KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

CONGRESS MC

Ingrid Cumming is a Whadjuk Balardong Noongar woman from Fremantle, Western Australia and recognised young leader within the First Nations community. Ingrid is the previous founder of Kart Koort Wiern and now Founder and Owner of IngridCumming.com. 

 Ingrid has a background representing First Nations Business globally for over 15 years of experience working across Government, Aboriginal Controlled organisations, Corporate and the not for profit sectors, Ingrid is a recognised young leader within not only the First Nations community but across many sectors for her work in community engagement, strategic development and leadership, policy and program development, training and education. 

Ingrid also is an entertaining and engaging facilitator, performer and speaker, as she has travelled the world presenting her research, publications and appearing as a guest on national and local tv programs such as ABCs The Drum and even stand up comedy. 

Ingrid is a proud Murdoch University and Melbourne Business School Alumnus and has been honoured to serve on many boards including SEDA WA, Aboriginal Women in Business and even served as a Commissioner for Conservation for the WA state government and recipient and finalist of multiple awards in her career. 

Ingrids work is driven by her passion for change and reconciliation, and to make positive and authentic impact to ensure the journey of truth telling, reconciliation and empowering First Nations people and allies keeps going.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Anthony Burke is a Professor of Architecture and Course Director for the Master of Architecture in the Faculty of Design Architecture and Building at the University of Technology Sydney. A graduate of Columbia University GSAPP, Anthony is recognised internationally for his work in architectural design, curation and commentary, specialising in issues of contemporary design at the intersection of restoration and practice. 

Anthony is currently working on a series of productions on Architectural Restoration for public media, and is researching Australia's architectural history with a specific focus on Sydney's emerging wave of new adaptive reuse, and new "city changing projects" reshaping the Sydney CBD. 

Anthony is currently the host of ‘Grand Designs Transformations’ and ‘Restoration Australia’ for the ABC Australia. 

Anthony is a regular contributor to architectural media and public forums as an animated advocate for design and architecture. In 2012 Anthony was co-creative director of the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, presenting "Formations; New practices in Australian Architecture". In the same year, he presented at TEDx Sydney, and in 2013 Anthony curated the Architecture and Design symposium "Architecture Makes the City" for the 40th Anniversary celebrations of the opening of the Sydney Opera House. He has exhibited at venues such as SFMoMA, the Venice Architecture Biennale, Beyond Media in Florence and the Beijing Architecture Biennale. 

Anthony combines scholarly research with design practice and curation. He has published several books and many articles on Architecture, and was a director of Offshore Studio from 2000-2016. In 2010, he founded Open Agenda, an annual speculative design research competition, exhibition and publication for emerging Australian architects. 

Previously he was Assistant Professor in Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley between 2002 and 2007 before returning to Australia. He has served as Head of the School of Architecture at UTS for two terms from 2010-2017, and Associate Dean of International and Engagement from 2017-2019. He has served as architectural judge for the London Design Week, and serves on numerous design excellence review panels and committees in Design and Architecture.

Ellen Dunham-Jones is a professor of architecture and directs the MS in Urban Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. An authority on sustainable suburban redevelopment, she maintains a unique database of over 2,500 suburban retrofits, hosts the REDESIGNING CITIES podcast series and was recognized in 2017 and 2023 by Planetizen as one of the 100 most influential urbanists. She is co-author with June Williamson of Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges (Wiley, 2021) and Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs, (Wiley, 2009, 2011) which received the EDRA Great Place Book Award of 2021 and the PROSE award for best architecture and planning book of 2009. Their documentation of successful retrofits of aging big box stores, strip mall corridors, and office parks into more resilient, just, and prosperous places has been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Harvard Business Review, BBC, TED and other prominent venues. She is a Fellow of the Congress for the New Urbanism as well as the Brook Byers Institute of Sustainable Systems, lectures widely, and conducts workshops and research on the many co-benefits of retrofitting, the potential urban design impacts of autonomous vehicles, and planning cities for women.

Lucinda Hartley is an award-winning technology entrepreneur and a leading expert in the social trends shaping the future of work and cities. As an urban futurist, she inspires organisations to think like entrepreneurs and plan for the disruption ahead. 

Named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, Lucinda has spent the past decade building innovative, future-focused companies whose products are now used worldwide to improve data-driven decision-making. 

Lucinda helped create the UN Sustainable Development Goals for Cities, has advised Google on city-shaping projects, and has delivered more than 100 neighbourhood improvement projects across Australia as co-founder of social enterprise CoDesign Studio. She is best known as co-founder of urban analytics company Neighbourlytics, where she pioneered world-leading technology for measuring wellbeing and urban life using big data. 

As a keynote speaker, Lucinda draws on her deep experience in entrepreneurship, data, and innovation to inspire audiences to tackle complex problems facing leaders today—from technology disruption to generational shifts to the future of work. Her cut-through insights, data-rich presentations, and entertaining delivery style empower leaders to see around corners and navigate the future with confidence. 

Lucinda is a regular media commentator and one of Australia’s sought-after voices on cities and social change. She has been featured regularly in ABC, Sydney Morning Herald, Qantas Magazine, Vogue Magazine, and The Age. As an urban futurist, Lucinda advises government, business, and technology leaders on innovation strategies for smart cities, making her an invaluable resource for organisations looking to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

Mark McCrindle is a social researcher, best-selling author and TEDx speaker. He is a sought after thought-leader in tracking emerging trends influencing society, and is recognised globally as the one to coin the name for the emerging global generation, Generation Alpha. 

As a renown demographer and futurist, Mark has developed his reputation across two decades as an award-winning social researcher, best-selling author and social commentator. Mark has appeared across all major television networks, radio and print media, and has twice been invited to speak at TEDx events. He has presented thousands of keynotes and workshops in all major industries including, finance, technology, health, mining, energy and education. 

Mark’s advisory, communications and research company, McCrindle, count among its clients more than 100 of the 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.

 Mark McCrindle, BSc (Psychology), MA, is the author of five books on emerging trends and social change. Generation Alpha, Work Wellbeing: Leading Thriving Teams in Rapidly Changing Times, The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations, Word Up: A Lexicon and Guide to Communication in the 21st Century and The Power of Good.

Dr Tim Muster is a Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. He leads CSIRO’s Urban Living Lab initiative which seeks to curate a portfolio of innovation precincts that encourage real-world experimentation and learning. Dr Muster has led the development and operation of both the Darwin Living Lab and Sydney Science Park CSIRO Urban Living Lab since 2019, encouraging collaborative projects to tackle the multiple and interrelated challenges at a local scale, the learnings of which can be disseminated for national benefit and uptake. Tim’s research seeks to understand the enablers and barriers to place-based innovation and capacity-building projects, and to evaluate the ability of new solutions and/or policies to advance system aspects of liveability, sustainability and resilience.