Speakers:

Session: Leveraging government procurement to transition to the circular economy

Natalie Alves has over fifteen years' experience in the environmental services sector, most recently working in policy and strategy roles in the New South Wales Government sector. She is currently part of the Circular Economy Markets team in the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. One of the team’s core objectives is to stimulate market demand for recycled materials, and to support the market response.

Session: Towards a circular economy for packaging and procurement

Esther Bailey is an experienced sustainability leader, innovator and changemaker with many years’ experience in the public and private sectors. She works with business, peak bodies, state and federal government to increase the sophistication and urgency of our response to climate change with a current focus on ambitious action towards a circular economy for packaging. She leads teams that provide ratings, data, insights and systems to enable long-term transformation of packaging industry sectors and systems through innovation and collaboration. 

Esther has expertise in energy, renewables, emissions, water, waste, circular economy, technology, policy, program management, behavioural change, social impact, rapid growth start-ups, resilience and adaptation. 

She combiunes vision, evidence and systems thinking to deliver new models of collaboration and innovation to tackle the complex challenges of our time.

Through consistent approaches, collective action and sharing learnings, her programs demonstrate that together we can respond more quickly, credibly and impactfully than by each acting alone. 

Esther inspires, supports and train organisations and communities on sustainability issues in order to accelerate the uptake of low emissions technologies, circular economy, shared value strategies, corporate social responsibility, building upgrades and culture change outcomes.

Session: Integrating Indigenous businesses into your supply chain

Deb Barwick is a proud descendant of the Gamilaroi Nation, CEO of the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce and a national and international award-winning entrepreneur and business owner who believes that Indigenous people themselves are the solution to social and economic parity and that “the enablement of Indigenous leadership regionally, nationally and globally is a strategic and wise investment toward a stronger Australian Economy and Nation.”

Debs many professional achievements include establishing Australia’s first Indigenous Chamber of Commerce in 2006. She then went on to establish the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce in 2009 as the first state peak body for Indigenous entrepreneurs, business owners and enterprising community organisations. In 2015 Deb led the national network of Indigenous peak business bodies to establish the First Australians Chamber of Commerce and Industry to provide the sector with a national voice and advocacy vehicle. Her vision was and continues to be for a model whereby Indigenous business owners operating in every region across Australia are positioned to inform the country’s economic and social policy agenda. 

Deb is a recipient of the ‘NSW Premiers Award for Excellence’ recognising the impact of her work over many years to support the establishment and growth of Indigenous owned businesses in NSW and to advocate for their inclusion in the supply chains of government and industry. 

Deb Barwick’s accomplishments as one of Australia’s leading grass roots advocates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Business owners are complemented by her successes as a private business owner. Her company Winya Indigenous Furniture, established in 2016, has won multiple regional, national and international business awards including the grand Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) award.

In 2018, Winya made history as the first Australian company to ever win a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals award. Today, Winya has showrooms across the Country including Sydney, Darwin, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra.

Session: Mitigating greenwashing and greenhushing risks: strategies for authentic sustainability

Josh joined the GECA team in 2023, bringing a breadth of experience from the not-for-profit, corporate and government sectors with a track record of creating lasting impact for organisations and communities. Having worked extensively across countries, cultures, and industries, Josh believes inclusive and courageous collaboration is the best way to get things done. He is thrilled to use this passion to develop partnerships within the GECA Family and beyond for the good of people and planet. Josh is proud to lead an organisation that delivers positive environmental impact using globally recognised best practice standards.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How can we work with Indigenous suppliers and First Nations businesses to drive positive social and business outcomes?

Donald Betts is originally from Wichita, Kansas, USA, known as the “air capital city of the world” for its manufacturing and aviation industry. In 2003, then State congressman Betts was nominated to visit Australia on a political trade mission with the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) to learn about Australian federal and state politics. While on that trip, he met Tania, and in 2007 they were married in the United States.

When elected, Donald was the youngest Senator to be elected in US History. After a failed bid to the United States Congress, Donald moved to Melbourne, Australia with his wife, and enrolled in law school , where he earned a Juris Doctorate (JD), and was the first African American in Australia to earn a JD at Monash University.

Donald plays the double bass at church, and can be seen championing his son and daughter on the basketball court every weekend.

As an Australian Principal Lawyer, and CEO, he is driven to help Indigenous communities around the globe to be self-governing, independent, and growing.

