Kirsty Dunn

As a senior communications specialist who has been in the industry for over 17 years, Kirsty has extensive experience leading both consumer and corporate communications, as well as content marketing, across a wide range of industries including ecommerce, technology, travel, retail, government, education and hospitality.

With a reputation for delivering high-impact, integrated communications strategies, Kirsty currently heads up the PR efforts in Australia for Tinder® - the dating app that revolutionised how people meet. Her role joins her impressive professional portfolio, having led communications for globally-renowned brands including eBay, Gumtree and Expedia Group to drive market development through awareness and meaningful storytelling.

Since joining Tinder, Kirsty has worked extensively alongside WESNET, Chanel Contos, experts and other local partners to proactively inform and develop resources to educate media, users and non-users on Tinder’s trust and safety features, and other tools to empower single Aussies when dating online and IRL. This includes the creation of the award-winning Dating Safety Guide, the Dating Dictionary: Consent Edition, School of Swipe and the newly-launched Consent Course.

Patricia Routledge

Patricia’s career in communications spans more than 20 years of both in house and agency roles in the UK and Australia.

As Head of Communications for IKEA in Australia and New Zealand, Patricia is a member of the executive leadership team and reports directly into the CEO. She is responsible for brand positioning and reputation, Government, Stakeholder, media and influencer relations as well as internal communications. Her team is responsible for driving Trust and Positive Impact metrics for the business through operational and societally focused campaigns, with a strong focus on community engagement aand partnership activity in the area of Domestic and Family Violence.

Patricia has been at IKEA Australia for 10 years and within that time she has held several leadership positions within the communications team spanning public relations, public affairs and internal communications.

With 14 years agency experience working in both London and Sydney, she has led and managed high profile consumer and corporate brands including Gumtree, American Express, and Optus - on which two of her campaigns were Cannes Lions award winners.

Elly Hewitt

Elly Hewitt is the co-founder and CEO of alt/shift/. She brings with her a wealth of experience as an adviser on both consumer and government creative communications campaigns that truly shift behaviour.

Elly inspires a team of 40+ people, consistently bringing together the best and most relevant minds for each project she leads. Her strengths lie in her diverse career experience, having led behaviour change campaigns targeting everything from early childhood education, anti-vaping and road safety, to launching major streaming services, sporting events and accessible easter egg hunts.

Most recently Elly has provided strategic counsel for the Victorian Department of Education, VicHealth, the TAC, AFL, Netflix, Cadbury, and Officeworks, amongst others.

She is particularly passionate about the intersection of behavioural science and creativity, and how this can best be applied to ignite change.

Laura Agricola

Laura is a seasoned brand and creative strategist having worked for Crispin Porter + Bogusky in the US and Saatchi & Saatchi in AU before landing at Keep Left. In this session, she will share how these learnings ladder up to brand.

Dena Vassallo

Dena has international experience with some of the world’s largest and most influential brands. Whether essential to society today, or visionary for a better tomorrow, she is an advocate for brands and organisations that want to connect with, and make a positive impact on society. She is a champion for people and planet, and gives back to the industry as the former Chair of She Creates, board member for Green Adelaide, Deputy Chair of Governors at Walford Anglican School for Girls, and Inaugural Council for Global Women in PR.

Azadeh Williams

Azadeh is the Founder and Managing Director of AZK Media, a PR agency helping B2B tech companies expand into new and emerging markets.

With over 20 years' global experience in media, marketing and public relations, Azadeh’s focus is on growing the agency’s integrated marketing, PR and multimedia solutions, to deliver premium results for AZK Media’s growing client base across APAC, North America, the UK and EMEA.

A former solicitor, media lecturer and international journalist (Reuters, The Times (UK), CMO Magazine and CIO Magazine), her unique depth of experience enables her to market complex business concepts to attract the interest of prospects and the press.

