Speakers

DG Lindsay May OAM & Tania May

Welcome you to District 9685 Conference 2022 @ West HQ.

Lindsay’s first contact with Rotary was as a Group Study Exchange team member to Canada in 1977. He was invited to join Lane Cove club in 1978 and President in 1983.

Lindsay has held most club positions and at District has been; AG, Club Service Chair, Training Chair and was Rotary Foundation Chair 2009-2012, 2014 Sydney International Convention Host Organising Committee, a member of the Rotary Foundation Fund Development Committee 2018-21 and recognised with the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service.

Tania joined Lane Cove club in 2011, has served as President 2016-17 and held numerous positions including Secretary and multiple terms as Treasurer.

Now retired from full time work, Lindsay is a noted ocean racing navigator having sailed in a record 48 consecutive Sydney Hobart Yacht races; winning 3 on overall and 1 line honours plus navigated ‘Saskia‘ to win a world 8m championship in Scotland and represented Australia here and abroad including; The Admirals Cup, Fastnet, Transpac, Newport Bermuda, Darwin Dili and the South China Sea yacht races.

Lindsay and Tania are TRF Major Donors and well known as people of action and encourage Rotarians to each share their passion for Service to lift Rotary’s profile in their communities.

PDG Jessie Harman – Rotary International Director Zone 8 (Aust, NZ & Pacific Islands)

Jessie Harman is Rotary International Director  

She is a member of the Rotary Club of Wendouree Breakfast in Ballarat, Victoria and a past Governor of District 9780.

Jessie’s special interest in Rotary is membership development.  She is the immediate past Chair of the Membership Committee for Rotary International and was previously a Rotary Co-ordinator for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.  Jessie was also a Training Leader and Seminar Trainer at Rotary’s International Assembly in San Diego.  She and her husband Andrew (also a Rotarian) are keen supporters of the Rotary Foundation. 

In her professional life, Jessie spent two decades in senior management roles in Higher Education, finishing as Pro Vice-Chancellor (International and Partnerships).  She is now a consultant and non-executive director on several boards, including as President of the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra. 

Jessie’s first Rotary experience was as a RYLA participant in 1988, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kings Meadows, Tasmania. 

Dr Daniel Nour, Founder Street Side Medics – Young Australian of the Year 2022 Guest Speaker Friday Night Dinner 18 March

Identifying a gap in the healthcare of vulnerable people in New South Wales, Dr Daniel Nour founded Street Side Medics in August 2020. It’s a not-for-profit, GP-led mobile medical service for people experiencing homelessness.

With 145 volunteers, and four clinics across New South Wales, Street Side Medics has changed the lives of more than 300 patients. It has treated many communicable and non-communicable illnesses, dealt with neglected medical needs, and detected conditions that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. This includes diabetes, thyroid disorders, hepatitis C, HIV, heart disease and cancer.

Despite working full time at Royal North Shore Hospital, Daniel has rarely missed a clinic across the four sites since Street Side Medics launched. He volunteers his afternoons to ensure the clinics are run smoothly and patients are receiving the care they deserve.

With his leadership and social consciousness, Daniel is committed to making a real difference to the lives of many Australians. He’s also making significant improvements to society and was named 2022 Young Australian of the Year on 25 January 2022.

Rotary Clubs on D9685 support Street Side medics servicing the North Shore and West.

Prof Andrew Skidmore – University Twente Netherlands Ambassadorial Scholar “Biodiversity loss – the satellite view”

Dr. Andrew Skidmore is Professor of Spatial Ecology at the University of Twente, Netherlands and Macquarie University. His interest in research relates to hyperspectral and LiDAR remote sensing for monitoring vegetation,  habitat monitoring under fragmentation and climate change, as well as developing innovative image processing techniques. Professor Skidmore worked for 10 years with the Forestry Corporation of NSW and was a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Fellow. In 1991 he moved to the School of Geography, University of NSW, and also worked as member and later Director of the Centre for Remote Sensing and GIS. From 1997 as Head of the Dept. of Natural Resources, Uni of Twente for 24 years Professor Skidmore developed his current main research focus on Essential Biodiversity Variables through Earth Observation for sustainable production of natural resources.

Sophie Ford – Rotary Peace Fellow

“Dealing with disasters differently”

Sophie Ford is a humanitarian and international development leader with over 15 years’ experience gained both in the field and at headquarters. Skilled in operational management, she has worked in both first phase and complex emergency responses in a diverse range of countries and contexts including in conflict and refugee setting in Myanmar and Bangladesh and in natural disaster settings in the Philippines and Vanuatu.  

