Outdoors NSW & ACT Ambassador, Ky Furneaux, will be co-hosting the Thursday & Friday of the Summit with one of our Pinnacle Leader Graduates. After just returning from overseas for more exciting adventures, Ky is a great example of some of the various career options that skills in the outdoors can take you. The renowned Ky Furneaux, Outdoors NSW & ACT ambassador, will be joining the event to share her insights on how she spreads the word about the benefits of spending time outdoors. Ky is a well-known author, TV personality and media personality.

Founder and Chief Access Officer, Ryan Smith is a qualified Access Consultant (Dip. ACA793), has a degree in Design and is a widely traveled wheelchair user.

Ryan has presented on accessibility in tourism throughout Australia and globally, including in Melbourne, Sydney (AUS), Bogotá (COL), London (UK), Santiago (CHL), and La Plata (ARG). He has spoken at events for Tourism Australia, World Travel Market, Visit Victoria, Visit Bogotá, The University of Melbourne, and many others. He’s been part of in-person events at Tourism Australia’s Destination Australia, Accessible Inclusive Tourism Conference Asia Pacific (AITCAP), Melbourne University, MPavillion and he conducts sessions with many industry organisations, regions and government including Visit Victoria’s Marketing Excellence Program, Red Cross Australia, and many more.

Ryan is the acting-Chair of a not-for-profit disability organisation, was a judge for the 2023 Victorian Tourism Awards and is an ambassador for Australian Regional Tourism (ART). He has written for Architecture Australia’s Victorian Chapter on the future of accessible hotels and been interviewed on ABC Radio and The Age newspaper.

The Director of the Insights team at the Australian Sports Commission, he leads the Insights team in delivering sector-wide research projects, including the large-scale national population tracking survey ‘AusPlay’. His work experience spans more than 20 years in social and market research in both Switzerland (his native country) and Australia. Laurent has also been involved in sport at many levels from coaching, club and sport federation administration to participation.

With nearly 10 years under his belt working with the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian under the Child Safe Organisations Directorate, Mark Lorenti has amassed expertise in assisting organisations across the state in meeting their legislative responsibilities. This work has previously included guiding the Sport and Recreation sector to build capacity and understanding of the Child Safe Standards. Mark now leads the Engagement and Capability team, guided by his passion about engaging organisations across all sectors on this journey to develop a culture rich in child safe practices.

Mark also has experience in designing and delivering audit and training programs to better understand the challenges organisations face in meeting their legal responsibilities, and then developing responsive learning opportunities to teach and promote best practise.

Karen is the NSW Executive Officer for The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Australia and Team Leader of the Duke of Ed Team within the Office of Sport. With a strong background in both state government and the global corporate sector, Karen brings a strategic, customer-focused approach to expanding the reach and accessibility of the Duke of Ed Framework. Passionate about the outdoors and deeply committed to empowering young people, she is a tireless advocate for adventure, personal growth, and achievement.

Bec Burch is a passionate early childhood educator and nature pedagogy specialist, dedicated to connecting children with the natural world through play. She leads Cottonwood Learning, a Gold Coast-based nature immersion program that takes children into bush and beach environments to explore, learn, and thrive in all weather.

With a strong background in teaching and leadership, Bec also mentors and trains educators across Australia through Bush Kindy Australia. Whether coaching, training, or delivering professional development, Bec is passionate about empowering educators to elevate their practice and deepen their connection to nature-based learning.

An active member of national nature play networks, Bec is a vocal advocate for the sector. She believes that nature is essential to holistic development and overall wellbeing, and that immersion in the natural world builds resilience, confidence, ecological literacy, and life skills in both children and educators alike.

Trish is a passionate CFP® Financial Adviser, having worked with clients from 18 to 90 years old. With a Masters in Financial Planning, Trish brings her unique life experience into every interaction to truly understand what is important to each and every client. After almost a decade of providing holistic goals-based financial advice, in 2025 Trish pivoted to specialise in providing Insurance-Only advice to serve an ever-growing cohort of uninsured younger Australians. In her spare time, Trish chases after her three children, tends to her edible garden, cares for her chickens and bees and goes on the occasional hike.

Louise is the Tourism & Partnerships Manager for NSW State Forests at Forestry Corporation of NSW. She has  worked in state government roles for over two decades with extensive experience across a range of environmental and resource management roles including public health, air quality, sustainability and forest stewardship. Louise leads a team of passionate people dedicated to managing nature-based visitor experiences and recreation opportunities in State forests. Project partnerships, stakeholder engagement, forest tourism and forest permit management are their bread and butter.  Louise also manages Forestry’s recreation & tourism policy, tourism and marketing strategies, including Forestry’s @visitnswforests social media platforms.

