Peter Freedman AM is the Founder and Chairman of RØDE and The Freedman Group.

An entrepreneur, philanthropist and passionate ambassador for Australian manufacturing excellence, he has won dozens of product and export awards, including Ernst & Young’s Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014, as well as Australia’s highest national honour, the Order of Australia (denoted by AM) in 2016.

Established in 1991 as a brand under Freedman Electronics – the sound installation company started by his parents in 1967 – Peter has grown RØDE into the world’s leading creator technology brand. RØDE’s microphones and audio products are the number one in a range of categories, including content creation, podcasting, studio recording and broadcast.

Today, RØDE is a global company with offices across the world, including the US, UK, Germany, China and Japan. Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia, where it designs and manufactures its products, exporting to 118 countries globally.

Peter established The Freedman Group as a parent company to RØDE, which has since acquired several legendary audio companies, including APHEX, SoundField, EVENT and, most recently, iconic American pro audio brand Mackie. 

Richard White founded software company WiseTech Global in 1994 to help logistics companies manage goods and information across supply chains. 

Melinda Petrunoff is the Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand at Pinterest. Based in Sydney, Melinda’s responsibilities include building and managing the team to increase advertising growth in Australia and New Zealand, supporting relationships with brands, and ensuring Pinterest is the best possible localized experience for people using the platform across these countries. 

Melinda has more than 20 years of leadership, sales, marketing and operations experience building successful digital businesses across Asia and the Pacific. Prior to Pinterest, Melinda spent more than eight years helping to grow Facebook’s APAC business in a variety of leadership roles, including Director of Scaled for Australia and New Zealand, supporting the growth of small to medium businesses. 

Before joining Facebook in 2013, Melinda worked for Fairfax Digital (now Nine) in several executive roles where she was responsible for building audiences and commercialising their digital businesses including Domain. 

Melinda is passionate about building successful teams and developing talent. Since 2015, she has volunteered as a board member of OzHarvest where she is currently responsible for leading the strategy committee.

Chris Andrews is Chief Executive Officer of La Trobe Financial and has over 20 years’ experience in Corporate Australia. 

He holds a bachelor’s degrees in law (with honours) and Commerce. He spent the first part of his career in law and joined La Trobe Financial from one of Australia’s leading commercial law firms as senior legal counsel in 2006. 

In 2009, Chris moved into the position first of Head of Funds Management and later Chief Investment Officer.  From 2009 until his appointment as CEO in 2022, Chris was at the helm of the Asset Management business for La Trobe Financial, the fastest and largest growing fund of its type in Australian corporate history. 

As CEO, Chris brings sharp focus to customer service, business performance, capital management, technology uplift, risk management and people and culture. 

Chris is one of the youngest CEOs in the Banking & Financial Services Industry in Australia. 

Livia Wang, often called the wellness industry’s treasure hunter, is a plant-based visionary and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience building wellness and beauty brands. As the founder of Access Corporate Group and Wellness Adventures, Livia has successfully launched Australian and New Zealand brands into global markets, reaching over 10 million consumers. Her focus is on incubating pioneering brands that blend cutting-edge science with wellness, setting new standards and promoting healthier lifestyle choices.

Livia’s mission is to accelerate wellness outcomes globally by bridging the gap between science and society. With more than 50 brand success stories, she is dedicated to improving the well-being of people everywhere, empowering them to take control of their health and transform their lives through sustainable wellness practices.

A disruptive force in the wellness industry, Livia is reimagining health and beauty, not just by introducing new products but by reshaping outdated norms. She is passionate about delivering innovative, accessible wellness solutions for all.

Mervyn Tan is an award-winning digital practice leader and experience design consultant with over twenty years of experience. He has worked with some of the world’s largest consumer brands, consultancies, and creative agencies, leading groundbreaking projects that have set new standards in the industry.​

Craig Blair is the Co-founder and Partner at Airtree, a leading venture capital firm backing Aussie and Kiwi founders building the iconic technology companies of tomorrow. With $1.3bn funds under management, Craig has led investments in Canva, Pet Circle, Go1 and Employment Hero, which have delivered 100x returns to investors. Before Airtree, Craig was a Partner at Netus, a venture fund that delivered top-decile returns to investors.

Prior to his VC career, he was a founder of several startups including Travelselect, Beamly Australia and founding chairman of Pet Circle. Craig holds a Bachelor of Engineering from University of Sydney, and an MBA from INSEAD, France. 

Outside of Airtree, Craig is an active philanthropist through the Blair Caffrey Foundation which supports indigenous, women’s and humanitarian causes and the arts.   

Phoebe heads up Blackbird’s New Zealand team and fund, which has invested >$150M in Kiwi-founded startups. She invests across industries and business models, in companies such as Tracksuit (brand tracking software), Vessev (hydrofoiling passenger boats) and Carepatron (an operating system for modern healthcare practitioners). Phoebe got her start as an investor at Al Gore’s sustainability-focused growth equity firm, Generation, and prior to that was a management consultant with Bain & Company in Melbourne and London.

enny joined Oroton as Chief Executive Officer in October 2021. She brings extensive global
experience working with high profile consumer retail brands, following 15 years at McKinsey
& Co.

In her role as partner at McKinsey & Co, Jenny led the firm’s consumer and retail work across
Australia and New Zealand, working with CEOs and industry leaders to grow their business
through customer-centricity, agile working and reshaping culture.

She is passionate about driving retail transformations, understanding emerging trends in
consumer behaviour in today’s disruptive world, and the use of data and technology to
accelerate business growth.

Jenny holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University, Illinois and a Master of Business
Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, North Carolina.