith University in 2003 to provide a public intellectual leadership and a platform for long-form essays addressing topical issues beyond the daily news agenda.

A professor at Griffith’s Griffith Centre for Creative Arts Research, Julianne is a member of ‘The Conversation’ editorial board, advisory boards of Centre for Creativity Research, Engaging the Arts and Transforming Education at the University of Sydney, the Queensland College of Arts, Policy Hub at Griffith University and the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne.

She is recognised as a national leader and advocate and is frequently called on to deliver major speeches and participate in media discussions and has held numerous senior board and advisory positions across a range of Australian arts and cultural organisations.

Julianne Schultz received her doctorate from the University of Sydney and is the author books including Reviving the Fourth Estate (Cambridge Uni Press); Steel City Blues (Penguin); Not Just Another Business (Pluto), co-author of The Phone Book (Penguin), the editor of more than 50 other books and collections, the author of numerous chapters on journalism and media practice.

She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2009 for services to the community as a journalist, writer, editor and academic, for fostering debate on issues affecting society and for professional ethics and accountability.

Julie Inman Granthas extensive experience in the non-profit and government sectors, and spent two decades working in senior public policy and safety roles in the tech industry at Microsoft, Twitter, and most recently Adobe.

Julie’s career began in Washington DC, working in the US Congress and the non-profit sector before taking on a role at Microsoft. Julie’s experience at Microsoft spanned 17 years, serving as one of the company’s first and longest-standing government relations professionals, ultimately in the role of Global Safety Director for safety policy and outreach.

At Twitter, Julie headed up Public Policy for Australia and South East Asia, managing a range of public policy issues, including online safety and countering violent extremism. Julie also built Twitter’s ‘Rules and Tools’ for safety, and conceptualised and piloted #PositionofStrength, which now serves as Twitter’s global female safety and empowerment program.

Most recently, Julie served as Director of Government Relations Asia Pacific at Adobe, where she worked with governments across the region on issues such as innovation and digital transformation, creativity and STEM skills development and cybersecurity.

June Oscar AO is a proud Bunuba woman from the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia’s Kimberly region. She is a strong advocate for Indigenous Australian languages, social justice, women’s issues, and has worked tirelessly to reduce Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

June has held a raft of influential positions including Deputy Director of the Kimberley Land Council, chair of the Kimberley Language Resource Centre and the Kimberley Interpreting Service and Chief Investigator with WA’s Lililwan Project addressing FASD .

She was appointed to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (1990) and was a winner of the 100 Women of Influence 2013 in the Social Enterprise and Not For Profit category. In 2015 June received the Menzies School of Health Research Medallion for her work with FASD.

June has a Bachelor's Degree in Business from the University of Notre Dame, Broome, Western Australia, and is currently writing her PhD. June is a co-founder of the Yiramalay Wesley Studio School and is a Community member of the Fitzroy Valley Futures Governing Committee.

In February 2017, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Edith Cowan University. June began her five-year term as Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner on April 3, 2017.

Kate Jenkins became Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner in 2016. Kate is leading a number of projects at the Australian Human Rights Commission, including the recently released report on the results of the national survey on sexual harassment and sexual assault at university, the Commission’s fourth sexual harassment prevalence survey and continuing the Commission’s collaborative project on cultural reform with the Australian Defence Force.

Kate is the convener of the National Male Champions of Change group (established 2015), and the Co-Chair of Play by the Rules, a joint project between human rights agencies and sports commissions to make grass roots sports safe, fair and inclusive.

Prior to joining the Commission, Kate spent three years as the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner. In that role she held an Independent Review into Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment, including Predatory Behaviour, in Victoria Police. She was also the Co-Chair of the Victorian Commission’s Disability Reference Group and a member of the Aboriginal Justice Forum.

