Simone has an extensive career in housing and homelessness – from local government, state government, and as a consultant and in the NFP sector. She was Chair of the Social Housing Tenancy Advisory Committee (SHTAC) for Housing NSW and is now COO of Women’s Community Shelters where she is focused on shifting the organisation to a longer-term capability, beyond crisis alone, seeking to innovate in areas such as meanwhile use.

Paul is a Wiradjuri man, born and raised in Sydney amid the black power movement and schooled by key Sydney Aboriginal leaders in the fight for Aboriginal land rights and progression to Aboriginal self-determination. He was a leading child protection expert on the needs of Aboriginal children, pursuing systemic change to improve the alarming over-representation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care before pivoting and focusing on Aboriginal housing outcomes. Paul is now leading Birribee Housing as it supports Aboriginal families across Sydney and regional NSW. Growing Birribee Housing into a vessel that can deliver on the vision of the parent entity, the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, and deliver self-determination for Aboriginal people through Aboriginal led control of housing outcomes.

Verity has decades of experience in financial services, predominately in banking and securitisation funding roles for various businesses. This has often included considering alternate ways to fund houses and housing projects. Currently she is consulting in the securitisation industry.  Previous roles include working with AMAL Trustees holding various roles across the Trust Management and Trustee businesses, being a founding member of Xinja, leading to the successful launch of a neobank, as well as holding roles at Macquarie Bank and Bluestone Mortgages. Having begun at AMP in actuarial services, she has always had a keen interest in data, modelling and risk analysis.

Janet has worked in urban strategy and planning for a number of years in State government and private consulting.  This has included housing-related research, policy formulation, housing policy management at Landcom (current role), setting housing affordability and diversity targets and initiatives to better understand local housing need. Previous roles included city strategy at the Greater Sydney Commission, NSW Department of Planning preparing metropolitan and regional strategies, working at the Urban Design Advisory Service, Urbis, Six Degrees and Allen Jack + Cottier Architects.  She is a graduate of the Foundations of Directorship at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Master of Urban Design and Bachelor of Architecture (Hons). 

With extensive experience in corporate social sustainability, public advocacy, communications and skilled workplace volunteering, Kirsten has a proven career history of creating and implementing innovative strategies that deliver impactful, measurable outcomes.

In April 2022, Kirsten joined the team at Stockland in the role of Social Sustainability Manager – Affordability and Inclusion to play a lead role in building Stockland’s positioning, strategy and capability around affordability and housing, accessibility, and economic inclusion. Previously she headed Lendlease’s shared-value initiative, FutureSteps, which was aimed at addressing homelessness and rising levels of housing stress in Australia.

In addition to her extensive experience within the property industry, Kirsten has delivered a number of social sustainability projects throughout Australia including the establishment of training, education and employment opportunities for individuals facing economic hardship.

Amelia is Associate Professor in Law at UNSW, where she teaches and researches in planning and urban governance.

She has degrees in Architecture (UWA), City Policy (Murdoch) and Law (Oxford, Harvard, ANU) and professional experience in planning, housing, transport and public interest environmental law. Amelia’s research centres on frameworks for decision-making in contemporary cities – who gets to have a say, and how – and the ways in which those frameworks might contribute to social and environmental justice.