Our Forum Speakers

Michelle Cowan

At 21 Michelle Cowan became Australia's first female WAFL assistant coach and put West Perth through their paces.

At 23 she amanaged 150 staff through a $10.3 million Leisure Centre redevelopment. At 25 she became Managing Director of her own national company. And at 27 she became a Mother - also known as: story-teller, doctor, teacher, fireman, garbage truck driver, princess, kangaroo, 5th wiggle and more...
Michelle is currently the leader of West Coast Eagles AFLW team's Operations ad Player Wellbeing Programs.
In 2013 Michelle was appointed as the first Senior Coach for the Melbourne Football Club Women's side. Michelle was also awarded the Football Woman of the Year for 2013.
Homegrown success story and compelling speaker, Michelle Cowan, has always defied convention.
From being the only girl in the locker room to the only Gen-Y in the boardroom, Michelle's is a daring story of success against the odds.

Paul Rosair

Paul heads up NAJA Business Consulting Services (NAJA), a niche consultancy focused on working with local and state government, not-for-profit organisations and businesses who are committed to securing strong economic and social growth opportunities for their communities.

Paul offers his experience in conceptualising, leading and implementing major state projects and has a passion for driving sustainable development in Western Australia. This is complemented by his strong understanding of the nuances of all layers of government and the complexities of the processes that require navigation to achieve success in major projects. A natural leader, Paul has a confident and engaging style, fostering a positive, proactive work environment and building a team that is focused on activating positive change.

Julian Pace

With an authentic, raw approach, whilst sharing his own deeply moving story, Julian has become a world-renowned speaker, presenting in 10 countries to a cumulative audience of approximately 63,000 people.

Through his perspective altering and life-changing strategies, Julian teaches how mental health and happiness is determined by decision-making and everyday choices.

Patrick Walker

Patrick Walker commenced his current position as Executive General Manager, Advocacy and Members at the RAC in July 2011. Immediately prior to this, he was the Director General, Department of Indigenous Affairs from 2008.

Patrick was a Commissioner at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Commissioner for Consumer Protection and Prices Commissioner in Western Australia for 10 years and during this period he was also a member of the Legal Aid Commission of Western Australia, the Medical Board of Western Australia, a Trustee of the national Travel Compensation Fund and Chairman of Workpower Incorporated which provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Patrick has also has extensive management experience in local government, with his most recent position being Chief Executive Officer at the City of Subiaco (1993 - 1998). During this time he was elected as State President and as a National Director of Local Government Managers Australia.

Luke George

Luke George, over the past 30 years has created, developed, managed and sold three successful businesses. The natural progression was to share these experiences by establishing his fourth Business, By George, a positive coaching and mentoring company focussed on building people's Personal Brand.

Luke identified that it was his alignment and belief in his Personal Brand that was the foundation of his success.
Personal Branding is about deciding to take an active role in the direction of your life an how you are perceived by others. The way to create abundant wealth and wellbeing is by creating, promoting and living your Personal Brand. The positive ripple effects from this action, changes landscapes.

Lynda Folan

Dr Lynda Folan is an Organisational and Leadership Development expert with a highly successful track record of strategically developing and managing International Human Resource and Organisational Development teams.

Her corporate experience incudes board-level executive roles in organisations such as the Hard Rock Cafe, Tesco Stores (Retail), Wyndham International (Hotels) and The Number (Telecoms). Lynda has over 35 years of experience working with businesses across the globe to deliver successful business transformations and enhance business outcomes.
For the past 13 years, Lynda has worked as a consultant in Australia in both the public and private sector assisting organisations to enhance the people aspects of their operations. Lynda has specific expertise in the Local Government sector and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from the work she has done across Western Australia. The focus of her work is on delivering strategic people-focused initiatives and strategies that enable leaders, teams, and cultures to evolve and support businesses to deliver improved results.
Lynda is a registered Organisational Psychologist with the Australian Board of Psychology. She holds a range of qualifications including a recently completed Doctorate in Organisational Psychology from Murdoch University and a Master of Science in Organisational Psychology frm the University of London. Her areas of specialism are: Organisational development, Culture change, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching and she is highly sought after for her work in the area of resilience and leader resilience.

Bob Searle

Bob Searle is a Chartered Accountant with more than 50 years' experience in the Private and Public Sectors.
He has over 20 years' experience in Local Government in roles that have included Finance Manager, Corporate Services Director and CEO. He has wide experience, good knowledge and a practical approach.
Bob has been trying to retire since 2008 and has undertaken consulting tasks assisting a range of local governments. He is also involved with LG Professionals WA's Induction to Local Government initiative, wrote and presented a one-day 'Finance for the non-financial' seminar for LG Professionals WA and is involved with both the National and Regional Management Challenges.

Steven Tweedie

Steven Tweedie has almost 40 years' experience in and around local government, which is some feat given he claims to be in his early 40s...
He started with Darwin City Council where he worked for five years, then joined LGA/WALGA as Director Policy for eight years until being lured by incoming Local Government Minister Paul Omodei to be his Principal Advisor for the next eight years.
Since that time Steven has been active working with LG in WA and the T and has also tested his notions of good governance in post conflict countries with multiple missions to Kosovo, Bosnia and South Africa, as well as in developing countries such as Bhutan, Indonesia, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Turkey and Jordan.
Like most LG CEOs, Steven has been mugged (in South Africa), had to bribe public servants (to get out of Lesotho), had a death threat (for suggesting the CEO should not be giving contracts to friends and family) and has been criticised by MPs (in Bosnia) for developing a training day with not enough free time for shopping. 
In recent times he has also been a consultant at the WA Public Sector Commission.