Events

Terry will outline the current trends that exist in horse racing, focusing on the impact of the sport domestically and globally. He will discuss how the sport can function responsibly, in respect of both horse welfare and its relationship with the gambling industry. He will also discuss the challenge of attracting young people into the sport.

Terry has been racing horses for over 40 years. His horses have won the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Cups as well as each mainland state Derby and the New Zealand Derby. His business, OTI Management races horse in Europe, Australia and New Zealand and has won races in nine countries.

Terry has an economics degree in transport and prior to its being sold to French group Vivendi in 1996, he founded and operated Henderson Logistics. He has held numerous board positions in the transport industry and is a past chairman of the Chartered Institute of Transport (Australia).

Charlie Allen APM is well respected within policing for his community-centred approach. He will outline his innovative approach to peacebuilding and strengthening resilience.

Charlie is a facilitation, resilience, leadership, and peacebuilding professional with over 30 years’ experience. His early experience is grounded in the security sector with 35 years with Victoria Police. Over the past decade he has expanded his peacebuilding experience working in south, southeast, and eastern Asia, western and eastern Africa, MENA region and Oceania. His areas of specialty include, peacebuilding, process facilitation, training design and delivery, resilience practice, leadership development, organisational and community systems change.

Creating safe spaces and establishing connection between participants are key components to Charlie’s approach. His education includes Masters in Leadership and Organisational Change, and post graduate studies in Peace and Conflict Prevention, Good Governance and Human Rights. In his recent experience as the Director of Partnerships with Institute for Economics and Peace, IEP, he facilitated Positive Peace workshop with a wide range of partners globally, using the empirically derived IEP Positive Peace framework. He now heads up Space Melbourne shifting focus back to resilience.

Charlie is currently the Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Sydney, Australia. He is a peace and conflict prevention technical cadre member, and active in peace building within Rotary.

Steph Hunt will share her insights in international dispute settlement, drawing from her experience in private and public international law.

Steph has over a decade of experience in litigation and international dispute settlement, including mediation. She has worked both in the private and public sector, advising corporations and the Commonwealth Government, including as a legal adviser in the Foreign Affairs portfolio.

She has language capabilities in French, Spanish and Mandarin, and leverages her experience to support NFPs including as Treasurer of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Australian Branch), as Vice President of Bayside Community Emergency Relief and as an Ambassador for the Australian Gynaecological Cancer Foundation.

On September 11, 2001, Kerrie was a recruit in the Victoria Police Academy when the militant Islamist extremist network al-Qaeda carried out the coordinated and deadliest 9/11 terrorist attack against the United States. Watching the reports of hijacked passenger planes fly into the New York Twin Towers and the subsequent global impact of the attack had a profound impact on Kerrie’s determination to ensuring the community not only are safe… but that they feel safe.

Kerrie had a highly successful career in Victoria Police, serving the community and evolving her leadership style over time to one of Leader as Coach. Her policing career included various senior leadership roles eventually leading to the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team Officer in Charge. The combination of community engagement, investigation, and emergency, management experience led to an opportunity to work for UNITAD, leading an international criminal investigation into atrocity crimes committed by ISIL/Daesh against the Iraqi Christian community.

In August 2021, whilst working for the UN in Iraq, Kerrie watched the coverage from neighbouring Afghanistan of people desperately clinging onto and falling from evacuating passenger planes at Kabul airport as the Taliban leaders declared victory, bringing an end to America’s longest war and a new era of security challenges.

It was these two catastrophic global events that led Kerrie to exploring what other contributions she could make to increasing community safety and building peace in the world.

Inspired by the grit and resilience of the communities Kerrie had served in various roles and her passion for developing human potential, she established Gritential Coaching in May 2022.

She works with emerging and executive leaders and their teams in organisations to be even better humans and leaders by empowering them to harness their grit, realise their potential and live their lives well. Kerrie’s coaching counterparts describe her as “Safe. Gentle and strong. Impactful”.