She has been consistently recognised in Mumbrella CommsCon Awards and B&T’s Women in Media and Women Leading Technology Awards for public relations, marketing and entrepreneurship. In 2021, Azadeh was awarded the Best of the Best in PR for Australasia. Passionate about the application of AI, in 2023, she was appointed to the board of the Global AI Ethics Institute.

Dr Vanessa Pirotta

Vanessa is one of Australia’s most renowned wildlife scientists. Her research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation, working collaboratively across marine/terrestrial environments and merging cutting edge tech to access animals in unique ways.

Vanessa is a passionate and experienced science communicator who plays an important role in society by making science accessible. Vanessa has represented Australia internationally as the international runner up of the world-renowned science communication competition FameLab. She has spoken on the TEDx platform, been recognized by the Australian Financial Review as one of the top 100 Women of Influence and listed as one of Science & Technology Australia’s Superstars of STEM. In 2024, she was awarded the Emerging Leader in Science winner in the Women’s Agenda Leadership awards and listed as a finalist in the Australian Museum Eureka Awards. In 2025, Vanessa has been listed as a finalist in the NSW Premiers Women of the Year awards.

Vanessa’s cross generational focus in her research sees her work locally and internationally, to empower communities through wildlife. She leads the Wild Sydney Harbour citizen science program, which is learning more about marine life in Sydney Harbour, Australia. Together with local First Nations rangers, the Gamay Rangers, they combine Indigenous Knowledge and scientific knowledge to learn more about marine mammals in their blue backyard.

Vanessa is a proud children’s book author, with her book The Voyage of Whale and Calf, serving as an annual reminder of humpback whale biology and ecology in Australian waters. In 2024, Vanessa also published two additional books; The Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales and a second children’s book, Oceans At Night.

Vanessa is a highly experienced presenter and was the invited MC for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at Parliament House, Canberra in 2023/24. Vanessa makes regular appearances on national and international television and social media platforms relating to marine topics.

Sophie Onikul

Sophie Onikul’s first paid job was as a professional party clown. The fundamental skills learned during her time as “Squiggles” continue to be applied to her career today - the importance of connection, creativity and humour (along with juggling). Most importantly, she takes her work seriously but never herself.

A seasoned communications strategist with strong media credentials, Sophie has over 20 years’ experience drawing upon her time as a talk radio producer, a Government spin doctor, doing PR for a start-up and heading up communications for both eBay and Airbnb.

There isn’t an area of comms Sophie doesn’t have experience in - strategy, consumer public relations, corporate reputation, issues and crisis management, internal communications, B2B and Government relations along with being a polished company spokesperson.

Sophie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communications Studies) from Western Sydney University where she majored in Journalism and Public Relations.

Outside of work you’ll find Sophie impressing kids with her balloon animal making skills, trying to top her trip to Antarctica or playing pickleball.

Luke McClelland

Luke McClelland is a seasoned communications professional with over 15 years of experience, known for his creative-led earned media campaigns for global brands like Netflix, Xbox, Disney, Tourism Australia, and Mastercard. His expertise spans consumer, corporate, and B2B communications, as well as issues management, social media, and internal communications.

Luke played a pivotal role in rebuilding Xbox's market share in Australia with viral initiatives such as the Xbox Onesie, Xbox Stay n' Play, and Greaseproof Controller. He also led the successful launch of Netflix in Australia and New Zealand, achieving the fastest subscriber acquisition globally at the time.

Currently overseeing Mastercard's communications in Australasia, Luke has driven campaigns that highlight the company's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as Tennis in a New Light, The Open Ballkid and TOUCH Movie. His strategic approach and inventive thinking have established him as a respected leader in the communications field, consistently delivering impactful campaigns that challenge the status quo and drive customer action.

More details on his LinkedIn page, here.

Zoe Samios

Zoe Samios covers wagering and the business of sport from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. She was previously the media and telecommunications reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and covered media at The Australian.

