Ian was appointed Managing Director, Kmart in February 2016 and assumed the responsibility for leading the Kmart Group division (encompassing the Kmart Australia and Target Australia businesses) in November 2018. Prior to this, Ian was Kmart’s Chief Operating Officer where he was instrumental in Kmart’s turnaround.

Ian’s experience, both national and international, covers a number of industries including retail, professional services, consulting, technology and healthcare in positions that include general management, sales, business development and project management.

Ian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Natalie has served as VP/General Manager of Foot Locker Asia Pacific since 2017. Her previous roles at Foot Locker, Inc. include VP/GM of the Foot Locker US women’s business, as well as VP, Global Corporate Strategy.

Prior to joining Foot Locker, Natalie was SVP, Brand Development at L Brands / Victoria’s Secret Beauty, and Principal at the Boston Consulting Group.

Natalie holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a MA from the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and an A.B. from Princeton University

Ryan was appointed Chief Customer Officer in October, 2022. Prior to this he was Bunnings’ Director of Store Operations and previously held senior national and state Retail Operations leadership roles since he joined Bunnings in 2001.

In his current role, Ryan is responsible for leading Bunnings’ Merchandise, Marketing, Data and Analytics, Store Development and Competitor Insights teams. He is dedicated to cultivating and delivering an exceptional service experience for all customers through a customer-centric approach and continuous process refinement.

Ryan is passionate about creating and fostering a culture where his team feels supported and empowered to make a difference. He focuses on creating opportunities for all team to develop and become the best version of themselves and has a keen interest in mentoring the next generation who will lead Bunnings into the future.

Outside of work Ryan is married with three children who he enjoys spending as much time as possible with. He is an avid Brisbane Broncos fan, loves to spend time with family and friends and enjoys getting out and seeing new places.

Marnie is a commercially astute HR/OD leader and currently in the role of Global People Director at T2 Tea. She has worked in HR leadership roles in multi-national retail and FMCG companies, government, financial services, mining and professional services in Australia and across APAC with expertise in Asian markets. Her work in OD inspired her to complete a doctorate researching leading and engaging remote employees in 2018, which has become a very relevant focus post Covid. As a working practitioner, she also lectures in HR at USQ and has written HR programs to drive more practical experience for the HR professionals of the future and volunteers on not-for-profit boards currently holding the role of Chair of the People and Culture Committee for Reclink Australia.

Nick Bangs has been with Unilever for 20 years, having first started his career as a
graduate in the Unilever Future Leaders Program in 2003. Over the past two
decades, Nick has worked in a variety of roles, predominantly within customer
development, both locally and internationally. More recently, Nick oversaw the
New Zealand business as Managing Director from 2016 to 2021, before moving
back to Australia to take on the role of General Manager for Unilever’s Homecare,
Beauty and Personal Care business. In March 2023, Nick was named Head of
Country for Unilever ANZ.
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In his new role, Nick is committed to driving purpose-led growth at Unilever, with a
focus on building brands that make a difference, including Dove, Rexona and
Hellmann’s. He is passionate about building strong retail partnerships that deliver
great business results, whilst bringing sustainability to life in ways that are simple
and cost-effective for consumers. Within the business, Nick takes great pride in
driving a strong and thriving performance culture; aligning work to values and
ensuring Unilever remains famous for building great careers.

At Domino’s, people are at the heart of everything that we do. So, it’s important that we educate, motivate and inspire our people to be the best that they can possibly be. Matt has been challenged to build a world-class leadership development program and deliver cutting-edge training to Domino’s team members and franchisees across Australia and New Zealand.

Prior to joining Domino’s, Matt spent nine years as the Chief Executive Officer of yLead – a non-profit that delivers leadership development to the education sector in Australia and New Zealand. In this role, Matt was responsible for producing in-house workshops, national and international leadership forums, and overseas immersion programs to over 30,000 people each year.

It is Matt’s in-depth knowledge of empowering young people, coupled with his experience running a small, fast-paced business that make him such a unique asset as Domino’s Global Head of People Development.

Andrew Stark is the global managing director for Flight Centre Travel Group's flagship leisure brand Flight Centre.

Andrew relocated from South Africa with his family and is now based in Brisbane to oversee the Flight Centre brand in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Joining FCTG in 2000 as a corporate business development manager in his native South Africa. Andrew left the company briefly before returning in January 2005 as general manager of product and marketing in South Africa, before moving to FCTG New Zealand to take on a similar role for a two-year period.

In 2010, Andrew returned to South Africa to run the company’s corporate business and has since served as leisure general manager, managing director for South Africa and MEA managing director before stepping into his current role in 2022.

Jody joined Costco in 2011 and has worked in different Food & Sundries department from 2011 to 2020. She was then promoted Assistant General Merchandise Manager for Food & Sundries & worked in the position from January 2020 until Oct 2022 when she was promoted to General Merchandise Manager for Food & Sundries. Jody has now been with Costco for over 10 years.

Richard was born in Sydney, Australia. Following his primary education, he completed a Certificate in Business Administration, the Australia Institute of Company Directors (AICD) course and Executive Masters in Business Administration. Richard is a member of AICD and Chief Executive Officer of Foodco Group and State Advisor Board Member of the Starlight Foundation.r

Prior to joining Foodco in 2022, Richard was Managing Director of Heinemann Australia, Chairman of the Australian Duty-Free Association (ADFA) and Board member of the Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) and held other leadership roles at David Jones, Australia’s premium Department Store.

Varun Verma is an AI and Data Analytics leader based in Melbourne, Australia. With more than a decade of professional experience across industries and cultures, his achievements in the field of Data Analytics domain are extraordinary. He led and worked for top-tier companies like L’Oréal, Heineken, PwC, Visa, Accenture, and Allianz. He possesses various analytical skills, including digital & data strategy, business intelligence, machine learning, big data, and Artificial Intelligence. His educational qualification includes an MBA in Marketing & Information Systems and a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science. He holds and secures the challenging role of Chief Data Analytics Officer at L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand.

Varun has remarkable attainment by being an individual Patent Owner - a method for computer for program product for determining a dominant account profile of an account using machine learning tree-net gradient boosting algorithm. The objective was to run automated AI-driven marketing campaigns customized for consumers based on past purchase behavior.

Varun has been actively involved in public speaking workshops and seminars in the Asia Pacific region to share his professional expertise around Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence. In addition, Varun was chosen as a subject matter expert to deliver many workshops on “Machine Learning & AI as a part of Data Analytics Academy to groups of data scientists from Asia Pacific countries/markets.

Pamela is a senior executive with over 20 years’ experience in retail across Ireland and Australia, with experience in operations, merchandise, and marcomms. Pamela is the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at retail pharmacy group, Blooms The Chemist where she oversees end-to-end business operations. She is also a Non-Executive Director with Bambuddha Group, a social enterprise committed to creating a sustainable world of equity and opportunity for everyone.

Pamela is convinced that business can be a force for good and leads her company’s ESG committee to develop responsible business practices and purpose-led activities.

Pamela is known for her leadership, integrity, work ethic, and her ability to stay true to a greater vision. She thrives when collaborating and implementing change and holds an exceptional track record for improving business performance and driving positive impact.

In 2022 she was the recipient of the Highest Honour Game Changer Award, at the Corporate Kindness Awards and was a finalist in the ‘creating change’ category, at the Women in Business Awards on the Gold Coast.