Kerrie is an Accredited Organisational Coach and International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach (ICF-ACC). She provides leadership coaching for individuals and teams, conducts evidence-based leadership development workshops, and delivers inspiring keynote presentations. She shares stories from her path to peace that have developed her personal resilience model and inspiration for her audiences to create their own.

Kerrie finds joy in serving the community with her vision for building peace in the world, one coaching dialogue at a time.

Peace Kitchen believes in the power of food to bring people together and foster mutual understanding about sometimes divisive topics. Drawing on Elaine Pratley’s doctoral research on food and peace, this interactive session puts peace theory into practice, showcasing how the language of food can serve as an effective tool for dialogue and self-reflection.

Elaine Pratley is founder of Peace Inc. and Peace Kitchen in Australia. Through Peace Kitchen, she facilitates meaningful conversations over food to promote mutual understanding, connection, and community-building. Peace Kitchen creates fun spaces for corporate teams and community groups to have connecting dialogues about thorny issues across differences and divides. These initiatives support Peace Inc.’s PeacePlay programs in schools, promoting positive conflict skills through fun and experiential learning.

A practising lawyer in Australia and New Zealand, Elaine is a Rotary Peace Fellow, an Asian Peace Innovator with the Salzburg Global Fellowship, and a Rotary Positive Peace Activator with a PhD in food and youth peacebuilding.

Having lived in Switzerland, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, she has served as Co-chair of the Global Peace Conference, adviser to the New Zealand Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade’s aid and development program, Global Partnerships and Outreach Adviser to Women Peace Makers Cambodia, and is an affiliate at Monash University’s Global Peace and Security Centre.

This presentation will cover an initiative to work with relevant agencies and community groups and NGOs to improve public safety in and around public housing, and to work together in all stages of planning for large public housing redevelopments in Ashburton.

As a Senior Sergeant at Camberwell Police Station, Brigette has 30+ years’ service in investigative, frontline and proactive roles. She commenced in 1994 and worked at various frontline locations and divisional crime investigation units. She had involvements as a bushfire arson investigator and worked as a sergeant at frontline and proactive policing unit in outer east. As a Senior Sergeant at Forest Hill HQ Tasking and Coordination since March 2022, Brigette has been Station Commander at Camberwell Police Station.

Ariik will provide an overview of implementing sustainable healthcare initiatives within the political, social and cultural aspects of South Sudan.

Ariik is a retail and commercial banking professional with over 10 years’ experience in the finance and banking sectors. He currently works as Finance Manager for one of Australia’s big four banks.

Ariik graduated in Australia with a Bachelor of Business and a Masters in Banking and Finance. He is an Australian citizen and a dedicated Rotarian who has a wealth of experience in leadership roles within the community. His areas of interest include mentorship and community engagement.

As a war orphan who lost his army general father in the South Sudan civil war, Ariik lived in refugee camps from a very young age. Since arriving in Australia in 2005, he has been determined to find ways to help the people within the Lou Ariik community and surrounding villages.

As the founder and chairman of South Sudanese Health Matters Inc (SSHMI), Ariik is securing project funding and partnerships for two special projects which are close to his heart: sponsoring girls’ health hygiene programs and building a medical clinic in memory of Sultan Dhor Ariik in his home village of Lou Ariik. Ariik provides strategic direction to the organisation and the people involved both in South Sudan and Australia.

The practice of international development continues to change as more is understood about what works. A shift from a deficit or problem-solving approach to a strengths-based approach is a significant reframing for international development. A strengths-based approach aims to reveal assets, strengths or what is working within an individual, group, community or organisation, then uses these strengths as a way to achieve change and preferred futures. Deborah will outline the thinking, practical action and evidence-base required to inform a sector-wide transformation, including Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Aid case studies.

Deborah Rhodes is an international development practitioner, author, and trainer with 40 years of experience largely in Pacific and Asian countries.  Deborah started her career in the Australian Government’s international development agency, working on Pacific programs and taking a posting to Port Louis in Mauritius.  She then moved to Melbourne as manager of programs in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam with Australian Volunteers International.  In 1999 she joined International Development Support Services, the consulting arm of Oxfam Australia.