A forward-thinking leader, Yasmin brings years of experience in negotiation, stakeholder management, and policy to her vocation of improving workforce and educational outcomes for all potential workers.

Yasmin is CEO of SkillsIQ, Board member of the Australian Health Care and Hospitals Association, Chair of the University of South Australia MBA Advisory Board, member of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA)’s NSW/ACT Advisory Committee, former NSW Small Business Commissioner, and former Associate Commissioner for the ACCC. She is also co-founder of SkillsAware, an organisation employing artificial intelligence to solve the problems of skills recognition and bridging experience and formal education.

Her expertise in these roles, built on the foundation of experience and education in business administration and economics, makes her an invaluable leader at SkillsAware.

As the Founder & CEO of Australia’s most trusted sports management platform, Alex possesses shared backgrounds of technology, law and sports administration. As a founding Director of the Australian Sports Technologies Network, Alex has played an important role in shaping and propelling the sports tech industry in Australia. His years of experience in Legal Technology at Australia's largest two law firms (Freehills and Clayton Utz), as well as 22 years' experience in Board-level and operations management of sporting organisations of different levels and sizes, give Alex a unique and relevant perspective in today's sporting climate.

Garry has been part of the ACT tourism sector for 30 years, and the Project Leader of the National Capital Educational Tourism Project (NCETP) since 1999. Under his leadership, the NCETP has had a significant impact on the ACT tourism region with educational visitors injecting 140 million economic value to the ACT annually. Previous to this, Garry worked extensively in the ACT attractions sector including running visitor services and public programs at the National Film and Sound Archive and providing electoral education for the National Electoral Education Centre. He has also been a market research consultant, with a speciality in facilitating search conferences.

Garry has been a key part of the National Capital Attractions Association and Canberra Region Tourism Awards (CRTA) for many years. After 10 years as Chair of Judges for the CRTA, in 2016 Garry was appointed the Chair of Judges for the Australian Tourism Awards, concluding at the end of 2018. Garry has been awarded the Canberra Region Tourism Awards, 2001 Outstanding Contribution by an Individual Award and has recently been included as a Member in the Order of Australia (General Division) for his services to tourism.

Award-winning writer/producer/director, content creator and search and rescue volunteer, Caro Ryan started LotsaFreshAir.com in 2012 to inspire, teach and encourage people to get into hiking and the outdoors safely. It’s all about connecting people to wild places in meaningful ways, so they can look after themselves, their mates and these precious places we visit. She teaches wilderness navigation, authored the book, ‘How to Navigate - the art of traditional map & compass navigation in an Australian context’ and hosts, ‘Rescued - an Outdoor Podcast for Hikers and Adventurers. A member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers, she has written for Australian Traveller, BBC Travel, Outdoor, Jetstar, Wild Magazine, Great Walks Magazine, NSW National Parks & Wildlife and We Are Explorers. She is a regular guest on ABC Radio chatting about all things hiking and bushwalking. 

Peter Kent is the past president of Outdoor Education Australia – the national peak body for Outdoor Education.  His day job is as Principal of Birrigai Outdoor School in the Australian Capital Territory and he is the Chair of Outdoors NSW & ACT.

Within the ACT, Peter leads the cross-sectoral team that oversees the operations of the Outdoor Leadership and Mentoring Program (OLMP) through which most Outdoor Ed teachers in Canberra obtain the Certificate III and IV qualifications in Outdoor Leadership.  Peter has a long history of leading successful innovative teacher capacity building programs and in 2021 was awarded the National Excellence in Teaching Award - Founders’ Principals Award for Leadership.  Peter has held leadership positions in primary and secondary schools, as well as having experience in Education policy roles within ACT Government.  Peter’s passion is embedding First Nations stories and cultures within a place based experiential learning programs. 

Responsible for effective implementation of strategic operations against our strategic plan. A primary focus upon Construction, Manufacturing, Education and training, public administration and safety, retail trade, healthcare and social assistance. Our objective is to foster collaborative relations with stakeholders to facilitate knowledge sharing and encourage a strong safety culture and climate across all workplaces. My goal is to increase the maturity of a safety system.    

