She is a sought-after international advisor and commentator, holding roles on the OECD’s Expert Advisory Committee on Digital Transformation; The Sydney School of Entrepreneurship; CEBIT Australia; Not in My Workplace; and Australian advocacy organisation The Parenthood.

A champion for women in tech and entrepreneurship, Nicola was the founding director and co-designer of the SheStarts accelerator for women-led startups, nurturing and backing some of Australia’s most impressive startup founders to launch high-growth, high-impact tech companies. Nicola executive produced the award-winning SheStarts documentary web-series, which amplified the real and raw stories of women founders to audiences around the world, driving a new narrative for women in tech.

Nicola is a firm believer in collective impact and the power of ‘giving back’, acting as a mentor, judge, advisor and activator for a range of programs including Telstra Business Women's Awards, Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards, Walkley Awards, GoodPitch Australia and SheEO Australia.

Speaker bio: Saxon Mullins

In 2018 Saxon appeared on Four Corner’s episode ‘I am that girl’ where she gave up her anonymity to tell the story of her 2013 sexual assault and the subsequent criminal trials and appeals. The Four Corner’s episode led to the NSW Attorney-General asking the NSW Law Reform Commission to review the section of the NSW Crimes Act that deals with consent in relation to sexual assault. Saxon was the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2018 Young Persons’ Human Rights Medal. She is passionate about igniting a conversation about enthusiastic consent not only in relation to how this is dealt with under the law, but also views about consent within society, particularly from young people.

Speaker bio: Hon. Di Farmer, MP

Di and her husband Ian have lived in Hawthorne, in the Bulimba electorate, for almost 20 years. It’s where they have raised their two daughters, Lucy and Millie, and where Di has been actively involved with numerous community groups over many years. Di was honoured to serve as the Member for Bulimba from 2009-2012, earning a reputation as a hard worker who is passionate about her community. She was delighted to be re-elected in January 2015, promising that, under a Palaszczuk Government, she would again be making sure that the voice of her community would be heard. Di has been the Minister for Child Safety, Youth and Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence since 2017.

Di holds a range of positions on local community organisations and believes that a politician can’t know what their community needs if they’re not out and about, making themselves as accessible as possible and listening to what’s important to people. It’s why she is so aware of the need for good health and education services. And it’s why she will work with local residents to ensure they have a say in developing a long term local plan that addresses future development, public transport needs and local traffic congestion issues. She knows how important it is to address these issues if we’re to retain the quality of life that’s so precious to residents in her area.