Regional Innovation Reimagined

Jaala was appointed Minister for Employment; Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy; and Minister for Small Business in June 2020.  Prior to this Jaala served as Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC; and Minister for Fishing and Boating from December 2018. In the Andrews Government’s first term she was Victoria’s first female Minister for Agriculture, as well as Minister for Regional Development and Deputy Leader in the Legislative Council. Jaala is focussed on ensuring that all Victorians have the opportunity to work and to succeed, whether they are an employee or running their own business. She is committed to making sure that Victoria maintains its world class reputation as a leader in Innovation and Medical Research. She has a strong interest in new and emerging technologies and is keen to support the accelerating growth of the Digital Economy.  Jaala has worked closely with Victorian farmers during two droughts and the 2016 dairy crisis; with families impacted by road trauma; and with injured workers or those in insecure jobs – all at periods of great upheaval, uncertainty and loss. Her work is now focussed on supporting people whose lives have been profoundly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic across her portfolio areas and electorate.  Jaala has been a Member for Western Victoria since 2006. She lives in Ballarat with her husband, her son and two retired greyhounds named Patch and George. 

Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson is currently the leading world authority on teaching lateral thinking skills online. In Australia, for example, he is directing a 12-month contract for a government client, to design and deliver a training program to introduce advanced level lateral thinking skills to 500 government scientists. It's a 100% online ‘at home’ training environment and designed to measure the results.

Dr Hewitt-Gleeson’s experience is unique. He holds the world’s first PhD in Lateral Thinking and was co-founder, with Edward de Bono, of the School of Thinking (SOT) in New York in 1979. Since then, SOT has disseminated over half a billion thinking lessons to 51 countries.

In 1979, as an innovator in the new field of cognitive science, Dr Hewitt-Gleeson’s original idea was ‘thinking instructors’. He claimed: ‘Anyone can learn to think if they have a thinking instructor.’ Today there are over 6 million thinking instructors worldwide. Many are still teaching the Six Thinking Hats method originally developed by the co-founders of the School of Thinking in 1983.

Mary Aldred commenced as the Chief Executive Officer of the Franchise Council of Australia in April 2018, after serving as the inaugural CEO of the Committee for Gippsland from its launch in 2011 to 2018, as well as serving as a director on a number of boards and government advisory committees, previously including Lifeline Gippsland, Latrobe Regional Hospital, and currently as a member of Federation University Business School’s Industry Advisory Board, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods in Heyfield and ViPlus Dairy in South Gippsland.

Mary has worked for a United States Senator in Washington DC, and studied Infrastructure in a Market Economy – Public Private Partnerships at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in Boston, is a graduate of the AICD and the Gippsland Community Leadership Program, has a BA (Hons) from Monash University, a Master of Agribusiness from the University of Melbourne, and an MBA from Federation University Gippsland, as well as being a 2018 winner of the Australian Financial Review’s Boss Magazine Young Executive of the Year.

Jean-François (JF) holds clear views on corporate innovation. Either it moves the needle (read: it strives to deliver financial performance at sufficient scale to matter) or it should not be pursued at all. Talents and resources are best allocated to truly committed entrepreneurs and companies.

From Gartner, Samsung, Singtel and HaloLife, where he served as APAC Strategy Lead, Group Strategy Director, and CEO, respectively, JF brings his experience in corporate strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship to accelerate the emergence of APAC innovative global champions. Jean-Francois holds an MBA from INSEAD. He has lived and worked across Korea, ASEAN, South Africa, the UK, and the US for most of his career.

For Steph, “innovation” isn’t just a buzzword -- it’s a complex and vital discipline that can inform anything from program design and delivery, to business improvement, product development, and mentorship & coaching. She’s spent her entire career supporting and collaborating with disruptors, innovators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders.

Day-to-day, Steph is responsible for designing, launching, and monitoring all aspects of the Startup Gippsland and Work My Own Way programs, as well as leading our innovation consulting team. She brings leadership, commitment, and the values of entrepreneurship and innovative thinking to the entire organisation.

With a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Melbourne, innovation consulting experience, and a tenure leading RMIT’s pre-accelerator programs, Steph has coached over 60 ventures and 120 individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and experience. She is passionate about bringing best-practice startup support to her local region, and helping Gippsland entrepreneurs to dream big.

Adam Mostogl is an experienced educator in the entrepreneurship space (having inspired +12,500 students since 2011) as well as recognised for his community, social enterprise, business development and innovation work across Tasmania and into Victoria. In 2017, Adam was recognised as one of the top 30 Australian entrepreneurs under the age of 30, and in 2015 was a finalist for Young Australian of the Year.

As a facilitator and a sounding board, Brenna helps businesses looking to tap into new ideas, ways of thinking, and develop problem-solving skills from within their teams. When she isn’t fronting GippsTech’s innovation consulting projects, you’ll also see Brenna teaching and supporting entrepreneurs within the Startup Gippsland program. Having worked in 6 countries, she is passionate about championing the value of local knowledge in a global world, and bringing her international experience to Gippsland.

With an MBA and Masters of Not-for-profit Management from the University of Oregon, Brenna specialises in business model design, marketing, impact metrics, fundraising, and change management for startups and SMEs.

John is a 25-year veteran of the technology industry having been Executive Vice President of Palm, the Smartphone pioneer, and having held senior management positions at Metacreations, Claris/Apple, AT&T /Teradata, and Digital Equipment Corporation. He serves on both private and public boards and is founder and president of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), a network of global Irish technology leaders who’s main focus is to foster the links between the USA and Ireland.

An Occupational Therapist with rare experience in both clinical healthcare and technology, Allison Nikula is the CEO and Founder of nationally awarded and internationally recognised platform CareApp that is changing the narrative in aged care. CareApp helps you to keep families informed through posting notices, events, newsletters but most importantly in today’s challenging times, it enables the sharing of images and videos and has live video chat, providing a personalised and reassuring window into the care and wellbeing of loved ones.

Simon is a keynote speaker, futurist and TV host. Growing up in a coastal fishing town in WA he has witnessed first hand the innovative capacity of regional communities. He is also the host of his own live-stream TV show that explores the emerging challenges between our humanity and the technology we create.