Belinda Noble

Belinda spent nearly 20 years in TV news as a reporter and supervising producer in Australia, Asia and the UK, before moving into corporate communications, including as Head of Communications for Red Cross. She founded Comms Declare in 2020 to promote climate action in the communications industries and stop the promotion of climate pollution. She has a Masters in Leadership, a Graduate Diploma in Management, a BA in Communications and accreditations in public consultation, emergency management and customer experience.

Amy Ashworth

Amy Ashworth is a communications specialist and integrated marketer with extensive experience working with brands and businesses across Australia and Europe for the last 20 years.

She’s known for leading teams to create campaigns that get talked about (for all the right reasons) and running Eleven, one of the most awarded agencies in Australia.

At Eleven, Amy champions creating cultural impact for brands by turning it up to Eleven through earned-led creative, PR, social, experiences, partnerships, technology and more. 

Bridget Jung

Bridget Jung joined Ogilvy PR as the agency’s first ever Executive Creative Director in 2018, working across the breadth of briefs that the agency works on from consumer, to corporate, to government. In 2019 she was promoted to Chief Creative Officer, and in 2024 to Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Sydney, reflecting the growth of Bridget’s team and their diversity of skillsets. ​​

Bridget is a seasoned leader with over 20 years’ experience and a background in Art Direction and Design. Bridget moved back to Australia after spending the majority of her career in Europe where she was Chief Creative Officer of DigitasLBi Paris and Executive Creative Director at OgilvyOne Paris. Before joining OPR Bridget was Creative Director at Marcel Sydney.​

Bridget has judged numerous international award shows including Cannes Lions, New York Festivals, The Loeries, Art Directors Club, Clio Awards, IAB, Cresta Awards, Adfest and D&AD. 


Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe is the Founder and Managing Director of independent PR, Social and Content agency Poem. With over 20 years in consumer PR, working within some of the world’s leading creative PR agencies, Rob’s consistently been at the forefront of change within the industry. He was the fifth employee at One Green Bean, founded Eleven PR Australia in 2011 and launched Poem in 2015.

Poem is built on the principle of being ‘deeply human’ and therefore built to evolve as people do.

The agency has had a rapid rise over the last nine years, with Sony PlayStation, Tourism Australia, Amazon, Sonos and Uber being amongst just some of the high-profile brands that it’s currently engaged by.

EJ Granleese

EJ is the Founder & CEO of History Will Be Kind (HWBK), one of ANZ’s leading independent agencies. Over the last ten years, she’s built an award-winning team operating at the intersection of creativity, communications and impact. Proudly B Corp certified, HWBK use integrated strategic consultancy to help build reputations, solve complex business challenges, drive growth and fuel positive impact for ambitious brands and purpose-led organisations.   

Bringing together a dynamic mix of brand and comms strategists, creatives and earned-first experts, social and influencer pros, alongside digital marketing and performance gurus, the HWBK team are united by one goal – to create moments in history for our clients.   

EJ also holds a Director role across Deepend Group, a leading customer-led technology and innovation consultancy collective, alongside being on the founding committee of the Australian Chapter of Global Women in PR, a mentor and a Fellow of the CPRA. She’s a regular contributor to industry conferences and judge of key awards programs, and was most recently recognised for her contribution as PR Leader of the Year at Mumbrella CommsCon 2024. 

Simone Gupta

Alex Myers

Alex Myers is the Founder and CEO of Manifest Group, a leading B Corp certified brand communications agency with studios in London, Manchester, New York, Los Angeles, Stockholm and Melbourne.

Based in the UK, Alex set up Manifest in 2009 to build ‘the world’s first global small agency’, starting the business in his living room with no clients, colleagues or connections. Since then, the agency has become one of the most awarded creative independent networks in the world, picking up hundreds of industry accolades over the years including Campaign’s ‘Global Consultancy of the Year’ in 2024. Having held the title of PR Week’s ‘International Agency of the Year’ three out of the past four years, Alex was named Campaign’s ‘CEO of the Year’ in 2022 and PR Week Global’s ‘International Communications Professional of the Year’ in 2020.