Since 2002, Deborah has worked independently, designing, supporting, and evaluating a wide range of programs, in WASH, education, health, law and governance, community development and other sectors.  She has focused on links between cultural values and how change happens, capacity strengthening, and disability inclusive development.  Deborah has also trained thousands of development workers in government and NGOs on development topics, and during COVID, wrote her fourth book, with Dr Keren Winterford and Chris Dureau, about use of a strengths-based approach in international development, which was published in 2023.

Mark is the Senior Coordinator, Fund Development for The Rotary Foundation at the South Pacific and Philippines Office in Norwest. He has been a Rotarian for over 35 years, being a member in clubs in Victoria, New South Wales and South Africa.

His involvement in Rotary began in 1972, as Secretary of the Corinda High School Interact Club in Queensland, then as a Rotary Youth Exchange student to Canada. He was a Rotaractor, a RYLArian and a GSE team member to California. Since joining Rotary in 1987, he has been president of two clubs, has led a GSE team to Germany and held many district leadership positions.

During his career, Mark had broad ranging experiences in sales and marketing, working with Johnson & Johnson, Mars Petcare and Bayer. A career highlight was a seven-year assignment in South Africa, as launch manager for Mars Petcare. It was during that assignment that he had the privilege of meeting Nelson Mandela.

Mark is married to Lynne and they have three children and five grandchildren. He lives in West Pennant Hills and is a member of the Rotary Club of Beecroft. He is also a member of the Paul Harris Society and a Rotary Foundation Major Donor. Beyond work, Mark loves to travel, spend time in the garden and with his grandchildren.

This presentation explores how the future of our world is not only an environmental issue but a profound challenge to long-term human wellbeing, particularly for future generations. We will examine the physical, emotional, and societal impacts of a changing climate, emphasising the responsibility we have to build resilience, protect health, and leave a sustainable legacy for those who come after us.

Ruhee is the founder of Allied Collective, Australia's first inclusive facilitation agency. She is creating brave spaces for authentic wellbeing and inclusion through workshops that drive lasting organisational change.

With work experience spanning over 13 years and various industries, Ruhee has helped over 40 successful companies to improve their retention, leadership and wellbeing goals through engaging training and facilitation.

Ruhee has a strong academic background in psychology and extensive experience in Yoga philosophy and business management. As a Regional Advisory Council member at the Victorian Multicultural Commission, she advocates for and on behalf of multicultural communities in Victoria on issues like anti-racism, violence against women and employment. Ruhee is also a Business Momentum Coach for Global Sisters, a role which allows her to empower women entrepreneurs through pro bono coaching.

Ruhee brings sunshine wherever she goes and empowers people to unlock their potential and best selves. Her commitment to community health and inclusion are reflected in her work as a qualified Yoga teacher and creates tangible impact through accessible training and facilitation content with inclusive design at its core. Her goal is to make the world an equitable place by using her skills, persistence, and radical candour.

Rhys has 30 years’ experience in transnational education, managing the delivery of Australian university courses (RMIT and Victoria Universities) with partners in many countries and witnessing the transformation of many lives through this process.

Rhys also has diverse experiences in vocational education and training, including running a group employment scheme in sport and recreation, and delivering a large international insurance and finance distance education program.

Rhys has been active in the not-for-profit sectors through his Rotary membership (including his current role as President of Rotary Central Melbourne), and board role for the Vietnam Foundation (VNF). The VNF’s projects include:

• building 10-12 bridges in the Mekong annually;
• providing rainwater collection vats for poor families for potable water;
• recycling bicycles for high school students; and
• the new Build a Future scholarship program which RCM supports.

Rhys’s qualifications are in social science and education.