Sophie has provided strategic direction and leadership to humanitarian operations for; Oxfam, UNICEF and Red Cross and is currently the Response Manager for Australian Red Cross. In this role she leads the program strategy and facilitates support to Red Cross operations for international disasters and crises around the world.

Sophie, sponsored by Lane Cove completed a Rotary Peace Fellowship at the Chulalongkorn University Peace Centre in 2012. 

Professor Dominic Dwyer

Professor Dwyer is a microbiologist and Director of Pathology West network. He trained in microbiology (virology and infectious diseases) at Westmead Hospital’s Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR) in 1986 and became a medical microbiologist in 1997.

Dominic Dwyer was a 1987 Group Study Exchange Team member, to India and the only GSE to them be awarded an Ambassadorial Scholarship in 1988-89, both sponsored by Mosman club.

In 2009, Professor Dwyer was appointed Director and Senior Medical Virologist for ICPMR’s Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services.

He is currently a Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney’s Western Clinical School and recently spent 12 months as a visiting academic in the Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales at the Hopital Saint-Louis, a public teaching hospital in Paris.

Early 2021 Prof Dwyer was part of a WHO appointed team that travelled to China to investigate the origins of COVID19.

Alison Ewings, Head of Engagement at Regnan “Finance as a Force for Good”

Alison joined Regnan in 2016 with responsibility for managing its engagement program, meeting with the boards and senior executives of ASX listed companies raising investors concerns regarding the financial impacts of environmental and social issues. She has worked in sustainability for over a decade and was formerly the Head of Sustainability at Westpac, a globally recognised sustainability leader, where she oversaw the development of environmental, social and governance frameworks and policy.

She has been a director of the UN Global Compact’s Australian Network and a member of the technical standards committee for the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard. Alison has been appointed to a technical working group of the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative (ASFI). She has also held roles in corporate strategy in the financial sector and undertaken a number of sustainability consulting projects with leading UK organisations.

Alison holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Organisational Communication from Charles Sturt University.

Alison and husband Damian were both Rotary Youth Exchange students – a few years ago.

Louise Sauvage OAM  – Wheelchair Athlete World Record Holder and Paralympian interviewed by Stephanie Brantz

Louise Sauvage OAM is recognised and acknowledged for her unique athleticism and outstanding success as a wheelchair track and road athlete. She dominated the sport since the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games, when as an 18 year old, she commenced her reign as ‘Queen of the Track,’ winning three gold and one silver medals.

She set world records in all distances from 100m to 5000m and victories in some of the world’s most prestigious marathons including; Boston, Los Angeles, Berlin and Honolulu Marathons.

Louise won gold in the women’s 800m wheelchair demonstration race at the Atlanta Olympics. She defended her Olympic gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Games and recorded the fastest qualifying time to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where she won bronze in the demonstration race.

Winning nine gold and four silver medals from four Paralympic Games, including four gold medals and two world records at Atlanta in 1996, Louise won Paralympic gold medals across every distance between 100m and 5000m.

At the 2000 Sydney Games she was honoured by lighting the Paralympic Cauldron.

In 2004 she carried the Australian Flag and led the Australians at the Opening Ceremony of the Athens Paralympic Games – her fourth and final games. Louise crossed the finish line in the final race of her illustrious career, just as she started – with a personal best time.

The ‘Louise Sauvage Pathway’ at the Olympic/Paralympic site is a life-time recognition of her contribution to Australian sport.

She is now a well-respected coach with the NSW Institute of Sport, her athletes having achieved; Commonwealth Games gold, Paralympic gold, world records and World Championship gold. 1992 – Order of Australia
1993,95,97,01,03 – defended five IAAF World Championship gold medals in the 800m
1994,96,97,98 – Australian Paralympian of the Year
1999-2000 – International Female Wheelchair Athlete of the Year 1999 – Confederation of Australian Sport – Female Athlete of the Year
2005 – inducted into the NSW Sport Hall of Champions 2007 – inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame 2009 – elevated to Legend status in the NSW Hall of Champions 2010 – inducted into the Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame 2012 – inducted into the International Paralympic Hall of Fame 2019 – elevated to Legend status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame

Stephanie Brantz

Stephanie has been involved in sports media for over 20 years after joining SBS as part of their football programming.  Also working with Channel 9, ABC, Fox Sports and ESPN she has a keen interest in covering women’s sport.  She is a Director on the Board of Football NSW, sits on the NSW Government’s ‘Game Changers’ Council and since 2021 has been Chair of the Sports Diplomacy Advisory Council assisting the Foreign Minister’s Office with building cross-cultural relationships through sport.

