CO-OP ASSEMBLY 2025 SPEAKERS
Keynote Speakers
Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP
Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment, and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT. Prior to being elected in 2010, Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. He holds a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in Arts and Law. Andrew is a past recipient of the Economic Society of Australia’s Young Economist Award and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences.
His books include Disconnected (2010), Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia (2013), The Economics of Just About Everything (2014), The Luck of Politics (2015), Choosing Openness: Why Global Engagement is Best for Australia (2017), Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World (2018), Innovation + Equality: How to Create a Future That Is More Star Trek Than Terminator (with Joshua Gans) (2019), Reconnected: A Community Builder‘s Handbook (with Nick Terrell) (2020), What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics (2021), Fair Game: Lessons From Sport for a Fairer Society and a Stronger Economy (2022) and The Shortest History of Economics (2024).
Andrew is a keen Ironman triathlete and marathon runner, and hosts a podcast called The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation, about living a happier, healthier and more ethical life. Andrew is the father of three sons - Sebastian, Theodore and Zachary, and lives with his wife Gweneth in Canberra. He has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1991.
Clr Jess Miller
Assembly Panel Speakers
Hon Mick Veitch
Mick Veitch was elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 2007 and served 16 years. Mick was the Deputy Government Whip, a parliamentary secretary and served 12 years as a shadow minister with the Labor Opposition holding portfolio responsibility for Trade and Investment, Industry, Water, Primary Industries and Regional NSW. He also served as chair for several parliamentary committees and was instrumental in establishing the Regulation Committee and the current Budget Estimates process of the Legislative Council.
Mick travelled to Canada in 2018 to study the cooperative movement in that country and has been a long-time advocate for cooperatives in Australia. Mick is now a government relations consultant with one of Australia’s leading government relations firms, Counsel House.
Cathy Main
Cathy is an experienced leader in large and complex organisations, with a career spanning property, retail, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries. Over her thirty-year career, she has worked for ‘blue chip’ organisations including Westfield, Faulding and Coca-Cola Amatil. She has experience in the not-for profit sector through previous Board roles - previous Chair of Casey Cardinia Visitor Economy Inc, Victoria; and Non - Executive Director for Cora Barclay, Adelaide. She is currently a Non-Executive Director on the Foodbank SA/NT Board.
Cathy’s expertise lies predominantly in Leadership, Strategy, Sales, Marketing and Finance. She has pursued career opportunities in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Cathy’s return to Adelaide, as the CEO, Barossa Co-op, meets her passion for community, forging organisational cultural change and building high performing, cohesive teams, in the interest of delivering extraordinary customer and member experiences and bottom-line results.
Jess Scully
Jess Scully is an author and advocate for an expanded civic imagination to create a fairer future. She has served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and has worked as a policy advisor, cultural strategist, public art curator, magazine editor and radio host.
Jess was the founding director of the Vivid Ideas festival and supported emerging creative talent as the director of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards. She is a World Bank consultant and a Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. Her book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, illuminates solutions to the climate and inequality crises.
Christian Johansson
Christian Johansson (CJ) is a highly experienced CMO with 20 years people leadership in Beyond Bank, Westpac Group, Telstra and IBM, for both consumer and business portfolios. He is a commercially driven marketing leader with expertise in driving customer growth. CJ helps companies transform their engagement with customers.
He brings 11 years international marketing experience from the UK and Europe working for IBM in several senior marketing leadership roles, including leading brand, advertising, media and sponsorship teams. He is a deeply loyal and passionate leader of people that are hungry to grow and develop. CJ encourages his team to be obsessed by customer, have a deep sense of curiosity and to own the experience that you create for customers.
Kylie Flament
Kylie Flament is an award-winning social enterprise leader and sustainability expert with a background in managing large teams and projects in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors.
She currently holds multiple positions including CEO of the Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT, and an Expert in Residence at iAccelerate, the start-up hub within the University of Wollongong. She was previously the General Manager of Green Connect, an Illawarra-based social enterprise that employs young people and former refugees to do environmental work, and prior to that the Cardiac Services Manager at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.
Her Board roles include five years as a director of the Flame Tree Community Food Co-op.