The essence of entrepreneurial education is to empower young people with the mindset, confidence, and problem-solving abilities to create their own opportunities, connect with their communities and drive change. By equipping both students and educators with the tools to think creatively, take initiative, and innovate, we can foster a generation of resilient, adaptable change agents—and it’s never too early to start. Hear how Young Change Agents, driven by a motivated, passionate team of 10 have impacted over 180,000 youth globally and continue to innovate with technology and societal trends!

Renae is passionate about integrating entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability into education and practice. With a PhD in Business and expertise in business innovation, she began her career helping businesses and employees worldwide develop agility, resilience, and proactive mindsets to navigate change. Using an innovation and entrepreneurial mindset, Renae has founded multiple social impact-driven businesses across the fitness, hospitality, and retail industries. Her focus later shifted to education, where she empowers young people to develop entrepreneurial thinking and enterprise skills, equipping them to create their own futures. Renae was named Australian Entrepreneurial Educator of the Year (2021).

Currently, Renae is the Young Change Agents National Educator-in-Residence, leading Australia’s Entrepreneurial Educators Exchange Community and designing entrepreneurial education programs for educators nationally and internationally. She has seen the power of entrepreneurial education to ignite passion and engagement in youth and educators alike.

Renae is on a journey to bring entrepreneurial education to every corner of the globe, partnering with local schools and organisations to empower youth and connect them with their communities and opportunities.

This talk will highlight Jay’s role as a youth project coordinator for City of Melbourne, outcomes from their youth roundtable and FM 2050 summit, initiatives his team is undertaking to support young people in the city of Melbourne.

Jay is a youth project coordinator with City of Melbourne and has been working in the youth and community sector for the past 8 years with previous roles at Centre for Multicultural Youth as sports project coordinator, Front Yard youth services employment specialist worker and City of Casey as Active Recreation and Diversity Project Officer. Having graduated from Monash University with a master’s in international relations and journalism, he is passionate about youth homelessness, multicultural youth advocacy and supporting grassroots sports initiatives.

Outside of his role he runs a social enterprise Shakti Mental Health which advocates for mental wellbeing in the south Asian and wider multicultural community. He loves basketball and cooking while taking part in acting and extras roles on the side.

Our very own President-Nominee, Paul Fowler will share his professional experience on a nuclear submarine and commentary on the pros and cons of nuclear power.

Paul is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds Masters Degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Business Administration. He served nine years in the U.S. Navy operating nuclear reactors on submarines. After leaving the Navy, he held executive positions in petroleum, mining, smelting and plantation forestry. He has worked and lived in the USA, UK, New Zealand and of course Australia. Somewhere in there he also co-owned a vineyard in New Zealand and made a Bordeaux-blend wine.

Since retiring from full time employment, Paul has served on the boards of companies in New Zealand and Australia. He is currently the Chair of a charitable foundation and the body corporate of his apartment building. Paul is a citizen of the USA, New Zealand, and Australia. When asked where he is from, he replies “I am an American by birth, and an Australian by choice.”

Stephanie Woollard is an award-winning social entrepreneur whose remarkable journey has been deeply connected with Rotary. With Rotary’s support, Stephanie has driven service-led impact and is passionate about inspiring Rotary groups to create meaningful change in their local and global communities.

Stephanie’s connection with Rotary runs deep:

• Rotary Foundation Peace Scholar: Completed her Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University in Sweden (2015).
• Rotary International Responsible Business Award: Honoured at the United Nations in 2016 for her contributions to social enterprise.
• Global Impact: Founded Seven Women with just $200, empowering over 5,000 marginalised women in Nepal and delivered the keynote address at the Rotary International Assembly in San Diego in 2018.

Having built her charity and handed ownership of Seven Women over to the locals, Stephanie is now curator and Executive Coach for Half Time’s Emerging Leaders Program, that aims to unlock every individual’s leadership potential to make a difference in their own communities and work environments.

Being descended from an Irish Granny who came to Australia as a £10 Pom, Stephanie also leads tours to Ireland, Scotland and Wales to reconnect descendants of immigrants with their Celtic heritage through her tour company, The Celtic Way.