Professor Ron Rapee AO    “Mental Health” Australian Rotary Health featured speaker

Professor Ron Rapee is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology, an Australian Research

Council Laureate Fellow, and the Founding Director of the Centre for Emotional Health. His background is in clinical psychology, especially the understanding and development of mental disorders. He has a history of developing treatment programs and evaluating their efficacy through clinical trials. Foremost among these has been the Cool Kids suite of programs. The Cool Kids programs are now translated into over 25 languages and used in over 30 countries.

Research interests

• Anxiety, depression and related disorders across the lifespan.
• Development and risk factors for internalising distress.
• Prevention of internalising disorders.
• Treatment of anxiety and related disorders.

Additional interests are body image, mental health literacy and stigma, and methods of delivering mental health services.

Barry Seach (Carlingford) – A proud Darug man.

Barry’s father Henry was Aboriginal, as was his father and so on. Henry’s mum raised her family at her farm near Salt Pan Creek in the Bidgigal country of the Darug Nation. Barry will welcome us to his country.

Since joining Carlingford Rotary Club in January 1982, Barry has served in most club roles. He was President in 1990/91, when Carlingford won the District Governor’s Shield for the second time. He was recently Club Secretary again for 3 years. Barry served as District Youth Service Adviser for DG Ivan Skellet in 1994/95, as DG’s Group Representative to the Riverside Clubs for DG Alex Sawyer in 1996/97 and as District Community Service Adviser for DG Brian Coleman in 1997/98.

As a child, Barry learned bushcraft from his father. Barry, his sister, brother and cousins have traced their family history and Aboriginal heritage. Their now 99 year old Auntie Winnie, is a proud Aboriginal lady and their original source of much family heritage knowledge.

Barry graduated from the UNSW, with B.E. and M.Eng.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Barry began his engineering career by applying mathematics and science to technical problems. He then managed complex construction projects in New Zealand and Indonesia. Before returning to Australia to develop new building product and pipeline technology. Since retiring, Barry has studied energy science.

Apart from ongoing Rotary interests, Barry is a foundation member of the Probus Club of Rouse Hill, and a keen student of Aboriginal and colonial history. He has given talks on Aboriginal culture and history to local community groups from pre-school kindergarten to retirement homes.

Rosie Lotawa  – ROMAC

Over 30 years ago, Rosie’s life, as patient #5, was transformed by ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children). 

From a shy, badly disfigured eight year old from Fiji, to a confident young lady who now mentors other patients, Rosie’s is just one of over 500 ROMAC success stories.

Rosie will explain how ROMAC changes the lives of other young children from our neighbouring islands.

Vocational Excellence Awards – Warren Soos (Turramurra) and Margaret Sachs (Wahroonga)

Announce and recognise vocational and professional excellence of the highest degree and honour outstanding contribution by individuals or teams for significant advancement in their vocational or professional field in Australia.

Winnie Yip (Social Impact Network) – Rotary Youth Exchange Presenter

Winnie went on Youth Exchange in 2013 to Switzerland (sponsored by Carlingford) and has since graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, majoring in Social Inquiry.

Now a Rotary Youth Exchange District Coordinator, her Rotary journey started in 2009 as a Year 9 student at the Siemens Science Experience and has since been involved with a range of Rotary youth programs including NYSF, RYLA, Rotaract, and RYPEN mentor, and was a Rotarian with the Rotary Social Impact Network. In her profession she works in Marketing and Projects for a small HR business in regional NSW, making a unique impact for rural communities, but her passion is empowering young people to become better leaders.

When she isn’t looking at employment gaps and opportunities in our beautiful regions, you will find Winnie on a sports field somewhere playing hockey, floorball or netball, or enjoying food! She loves exciting flavours but according to her food intake, if she were to be reborn as food, it would probably be a good old potato.

Cherelyn Suzuki (Norwest Sunrise) – Rotary Youth Exchange Speaker

As a 17 year old, Cherelyn was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Parramatta and went on exchange to Japan in 1965, hosted by the Rotary Clubs of North and South Tokyo. 

That year became the year of her life. After returning to Australia, she was offered a job at the Consulate General of Japan, then the Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan’s largest media company). If this doesn’t sound impressive enough, Cherelyn ran her own restaurant where the most popular dish for ten years was Japanese Teriyaki steak! She then worked for JCB (Japan’s international credit card) for 28 years, firstly as Marketing Director and then Senior Vice President of JCB Oceania.

