Corporate Governance Symposium

The symposium comprises two key components;

1. five research & industry presentations and;
2. a panel discussion session

The presentation topics are as follows:

• Presentation 1 – Modern Slavery (SDG 8)
• Presentation 2 – Food Governance (SDG 12)
• Presentation 3 – Gender Equality (SDG 5)
• Presentation 4 – Climate Action (SDG 13)
• Presentation 5 – Indigenous Governance (SDG 17)

The symposium will conclude with a panel session from 4pm to 5pm comprising members discussing SDG 10 titled: “Reduced Inequalities” 

Session 1: Modern Slavery (SDG 8)

• Felicity Gooding (COO and CFO Minderoo Group)
• Emeritus Professor Glennda Scully (School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University)

Session 2: Food Governance (SDG 12)

• Jacqueline Wilson-Smith (CEO and Founder of Sustainable Innovation Company)
• Dr Elizabeth Jackson (Senior Lecturer, School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University)

Session 3: Gender Equality (SDG 5)

• Marion Fulker (Chief Executive of the Committee for Perth)
• Professor Linley Lord (Pro-Vice Chancellor and President, Curtin Singapore)

Session 4: Climate Action (SDG 13)

• Piers Verstegen (Executive Director, Conservation Council, WA)
• Professor Peter Newman (Professor of Sustainability, School of Design and Built Environment, Curtin University)

Session 5: Indigenous Governance (SDG 17)

• Brendan Moore – Chair, South-West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC)
• Associate Professor Margaret Stephenson (Curtin Law School, Curtin University)

Panel Session: Reduced Inequalities

• • Professor Harlene Hayne – Vice-Chancellor (Curtin University)
  • Greg Godwin – Partner (Moore Stephens)
  • Associate Professor Hannah McGlade – Curtin Law School (Curtin University)
  • Shaheen Hughes – Superintendent: Inclusion and Engagement (Gold Fields Limited)
  • David Gilchrist – UWA Business School (UWA)

MARION FULKER AM is the CEO of the Committee for Perth and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia.

She has an MBA from Curtin University and an MSc in Cities from London School of Economics and Politics. In her role at the Committee, Marion has overseen the development of 140+ pieces of research to understand Greater Perth’s opportunities and challenges. Her own research has examined almost 40 cities in the developed world to understand what Perth can learn about governance; reconciliation; mobility; gender inequality; economic diversity; planning and development; infrastructure; and vibrancy.

Marion is a board member of Infrastructure Australia, an advisor to Infrastructure WA, and the past Chair of the Conservation and Parks Commission and the Heritage Council of Western Australia. She was awarded an AM in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for significant services to urban planning and infrastructure development.

Further recognition of Marion’s accomplishments include induction into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame, named as WA Telstra Business Woman of the Year (For Purpose) and as one of Australia’s 100 Women of Influence.

Piers Verstegen is the Policy and Legal Director at the Conservation Council of Western Australia. He was named by the West Australian newspaper as one of WA’s 100 most influential people for his environmental advocacy and community leadership. Piers has represented the WA community on numerous advisory boards and committees across a range of topics from climate change, waste management and marine conservation. Piers holds a Bachelor of Science with first-class honours in Sustainable Development and has authored academic publications in environmental science, law, politics, and economics. He has worked in diverse roles including as a mechanic, local government officer, and as a senior policy advisor in the WA State Government. Piers grew up in the Perth Hills and on his family farm in Walpole. In his spare time, he loves kayaking, bushwalking and riding vintage motorcycles.

Brendan Moore is a Noongar man of the South West of Western Australia. Brendan has a Bachelor of Applied Science, a Masters of International Studies (CBS) and is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He is Chair of the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) that is implementing the largest Native Title deal in Australia’s history the $1.3 Billion South West Settlement. So far SWALSC has facilitated 6 successful regional agreement group meetings that will deliver Noongar corporate governance structures as well as introduced new staffing that comes with changing from a Native Tile service provider to a Central Services Corporation.

 Jacqueline is CEO of the Sustainable Innovation Company and an agri-food specialist Board Director. She is passionate about creating better food systems to feed the world well and brings to the table design-led innovation, sustainability frameworks, collaboration skills, consumer insight, strategic marketing, and a global network.  

Since 1995, Jacqueline’s held global corporate roles with McCormick, Gourmet Garden, Mondelez, Constellation & the Hardy Wine Company. In 2019, Jacqueline founded the Sustainable Innovation Company, facilitating ideation workshops and strategic planning for Agri-Food clients within a sustainability framework. Clients include Agricultural Shows Australia, Agricultural Society of NSW (Beef Judging APP), Macadamias Australia, Growcom, Central Highlands Development Corporations (CHDC) and Queensland Department of Agriculture. 

In addition, Jacqueline is Co-Founder and past immediate Chair of the Food Agribusiness Network (FAN) and a Non-Executive Director or Advisor on several boards and committees including Food Agility CRC, Traveller’s Choice, Agrifutures Ginger Advisory Panel (Chair), Rural Women’s Award & Alumni Committee and ImpaQt Investment Queensland. In 2017, Jacqueline was the Queensland recipient of the AgriFutures Rural Woman’s Award. 

Ms Gooding is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Minderoo Foundation, a modern philanthropic organisation. Prior to her promotion to Deputy CEO, Felicity was CFO and COO of Minderoo Foundation and Minderoo Group (now known as Tattarang) for 6 years, a time of significant growth for both organisations.

Ms Gooding is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Graduate of the Institute of Company Directors. Felicity has held a number of directorships and is currently director of Poseidon Nickel, the Black Swan State Theatre Company and the Freedom Fund, a London based organisation dedicated to ending modern slavery.

With over fifteen years’ experience specialising in due diligence, mergers and acquisitions and equity and debt financing across various sectors in Washington DC, Singapore and London. Ms Gooding has held senior positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Diageo Plc Fortescue Metals, Group Ltd and Sirius Minerals Plc.

Ms Gooding is mother to Rosalie and Hamish and passionate about reforming the systems of early education to incentivise women to return to work after having children.

Shaheen Hughes is a diversity and inclusion practitioner with extensive experience across the not-for-profit,arts, higher education, government and corporate sectors. Shaheen was the inaugural CEO of the Museum ofFreedom and Tolerance, an organisation with a mission to reduce racism and prejudice and raise awareness of human rights through arts, culture and storytelling, and has worked in international and federal affairs,advocacy and communications.

Shaheen has a Master’s degree in International Communications; a jointhonours degree in English Literature and Art History and is passionate about building bridges across differencesand disciplines in service of a more inclusive and equitable society.

Professor David Gilchrist is a chartered accountant and an economic historian. He is currently professor of accounting at the University of Western Australia, founding convenor of the Not-for-profits UWA Research Network, and a fellow of the UWA Public Policy Institute.

David’s work focuses on the equitable and efficient delivery of human services in Australasia. He has worked in remote service settings as well as provided advice and support to government agencies in relation to the NDIS, aged care, child protection and other human service areas, including in relation to public sector procurement support and evaluation.

He has informed the budget processes for state governments and the Commonwealth and is author of the seminal report “Australia’s Charities 2013”. A major focus of David’s work revolves around the development of evidence-based policy and effective performance evaluation. David was made a Fellow of the Western Australian Parliament in 2021.