Official Event Advisory Panel
Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the official event advisory panel who contributed their valuable time and expertise to ensure the agenda for this event is timely and relevant for all stakeholders working in Procurement & Supply Chain sectors.
Andrew Brightmore
Executive Director, Supply Chain & Business Improvement
Compass Group
Andrew has worked across a diverse set of business environments and cultures including public, private and consulting across many countries.
From his early days within the Toyota world-class manufacturing environment through to being part of highly innovative and creative successful procurement teams at Novar, leading business process outsourcer Xchanging, global consulting leader KPMG and now at the world's largest food and support services organisation, Compass Group.
He has a passion for transforming business success and driving dramatic cost, margin, revenue and capability improvement.
Jonathan Dutton
Director
JD Consultancy
JD Consultancy was established in Australia in 2004 by seasoned general manager and business leader, Jonathan Dutton. With over 30 years’ experience across several industries and in a variety of senior roles across sales & marketing, procurement & supply and general management, Jonathan now works as an independent business consultant helping organisations achieve transformational change and growth through applying his core values of focus, insight, reality and speed.
Jonathan's skill set is particularly strong in sales & marketing, driving top-line growth & bottom-line improvement. He uses his deep understanding of the procurement industry and buyers' mindset to develop incisive customer propositions and successful sales & marketing programmes - primarily in the B2B marketplace. He also has a contact-list second to none in the procurement sector, including many top CPOs.
Well-known throughout the procurement industry, Jonathan is also available for professional speaking engagements, training workshops and facilitating strategy meetings & round-tables. He often talks from his experiences on 'both sides of the fence' in procurement or in sales & marketing.
Jeremy Goodman
Director - Supply Chain
Carnival Australia
Prior to joining Carnival Australia, Jeremy was the Group Procurement Manager at Ardent Leisure Group and has held Procurement & Senior Management roles at Mummu Media, Quest Serviced Apartments and AccorHotels.
Jeremy is a Supply Chain & Strategic Sourcing Specialist with over 12 years’ experience primarily in the hospitality industry, and has a keen focus on maximizing value through partnerships, and maintaining close alignment to internal & external customers to ensure that the end result delivers holistic benefit to the business.
Jeremy’s key areas of speciality include the strategic sourcing of Food & Beverage, IT&T, Consumables & Travel.
Gwen Inglis
General Manager Procurement
Veolia Australia and New Zealand
As the general manager for procurement at Veolia, Gwen brings a collaborative style to her role. She has proven ability to build and empower a high performance team. Her breadth of experience incorporates commercial and legal terms experience across the supply and customer (sales) landscape. She’s had exposure to both transactional and strategic procurement, and has an overall understanding of industrial operational environments.
Melissa Kirk
Assistant Director Business Engagement, Contracting & Aid Management Division
Department of Foreign Affairs &Trade (DFAT)
Melissa has over 28 years’ experience, having worked in public and private sectors including policing, defence, marketing, telecommunications, education, mining and legal. She has extensive experience in project management, procurement and contract management and the ability to manage contract negotiations.
She is the supplier engagement specialist with the Aid Business Engagement team within DFAT.
She is responsible for the management of the Indigenous Procurement Enhancement Plan within the Aid Program. She is also responsible for the facilitation of supplier engagement programs and activities.
Shane Lamont
Associate Director
Grosvenor Performance Group
Shane’s passion is to help and work with clients in making change happen by redefining their procurement purpose through the application of his experience and that of Grosvenor Performance Group.
This specifically relates to Procurement and Supply Chain Transformation/Capability Build, Procurement Cost Efficiency Programs, Category Management, Outsourcing, Digital Transformation, Organisation Redesign and Leadership Coaching
April Palmerlee
Chief Executive Officer
American Chamber of Commerce in Australia
April is Chief Executive Officer of the American Chamber of Commerce. Previously she was a senior executive at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Palmerlee has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) and a consultant. In the US, she was Senior Coordinator of International Women’s Issues (now called Ambassador-at-Large, equivalent to Assistant Secretary of State). She and her team coordinated, funded and implemented US policy concerning women worldwide. The creation of this position in the US was a model for the creation of the equivalent position in Australia, Ambassador for Women and Girls. Prior to her political appointment, she worked at the Council on Foreign Relations, America’s largest foreign policy think tank.