In 1991, Cherelyn joined the Rotary Club of Sydney undertaking multiple roles including Youth Director and Vice President. Retiring in 2014, she joined the Rotary Club of Norwest Sunrise where she has been President and Treasurer and continues to be heavily involved with her community.

55 years later, she still travels to Japan every year, stays with her host sisters from three host families, and visits other friends from her exchange year.

Katie Graham – Rotary Youth Exchange Speaker

After graduating from Carlingford High School where she was first introduced to Rotary, Katie went on Rotary Youth Exchange in 2012 to Denmark, sponsored by North Rocks. A last minute decision to apply, the experience pushed Katie out of her comfort zone and highlighted the importance of saying yes to as many opportunities as possible, a mantra she still uses today and led her to join the Rotary Youth Exchange District Committee.

Having completed a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Media Arts and Production and going on to build her career in the Construction sector, she has developed strong skills for project management, communications and promotions. She loves anything that combines these skills with her passion for creativity and organisation.

Katie enjoys many social activities and is a weekly regular at netball and trivia but in her spare time you will find her with her head buried in a book or blogging her thoughts and reviews.

Youth Exchange taught Katie to always look for new adventures and ways help others and she is grateful to be part of the Rotary family and looks forward to more to come!

Ezra Hill – Rotary Youth Exchange Performer

Ezra went on exchange in 2020 to District 2510 in Hokkaido, Japan (sponsored by Norwest Sunrise).

They are in Year 12 (2021) at Gilroy Catholic College in Castle Hill. Despite living through the coronavirus outbreak on their exchange, it was the best decision they ever made and believes it is all owed to the Rotary Youth Exchange Program and the committee who support the program. 

On Ezra’s exchange, they were given the opportunity to join a traditional dance group called Hanka, which was one of their club activities at school. This experience has shaped the person that they are today, providing them with confidence, strength and energy; all skills they have learnt from their exchange year and continue to apply to their daily life in Australia. 

If Ezra could have any super power, it would be time control, so they can pause the clock halfway through an exam to have more time to write!

Madeleine Govender – Provisional Psychologist and President of Hills Rotaract club.

Madeleine has a BA – Psychology from Macquarie University and a Graduate Diploma of Psychology (Advanced) Monash University and is into her second year of a Master of Professional Psychology at Western Sydney University.

In her downtime she is a vital, enthusiastic member and immediate Past President of Hills Rotaract club. Hills is a dynamic club engaged in many activities including; Share the Dignity program, It’s in the Bag and has organised mental health first aid training for club members, spoken on the local radio about mental health initiatives and developed a mental health calendar to encourage members of the community to learn about and care for their mental health.

Madeleine is also a mentor to refugee youth, assisting young people from traumatic backgrounds develop study skills and future career goals.

Madeleine is one of many exciting young Rotaractors who are making a difference in their community and will enthuse Rotarians to take more interest and become involved with Rotaract.

Krissie Webb – Rotarian and former Rotaractor and Mason Webb – future Rotaractor

Krissie is a long time member of the Rotary family. After attending RYLA in 2006, she joined Crosslands Rotaract and during her ten years as a Rotaractor she served in every board position at least once. She was heavily involved in the charity swimathon Splash for Cash for many years, and organising the Asia-Pacific Regional Rotaract Conference in 2010.

In 2012, she was named the Australian Rotaractor of the Year and the following year was was the first young person to be named the Co-Chair of the Rotaract Interact Committee and serve on the New Generations committee for Rotary International.

Krissie became a Rotarian at age 30 with Rouse Hill Rotary and was the youngest Rotary Club President in the district in 2017/18. She is currently an active member of Norwest Sunrise Rotary, the District Rotaract Committee and the Winter RYPEN committee as is the mentor for Hills Rotaract Club.

Outside of Rotary, Krissie is the Head of Marketing for Solaray Energy, Australia’s #1 Premium Solar Installer. She is married to Nick who is an excellent ‘Rotary Wife’ and her one-year old  son Mason’s Rotary Classification is ‘Future Rotaractor’.

Melanie Lewis (Social Impact Network) –  Environment Chair EnviroClub Awards

Melanie is a passionate advocate for environmental stewardship, having spent her formative years on 17 acres of the Humbug Scrub, northeast of Adelaide. Her connection with bushland influenced her first studies in Environmental and Adventure Tourism, taking her to some of the most spectacular parts of terrestrial Australia as a trekking guide in the Flinders Ranges and Gammon Ranges, the Grampians, and Cradle Mountain.  But underwater beckoned, and she came to Sydney to train as a SCUBA Instructor, leading her to complete her Bachelors in Marine and Coastal Environmental Biology and later a Masters in Science Research in Fish Ecology.