Session: The evolution of ESG, sustainability reporting and the impact on procurement

Stephanie Bowen is the Group Head Sustainability & Community at Alinta Energy. She’s passionate about sustainability and believes that the connection to our community and the environment are critical to both individuals and organisations alike. 

Stephanie helps organisations to develop and achieve their sustainability ambitions. This is made possible by demonstrating the qualitative and quantitative value of sustainability and forging strong relationships across diverse stakeholders. Her experience as a chartered accountant and sustainability professional has been fundamental to successfully bridging the perceived gap between commerciality and sustainability. Stephanie is really fortunate to be able to say that she genuinely loves what she does. 

Stephanie works across every part of the business and at all levels – from operations, legal, communications, finance to engineering and beyond.

Session: ESG vs CSR: The necessary duality and how to harness both for successful outcomes

With over 16 years as a procurement professional, Lucie has been involved in developing all manufacturing-based projects from inception to approval. Lucie coordinates closely with multi-disciplinary teams to deliver feasible and economic outcomes to achieve pharmaceutical manufacturing distinction. Combining technical and strategic frameworks through all project facilitations, Lucie is continuously setting new benchmarks in procurement excellence and delivering significant and measurable ROI across key business units. Lucie drives a dynamic procurement team who are relentless in keeping up with market trends both nationally and on a global scale.

Lucie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, a Masters of International Business and International Relations from Macquarie University, Sydney and recently completed her Masters of Business Administration from Macquarie Graduate School of Management.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How will future procurement leaders shape the ESG and business landscape?

Emily Dafter is a Human Rights & Ethical Supply Chain Specialist at Australian Retirement Trust.

A young professional with six years of experience working across responsible sourcing and human rights, Emily has worked with companies like CSIRO, Lion, Origin Energy, Uniting and ALDI Australia to mature their responsible sourcing approaches and embed due diligence into supply chains. 

Having worked in sourcing roles, consulting with major corporates, and now in the investment sector, Emily has a keen understanding of social, environmental and governance risk with an understanding of both stakeholder expectations and the nitty gritty, time-consuming nature of RFX processes. 

Her current work focuses on monitoring and engaging with investee companies on the maturity of their responsible sourcing and human rights activities. The philosophy Emily applies to all of her work is “nothing about us without us” – always looking for opportunities to use the feedback and perspectives of affected persons in procurement or investment processes. Uncertain whether a badge of honour or an embarrassing story, Emily once made the mistake of excitedly telling a room full of investors that social procurement was essentially another way of ‘redistributing wealth.’

Session: Practical steps to address the core challenges and risks of modern slavery

Ruth Furber has over 17 years of experience in global procurement risk, specialising in responsible sourcing, human rights compliance, and supplier risk management within the mining, resources, and oil and gas sectors. Her work with Domus 8.7, part of the Australian Catholic Anti-Slavery Network, and her academic background from University of Notre Dame Australia in modern slavery and human trafficking highlight her deep commitment to these issues and translating today’s regulatory requirements into pragmatic, logical procurement processes and activities that support organisations due diligence and reporting objectives.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What needs to be in your ESG Procurement plan in 2024?

Session: Pivotal practices to successfully bring stakeholders on the ESG journey

Marea is a highly experienced procurement practitioner with a demonstrated history of working in the government industry.

Marea is skilled in negotiation, project management, business planning, training, and stakeholder engagement.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How is sustainability reporting impacting procurement teams and their organisations?
 

Andrea Gregory is the Head of Procurement at Frucor Suntory Oceania. She is known as an inspirational leader, with proven ability to drive transformational change and add value. She’s a strategic and innovative thinker who sees outside the square, thriving in challenging environments, and who places a real focus on continuous improvement. 

Intellectually curious with the desire to make connections between seemingly unrelated areas are key strengths, allowing Andrea to create new insights into how things could be done even better and/or differently.

Session: Mastering leadership: Why ESG is crucial for effective procurement governance

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How will future procurement leaders shape the ESG and business landscape?

Rebecca is the ESG & Sustainability Director for Taronga Ventures. She is responsible for supporting the ESG ambitions our portfolio companies and institutional investors, and providing ESG advisory services to the market through Taronga Advisory.

Her career has spanned in-house ESG strategy development and deployment to consultancy and advisory. Rebecca has a passion for the intersection of ESG and real assets, and at Taronga Ventures is working with companies to leverage technology and innovation solutions to mitigate ESG risks and take advantage of sustainability related opportunities.