Kate spent 20 years as lead partner with Herbert Smith Freehills’ and 15 years on the board of Berry Street Victoria. An Arts/Law honours graduate, Kate is on the boards of the Heide Museum of Modern Art and the Carlton Football Club.  Kate was recognised in the 2015 AFR/Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards for her work in public policy.  Kate grew up on a family orchard in outer Melbourne. She lives Melbourne with her family, which includes her husband Ken, their 2 children and her 3 stepchildren.

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is an Anishinaabe writer, poet, editor and the founder and managing editor of Kegedonce Press, an Indigenous publisher based in the territory of her people, the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, Saugeen Ojibway Nation.

Kateri’s recent book, the collection of short stories The Stone Collection, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was a finalist for a Sarton Literary Award. In May, 2017 she received a ReVEAL Indigenous Arts Award. Kateri is a juror for the inaugural Indigenous Voices Awards and a judge for the 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She was a co-editor of the award-winning anthology skins: contemporary Indigenous writing, published jointly by Kegedonce Press and Jukurrpa Books.

Kateri’s work has been published internationally in journals and anthologies, and she has performed and spoken around the world.

Katrina Torenbeek is a Senior Creative Producer and Arts Manager who has worked across the Performing Arts sector for almost 20 years. She has produced and managed programs for a number of Queensland’s signature arts festivals and events, including QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival, Queensland Music Festival, Brisbane Festival, and Brisbane Cabaret Festival, as well as many independent productions, some of which have toured nationally. She co-managed the Australia Council Initiative MAPS for Artists for Metro Arts for 5 years, and was the Executive Producer at Southern Cross Soloists, producing their concert series along with Bangalow Music Festival.

Katrina has worked closely with the Arts Education sector for many years, both as a Teacher/Facilitator and Manager of Drama Queensland, Drama Australia and IDEA – the International Association for Drama in Education concurrently. She still produces State and National Conference events for these organisations annually.

Kim Hughes is a dynamic executive with over 25 years’ financial services experience in the superannuation, insurance, banking and funds management sectors.

After nine years in the Funds Management sector with QIC and QTC, Kim returned to her passion of superannuation as Head of Product at QSuper. Since joining QSuper, Kim has also fulfilled the roles of Acting Chief of Member Experience, responsible for the Group’s Product, Marketing, Digital and Employer functions. She is currently the Acting Chief of Member Support & Advice at QSuper, responsible for the Group’s Advice business, Contact Centre, Operations division and Life Insurance business.

QSuper is Queensland’s largest superannuation fund and one of the largest in Australia, with more than 565,000 members with over $72 billion in funds under management.

Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016.  First and foremost, she is the mother of Michael and Madison, is also a nationally renowned advocate spending the last 36 years working in and around the Canadian legal and penal systems, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized, particularly imprisoned youth, men and women.

A 1984 Graduate from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 Senator Pate was the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies January 1992 - November 2016.  She has developed and taught Prison Law, Human Rights and Social Justice and Defending Battered Women on Trial courses at the Universities of Ottawa, Saskatchewan and Dalhousie University and, in 2014 and 2015 occupied the Sallows Chair in Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law.

Widely credited as the driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour Senator Pate supported women as they aired their experiences during the inquiry, acting as a critical resource and witness in the Inquiry itself. 

Senator Pate is a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, the Canadian Bar Association’s Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award, and five honorary doctorates (Law Society of Upper Canada, University of Ottawa, Carleton University, St. Thomas University and Wilfred Laurier University). 

Leanne de Souza is a highly-respected veteran of the Australian music industry. With 25 years’ experience working in artist management and events she has represented various high profile, award winning, commercially successful and critically acclaimed contemporary musicians.

A long-standing champion and advocate for contemporary music Leanne was a foundation board member of the Queensland Music Network (Q Music) and currently holds the Executive Director role for the Association of Artist Managers (AAM) and is a Trustee for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. 

As an entrepreneur, Leanne is the founder and director of the Rock and Roll Writers Festival. As a sought-after consultant and facilitator, she has worked extensively across art forms. 

