Destiny Dewis is a proud Aboriginal, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander woman with a successful career spanning several decades. She began her journey working in tourism before transitioning into early childhood education and then onto community services and more specifically community finance. A passionate advocate for empowering the next generation of Indigenous people, she believes in the importance of early education as a way of developing career pathways. Her experience in financial and community development has allowed her to assist the First Nations Foundation (FNF) with their goal of providing instrumental financial education. Destiny travels around Australia delivering FNF’s financial literacy training and is inspired to help young Indigenous women create a better life for themselves and takes her position as a role model for the women she meets seriously. An advocate for female empowerment through education, Destiny has been able to build on FNF’s legacy of work while being a champion for change

Christine Elder is the  USA Consul General based at the USA Consulate General in Sydney, responsible for representing the United States of America in New South Wales and Queensland. Prior to her assignment in Australia, she led on components of the inter-agency U.S. effort to assist in the relocation of Afghan citizens fleeing Taliban rule. She served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia from 2016-2020.

Consul General Elder has also held positions as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique, and as cultural attaché in Germany and in Hungary. Her other Washington assignments include Deputy Coordinator for International Information Programs, serving as the senior most Foreign Service Officer in the Office of the Inspector General, Director for Southern African Affairs, and Senior Watch Officer in the State Department’s Operations Center. She has also served in positions in the Bureaus of European, Near Eastern, and Economic and Business Affairs. Ms. Elder began government service in 1990 in the International Trade Administration at the Department of Commerce.

Christine Elder is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Minister Counselor. She holds degrees from the University of Kentucky and the George Washington University, and speaks German and Portuguese. Her husband is former Foreign Service Officer Paul Hughes, and she has two step-children.

Dr Hayley Letson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Heart and Trauma Research Laboratory within the College of Medicine and Dentistry at James Cook University. Since 2008 Dr Letson has been developing a small-volume resuscitation fluid comprising adenosine, lidocaine and magnesium (ALM) for the treatment of haemorrhagic shock and traumatic injury. In addition to working with the US Military to translate ALM resuscitation fluid into the field, Hayley is focussed on improving emergency trauma care for patients in regional, rural and remote Australia.

• Research Portfolio
• TEDx talk “Ten Minutes to Save a Life”: 
• ALM Research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9djaYUDeoXM

Commander Nicole Tesoniero is a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and a graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy Class of 2005. She reported to Harriet Lane following a detailed assignment to the Department of Defense where she served as a Special Assistant to the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tesoniero has served more than nine years afloat as a Deck Watch Officer, to include tours aboard USCGC Steadfast, Executive Officer of USCGC Chandeleur, USCGC Knight Island, and USCGC Escanaba, and as Commanding Officer of USCGC Key Biscayne.

Her assignments ashore include as an instructor in the Professional Maritime Studies Branch at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut and at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Requirements and Analysis (CG-771) in Washington, DC. In this capacity, she was responsible for managing the requirements generation process for Coast Guard surface acquisitions, including the Polar Security Cutter, Offshore Patrol Cutter, and Waterways Commerce Cutter.  Tesoniero holds a Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a Master of Arts in National Defense and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College and is a graduate of the Maritime Advanced Warfighting School.

Dr Katie Chartrand is a Senior Research Scientist with Tropwater. She leads the scientific delivery for multiple applied research programs focused on tropical coral and seagrass ecosystems. Katie has over 19 years’ of research experience in areas spanning coral, marine plants, photobiology, and spatial analysis and mapping have influenced the management and compliance of large-scale dredging programs. Her body of work and expertise also delivers programs to monitor at-risk habitats, including inshore coral reefs.

Katie’s passion in recent years has been directed around building meaningful partnerships with Traditional Owners on the Great Barrier Reef and tourism operators to drive localised and scalable outcomes. Projects include the Great Reef Census (a citizen science-based monitoring program), Mars Reef Stars to support rubble stabilisation and repair, and coral larval delivery at local strategic reef locations with partners. These initiatives are rooted in a collaborative framework that spans various sectors, from ports, indigenous rangers, tourism and citizen science.

Professor Hurriyet Babacan, Regional Development Australia's Tropical North Chair. Hurriyet has a distinguished career over the last 25 years with a proven track record of achievement in senior leadership and strategic management roles. She has been recognised for her work through a number of awards including the Order of Australia 2014 (AM).