Manifest’s international work includes renowned creative projects for brands as varied as Samsung, Trilogy Skincare, Dettol, Virgin, Sony Playstation, ASOS, Gousto, WWF, Logitech, Tommee Tippee, Diageo and BrewDog.

As an agency, Manifest is a driving force for better diversity, equality and inclusion in the creative industries which is powered by an all female managing partnership and creative director team globally. Alex is a vocal advocate for fusing creative disciplines to deliver fully ‘unified’ campaigns across paid, earned, social and owned media.

Regardless of whether it’s business operations, innovation or global expansion plans, not to mention the occasional bit of brand strategy work, Alex’s responsibilities as CEO are always steered by delivering on Manifest’s mission: to build brands that change the world. He is the driving force behind Manifest’s myriad proprietary technologies including the agency’s AI workflow tool Creatives.AI, its creator platform Roger, and SOAP — an ethics and environments guidelines program soon to be rolled out for all clients on Manifest’s roster.

Richard Brett

Richard Brett has over 25 years’ experience of marketing communications, brand strategy and communications agency leadership. His passions including using public relations and social media to lead integrated campaigns, outcome-based measurement and using new technology to drive innovative creativity for brands. ​

Richard is currently CEO for Ogilvy PR and Ogilvy Health, leading a team of 130 across four cities to deliver consumer PR, public affairs, influencer marketing, sustainability, corporate, B2B, investor relations and an integrated healthcare offer.​

Richard has an MBA in Management from Imperial College London and in 2020 co-authored his first book ‘The Decade of Do’. He sits on the board of Rainbow Giving Australia.

Dr John Gardner

John is a social psychologist specialising in understanding behaviour and behaviour change at the interface between technical, social and environmental issues. He has worked as a group and team leader in CSIRO, and has delivered numerous projects in the domains of energy, water, and climate adaptation.

John is currently Theme Leader for the Empowerment domain of CSIRO's Smart Energy Mission. This theme seeks to understand how different people will respond to and benefit from the energy transition in Australia, and also looks for ways to ensure that the transition delivers benefits for groups that are more vulnerable.

Rhys Ryan

Rhys is Chief Executive Officer, based in Porter Novelli’s Melbourne office. He leads the firm’s work in helping organisations protect and evolve their reputations, drawing on more than 20 years’ experience in media and communications.

Following an early stint as a broadcast journalist, Rhys has focused on corporate positioning, reputation and crisis, specifically with consumer-facing corporate brands, non-government organisations and government agencies, working on more than 200 client engagements.

He has spent significant time in the United States over the past 20 years, where he led multi-country reputation programs for global corporations and technology start-ups in New York and San Francisco.

Dan Young

Dan Young leads Consumer PR, Social and Influence practices at Ogilvy PR.

Dan has led the transformation of the agency’s offering launching a new suite of services including InfluenceO (influencer marketing), TK.Lab (a specialist TikTok consultancy) as well as re-designing Ogilvy PR’s measurement framework. ​

Dan has grown the agency through client and talent acquisition attracting top talent to the agency and building a supportive and collaborative culture. He is passionate about the role of earned creativity in the brand marketing mix and the opportunity to extend storytelling across influencers, social and experiential touchpoints. 

Jess Cluff

Jess Cluff is the Creative Director of independent PR, Social and Content agency Poem.

Before returning to agency life at Poem, Jess was formerly the Creative Lead at One Green Bean and spent the last few years freelancing and consulting.

Her background in PR brings a unique perspective and skill set to her work, earning attention for some of the world’s biggest brands across earned communications, social media, digital and content production.

Poem is built on the principle of being ‘deeply human’ and therefore built to evolve as people do.

The agency has had a rapid rise over the last nine years, with Sony PlayStation, Tourism Australia, Amazon, Sonos and Uber being amongst just some of the high-profile brands that it’s currently servicing.