Greg Patmore
Greg Patmore is the Emeritus Professor of Business and Labour History at the University of Sydney Business School. He is the co-author of A Global History of Co-operative Business (Routledge, 2018) with Nikola Balnave (Macquarie University), author of The Innovative Consumer Co-operative: The Rise and the Fall of Berkeley (Routledge, 2020) and co-author of A History of Australian Co-operatives 1827-2024 with Nikola Balnave and Olivera Marjanovic (Macquarie University).
Dr Emma Lees
Dr Garry Cronan
Garry’s involvement in the co-operative sector, both nationally and internationally, spans over 40 years.
It includes working for Australia’s (then) largest membership based co-operative business, running co-operative development, legislative and policy programs for the NSW government, establishing and jointly managing Australia’s first university based (UTS/CSU) co-operative (social economy) research centre (ACCORD) and running communications, policy and business intelligence programs for the International Co-
operative Alliance, then based, in Geneva.
Garry’s most recent (PhD) research, at the University of Sydney, focused on identifying the long-term drivers of large co-operative and mutual global business success and positioning this experience within the context of the wider national and global co-operative movements.
Nasteha Mohamud
Nasteha Mohamud is a community development leader with experience across not-for-
profit, public service and local government. She serves as Chairperson of United
Housing Co-operative and holds governance roles across multiple organisations,
driving strategic impact and growth. Currently pursuing an MBA, she applies her
expertise to create sustainable solutions and has shaped national projects to ensure
inclusivity and representation. Recognised on the Victorian Multicultural Honour Roll,
Nas is a passionate advocate for equity, diversity and empowerment, championing
multiculturalism and uplifting underrepresented communities through her leadership
and advocacy.
Prof Ghil’ad Zuckermann
Professor Ghil‘ad Zuckermann (DPhil Oxford; PhD Cambridge, titular) is listed among Australia‘s top 30 ’living legends of research’ by The Australian newspaper (2024). He received the Rubinlicht Prize for his outstanding contribution to Yiddish scholarship in 2023. He is the Chair of the Jury for the Jeonju International Awards for Promoting Intangible Cultural Heritage.
He is the author of Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond (Oxford University Press, 2020), the seminal bestseller Israelit Safa Yafa (Israeli – A Beautiful Language; Am Oved, 2008), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 多源造词研究 (A Study of Multisourced Neologization; East China Normal University Press, 2021), three chapters of the Israeli Tingo (Keren, 2011) and Engaging – A Guide to Interacting Respectfully and Reciprocally with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, and their Arts Practices and Intellectual Property (2015). He is a co-author of the first online Dictionary of the Barngarla Aboriginal Language (2018), and the Barngarla trilogy: (1) Barngarlidhi Manoo (‘Speaking Barngarla Together’): Barngarla Alphabet & Picture Book, 2019; (2) Mangiri Yarda (‘Healthy Country’): Barngarla Wellbeing and Nature, 2021; and (3) Wardlada Mardinidhi (‘Bush Healing’): Barngarla Plant Medicines, 2023. He is the editor of Burning Issues in Afro-Asiatic Linguistics (2012), Jewish Language Contact (2014), a special issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, and the co-editor of Endangered Words, Signs of Revival (2014).
Marissa Costello
Marissa is the General Manager of Killarney Co-operative Ltd, a multi-departmental retail Co-op in Killarney, South-West Queensland. Marissa was appointed to the position of GM in 2018 after 18 years as the Administration Manager. Marissa holds a Diploma of Management and believes strongly in the potential of retail as a career opportunity to offer local employment opportunities.
Marissa has served on a number of a number of regional boards and local committees and served two terms as Chair of the Queensland Co-op Federation.
Prof Andrew Beer
Prof Andrew Beer is the Executive Dean of UniSA Business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide and a PhD from the Australian National University. Professor Beer is a Fellow of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Regional Australia Institute. He has served on the College of Experts for the Australian Research Council and as Chair of the Regional Studies Association.
Andrew’s research interests encompass a range of issues including the impacts of structural change within the economy, place-based policy, the strategies needed to sustain businesses in the regions, population dynamics and demography, the operation and functioning of Australia’s housing markets, and the impacts of an ageing population. He has published widely in academic journals and has authored several books.
