Rachel is a social development specialist, anthropologist, podcaster, public speaker and experienced strategist and thought leader. Rachel launched her podcast, Good Will Hunters in June 2018, out of a desire to explore how the not for profit sector can become more sustainable, innovative and collaborative by partnering with the private sector and conversely how the private sector can play a more meaningful role in social impact and international development. Rachel is passionate about supporting organisations with the knowledge and connections they need to sustain, scale and communicate their impact. Rachel has worked alongside government, the private sector and the not for profit sector in Australia and throughout the region. Rachel holds a Masters in Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development, a Degree in Political, Economic and Social Sciences and has studied in both Australia and India, including at the prestigious Tata Institute for Social Sciences. Rachel has also worked extensively in PNG, including work in the education sector alongside the Kokoda Track Foundation, as well as work on the World Bank’s tuberculosis response.

Maholopa (Maho) Laveil is currently an economics lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG). In 2017-2018 he undertook studies for his Master of International and Development Economics at the Australian National University in Canberra and was selected as a PNG and Pacific Greg Taylor Scholar, leading to a one-month internship. Maho’s current research and work include trade policy, financial inclusion, PNG’s general elections, and providing assistance to PNG’s 2019 supplementary budget. In addition, Maho has recently coordinated an Oxford Policy Management Ltd Australia project, surveying 415 youth in Port Moresby, using a complexity-based model for collecting data. The process of signification allowed individual stories to be collected, mapped and explored visually in a quantitative framework, and has been used only twice in PNG. This project trained five UPNG staff in the new model and hopes to make data collected available to other UPNG researchers.

Preston Karue works as the Rural Outreach Coordinator at the East Sepik Provincial Health Authority. In his role he plans and coordinates specialist Rural Health Programs for the different specialist Departments of the health authority and also coordinates disease outbreak response. He also works closely with NGO’s and other agencies to coordinate activities and to maximise results for the community. He runs a weekly social media campaign against violence and is a strong advocate for rural and community development and behaviour change communication using songs as a medium to educate the population on important issues. He has previously worked as a dental officer with the PNG Defence Force, Volunteer Dentist for YWAM Medical Ships and as a resident dental officer at Madang’s Modilon General Hospital. He graduated with a degree in dental surgery from the University of PNG.

Dr Ishani Kaluthotage is a medical doctor working at Cairns Hospital passionate about global health and humanitarian medicine. She graduated from Griffith University in 2018 with a Masters of Medicine. She is currently completing her Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University and studying Tok Pisin at Australian National University. She has extensive volunteer experience in health care and promotion, human trafficking and sustainable development projects in Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Tanzania, and Papua New Guinea. She has developed a strong relationship with PNG as a volunteer doctor and as a medical educator through Queensland Rural Medical Education and Kiunga Hospital, Western Province. She is also the the Australian-Papua New Guinea Liaison Officer for “Project Yumi - Bush Dokta” – an NGO improving access to health care and resources in rural and remote PNG. Her passion lies in health policy and minimising health inequalities in low resourced environments within the Indo-Pacific region.

Adolf Kaien is a Major in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and Operations Officer for the 2nd Royal Pacific Islands Regiment based at Moem Barracks in Wewak. He joined the PNGDF in 2003 and was commissioned as an officer in 2006. His extensive defence career has included deployment as a platoon commander to Solomon Islands as part of RAMSI (2009), officer instructor and infantry instructor, before his most recent appointment to 2RPIR in 2016.

Liandra Gaykamangu is a Yolngu woman from North-East Arnhem Land and is passionate about building meaningful relationships with people from across the Pacific. She is an experienced English High School teacher. She is also an entrepreneur and business founder, establishing her swimwear enterprise Liandra Swim in 2018. Her swimwear label is inspired by her Aboriginal heritage and works to create meaningful opportunities to learn about Aboriginal culture and Indigenous Australian women, through fashion. She is currently a delegate, representing 50 Indigenous business owners from around Australia.

Brett Crabb is a financial adviser and business founder based in Melbourne.  He founded his business in 2011 and remains a director and part-owner of Finwest Wealth Management, a financial advice business specialising in services to young wealth accumulators.  With Brett’s guidance, Finwest has now expanded to serve a range of active clients across Australia, with offices in both Perth and Melbourne.  Brett has an extensive career in wealth management and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). He has long had a keen interest in strengthening ties with PNG and sharing his experience in entrepreneurship and business development. He greatly enjoys his work with Finwest but forming strong connections with PNG is where his real passion lies.  Brett holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia, a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning from FINSIA and is a Certified Financial Planner with the Financial Planning Association.

Andrew Burke is a senior public servant and public policy professional with the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Queensland Government. In his role as Director of Intergovernmental Relations he has responsibility for the implementation of the Queensland-PNG Memorandum of Understanding, which works to identify and implement opportunities for partnerships between PNG and Queensland. He holds a Masters of Politics and Public Policy and a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics). Across his career, Andrew has designed and implemented a range of public policy reforms in areas including agriculture, tourism, economic development, vocational education and training and environmental management.

Patricia Aimapa is the co-founder and director of the Afore Computer Training Institute in Popondetta. The Institute works to foster IT skills in the local community. Patricia is an ambitious and passionate advocate for the role of ICT in regional PNG. She was a participant in the Techlab PNG Accelerator program in 2019. Before launching the institute she worked in a number of roles including in aviation and in technology.

Sebastian De Brennan has a longstanding connection with Papua New Guinea (PNG), his late grandfather having served as an Assistant Director (Administration) of Public Health in the (then) Territory of Papua and New Guinea. During that time, Sebastian’s mother was born in Goroka and lived in various parts of PNG until she was a teenager.

Sebastian’s secondary schooling was completed at St Gregory’s College, Campbelltown, at a time when there were a number of Papua New Guineans attending the school, including Jelta Wong (the current Minister for Health & HIV/AIDS in PNG) and Vergil Narokobi (now a Judge of the National Court and Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea).

After graduating from high school, Sebastian completed his Commerce and Law degrees on the Hon Gough Whitlam AC QC conferred National Leadership Scholarship, a key component of which was to walk the 110km Kokoda Trail.

Sebastian has been a member of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia and, for many years now, has assisted in a voluntary capacity with the Kokoda Track Foundation’s Archer Leadership Scholarship program, facilitating workshops on advocacy and human rights, as well as hosting law students here in Sydney from the University of Papua New Guinea.

Sebastian has a real interest in how the sport of rugby league can be utilised to foster greater PNG-Australian relations.