Matt Shaw (MBCI) has worked as Business Continuity and Emergency Management professional for over 17 years in some of New Zealand's largest central government departments. In addition to his day job building BC and resilience at MBIE, he is the Chair of the Government Continuity Reference Group and is leading system continuity level work across NZ's central government. This is all in aid of helping the NZ government continue to function and deliver critical services in disruptions and particularly in a catastrophic-level event.

Chiana Sherwood is the Emergency Planning Manager for Auckland Airport. Across this environment and previous roles, Chiana has supported emergency response for:
• Cyclone event, April 2018 (Auckland Emergency Management Welfare desk)
• Bomb threat, 2019 (EOC)
• Covid Response 2020-2022 (Recovery team)
• Flood event, January 2023 (Crisis management team & Recovery team)
Chiana contributed to the temporary redesign of Auckland Airport in 2020 to establish a ‘red zone’. This initiative assisted border agencies in managing wider community risk for New Zealand during the Pandemic.
Chiana’s passion is design and delivery of emergency training and exercises to the wider Airport precinct to ensure that everyone is “match fit”.

Graeme served with Victoria Police for 27 years with highlights being an investigator with the Homicide and Armed Robbery Squads.

In 2009 he moved to the Northeast of Victoria as the Officer in
Charge, Wodonga Detectives where he later resigned in
2021.

Graeme is the recipient of the NEM (Black Saturday), NM, NPSM and VPESM. He has a Bachelor of
Policing (Investigations) and Certificate
in Fire Investigations from CSU.

After an esteemed policing, Graeme went on to establish Peregrine Consultancy in 2021 and is also the Lead Investigator for the smash hit Channel 10 reality TV show, Hunted Australia!

Stephen Smith AFSM is the Commissioner of Queensland Fire Department, an organisation of approximately 34,000 staff & volunteers. Stephen started his firefighting career in Queensland in 1994 and has served in regional and state roles in a variety of specialist areas before taking on the role of Commissioner in October 2023. He has extensive knowledge, skills and experience in emergency and crisis management, both domestically and internationally, with a particular interest in leadership and capability development including organisational level change, leadership influence, and the human factors that influence organisational behaviour. In 2011 Stephen was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for distinguished service and success in technical rescue with outstanding commitment and drive in improving the profile and capability of the Queensland Urban Search and Rescue Taskforce.

Grant Stevens APM LEM, Commissioner of Police since 2015, leads South Australia Police, the government agency responsible for the safety and security of 1.8 million South Australians, across an area of over one million square kilometres.

Commissioner Stevens is committed to technological transformation across all aspects of police service delivery, supports legislative reform to improve public safety; and has well established credentials in state and national leadership roles addressing organised crime, terrorism, cybercrime, family and domestic violence, sexual crime (including child exploitation), and road safety. He is a member of national policing boards and is the Chair of the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency.

Jem Stone is a Bundjalung woman, Wayapa Wuurrk training manager, cultural consultant, and We Al-li lead facilitator specialising in trauma recovery through Earth connection, Indigenous knowledge systems, and culturally informed trauma healing. Jem has supported survivors of Victorian and NSW climate disasters and is a therapist on the first disaster recovery psychedelic-assisted therapy trial at Southern Cross University. She is part of a climate anxiety community of practice with the University of Sydney and has two publications in Explorations Climate Psychology Journal and contributed to research and development for Melbourne University’s climate anxiety and ecological distress project.

Melissa is an experienced registered nurse, academic and researcher focused on older persons, and ageing. She engages with community in translation research that seeks practical solutions to everyday problems. My research focus seeks to improve systems and process that improve care to community through workforce directions, health literacy and policy change. Melissa is proficient in qualitative and mixed methodology. She leads the West Moreton Older Persons Care Collaboratives at UniSQ working with local Councils, health services and organisations to improve translation of preparedness processes in the local community.

Christopher Tylor is the Managing Director of exci pty ltd, an Australian company pioneering AI-driven early wildfire detection. With decades of international business experience, he co-founded exci in 2019 with Gabrielle Tylor to combat the growing threat of wildfires. Under his leadership, exci developed an advanced AI-powered system that detects fires within minutes, helping protect communities and the environment. His commitment to innovation has positioned exci as a leader in wildfire detection, providing real-time alerts that enable rapid response and mitigation. Christopher is dedicated to leveraging technology to enhance fire prevention and disaster management worldwide.

Ms Vina Varsani is a senior executive who has a passion for delivering positive outcomes for Queenslanders. Vina had ten years’ experience in corporate banking before transitioning into the State Government sector 12 years ago. Vina thrives on merging strategy and policy to create exceptional community results.

Vina is passionate about developing best practice, evidence-based strategies and policies to help communities become resilient and recover stronger from disaster events.

Stefan Weir is the Chief of Staff at NEMA New Zealand, a role he’s held since 2022. Before this Stefan was based in the Beehive (NZ Parliament) as Private Secretary to the Minister for Emergency Management (2015-2022) and Minister for Youth (2013-15). For the last ten years Stefan has been in the "inner circle" alongside Ministers, Prime Ministers and senior leaders during emergencies including Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, the Kaikoura earthquake, Port Hills Fires, Christchurch terror attack, Whakaari White Island eruption, COVID and many many other severe weather related events.