Alex Malley FCPA believes that effective leaders possess the courage to fail in order to meet a vision. This has been the driving force behind his successful career and remains so as the Chief Executive of CPA Australia; the largest accounting body in Australia.

Responsible for 19 offices globally and more than 144,000 members in 127 countries, Alex was recently one of only two Australians to be included on The Accountant publication’s list of the world’s top 50 most influential people in the accounting profession.

Addressing leadership matters is something he has always taken very seriously. As host of the television series The Bottom Line, screened nationally on the Nine Network Australia, Alex brings these issues into sharp focus through interviews with fellow leaders from business, politics and the community. The interview he conducted with the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, was the most substantive ever filmed. News surrounding it reached an estimated audience of over one billion people.

In addition to writing a regular blog for The Huffington Post, Alex fronts CPA Australia’s online community and reality series, The Naked CEO, and is a regular business commentator on the nationally-syndicated programs, The Money News on 2GB and Sky News Business.

Alex serves on a number of councils, boards and government sector committees, including the International Integrated Reporting Council, domiciled in London.

Professor Mark Brown is Director of the National Centre for Teaching and Learning at Massey University. and the Director of the Distance Education and Learning Futures Alliance (DELFA).

Over the last five years Professor Brown has played a key leadership role in the implementation of several major university-wide digital learning and teaching initiatives. Current research projects include investigation of the use of Open Educational Resources in Australia and New Zealand, the study of a major video-linked teaching initiative and research on the experiences of first-time distance learners. He has a particular interest in educational policy and the sound pedagogical implementation of new digital technologies across the study lifecycle.

Professor Brown serves on several international journal editorial boards, has published extensively in the areas of online, blended and distance learning; is on the Executive Committee of ASCiLiTE. ; vice-President of the Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ; a recipient of a National Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching; and an Executive Committee member of the New Zealand Academy of Tertiary Teaching Excellence.

For more information visit http://tinyurl.com/MBrown-Massey

Dr Sarah Dixon was Dean of Bradford University School of Management, a triple accredited business school in the UK, for just over 2 years. In January 2013 she took up a new position at Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China, as Professor and Dean of the Business School.

Prior to her move into academia she had 23 years international management experience working for Shell in a variety of roles including business management in expatriate postings in Austria and Russia, strategic planning and mergers & acquisitions. Consultancy activities include investment analysis, strategy development and implementation and management development for major companies in UK and Russia.

Her research interests lie in the strategic management of large corporations and is currently engaged in studying the dynamic capabilities of Western high tech multinationals facing radical change.

Professor Richard James is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Participation and Engagement) and a Professor of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne. He was Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education between 2006 and 2012. Richard has wide-ranging research interests in higher education that centre on the quality of the student experience. His research program spans access and equity, the transition to university, student finances, student engagement, quality assurance and academic standards. He has published widely on the effects of social class on higher education aspirations and participation. He is a member of the Higher Education Standards Panel and a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders.

Dr John Toohey consults in managerial psychology, decision making and organisational performance. He recently retired from RMIT University, Graduate School of Business & Law in Melbourne but continues to teach in MBA and Executive Education programs. He was previously head of school and Dean International in the College of Business and Principal and Deputy Director at the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) in Sydney. He has worked across Asia-Pacific and in Europe holding senior positions in private sector risk management and re-insurance and in public sector health services.

John holds a PhD in organisational behaviour from Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM); his research examined organisational predictability factors of work stress. He is a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), a board member and fellow of the Strategic Management Institute and was previously a Commissioner of the Australian Government’s Comcare Commission and a member of several state commissions and authorities. He writes a regular column – Mind Set – in the Australian Financial Review, BOSS magazine on psychology and business.

Andrew Crisp, is Founder and Director, Carrington Crisp, UK. In November 2003, Andrew Crisp founded Carrington Crisp, a consultancy specialising in marketing and branding services for business schools and universities. Since that time the firm has worked for over 50 business schools in 11 countries. Much of the work has been based around The Business of Branding research project, which provides schools with data on perceptions and positioning of their school among six key audiences. Andrew’s clients and projects have included re-branding London Business School and Wolverhampton Business School, developing advertising campaigns and internal communications, and writing management training books. Andrew also has considerable research experience utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods. Projects include a study examining business school websites at 18 business schools in the UK. Andrew has also written and spoken widely on the subjects of employment and communications including events organised by The Economist, The Industrial Society, The Design Council and the European Foundation for Management Development.

Director Policy, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. George Powell is the Director of Policy at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA). George heads the organisation’s research and policy across social infrastructure, financing and procurement, together with taxation and regulation; specialising in regulatory and economic reform. Prior to joining IPA in 2011, George held senior policy roles with the Commonwealth Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and a range of other taskforces and secondments.

George has recently completed his MBA through the Australian Graduate School of Management and London Business School and holds a Bachelor of Economics, majoring in Economics and International Relations from the ANU. He has authored and contributed to a range of papers covering social and economic policy areas, including the development of rational markets in social infrastructure sectors, superannuation sector reform and strategic planning.

George’s experience with the not-for-profit sector includes being a founding director for Australian MBAs for Social Impact (AMSI) – a group which links business school students with not-for-profit organisations to create value. Whilst at London Business School, he developed a marketing plan for a South African wheelchair manufacturer as part of the student consulting group Asperastra. He has lead teams for corporate charity bike rides in 2009, 2010 and 2012, raising over $32,000 for cancer and disability charities. He also worked as a humanitarian volunteer in Sri Lanka in 2005.

Jen Dalitz is an Associate Director with Third Horizon Consulting Partners and an expert in gender balance in business. She is a regular commentator in TV and print media, and blogs on women, work and leadership. Jen has been recognised in CPA Australia’s 40 Young Business Leaders list and with an Edna Ryan Workplace Award for improving the working conditions of Australian women and was also selected as a finalist in the 2010 NSW Telstra Business Awards.
Jen is frequently asked to speak at conferences and events and in 2010 was invited by the Malaysian Minister of Women to speak at her annual Summit in Kuala Lumpur. She also represented Australia in a BBC global debate on the advancement of women and the Millennium Goals and also co-founded the childcare lobby group, Make Care Fair.
Prior to founding her own business, Jen’s career in finance and consulting spanned 16 years, international borders and a host of Fortune 500 companies.
She is a Certified Practicing Accountant with an MBA from the AGSM and lives with one foot in the city and the other on her farm in the country, with her husband and young son and several beagles in tow.