Candice is a fierce advocate, mentor & leader for diversity & inclusion within STEM. With a background in control systems engineering, her career has led her to work internationally for companies such as GE Oil and Gas (Baker Hughes), FMC Technologies (TechnipFMC), BHP, Emerson Automation, Rio Tinto, KBR and Aurecon. Throughout her career she has been a proactive campaigner and trailblazer for equity, inclusion and developing emerging leaders, and has a deep passion for coaching and mentoring the next generation of engineers and lifting the voice of women and marginalised people. She has been recognised for her personal and professional dedication, being awarded the 2019 Women’s Agenda Emerging Leader in Technology, one of the Top 10 Emerging Women Leaders by Engineers Australia, and Consult Australia’s Champion of Change in 2022.

Dr Alina Dini is a trusted advisor to global organisations and everyday consumers looking to reduce climate impacts using emerging technologies. As a Director in Deloitte’s Climate and Sustainability team, Alina leads high performance teams in navigating the energy transition and enabling the circular economy. Her noteworthy accomplishments include launching Tesla’s $2B credit trading program, authoring some of the Asia Pacific region’s earliest work on consumer energy resource adoption, and founding Whirl, an award-winning start-up aimed at increasing consumer access to clean technologies. An advocate for workplace diversity, Alina is also the Chapter Chair of the Women of Electric Vehicle professional association Chapter Chair in Australia & New Zealand and a regular mentor for entrepreneurs and rising young professionals in the energy and mobility sectors.

Dr Mellissa Naidoo is a values-driven and collaborative leader with over 15 years of industry experience in clinical, medical leadership and executive roles across both the public and private sectors. Mellissa is an experienced board director and graduate of the AICD, and holds a Masters in Health Management and dual fellowships with the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and Australasian College of Health Service Management. Having been on both sides of medicine, Mellissa is passionate about innovation, health systems and strategy and improving healthcare, she is a trusted advisor to various organisations to support staff, consumer and community health and wellbeing. An advocate for equity and inclusion, she is actively mentoring and training the next generation of diverse medical leaders through her college and university roles.

Astrid Jorgensen is a Brisbane-based choral conductor, composer, and presenter who is teaching the world to sing. Co-founder and director of ‘Pub Choir™’, and its online adaptation ‘Couch Choir’, Astrid has become one of the most recognisable faces in the world of community music making. Armed with a quick wit and an unquenchable enthusiasm for singing, Astrid has delivered her unique music lessons to over 300,000 people worldwide since Pub Choir’s inception in March 2017. Astrid’s ability to enchant audiences and guide untrained singers to musical greatness has been featured extensively in world media including the BBC World News, the New York Times, Australian Story, and Vogue Magazine. Additionally, under Astrid’s leadership Pub Choir has raised over $400,000 for charity since 2018, for which Astrid was a nominated for 2020 QLD Young Australian Of The Year.

Dinesh Palipana OAM is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher. Halfway through medical school, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that caused a cervical spinal cord injury. As a result of his injury and experiences, Dinesh has been an advocate for inclusion and is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia. Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital, as a doctor for the Titans physical disability rugby team, is a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission, and is ambassador to the Human Rights Commission’s Includeability Program. He is a senior lecturer at Griffith University, adjunct research fellow at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, and a research fellow at the Jamieson Trauma Institute. Dinesh has won many awards including Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018 and 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year. In 2019 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.