With several academic scholarships and awards under her belt, she now embarks on a new journey into Strategy, Innovation and Climate Adaptation as a Doctoral Researcher at the UTS Business School of Management and Institute for Sustainable Futures.

She is a dedicated Rotarian of Rotary Social Impact Network and applies her knowledge of learning and development, design thinking and social innovation to District Youth Service through RYPEN, MUNA and RYLA Oceania, and brings her professional expertise to the new Area of Focus – Environment subcommittee Chair. 

She sees a Rotary vision that promotes responsible use of the environment for the benefit of all humanity so that we can live in harmony with nature and allow future generations to prosper.  Through the EnviroClub Awards, she hopes to inspire her fellow Rotarians to extend their good service to environmental leadership that engages new membership, collaboration and partnerships in and across our communities.

David Dean (E-Club of Greater Sydney) – District 9685 Rotary Foundation Chair

David is a third-generation Rotarian, following in the footsteps of two Grandfathers, his Dad, Uncle, and Sister.  He has been a member of Rotary since 2004 and has served in a variety of club roles in St Ives, Erina, and now the E-Club of Greater Sydney.  He retired in 2018 after a long career as a management consultant to hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.

David is Chair of District 9685 Rotary Foundation Committee, after several years of work on the Foundation Grants Subcommittee and Foundation Stewardship Subcommittee.

He is a passionate supporter of The Rotary Foundation as a Paul Harris Fellow, Major Donor and member of the Arch Klumph Society, and has been involved with many District and Global Grants in Australia, Nigeria, the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Timor Leste and Fiji.  

David and Grants Chair, Haran Ramachandran will outline how District 9685 Rotary Foundation donations of US$264,000 from 2017-18 morphed into US$2,757,000 in 2020-21 a ten fold return to humanitarian projects delivered .

PDG Pam Pritchard (Turramurra)

PDG Pam Pritchard has been on the District Scholarship Committee for six years and Chair for five of those years.  In this time, she and the Scholarship Committee have interviewed, selected and approved ten successful candidates for the District to sponsor.  These included two passionate Peace Fellows and eight outstanding District Global Grant Scholars.

Haran Ramachandran (The Hills-Kellyville) – District 9685 Rotary Foundation Grants Chair

Haran is a member of the Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville.  He joined Rotary in 2001.  Before that he was a member of The Rotaract Club of Seven Hills and before that, a member of the Interact Club at S. Thomas College Mount Lavinia Sri Lanka.

He is passionate about Our Foundation, Our Charity, The Rotary Foundation and has been part of measurable and sustainable projects in Australia, India, and Sri Lanka. He shares his knowledge on grant applications with fellow Rotarians to be able to apply for Global Grants.

Haran is married to Ahsha and have two grown up children and he works for NTT Ltd as part of the Information Security team of the Platform R&D division. Haran and Ahsha are both Paul Harris Society and bequest society members.

“Being Burnt is not the end, but the beginning of a new journey and I am absolutely loving it because of Rotary“.

Neil McWhannell JP (Wahroonga) “Your Will is their Future”

Neil first joined the Rotary Club of Sydney in 2002. He later joined the Rotary Club of Wahroonga in 2015 and the following year was appointed President.

Neil is currently the Chair of the Bequest Committee for District 9658

Neil recently retired from his role as CEO of Educate Plus. During his time with Educate Plus, Neil strategically and diligently took the organisation through a re-brand, staffing restructure, Board training and a review of the Value Proposition for members. These, along with his planning, development and implementation of a Certified Training Program resulted in a 300% rise in membership.

Prior to his appointment he held the position of the foundation CEO of HeartKids Australia where he transformed the organisation and was awarded the Equity Trustee CEO of the Year Award for first year achievers and Runner Up in the 2009 Australian Fund Raiser of the Year Awards. Neil was also the recipient of a Harvard Business School minor scholarship.

Neil initially came from an educational background where he was principal at some of the leading independent schools in Australasia. Neil has many interests and is a positive contributor to his community. He serves as a Justice of the Peace and has been State Chairman and National Board Member for the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

Neil is married to Heather and has 2 adult children.

DGE Mina Howard  (Blackheath) Conference 2023

Hello Rotarians and friends. Mina Howard DGE from Blackheath club here. We are busy planning a conference in the country so be prepared for a great weekend getaway and a breath of fresh air!

17 to 19 March – Covid free in ’23!

That’s a wrap.

These speakers are confirmed, circumstances permitting.