Rebel Black
Rebel Black, a human agronomist and syntropic entrepreneur, empowers rural women to create impactful enterprises in rural, regional and remote Australia. Founder of THE RW Collection, she’s driven $50M+ in funding for multiple community-based transformative initiatives and business development, including co-founding THE Rural Woman Cooperative.
Recognised for her work internationally, Rebel fosters thriving communities, inspiring resilience, innovation, and legacies through social entrepreneurship and empowerment.
Ben Davis
Belinda Russon
Anthony Esposito
Kate Biondo
ABOUT KATE BIONDO
Kate Biondo is the Co-operative Coordinator for Galactic Co-operative, where she plays
a pivotal role in strategic development and leadership. While her contributions span
many business areas, Kate has increasingly focused on driving the co-operative’s
long-term vision.
Before co-founding Galactic Co-operative with her ‘partner in life’, Andrea, Kate built a
career as a landscape designer and sole trader, honing her logistics, bookkeeping,
project management, and workplace safety expertise. Her practical skills and
collaborative nature have made her indispensable in networking and co-operative
circles.
Since its inception, Galactic has grown under Kate’s guidance and earned several
accolades, including the Switched On Business Award, the Town of Victoria Park Digital
Award, and recognition for its Healthy Workplace Wellbeing Initiative. Kate has also
played a key role in balancing Galactic’s commitment to a flat structure with the
practicalities of business growth, fostering an environment of innovation and
adaptability.
Outside work, Kate enjoys solving puzzles (both work-related and not!), cooking,
exercising, indulging in Nordic Noir dramas, and spending quality time with Andrea and
her mum.
Tom Reddington
Liz Thomas
Liz Thomas is an experienced Board Director and CEO, recognised and acknowledged as a dynamic leader with a trademark style that combines a strong sense of social justice and sound commercial acumen.
In 2021, Liz was appointed Managing Director of CEHL. Since then, she has driven a broad range of positive changes for CEHL‘s 100 rental housing co-operatives and their members. She has become a strong advocate for the national housing co-operative movement, currently chairs the Australian Co-operative Housing Alliance (ACHA), and is the Deputy Chair of Victoria’s Community Housing Industry Association.
Dr. Sidsel Grimstad
Dr. Sidsel Grimstad is a Senior Lecturer at Griffith Business School, Griffith University, and a Norwegian-born researcher specialising in co-operative housing and co-operative business models as drivers of systems innovation and change. She is Vice-Chair of the International Co-operative Alliance Asia Pacific Committee for Cooperative Research and has over 16 years of experience designing and teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including co-operative governance and innovation for impact.
Before moving to Australia 19 years ago, Dr. Grimstad worked as an adviser for environmental and international development organisations in Norway and the United Nations. She also brings personal lived experience from housing co-operatives in Norway.
Dr. Grimstad was Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council project Articulating Value in Housing Co-operatives (2021–2023), funded by the ARC and the housing co-operative sector. She actively contributes to the Australian housing co-operative movement, including participating in the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals’ European co-operative housing study tour in 2024.
Master of Ceremonies
Sam Byrne
Sam has been the Secretary for Co-ops NSW since 2016. He has been a member of Alfalfa House Community Food Co-operative in the inner west of Sydney for 20 years and was a director from 2008 to 2012. He is also a former Mayor of Marrickville and director of Local Government Super. Sam holds a Master of Management from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Sam is passionate about the co-operative enterprise model that delivers benefits to members and their community rather than absentee shareholders.
Sam can be contacted at sec@nsw.coop, in the office on 02 9057 5155 or on 0408 231 509.
Curator and Manager
Peter Tregilgas
Peter Tregilgas has skills and experience in creative and social innovation encompassing regional development, arts management, festival coordination, capital projects and social enterprise. Peter is a Master of Business Arts and Cultural Management University of SA. Achievements includes; Director of the Adelaide Festival Fringe, Director of Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute and Arts Access SA. Festival Consultant to the Victorian Tourism Commission developing the Melbourne International Festival and Comedy Festival and Executive Officer for Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast.
Peter’s specialist focus is Cooperatives and Social Enterprises and has produced the definitive publications “Social Enterprise in Australia” and “Cooperatives in Australia”. He is a member of Mercury Co-operative Ltd and member of the Co-op Federation Board. Peter has provided event management and curatorial services to the Co-op Federation conferences and Assembly since 2018.