Dylan Wiliam - Featured Presenter

Dylan Wiliam
Dylan Wiliam is Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at University College London.

After a first degree in mathematics and physics, and one year teaching in a private school, he taught in urban schools for seven years, during which time he earned further degrees in mathematics and mathematics education.

In 1984 he joined Chelsea College, University of London, which later became part of King's College London. During this time he worked on developing innovative assessment schemes in mathematics before taking over the leadership of the mathematics teacher education program at King’s.

Between 1989 and 1991 he was the Academic Coordinator of the Consortium for Assessment and Testing in Schools, which developed a variety of statutory and non-statutory assessments for the national curriculum of England and Wales.

After his return to King’s, he completed his PhD, addressing some of the technical issues thrown up by the adoption of a system of age-independent criterion-referenced levels of attainment in the national curriculum of England and Wales.

From 1996 to 2001 he was the Dean and Head of the School of Education at King’s College London, and from 2001 to 2003, he served as Assistant Principal of the College. In 2003 he moved to the USA, as Senior Research Director at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ. In 2006 he returned to the UK as Deputy Director of the Institute of Education, University of London. In 2010 he stood down as Deputy Director to spend more time on research and teaching.

His recent work has focused on the use of assessment to support learning (sometimes called formative assessment). He was the co-author, with Paul Black of a major review of the research evidence on formative assessment published and since then has worked with groups of teachers all over the world on developing formative assessment practices.

Major Matina Jewell (Retired) CSP

Matina Jewell
Matina Jewell is a transformative leader providing life-changing perspective from the front-line of leadership, resilience and change.

Matina earned military accolades in some of the toughest environments on earth and her courageous decision making, values-based leadership and vision for empowering teams continue to transform organisations globally.

More than just another incredible life story, Matina's lessons on leadership, resilience and seeing change as opportunity have transformed some of our largest organisations. Her message of courage continues to empower leaders and transform mindsets from all walks of life.

With enthralling footage that she shot on-the-front-line, stories of hardship and invaluable learning from her life-threatening missions, Matina will take you on a journey that will affect long lasting positive impact in your leaders, teams and organisations for years to come.

Leave – and lead – with a renewed sense of purpose, passion and perspective to thrive through change. Major Matina Jewell (Retired) CSP is leadership in action.

Gavin Wanganeen

Gavin Wanganeen
Gavin Wanganeen is an Australian Football League (AFL) legend, acclaimed contemporary Aboriginal artist, a businessman and an advocate for First Nations Peoples. Two-time Premiership winner, member of the AFL Hall of Fame and Brownlow medalist, Gavin Wanganeen is respected for his significant contribution to the game.

Gavin’s AFL career spanned 300 senior games at the Essendon and Port Adelaide Football Clubs, earning him countless accolades, including the dedication of a grandstand at Adelaide Oval in 2015, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the game.

Gavin blazed a trail as the first Indigenous player to receive a Brownlow medal and reach 300 games. In February 2019 he again broke new ground with his appointment to the board of the Port Adelaide Football Club. This achievement makes him the first Aboriginal ex-AFL player ever to be elected to an AFL club board and the first Indigenous member of the Port Adelaide Football Club board in its 150 year history.

Having retired from the AFL over a decade ago, Gavin continues to inspire and innovate through his work as a contemporary Aboriginal artist.

Born in Mount Gambier, South Australia, Gavin is a proud descendent of the Kokatha Mula people of the Western Desert in South Australia. The Kokatha people hold the Tjukupa (lore) and have a strong connection to country, the night sky and stories in the stars – a deep source of inspiration for Gavin’s paintings.

As well as sitting on the board of the State Theatre Company South Australia, Gavin recently stepped down from the CALHN board and the Port Adelaide Football Club, to focus on business interests. Gavin is the owner and Director of MURRA Partners, an Aboriginal owned executive search and recruitment firm based in South Australia.

Gavin founded JOOJU Coffee, sustainably and ethically sourced from the best coffee producers globally and roasted here in Australia. JooJu has a mission to create great-tasting coffee while giving back to the community. Gavin’s artwork features on the packaging.

He is an ambassador for the Jodi Lee Foundation which campaigns for Bowel Cancer awareness, and was a Statewide Wellbeing Strategy Ambassador for the State Government and Well-being SA’s Open Your World initiative created in 2020. In the past, Gavin has also been ambassador for Power Community Programs, and Power to End Violence Against Women with the Port Adelaide Football Club, Deadly Choices, an initiative run by Aboriginal Health, the AFL’s Aboriginal youth football team, the Boomerangs, and The White Ribbon Foundation, and is currently an advisor to the United Nations Association of Australia SA, and sits on the RAP committee for UNAASA and The Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Gavin is well known and respected for his Indigenous Advocacy, and has formed relationships across the Country with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders. He has spent considerable time on Country, working with youth and mentors in Aboriginal communities predominantly in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjattjara (APY) Lands in north-west South Australia, encouraging positive life choices through sport, education, culture and community.

The Gavin Wanganeen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholarship at the University of South Australia was established in 2005 to provide support for disadvantaged Indigenous students with a strong desire to succeed and contribute to their community, by enabling them to complete a university degree. Through the power of education, the Gavin Wanganeen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarships have changed the lives of its 45 recipients to date who, in turn, are inspiring others to change their lives. Many scholarship graduates now work in the fields of Indigenous health, education and social work, while others are making their mark in the arts and media.