She has also worked for couturier Oscar de la Renta, financial publisher The Bank Credit Analyst, and The Spanish Institute. Palmeree has been listed by Who’s Who and been an invited participant at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Ditchley Foundation in Oxfordshire, and Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Business conference at the NYSE. She also led/co-chaired US delegations to international meetings and ministerials, such as APEC, OAS, and the UN.
Palmerlee is on the Centennial Park CCC and the Selection Board for the Fulbright scholarship in NSW. She has been race director for the Centennial Park Ultra, the Six Foot Track Marathon, and the Southern Highlands Challenge as well as VP of Sydney Striders, Australia's largest running club.
She received a BS from Georgetown and a Master’s from Columbia. She is a dual citizen and lives with her husband and four school-aged children in Sydney. She speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, Swedish, and Italian. Her Australian is also pretty good.
Lynn Penny
Group General Manager, Procurement
Mirvac
Lynn is currently the Group General Manager of Procurement and Premises at Mirvac. In the GGM role, she is accountable for procurement strategy across the group, and ensuring Mirvac’s own premises are maintained with two key focus areas in 2017.
This focus involves refining the supplier relationship management strategy, and ensuring innovation is at the hub especially in the area of automation. The other focus is enhancing employee experience in the workplace, and enhancing behavioural change within a changing built environment.
Before joining Mirvac, Lynn spent time working with Microsoft in an APAC role at Westpac. Although the key area of expertise is in procurement, she also has a strong general management background, having been responsible for corporate real estate, risk, audit and operational outsourcing.
Jennifer Scott-Gray
Global Head of Trade Finance Sales
Westpac Institutional Bank
Teresa Scott
Executive Director
Australasian Procurement & Construction Council
Teresa is Executive Director of the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC).
Her responsibilities include working with the Council of Chief Executives to set the strategic direction of the APCC, and expanding the APCC’s role as Australasia’s leading public sector procurement and construction forum.
Tania Seary
Founding Chairman
Procurious
Entrepreneur. CEO. Mother. Marketer. Wife. Philanthropist. Public Speaker. There are many words to describe Tania, but one that comes up over and over is networker.
In 2016, Tania was recognized by IBM as a #NewWaytoEngage Futurist and named “Influencer of the Year” by Supply Chain Dive. She hosts regular procurement webinars, and presents at high-profile events around the world.
A true procurement entrepreneur, Tania is the Founding Chairman of Procurious, The Faculty and The Source. Throughout her career, Tania has been wholly committed to raising the profile of the procurement profession and connecting its leaders.
Michael Shaw
Founder and Board Member
Global Council for the Advancement of Women in Procurement, Atlanta (USA)
Michael has 40+ years of executive management leadership experience. His areas of specialisation include Blockchain, BitCoin, Procurement, Purchasing, Supply Chain, and SaaS. He’s worked in a managerial capacity with top-tier firms including Oracle, Siebel, and SAP.
Rosita Van Vuuren
Merchandise Operations Manager, Head of Quality & Sourcing
Best & Less
Rosita is a business professional who has worked in the Apparel and Footwear Industry for 25 years. From running her own Apparel Manufacturing Company through the 90's she entered Corporate Business in 2001 in the aerea of Operations, Productions, Quality, Supply Chain and Sourcing.
She currently works for Best & Less, an Australian National Discount Retailer, as Merchandise Operations Manager, Head of Quality & Sourcing.
Her previous role was as VP of Operations with Bloch International, which she held for 5 years. Rosita emigrated from South Africa in 1987 and holds an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business.
Tracey Yeh
Head of Global CPE Sourcing
Telstra
Tracey is a senior procurement professional with proven leadership to accomplish significant results across large corporations in Japan and APAC.
She has a passion for making procurement a competitive advantage for the corporation and striving for results that exceed customers' expectations.
Her certificates include Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) & Project Management Professional (PMP).