Jeremy Liddle

Jeremy Liddle is Managing Director at Third Hemisphere, a specialist tech, finance, sustainability and climate PR agency for innovators, leaders, and investors who are changing the world.

Jeremy is a capital markets, climate, and technology specialist. He is a founding partner of climate tech investment & advisory firm, SDGx, is a non-exec director of climate advocacy non-profit, Parents for Climate, has invested in 25+ tech & climate startups and a few venture funds, and was President for Australia at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance.

He also spoke at TedX, authored the book "From Idea to Startup", and has worked extensively with the UN including co-authoring the G20 & UN White paper on youth entrepreneurship and participating in the formation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Past Keynote & MC Experience: Tedx, Turkey Innovation Festival (Keynote to 4,200 audience alongside Turkey’s President & Prime Minister), United Nations expert group meetings, G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summits, Jeddah Economic Forum (Saudi Arabia), ImpactX, CeBIT, StartCon, and Circular Cities Summit 2.0 (Dubai).

Mandy Galmes

With more than 20 years as an agency leader, Mandy has a proven track record as a strategic advisor and partner to businesses that are leaders, transformers and disruptors. Her work has spans complex omnichannel programs that create impact for organsations and influence the full breadth of their stakeholders. She was worked on national regulatory and legislative change programs, behaviour change campaigns, brand activations, consumer product recalls and social influence campaigns. Mandy’s skills in corporate positioning and executive reputation management are complemented by her creative approach to consumer engagement and brand building.

As a business leader, Mandy is known for building people-centric agencies that are united around their culture. She is passionate about fostering the best talent in the industry and creating a workplace that enables everyone to thrive and realise their full potential.

Mandy’s role as a leader within the PR Industry was acknowledged recently when she was awarded the Communications and Public Relations Australia PR Leader of the Year for 2024.

Mandy joined Sefiani from Hill+Knowlton Strategies Australia where, as CEO, she led the agency through three years of growth and transformation. Prior to Hill+Knowlton, she was managing director of Sibling, a purpose-built integrated agency in WPP dedicated to Westfield and before that founded and led Fuel Communications, now Herd MSL.

Katrin Maurer

Katrin Maurer, originally from Germany, holds a Bachelor in Social Science and a Master's in Media and Cultural Studies. She first fell in love with communications during a stint with a German boutique PR agency, covering an eclectic mix of clients from Soda Stream, Staples, to the German association of welders.

Seeking new challenges, she moved to Beijing, China in 2010 to immerse herself in Chinese language and culture, studying Mandarin and taking on roles in strategy and communications at Groupon and Audi. In 2014, she joined Google in Shanghai, running internal communications for the Greater China region before moving to Sydney in 2016, where she led PR for Google's consumer products and A.I. initiatives across the APAC region.

Since 2020, Katrin has been spearheading the Google Australia and New Zealand communications team. As Director of Communications, she leads a team of talented, innovative communicators responsible for all facets of communications, from internal to executive to external. She's a strong advocate for the role of communicators as trusted counsels to the business and believes in empathetic, innovative, 360 degree communications.

Tim Lele

With almost 20 years of PR and comms experience, Tim has seen first-hand the changing nature of PR. In this session, he will share insights from Keep Left's study of 100 marketers as well as his experience sitting at the intersection of PR and creative.

David Hickey

David leads Meltwater’s business across Asia-Pacific, helping close to 5,000 businesses across Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Greater China, Southeast Asia and India leverage the power of external data to drive better decision making in corporate affairs and marketing. He studied at the University of Sydney and Said Business School at the University of Oxford. David has worked for Meltwater for the last 17 years in various roles, with half that time based in Hong Kong and the rest in Australia.

Rupert Price

With an impressive 25-year career in agencies across London and New Zealand Rupert has spent the last 12 years as DDB Group Aotearoa’s Chief Strategy Officer and has recently joined DDB Group Sydney.  