She has worked in ESG program design and implementation, with a specialist focus on real assets from reporting and disclosure to strategy and roll-out. Rebecca was previously Head of ESG & Sustainability, Asia Pacific with Cushman & Wakefield, guiding and supporting owners, investors and occupiers to realise their ESG visions through program deployment.

She has a passion for cutting-edge solutions to promote and advance responsible business practices in the industry.

Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Science, Environment (hons) from the University of Melbourne and a Masters Degree in Sustainability and Business Management from Monash University.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How can we work with Indigenous suppliers and First Nations businesses to drive positive social and business outcomes?

Sujata Karandikar is Head of Group ESG at The Lottery Corporation. She has over 13 years’ experience in sustainable procurement, supplier diversity and sustainability strategy roles, and has worked in national and multinational companies across a variety of industry sectors, including at CBRE, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, David Jones and Origin Energy. She was previously a Senior Manager at boutique sustainability consultancy Point Advisory, where she worked with clients such Coles, Orica, Lion and Bank Australia on projects that included developing whole of company sustainability strategies, sustainable procurement strategies, sustainability reporting, modern slavery and human rights gap analysis, and supply chain decarbonisation.

She has a strong interest in technology and innovation as an enabler to sustainable outcomes, previously co-founding tech start-up Unscrabble in 2015, and raising seed funding through one of Australia’s big 4 banks and various venture capital investors.

Sujata is a passionate advocate for diversity and representation, and has long believed in the power of procurement to create positive outcomes and address some of our biggest global challenges, including climate change, the biodiversity crisis and growing inequality.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How is sustainability reporting impacting procurement teams and their organisations?

Siobhan Leach is the Group Sustainability Officer at Ramsay Health Care, having previously held sustainability roles at NRMA and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. She has expertise in ESG, sustainability, shared value, CSR, environmental management including risk and compliance, EIS and due diligence, carbon management and energy efficiency, human rights and modern slavery, sustainability-linked loans, and sustainability and investor reporting and disclosure (e.g. TCFD, GRI, ESG ratings and indices).

Session: MASTERCLASS B: Winning government tenders: leveraging social value and ESG for competitive advantage

Session: MASTERCLASS B: Winning government tenders: leveraging social value and ESG for competitive advantage

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What needs to be in your ESG Procurement plan in 2024?

Jason has over 20 years of experience in Procurement, Supply Chain, and Finance in both FMCG and the Waste & Recycling industries. P2P transformation, a passion for ESG and driving positive outcomes with suppliers and stakeholders are all key attributes that Jason possesses. Driving Procurement excellence across the organisation and enhancing the profile of Procurement are some of his key motivators.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How is sustainability reporting impacting procurement teams and their organisations?

Amy is a dedicated procurement leader with a career spanning 16+ years in industries including Industrial Engineering, Retail, FMCG and Franchise. 

Driven by a passion for developing people and partnerships, Amy has been a part of many high performing teams delivering a “Shared Value” approach for all parties.

With Amy’s procurement leadership predominately in food & beverage for the last 10 years, she has led teams that have been at the forefront of stakeholder engagement and business implementation strategies for ESG in both ASX listed to privately owned national entities.

The standards of which we as professionals have come to adopt over time are not something that Amy’s team take for granted, however more an ethos to ensure that the supply chain is better for the environment and for the people working within it… thus leading to greater sustainability!

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What needs to be in your ESG Procurement plan in 2024?

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How is sustainability reporting impacting procurement teams and their organisations?

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How will future procurement leaders shape the ESG and business landscape?

Sharon Morris is the Group Regional Head, APAC at World Commerce & Contracting. She is a highly motivated leader who drives innovation and collaboration to achieve sustainable growth and a positive impact. Her track record includes successfully leading high-profile national and global initiatives across diverse sectors. Sharon strongly emphasises leadership, engagement, advocacy, commercial outcomes, ethics, and social impact. She aims to engage, connect, inspire, and effect positive behavioural change.

As an experienced executive, Sharon excels in building relationships, based on trust and innovative outcomes, while fostering strategic business solutions, always with the member’s best interests at heart. She drives successful outcomes with passion, boundless energy, and a dynamic yet practical approach.

Sharon’s advocacy extends beyond mere words; she leads by example and empowers those around me to embrace core values and vision. The embodiment of ethics, engagement, and leadership is who Sharon is, a leader dedicated to making a lasting difference.

