Amanda co-founded the Climate Council and has been its CEO for the past 10 years. Amanda has also been involved in the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and served on renewable energy expert panels. She holds degrees in Law and Arts and has received several awards for her contributions, including being named one of Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence.

For over 15 years Kristen has worked on climate change, environmental and social justice campaigns, within the not for-profit, education and local government sectors. A communications, education and engagement specialist, Kristen is passionate about empowering communities to bring about change. She is one of the founding members of community group, Electrify 2515, and drives community electrification at Rewiring Australia.

Dr Simon Bradshaw is a Researcher on climate science and impacts at the Climate Council. Simon has been a writer and campaigner for climate action for over a decade and was formerly the Climate Change Advocacy Lead at Oxfam Australia. Simon’s research and advocacy has taken him to the Torres Strait Islands, Tibet, India, throughout the Pacific, and to many rounds of international climate negotiations. He is passionate about climate justice and the role of climate action in reducing poverty and inequality. His research with the Climate Council covers extreme weather, bushfires, health, security and many other areas of climate science and impacts.

Ryan Gale is an Associate in MinterEllison’s leading Climate Risk Governance team, focusing on climate change risks (and opportunities) through a financial, corporate governance and liability lens. He is known for his ability to communicate complex legal issues across the scientific, business and community sectors, and works broadly across both government clients and corporate listed and non-listed clients across the energy, financial services, mining, industrial and retail sectors. Ryan has extensive experience and a demonstrated passion for addressing critical environmental issues in the corporate law landscape, including a focus on identifying and addressing climate change risks (and opportunities) across supply chains, major projects and transactions.

Jennifer has a Doctorate of Public Health, Masters of Women’s Health and an Honours degree in Science and also is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with La Trobe University.

Her focus has been on community wellbeing with a focus on climate and health and environment plus food systems and the links to regenerative agriculture, food security and food culture supporting Bendigo’s designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

She supports the equitable development of services, infrastructure such as environmentally sustainable affordable housing construction and renewable energy development and enabling strategies. She is interested in creating well-designed, resilient, healthy and prosperous communities that benefit from forward-thinking decisions supporting employment pathways and job creation via innovation.

Rob Adams has been pivotal in revitalising central Melbourne since joining the City of Melbourne in 1985. Rob’s contributions to architecture and urban design have been widely recognized. He was honoured with the Order of Australia in 2007, awarded the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year in 2008, and received the Sydney Luker Medal for Planning Institute of Australia and the Australia Award for Urban Design in Transforming Cities in 2009.

Light House Architecture and Science is a multi-award-winning practice that integrates science (theoretical modelling and physical testing) into the design process to deliver highly efficient, all-electric, climate resilient homes — new and renovated — in the Canberra region. She is a scientist, not an architect.

Jenny has been awarded the national HIA GreenSmart Sustainable Home of the Year award (2018) and the Clem Cummings Medal by the ACT branch of the Institute of Architects (2019). In 2020, four all-electric Light House projects won national HIA GreenSmart awards. In 2021, the all-gas to all-electric renovation project, Little Loft House, won a prestigious sustainable architecture award. This year Jenny was named Energy Efficiency Champion of 2023 at the National Energy Efficiency Conference at UNSW for her free advocacy and education work about residential energy efficiency over the last 15 years.

Dr Steven Percy is a Senior Research Fellow at the Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2) at the Swinburne University of Technology. Steven leads VH2’s research in hydrogen modelling. Steven’s research focuses on assessing Australia’s potential to become an internationally competitive green hydrogen producer. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Melbourne and has about 15 years’ experience in the energy industry holding positions at CSIRO, Victorian university, and industry consulting. Steven is a 2020 Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow in hydrogen research.

Peta is Director, International Climate and Net Zero Pathways Division in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government. She is responsible for net zero innovation policy, stakeholder engagement, and international clean energy RD&D collaboration and senior representative for Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerial. Peta is interested in technical and policy solutions to climate change across all sectors, both globally and locally.

Ellen is a Principal & Partner at SGS Economics & Planning. She is one of the company’s leaders in climate change adaptation and mitigation. She has worked with state and local government and delivers a public benefit lens to urban and precinct planning. As a trained economist and human geographer, she is keen to improve the way cities and regions function, and how this benefits the wellbeing of the community. She regularly works with the insurance industry, local and state governments to provide insight into the cost of climate risk, and the benefits of community-based climate responses. Ellen believes in the power of engagement and collaboration and uses her communication and facilitation skills to deliver solutions that are developed with and owned by the community.

Crystal is Chief of Partnerships and Impact at the Resilient Building Council. She is an experienced climate change and resilience leader, who is passionate about leveraging the private sector capital to create resilient infrastructure, assets, and communities. Previously General Manager at the Investor Group on Climate Change, she developed and implemented IGCC’s physical risk and resilience stream of work. She has also provided expertise to the NSW Government Climate Preparedness area of the Office of Energy and Climate Change, NSW Treasury.

David carries a deep cultural understanding of Country to his leadership in the community, advocating for a combination of traditional knowledge and contemporary technologies. In his work with BLSC, he’s playing a key role in pioneering strategic intercultural approaches to climate, integrated water management, biodiversity and circular economy.

James Roscoe makes local communities more liveable and more sustainable. With a focus on leading Local Government teams and communities to act on the climate emergency, James has led major behaviour change initiatives, including diverting 71% of Bayside’s waste away from landfill. His next challenge is speeding up the shift to sustainable transport, and managing parking as a finite resource by prioritising availability for those who need it most.