In his time at DDB Group Aotearoa, Price has been instrumental in the agency's success, with numerous accolades and achievements spanning every creative award ranging from Cannes Gold Lions to a coveted D&AD Black Pencil. At the 2024 Cannes Festival, DDB Group Aotearoa won seven awards for clients Samsung, Volkswagen, McDonald’s and Correct the Internet. In addition, he has steered the agency to four NZ Effies Agency of the Year titles, as well as winning many effectiveness awards at both regional and global shows.  

During his career, Price has also worked with Interbrand as Director of Strategy, Head of Planning at Ogilvy NZ and Ogilvy London and was Board Planning Director at Saatchi & Saatchi London.

As the Chief Strategy Officer at DDB Sydney, Price leads the planning department in its sharp focus on effectiveness delivered through the power of emotionally charged creativity.

Danny Cowan

Danny Cowan leads corporate communications for Uber in Australia and New Zealand. His career spans 15 years and four continents, comprising senior agency and in-house roles across North America, Asia, Europe and Australia. Prior to Uber, he headed Edelman's crisis and corporate communications practice in Australia, and he previously led corporate and brand communications for Starbucks EMEA from London. A California native, his career began with Edelman in San Francisco, followed by three years in the firm's Hong Kong office.

Jackie Quilter

As Director of PR & Communications at the McGrath Foundation, Jackie is responsible for connecting the public and key stakeholders with the Foundation’s story and for protecting and growing its reputation as it works towards ensuring no one with breast cancer misses out on care.

With over 20 years’ experience in strategic communications, public relations and brand building, Jackie has led impactful communications campaigns for both commercial and not-for-profit organisations across Australia and the UK, with major brands including McDonald’s, Nestlé Purina, Tesco, and Optus.

Jackie is a passionate advocate for storytelling, believing stories to be the most powerful way to put ideas into the world and drive meaningful change.

Hannah Moreno

Hannah Moreno is founder & CEO of Third Hemisphere, a specialist tech, finance, sustainability and climate PR agency for innovators, leaders, and investors who are changing the world.

She has 20+ years’ experience across the gamut of communications disciplines, and has authored and placed hundreds of editorials for clients in Tier-1 media. This has included ghostwriting at the Australian Financial Review, which directly resulted in one client becoming an official “AFR Columnist”. 

Hannah specialises in science and technology communications, with a unique ability to translate highly complex technical language into compelling and consumable narratives that demonstrate impact.

She is also a leading feminist advocate and author, writing on issues related to sexual assault, domestic violence, leadership, workplace dynamics, and trauma for publications such as the AFR, The Australian, The Canberra Times, Women’s Agenda, and Stockhead. 

Hannah holds a Bachelor of Commerce (USYD & Università Bocconi), a Masters of Strategic Public Relations (USYD), and a Diploma of Investor Relations (AIRA).

Jess Gooch

Qualifications: BA (University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne), DELF (École Suisse International Paris)

After joining the Opera House in 2015, Jess worked in several senior communications roles before being appointed Acting Director, Engagement in June 2020, overseeing the marketing, communications and strategic events teams during a time of significant change as a result of the pandemic and in the lead up to the Opera House’s 50th anniversary.

In a newly created executive role reporting to the CEO, Jess oversees strategic engagement and impact activities as the Opera House works towards its ambition to be Everyone’s House. This includes leading the Opera House’s commitment to the United Nations Global Goals, driving progress across a range of areas, including accessibility, equity and inclusion and environmental sustainability.

Across a 20-year career spanning in-house and agency roles in London and Sydney, Jess has worked with a wide range of businesses from world-renowned cultural institutions and multinationals to challenger brands. Before joining the Opera House, Jess led communications for TEDxSydney and was instrumental in establishing one of Australia’s fastest-growing independent PR agencies, Fuel Communications, now part of the HerdMSL group. Jess’ work has won awards from the Public Relations Institute of Australia, the B2B Marketing Awards in the UK and the prestigious international Cannes Lions.