Dominic McGann, Chair
Dominic McGann is the Chairman of Partners of McCullough Robertson, a leading Australian law firm. Dominic is a mining and resources expert with over 30 years’ experience. As a commercial lawyer, he is an acknowledged authority on native title and cultural heritage issues. His extensive experience in communicating and negotiating with indigenous communities, positions him as one of Australia’s leading experts in this field. Additionally, Dominic is also the Chair of the McCullough Robertson Foundation, Flagship Investments Limited and Australian Nation Development Index Limited, a director of TRI Foundation, the Frazer Family Foundation and Queensland Music Festival Pty Ltd, a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), a Councilor of the Queensland Futures Institute and a Queensland Male Champion of Change.
Penny Shield, Treasurer
Penny Shield is a Partner in Ernst & Young’s Advisory practice. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Certified Internal Auditor and a Six Sigma Green Belt (Process Efficiency) and holds bachelor degrees in Commerce and Arts (Music). During her career Penny has worked in over 25 countries and has been based in Australia, Russia and Ireland.
Paul Fairweather
For more than three decades Brisbane architect, artist and designer Paul Fairweather has applied his high level of creativity and strategic knowledge to achieve outstanding and enduring architecture, art, and design. He was the Managing Director of Fairweather Proberts Architects for 20 years until June 2009. Since 2010 Paul had established a small architectural and design practice based in New Farm. Paul’s focus is around sustainability, innovation, idea generation, and the empowerment of creative thinking. He is a great collaborator and communicator, and is a connecter between the creative and practical elements of creative business. Paul has been responsible for numerous chair designs, including the iconic Mr. Curly Top. He is a high-profile artist who regularly exhibits around Brisbane and in 2001 was an Archibald Prize finalist. Paul was licensee of TEDxBrisbane from 2010 until 2016, and presented a three minute talk on the main stage at TED in 2010. Paul was once described by a colleague as equal parts zen and espresso.
Alasdair Jeffrey
Alasdair Jeffrey is an executive director of communication, digital and design agency, Rowland. He has 25 years’ experience managing corporate and investor communication programs in Australia, the UK and US. At Rowland, he leads the financial communication and public affairs practices. He also holds an MBA from London Business School and is a non-executive director of Finsia, the professional body for the financial services industry.
Bronwyn Lea
Bronwyn, an Associate Professor in the School of Communication in the Arts at the University of Queensland, is the author of four books of poems including Flight Animals, The Wooden Cat and Other Poems, The Other Way Out, and most recently The Deep North: A Selection of Poems. Her poems are widely anthologised, appearing most recently in Thirty Australian Poets, Australian Poetry Since 1788, Sixty Classic Australian Poems, and The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry. As a literary critic and editor, Bronwyn reviews poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for a number of literary pages and is currently the poetry editor at Meanjin.
Steve Minon
Steve Minon is an ex advertising writer and creative director. He is an honorary inductee into the Brisbane Advertising Industry’s Hall of Fame and for a decade co-owned and ran Junior, one of Australia’s most successful independent advertising agencies. Today he blogs in his spare time while working on his two wildly successful food franchise businesses: Harajuku Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings and Beer) and Nitrogenie (Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream).
Fiona Taylor
Fiona Taylor has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland and has worked for the Queensland government in both regional and policy development roles. She has also held a variety of volunteer positions in aid, women’s and educational organisations as she has a strong passion for community and promoting the importance of the humanities. She is currently undertaking further study in Philosophy at the University of Queensland.