Leanne Kemp is the Founder & CEO of Everledger, a global enterprise that tracks the provenance of high-value assets on a digital global ledger in an authenticated immutable manner.

Using her extensive background in emerging technology, business, jewellery and insurance, Leanne is pushing boundaries with Everledger in building a global verification system that asserts transparency along the entire supply chain process. This enables the tracking and protection of high-value assets, consequently mitigating risk and fraud in global marketplaces.

With a rich history in innovation, Leanne previously founded three Australian startups including Absoft Queensland, Fastcards Pty Ltd. and the Great Australian Survey Company. Through these companies Leanne introduced and patented transformational technology ideas including Fastcards (a smart card with managed identification services) and commercialised Multicard (credential verification for consumer, governments and corporations) alongside various solutions to streamline inventory and supply chain operations. 

Leanne is an appointed member of the World Economic Forum’s Blockchain Council and a Co-Chair for the World Trade Board's Sustainable Trade Action Group.  Leading the market in a real-world application of blockchain technology, Everledger has widely received industry recognition since inception, winning awards including Best Blockchain Company in the European Financial Technology Awards 2016, Best Newcomer in the Asia Insurance Technology Awards 2016 as well as Best B2B Startup in the 2016 Digital Top 50 Awards presented by Google, Rocket Internet and McKinsey.

Lee-Ann is a Narungga, Wirangu, Wotjobaluk woman and is well known throughout the Australian Indigenous, and international arts communities. Having worked across many major festivals, she has won numerous prizes for her contribution to the arts, including the Gladys Elphick Award, the prestigious Sidney Myer Facilitator Prize, and the South Australian Ruby Awards twice, Best Community Work and the Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award in 2016.

She is the first Aboriginal woman to be appointed as Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board in 40 years and is the first Aboriginal person to hold the Deputy Chair on the board of the Australia Council for the Arts. She is the Co-Chair of Tarnanthi, the Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Art, a member of the National Museum of Australia Indigenous Advisory Committee and a member of the Barangaroo Development Arts Advisory Committee.

In 2016, Lee-Ann was appointed by Warner Brothers and HBO as Indigenous Cultural consultant for the third and final season of The Leftovers filmed in Australia. She is a member of the Country Arts South Australia Aboriginal Reference Group and the National Museum of Australia. Lee-Ann’s current position is Executive, Aboriginal Screen Strategy, with the South Australian Film Corporation.

Dr Louise Martin CBE is the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation. Formerly Honorary Secretary, she was the first woman elected to the Federation’s Executive Board in 1999 and has served as President since 2015.

Passionate about all aspects of sport, she also chairs, on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretary-General,  the Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport. Previously, she was Chair of sportscotland, Scotland’s national agency for sport and Chair of Commonwealth Games Scotland, leading Glasgow’s successful Bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she subsequently served as Vice Chair of the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee.

Her passion for Commonwealth Sport started in Australia in 1962, competing in the Perth 1962 Commonwealth Games in Scotland’s swimming team.

Luke Daniels is a social activist, counsellor and consultant on domestic violence, who was born in Guyana and settled with his family in the UK in the 1970s. His pioneering work with perpetrators of domestic violence at the Everyman Centre in London received national recognition in a 1992 television documentary, and over the years he has trained men internationally in working with domestic violence perpetrators. His book Pulling the Punches: Defeating Domestic Violence (2014) was the first self-help guide for perpetrators, grounded in theory as well as practice.

He believes that violence towards women is rooted in patriarchy, and so interprets domestic violence as a political act that requires political solutions. His new book Defeating Domestic Violence in the Americas – Men’s Work (Hansib, 2018) challenges men to take more responsibility for ending the violence and puts forward solutions for governments to bring an end to socialization for violence. In addition the book charts the region’s history of violence before and after the arrival of Columbus, looking at the effects of native genocide and slavery, and how that history impacts on the violence in our societies today. 

Luke Daniels is also the President of Caribbean Labour Solidarity, founded in London in 1974 as an international campaigning organisation in support of democratic movements within the Caribbean.