Dr Sophia Drysdale

Senior Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor and Researcher at The Kidman Centre

Dr Sophia Drysdale is a Senior Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor and Researcher at The Kidman Centre, a department within the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), dedicated to the understanding, prevention and reduction of mental health problems in young people aged 5 to 25. 

She completed a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (2012) and PhD (2015) at the University of Sydney and has a background in child and family-based community mental health (NSW Health). Sophia has over a decade of experience in the assessment and treatment of a wide range of psychological difficulties in hospital, university and private practice settings, with a particular interest in supporting young people and their families. 

Over the course of her career, Sophia has worked closely with metropolitan schools, as well as working extensively in rural and regional NSW training teachers and school counsellors. She has also published in various highly regarded peer-reviewed academic journals on the management of challenging behaviours in youth.

Katherine Taylor

Director of Psychosocial Policy, Safe Work Australia

Katherine Taylor is the Director of Psychosocial Policy at Safe Work Australia. Katherine led the development of the model WHS Regulations and Code of Practice on psychosocial risks, the model Code on sexual and gender-based harassment, and the review of the WHS incident notification framework.  

Katherine has 20 years of experience in the public sector. She is a policy specialist, having held a range of positions in the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Home Affairs. She has a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University, and a Master of Public Policy from the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.  

Eric Knight

Deputy Vice Chancellor (People and Operations), Macquarie University

Eric Knight is Deputy Vice Chancellor (People and Operations) at Macquarie University where his responsibilities include, amongst other things, academic and professional workforce planning, and university-wide student recruitment. In addition to serving as Chairman of Trustees at Sydney Grammar School, Professor Knight also serves on the boards of MQ Health, and the Universities Admissions Centre.

Professor Knight previously served as Executive Dean at Macquarie Business School where he transformed the research and teaching performance of the faculty, making it the top-ranked Business School in Sydney in overall student experience in undergraduate business, and holding top three positions in the QS World Rankings for every masters program in the country. Before that, he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research - Enterprise & Engagement) at the University of Sydney where he led major changes in the culture and commercialisation of research across the university. He is world-leading researcher in the field of organisational theory, having published widely in top-tier Financial Times 50 journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Academy of Management Review.

Julianna Demetrius

Demetrius Consulting

Prior to establishing her own safeguarding practice, Julianna Demetrius was a member of the NSW Ombudsman’s executive team for 12 years. In her role as Deputy Ombudsman, Employment Related Child Division, Julianna was responsible for oversighting the handling of child abuse allegations and building the capacity of agencies to establish and maintain systems for preventing, detecting and responding to reportable conduct, including the delivery of an extensive training program.

Julianna was involved in progressing the implementation of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and advised WA, Victoria and the ACT on the establishment of their reportable conduct schemes. She was also engaged by the National Office of Child Safety to develop guidance for organisations to adopt a child-focused approach to responding to complaints. In her previous role as Assistant Ombudsman, Julianna led the Ombudsman’s response to the Royal Commission between 2013 and 2017 as well as the Ombudsman’s systemic child and family work.

Dr Christine Grice

Senior Lecturer Educational Leadership, The University of Sydney

Dr Christine Grice is an Australian educator. She works closely with school and system leaders on research and practice partnerships centred on leading together for education. Christine brings almost three decades of educational leadership and research experience to her work, in the government and non-government sectors in Australia and in the UK, at early childhood, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

 She has held previous appointments in P-12 schools as Head of School, Deputy Head, and Director of Curriculum, and she has also served on four governing boards. Christine has always been passionate about supporting educators to connect theory, philosophy, and practice for purposeful leading in her teaching, research, leadership, and service to the education community. Christine is currently postgraduate coordinator of the Master of Education Programs at the University of Sydney.

Lauren Jones

Lauren Jones Consulting (Enterprise Risk Management)

Speaker, author, and facilitator Lauren Jones is managing director of Improve Consulting Pty Ltd. Lauren helps organisations become “future fit” through pragmatic application of risk management in strategic planning and management systems. 

Over the past decade, Lauren has designed and implemented risk management programs for diverse organisations ranging from construction to manufacturing to satellite connectivity, she has facilitated risk and strategy workshops and has mentored numerous business leaders. Lauren is also a valued presenter of the Risk Management Institute of Australia’s (RMIA) online Enterprise Risk Management course.

Tracey Cain

H/Advisors APA

Tracey’s specialty is reputation risk with Boards and CEOs – applying 30 years of experience as a consultant in regulated industries. Her expertise extends to risk identification and analysis, Playbooks around governance and operational risk eventuations, and issues/crisis management. She has particular expertise in governance and litigation/disputes across the education, legal and NFP sectors..

Tracey has worked in-house as a Director of Communications for a leading Australian corporate law firm offering advice to the firm and its clients, and later served as the founding CEO of a health and aged care foundation. Since 1997, Tracey has worked with independent schools across Australia – working with more than 450 individual schools, most schools associations and most faith-based education providers. She is on the board of Knox Grammar School and AISNSW.

Mark McCrindle

Principal, McCrindle

Mark McCrindle is a social researcher, best-selling author, influential thought leader and TEDx speaker. He is recognised globally as coining the name for the emerging generation, Generation Alpha. Mark's advisory, communications and research company, McCrindle, count among its clients more than 100 of the nation's largest companies and leading international brands.

Mark's highly valued social commentary is presented through his engaging keynotes, research, reports, infographics, videos and media input. He is a trusted advisor and sits on the board of a number of different organisations, after having developed his regard as an expert demographer, futurist and social commentator.