David Ferris is a seasoned risk practitioner with over 45 years of experience in the insurance industry. He began his career focusing on loss control and safety administration, developing a strong foundation in risk management. As a trained Fire Protection Engineer and Underwriter, David has honed his skills in assessing and mitigating risks across various sectors. He has led lead divisions at national and international insurers and reinsurers addressing complex risks, including engineering, construction, property and marine. Transitioning into direct insurance broking, David has dedicated the past 20 years to helping clients navigate risk, working with major corporates, financial institutions, and not-for-profits. His approach is centered on understanding and transferring risk effectively, ensuring that clients achieve their goals while maintaining robust protection. Throughout his career, David has also contributed to several not-for-profit boards, demonstrating his commitment to community service and leadership.

Mike Morris is a trusted advisor and commercial strategist with over 25 years’ experience helping recreation providers and small businesses unlock growth through data and technology. He specialises in making complex data simple—empowering organisations to understand local demand, participant behaviour, and community needs to improve planning, engagement, and service delivery. Mike has worked across all levels of sport and recreation, bringing hands-on insight from clubs to national bodies. Passionate about building active, healthy communities, he combines strong values, commercial acumen, and a collaborative style to deliver practical, data-led solutions that support sustainable growth and meaningful impact.  

Dan Waters is a Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Manager at HumanAbility. He will be sharing the latest update on the review of the Outdoor Recreation and Leadership Qualifications and will be available for discussion at the HumanAbility stall throughout the Summit.

Dr David Marsden specialises in outdoor learning, workforce development, and safety and risk management across the outdoor recreation, education, and adventure sports sectors. With more than 30 years of experience, he brings a unique combination of strategic leadership, operational expertise, and evidence-based practice.

David is leading the 2025–26 national review of the Australian Adventure Activity Standards (AAAS), commissioned by the Outdoor Council of Australia. In this role, he oversees the review methodology, stakeholder engagement strategy, and technical drafting of the standards framework that underpins risk management practices for outdoor and adventure-based activities across the country.

He is Director of The OREAS Group, a consultancy working across outdoor recreation, education, and adventure sports. David advises governments, peak bodies, schools, and international partners on curriculum design, safety systems, organisational development, and education and training frameworks that strengthen workforce capacity.

David holds a PhD specialising in the knowledge and skills required of leaders in outdoor learning in Australia. His academic and consulting work is grounded in an evidence-based, benefit–risk approach that advocates for safe yet meaningful learning experiences—particularly in contexts where education and management intersect.

He currently serves as a board member for Outdoor Victoria, is Deputy Chair of the National Centre for Outdoor Risk Readiness (NatCORR) Advisory Board, and chairs the Course Advisory Committee for Outdoor Leadership at Victoria University. He has previously chaired AAAS activity working groups, led national training initiatives, and contributed to Communities of Practice both in Australia and internationally.

Greg is a dynamic individual drawing from a wide range of practical experience gained in previous years working within the Equine and Adventure Industry. After completing a Bachelor of Science from Monash University, Greg moved into the Insurance Industry and utilising his experience in the Equine and Adventure Industry. A Qualified Practicing Insurance Broker and Senior Associate with ANZIIF, Greg is also a qualified and accredited Horse Instructor with Horse Safety Australia, and qualified Ski Patroller and involved with various NFP’s. Greg also has also participated in a range of leadership courses and has a wide range of leadership experience, working together people from a wide range of ages and demographics.

Chis is a labour market economist with over 25 years of experience leading research and analysis to inform Australian labour market policy. Over his career he has had responsibility for a wide range of functions including national skill shortage assessments, regional labour market analysis and school to work transitions.

In his role as Research & Analysis Manager of the Insights and Analysis team at SaCSA, Chris will be discussing ongoing research into skills shortages relating to Tour Guides which include adventure, nature and park guides.

Debbie Eglin is a systems strategist, workflow wizard, and founder of Productivity Hub. With two decades of corporate administration experience and over 10 years running her own business, Debbie has seen firsthand how chaos creeps in when growing businesses lack structure.

Her mission? To help purpose-driven business owners ditch the overwhelm, streamline their operations, and reclaim time for what really matters—whether that’s scaling impact or getting back out on the water by delivering practical, tech-savvy solutions that keep your business running smoothly behind the scenes.

Debbie works with outdoor operators, service providers, and small teams to simplify the complex, automate the repetitive, and systemise for scale. When business runs with ease and flow, your capacity grows—and so does your freedom and choice.

Coming soon....

Greg Shallard | Mark Lorenti | Peter Kent | Cathy McInerney | Karen Witt | Cathy Ryan | Trish Gregory | Liz King | SafeWork ACT / NSW | David Marsden | Tracey Dickson |