John was one of the founders of Melbourne Forum. He lead the charge in 2009 to have the Athenaeum Club open membership to women. Having lost that battle, he and others did not give up on forming a new forum where all Melburnians could get together. John was the first chair of Melbourne Forum. For many years, he led the communications strategy practice for The Clifton Group. John has had a range of community involvements and is currently on the board of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Dr Jonathan Spear is Infrastructure Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. He has previously held senior leadership, policy, strategy and legal roles with the Department of Premier & Cabinet, Department of Justice, Victoria Police and Slater & Gordon Lawyers. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Master of Laws, Executive Master of Public Administration and Doctor of Philosophy (History). He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Williamson Community Leadership Program. Jonathan is an experienced Company Secretary and holds a Victorian Legal Practising Certificate.

• Over 20 years of professional services experience with EY in the UK, Australia and the US primarily working in the Audit & Assurance division (including having worked in industry secondments as a CFO and GM Finance) demonstrating versatility in working successfully with a variety of clients across the energy, infrastructure, hospitality, telecoms, manufacturing, sport and not for profit industries.
• Director, and Honorary Treasurer, of Environmental Justice Australia, 2007 to 2018 – currently a member of the Audit and Governance Committee.
• Director, and Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee, of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, 2012 to 2017.
• Independent member of the Abbotsford Convent Audit Committee, 2016 to 2018.
• Committee member of the Australian Institute of Energy, 2010 to 2013.
• Along with my community board roles, my experiences have allowed me to demonstrate my people, technical accounting, governance, strategy and project management skills in dealing with complex and high-pressure situations, while expanding my knowledge of different industries and making lasting contacts across Australia and the world.

Draws on experiences as founding principal of The NED Advisors and The Talent Advisors and with investment bank Goldman Sachs JBWere, where she was an equity partner. Dianne is skilled at guiding executives to be more astute when navigating to non-executive directorships or corporate appointments. Experience at c-suite, partner, executive, partnership committee and diversity council levels means she has a real understanding of which actions and strategic choices succeed in complex, networked businesses. Her focus is on improving business and leader impact by helping others prepare for the next-level, to take stock of that new role, to jump-start change, to avoid transition pitfalls, to rethink their managerial leadership, to capitalise on the advantages of diversity. She works with both individuals and organisations such as ASX and SME businesses. She has been on coaching or mentoring panels with Melbourne Business School, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Governance Institute (pro-bono), Women on Boards and Leadership Victoria. In her spare time, she can be found in recital centres, concert halls, galleries, theatres and discussion forums.

Honorary Professorial Fellow in Higher Education at the University of Melbourne; independent member of the Board of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists and Board Member of Médecins sans Frontières; Strategic Adviser to Deloitte Consulting. He has previously held several senior positions in universities; was Chief Executive of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and of the Victorian State Board of Education. He has been Managing Director of a Consulting company specialising in higher education and health. He has been a member or Chairman of several health Boards. Decorations / Awards / Honours : BA, PhD, FAICD, Hon FATEM

Nina Christesen is Director of CQL that develops algorithmic trading systems for financial markets and Director and Investment Manager of CBlue (Aust) that manages a number of private, family-based investment funds.

In her spare time, for over 10 years, Nina produced social issue documentaries for not-for-profit organiasations in Australia, PNG and Asia.

Prior to this Nina had over 20 years’ experience as a consultant and educator in leadership, change management and innovation. In this capacity Nina designed and managed large scale corporate change programs driven by new technology and the largest corporate culture change program in Australia involving over 90,000 employees.

A governance professional, and board director. I have had extensive experience as a senior executive in various roles primarily in the areas of public administration, health and human services. I have a BA, B Com (Hons) and MA from the University of Melbourne. I am a Fellow of the Australasian College Health Services Management, a Fellow of Institute of Chartered Secretaries, a Fellow Governance Institute of Australia and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. I have been a Director of not for profit and public entities since 1988 in the arts, mortgage finance, community health, mental health, health information management, child protection, children services, higher education and training, as well as advisory committees in defence, public sector governance and university sectors. I am currently the chair of Westside Circus Inc, and a board director of Federation Training, Neami Ltd, and Mental Health and Wellbeing Australia Ltd, Alpine School for School Leadership, and the Vic Defence Reserves Support Council. I am a facilitator for the Aust Institute of Company Directors’ Company Directors’ Course.

Previous leadership roles include Deputy Vice Chancellor at Swinburne University and as Councilor and Mayor of Hawthorn City Council. The past 10 years have included work as an education consultant in universities and colleges, both nationally and internationally. Current activities include positions as non-executive director for two higher education providers, one as chair. In addition, she has extensive involvement with arts organizations in both visual and performing arts.

Dr Marianne Broadbent is a Managing Partner at Future Leadership. She works with companies and government organisations every day on their leadership, people, talent and capability challenges. This includes high quality executive search and leadership advisory services for top level government and corporate organisations. Her eclectic career includes co-owning NGS Global Oceania recently integrated into the Future Leadership group of businesses. Her nine years at Gartner includes Senior Vice-President for Global Strategy/New Product Development and prior to that, as Group Vice-President with Gartner’s Executive Programs. Her academic appointments include Associate Dean and Professor at Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne and Visiting Researcher at Boston University. She is a Director of The Conversation Media Group, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She has published extensively and her most recent book, The Agile Executive: Embracing Career Risks and Rewards, combines both her personal and professional career journey. The book has been described as ‘compulsory reading for all women (and men too!) who aspire to succeed in corporate life’.

Marianne’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Education from University of Sydney, Dip T.Lib from UTS, a Master of Arts from Macquarie University, an A.Mus.A. (AMEB) and a PhD from Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. She is an inaugural recipient of the position of Distinguished Academic Fellow of Melbourne Business School.

Simone Goodwin has built a dynamic and diverse career over 20 years working in Australia, London, and New York City. With a career spanning the arts and entertainment, management consulting and project management, Simone has experience in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.

Most recently Simone was the Commercial Manager for Grande Experiences, a global player in the immersive arts space and owner of THE LUME Melbourne. Prior to this she was Development Manager at the musical theatre producer, The Production Company. Simone is skilled in business development, sponsorship, philanthropy, artist management, events, and marketing and communications.

Simone holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours degree from Monash University.