Dr Peter Ellyard

Dr Peter Ellyard is a futurist and strategic analyst. A graduate of the University of Sydney and Cornell University, he is an Executive Director of a Melbourne based company, ‘Preferred Futures’, which he founded in 1991.

Peter has been a Senior Advisor to the United Nations system for more than 25 years, including the UNDP, UNEP and UNESCO, and was a Special Advisor to the 1992 Earth Summit.

Peter is Chairman of the Universal Greening Group, a group of companies involved in environmental innovations, which uses biological systems to turn waste into resources, to promote sustainable agriculture/horticulture and to repair degraded land and ecosystems.

Sylvia Admans
CEO of the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR)

Ms. Admans has over 25 years of management experience in the community, public and private sector, including Manager of Charitable Services at the ANZ Bank and an Adviser to Philanthropy Australia.

As head of FRRR, Ms. Admans has established alliances with communities large and small throughout Australia. She has also been responsible for developing specialised programs for smaller rural communities living in drought and isolation. These programs have been enormously popular and struck a real chord with communities that can often be forgotten.

Sarah Gaventa
Director of CABE Space, UK

The initials stand for ‘Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment’. CABE advocates for an improvement in people’s quality of life through good design. Set up in 1999 in UK, CABE influences and inspires the people who are making decisions about the built environment, so that they choose good design. CABE champions well-designed buildings and public space. They work directly with planners, designers, clients and architects, offering them guidance on projects that will shape all our lives. Fundamentally, CABE works on behalf of the public. They, after all, are the people left behind after the planners and architects have moved on.

Sarah is a Director of CABE Space. Sarah has a Masters Degree from the Royal College of Art, UK. She is the author of numerous books including New Public Space (which features Melbourne’s Federation Square on the front cover). Sarah will explain the position of CABE in the UK, its relationship with governments and the role it plays in designing buildings and open space.

Ms Leonie Young
Beyond Blue

Ms Leonie Young, BHS Health Education, University of Canberra. beyondblue is a national, independent, not-for-profit organization working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance use disorders in Australia.

Leonie was previously Manager of the Northern Territory Office of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. Based in Darwin for over three years, she managed the federal health portfolio, policy and planning for one of the most unique and challenging regions in Australia.

As CEO of beyondblue, Leonie has been instrumental in assisting the organization to expand its community activities and collaborations, across states, Governments and sectors, drawing on her considerable experience in population health, health service reform and community partnerships. With the goal of improving knowledge of depression and reaching people, however remote their base, Leonie is looking to build upon beyondblue’s considerable achievements in depression awareness, prevention and early intervention within the health, education and employment sectors.