IPAA members inspired by “fantastic” Future Shapers Forum
IPAA’s future leaders (Back row, left to right: Geraldine Edwards, Stephen Derieve, Jennifer Duke, Melanie Fisher. Front row, left to right: Leah Finnigan, Jess Hardy and Joseph Zeller).
Seven emerging leaders from IPAA Victoria, IPAA NSW and IPAA ACT have been challenged by an extraordinary range of senior leaders at the 2018 Future Shapers Forum held at The Australian National University this week.
Nominated to attend by their IPAA divisions were Jennifer Duke and Geraldine Edwards from Victoria, Stephen Derieve and Samantha Gray from New South Wales, and Jess Hardy, Joseph Zeller and Leah Finnigan from the ACT.
The Future Shapers Forum is a flagship event of the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation, established from a generous endowment provided by the Wilson estate in 1998. Now in its second year, the forum brought together 75 young professionals from across Australia —and across the public, academic and not-for-profit sectors —for a series of speakers, bespoke meetings and small group dinners.
Ms Melanie Fisher (Executive Director, Sir Roland Wilson Foundation) was delighted by the exchange of ideas between the forum participants and speakers such as Dr Martin Parkinson (Secretary, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet), Dr Timothy Baynes (CSIRO) and Vinton Cerf (Computer Scientist and co-founder of the internet) who delivered the 2018 JG Crawford Oration, The Future of the Internet.
“Participants have really benefited from broadening their networks and worldviews,” said Ms Fisher.
“I’ve had really positive feedback from participants about how engaging the small group meetings and dinners have been —it’s not every day you get to dine in groups of three or four with a Ken Henry or a Gareth Evans.
“We have greatly appreciated the part IPAA has played in nominating some of their best and brightest young talent to attend the 2018 Future Shapers Forum and we hope to collaborate more closely with IPAA in crafting the 2019 Future Shapers Forum,” Ms Fisher said.
Speaking with the IPAA participants during a quick tea break it was clear that the Future Shapers Forum had exceeded their expectations: “the calibre of the delegates is just fantastic”, “the level of conversation is just so thought provoking” and “the speakers are just so diverse and so different”.
Already their attention is moving to the future: “what’s next?’, “when’s the next event?”, “how can we get together?”.
The 2018 Future Shapers Forum has clearly honoured the reputation and legacy of Sir Roland Wilson—one of the most outstanding public servants of his generation —and inspired the next generation of Australian leaders.