Session: Procuring for net zero: moving closer to meeting the challenge of hitting net zero targets

Jessica Mottau is a Partner in Allens' Technology, Media and Telecommunications team, based in Sydney.  Jessica advises on complex procurements and outsourcings, critical supply chain arrangements, emerging technology and innovation projects (including the adoption of AI), and commercial data matters. Jessica frequently works with clients looking to develop or procure decarbonisation or sustainability solutions – whether that's procuring technologies to assist with carbon emissions reporting, licensing circular economy technologies, developing electrification technologies, or negotiating collaboration agreements for AI tools to improve operational efficiency.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What needs to be in your ESG Procurement plan in 2024?

Andrés Naranjo is GM Procurement and Purchasing (CPO) at Coates. He cares about delivering value for money through collaborative stakeholder engagement, sustainable innovation and structured negotiations. He didn't fall into Procurement, he fell in love with it!

Andrés has cut costs on portfolios up to a billion dollars in Technology/IT, CapEx, MRO, direct and indirect procurement categories. Working with diverse stakeholders, from Well Superintendents in Oil & Gas and Concrete Batchers to Executives and CFOs, he has helped companies in oil & Gas, Banking, Insurance, Consulting, Construction, Transport and Infrastructure make better commercial decisions. 

Andrés has built teams to over-deliver against Hard Savings targets with a strong focus on gaining stakeholders' trust and generating value in their terms - not Procurement's. Having worked on pioneering digital eProcurement transformations, operating model redesign projects, innovative Business Partnering and Category Management, he’s helped large companies reimagine what procurement does for them.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How can we work with Indigenous suppliers and First Nations businesses to drive positive social and business outcomes?

Jasmine Newman is the Managing Director & Co Founder of KILLARA Services. Her career developing young indigenous youth started as soon as she left school and naturally she knew it was in her blood to give back to her people and community. 

Jasmine continues to do this through her business by providing opportunities to the community and ensuring the appropriate support is in place to see sustainable social and economic advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and the Indigenous business sector.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How will future procurement leaders shape the ESG and business landscape?

Alex Newton is an Ethical Procurement Manager at Origin Energy, having previously held the role of Responsible Procurement Lead.

Session: Creating an effective ESG procurement plan

Vinay is a seasoned procurement and supply chain professional with 10+ years’ experience across FMCG and Retail. He is commercially minded and results driven, delivering financial productivity whilst managing business risk. In addition, a sustainability advocate and leader, delivering strong outcomes to grow long-term, sustainable business value. He is currently serving as the Senior Manager in the non-trade procurement team at Coles Group, currently overseeing the Energy, Resource Recovery, Packaging, Store and Manufacturing Operations categories along with the Sustainability program for non-trade procurement. He holds an Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) and Bachelor of Biomedical Science from Monash University.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How can we work with Indigenous suppliers and First Nations businesses to drive positive social and business outcomes?

Session: CASE STUDY: Promoting Indigenous engagement and beneficial relationships through procurement pathways

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How can we work with Indigenous suppliers and First Nations businesses to drive positive social and business outcomes?

Kate Russell is a proud Awabakal woman from Lake Macquarie and is committed to empowering her community. Kate draws on her extensive experience working across public and community sectors and is driven by a desire to promote opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - making sure to approach all programs, policies and initiatives through an intersectional lens. Kate is passionate about engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to co-design programs and services using international best practices to make tangible changes in policy.

As a consultant, Kate has worked across multiple policy areas to support the delivery of outcomes and community benefits, with a focus on people and culture programs. Prior to this, she held senior roles at the Department of Planning and Environment, where she oversaw the design and delivery of programs across a portfolio of agencies and over 15,000 staff.

Additionally, Kate has spent time working at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Sydney and Canberra and for the Catalan Department of Education in Spain. Kate returned to Australia to work in the community sector to focus on Aboriginal employment and leadership development, and eventually joined the NSW State Government in 2016. Kate’s broad expertise and experience in diversity and inclusion, organisational culture, leadership, human resources and knowledge, and project management enables her to develop programs that recognise the intersectionality of diverse experiences.

Currently, Kate is a Board Director at the Diversity Council Australia and has previously served as a Director for Yilabara Solutions and Interrelate. In July 2023, she commenced her role as Chief Executive Officer at Supply Nation, the Australian leader in supplier diversity. Kate holds a Bachelor of International Studies (Distinction), an MBA and an Executive Masters of Public Administration.

Session: Practical steps to address the core challenges and risks of modern slavery

Jenny assits Catholic entities in Australia to implement ACAN Modern Slavery Risk Management Program tools and resources to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and beyond. For more than twenty years she has directly supported people impacted by modern slavery, promoted survivor leadership, conducted policy advocacy, delivered training and raised community awareness. Jenny represents ACAN on the Australian Government's National Roundtable on People Trafikking and Slavery and was appointed to the Ministerial Expert Advisory Group 2020-2022. Jenny has been appointed to the advisory panel of the NSW Office of the Anti-0slavery Commisioner. She has also consulted for the US State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the United Nations in Myanmar, Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Malaysia and Mexico.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What needs to be in your ESG Procurement plan in 2024?

Ryan Thomas is a dynamic and visionary professional with a passion for research, innovation, and technology. With a diverse background in technology for health, education, and entertainment, Ryan is a champion of purpose-driven software that makes a tangible difference to the people and organisations that use it. His journey has led him to now focus on research and development of Modern Slavery and Human Rights technologies and shares invaluable expertise on leveraging software to facilitate sustainable business relationships and growth.  Together with his colleagues, Ryan is making cutting-edge ESG technologies more accessible and effective to provide businesses with affordable tools to fast track their annual Modern Slavery Statement.

Session: Overcoming the challenges of supply chain complexity in driving an ESG agenda

Clare Tubolets is CEO at SmartCrete CRC, a Cooperative Research Centre proudly partnering with the Australian concrete supply chain to undertake research to support the net-zero transformation of Australian concrete. Clare has a diverse background, previously managing research and investment in the agriculture and technology sectors.  She was Chief Operating Officer at the Food Agility CRC, Business Development Manager at sensor tech company, and The Yield Technology Solutions, and Research Manager at Sense-T, an IoT research program at the University of Tasmania. Clare is an agile practitioner, passionate about unlocking the collaborative potential by bringing together world leading research and industry specialists to solve real-world problems.

Session: Implementing procurement processes that will move you towards sustainable environmental impacts

Ken is the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) at Fire Rescue Victoria where he has commenced a full review of the procurement framework and policies in this critical emergency service agency. Ken has previously work as the CPO at the Suburban Rail Loop, a major infrastructure development in Victoria. Prior to that Ken was the CPO at Public Transport Victoria and Court Services Victoria. With over 10 year experience as a CPO in critical service delivery agencies he has had many opportunities to improve service delivery and response times in procurement activities. He is alco keenly interested in improving social outcomes through procurement reforms such as improving Aboriginal business engagement and improving social and environmental outcomes through targeted policy initiatives.

Session: Leveraging government procurement to transition to the circular economy

Jessica Vorreiter, a Senior Project Officer in the Circular Economy Markets team at the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (NSW DCCEEW), has extensive experience in environmental sustainability across both public and private sectors. At NSW DCCEEW, Jessica has specialised in emissions reduction and improving circularity within NSW Government agencies. Her particular expertise is in sustainable procurement and her current focus is on improving sustainable procurement practices across NSW Government.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: How can we work with Indigenous suppliers and First Nations businesses to drive positive social and business outcomes?

As a First Nations female business owner, Jenni Walke strives to be a role model for other women and First Nations peoples. Her goal is to break down barriers and show that opportunities are not limited by gender, ethnicity, or background. Jenni believes everyone has the ability to choose their path and define success.

Through collaboration with entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, and leaders, Jenni finds purpose.

She empowers individuals to build businesses aligned with their aspirations and positive impact. By offering guidance, support, and resources, Jenni helps create sustainable ventures that make a lasting difference.

This work allows her to contribute to an inclusive and equitable society, inspiring others. Witnessing the transformative power of purpose-driven entrepreneurship brings her joy and fulfillment.

Session: PANEL DISCUSSION: What needs to be in your ESG Procurement plan in 2024?

Session: CASE STUDY: Social procurement: delivering the ‘S’ in ESG by unlocking the fastest growing sector

Monique is an experienced executive level director with a passion for workplace inclusion. She has deep expertise across the spectrum of operational functions in large complex environments and extensive experience in strategic procurement, property strategy and all aspects of workplace operations. Her passion is people and culture - in particular bringing the best out of people and teams.

Monique does this by providing opportunities for people to work in their areas of strength and creating a culture where people bring their whole selves to work.