Greenskills - Greenskills. Jobs for a sustainable future

Simon O'Connor

Economic Adviser
Australian Conservation Foundation

Simon O’Connor is the Economic Adviser at the Australian Conservation Foundation. He has worked for a decade in the areas of finance, economics and environment in Australia and the UK for the private and not-for profit sectors. Simon’s role has him focused on the underlying economic drivers of unsustainability. He works across the organisation on issues including climate change, responsible investment, infrastructure, taxation, water trading and forestry.

Simon previously worked as a responsible investment analyst leading the Australian research team of Innovest, with a particular focus on risks of climate change across the ASX200. He has also worked as an environmental consultant to industry, and has extensive experience providing environmental economic advice to the NGO sector in Australia and internationally.

Tania Crosbie

Executive Director
Education & Marketing – Green Building Council Australia

Tania began her career in banking with Advance Bank and progressed to Marketing and Communications Manager when it became St George Bank in 1996. During her tenure, Tania ran the nationally successful Floriade Festival, the largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

Upon leaving Advance Bank, she consulted in marketing for a number of years, with clients including the NSW Department of Waste; Greenglobe; Maningrida Arts and Culture Centre in Arnhem land; Southern Pacific Hotels; Business Council of Australia; AusIndustry; the Australian War Memorial and ACT Government. Tania was a Senior Lecturer in Australia at the University of Canberra and lectured in Australia and Asia for six years. She was responsible for traditional delivery, intensive and online delivery of undergraduate and post-graduate courses and course development. She was named Teacher of the Year, and was a finalist in the Australia New Zealand Marketing Academy's Teacher of the Year in 2000. She has also taught within the NSW and ACT TAFE systems and private commercial training suppliers for over five years.

In 2003 Tania was the founding National Marketing Manager for Defence Force Recruiting, whereby she was employed by the largest public/private collaboration in Australia. During her three years with the organisation she managed a large team of marketing specialists as well as members of the military and a budget in excess of $30 million. The Defencejobs.gov site grew to the number one site for young males for a two-year period, due to the application of innovative games, interactive elements and creativity.

The Army Reserve campaign was awarded best internal marketing campaign and best public sector campaign by the Australian Marketing Institute in 2005 and was awarded overall runner-up in best national campaign for the year. In addition to those awards, the online campaigns were also industry recognised. During her three years with Defence Force Recruiting, Tania managed all the military advertising and brands and increased the effectiveness of all recruitment communication.

After moving to Melbourne in 2003, Tania resumed consulting and worked as a strategic marketing consultant for Box Hill Institute of TAFE; a large Victorian residential commercial builder; Property Council of Australia and the Australian Information Industry Association. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, a Graduate Diploma of Marketing and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education, a Certified Practicing Marketer and a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.

Dr. Phil Toner

Senior Research Fellow University of Western Sydney
Centre for Industry and Innovation Studies – College of Business

Dr Phillip Toner is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Industry and Innovation Studies at the University of Western Sydney. Phillip's PhD was on the role of manufacturing industry in economic development. The thesis was published by Macmillan U.K. in 1999 as ?Main Currents in Cumulative Causation: The Dynamics of Growth and Development?. Phillip's major areas of research interests include industrial structure analysis; industry policy; the economics of technical innovation; labour market analysis and comparative national skills formation systems.

Over the last five years Dr Toner has undertaken research on the VET system for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research; NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training; NSW TAFE Commission; Department of Industry Science and Resources; Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business; Australian Industry Group; Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Master Builders Association; BIS-Shrapnel; Dusseldorp Skills Forum; Construction Training Australia; Group Training Australia and the RTBU, AMWU and CFMEU. In 2003 Dr Toner was granted a three year Australian Research Council Linkage grant to examine the sustainability of on-site labour supply for the Australian construction industry. These projects have stimulated significant policy debates. He is a regular media commentator and opinion writer for the Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC radio and ABC 7.30 Report. He has also prepared submissions to, and appeared before, several state and commonwealth government inquiries on industry policy and vocational training.

He has published extensively in Australian and overseas journals including the Cambridge Journal of Economics; Journal of Contemporary Asia; Issues & Studies: A Quarterly Journal on China, Taiwan and East Asia; Journal of Industrial Relations; The Economic and Labour Relations Review; Australian Bulletin of Labour and Labour & Industry.

Dr. Garry McDonald

Manager National Centre for Sustainability

Dr. Garry McDonald is the Manager, National Centre for Sustainability (NCS) at Swinburne University and manages the strategic and business operations of NCS-Swinburne. The NCS is a collaboration of several tertiary institutes aimed at providing educational programs in sustainability through partnership with industry, government and community. Garry is currently focussed on an initiative to embed sustainability into every aspect of Swinburne University operations, most prominently, into the education and training curricula and courses of the University. In his previous recent roles with the Department of Primary Industries, Garry was Research Director, Sustainable Landscape Systems and Institute Director, Rutherglen Research Institute.

Riccardo Brazzale

Managing Director Green Energy Capital

Ric Brazzale is Managing Director and Principal of GEC and has more than 20 years experience in the energy sector.

Over the last ten years Ric has been Executive Director of the BCSE and in this role, Ric was the leading advocate on behalf of the sustainable energy. As part of his role Ric developed a thorough understanding of the business issues affecting the BCSE member companies – covering renewable power generation, solar energy , gas fired generation and energy efficiency.

Ric also participated on numerous industry and government consultative groups covering renewable energy, energy efficiency, emissions trading as and energy market reform.

Prior to joining the BCSE, Ric worked with Westcoast Energy Australia and Fletcher Challenge Energy in developing cogeneration and energy projects in Eastern Australia.

Ric has also worked as Project Manager for the Victorian Gas Industry Reform Unit, Finance Manager for John Holland and prior to that worked for Woodside Petroleum where he held a number of positions including corporate planning, gas marketing and finance.

Susan Wright

R/Manager
Workforce Development, Industry Programs State Training Services
NSW Department of Education and Training

Susan Wright is acting in the position of Manager, Workforce Development in the State Training Services Directorate of the NSW Department of Education and Training. The Workforce Development Unit manages several programs designed to increase the skills of the NSW workforce. In recent years, the Unit has planned and implemented the Green Skills NSW Strategy, which has seen the development of new green skills courses, professional development of VET trainers, partnerships with industry in pilot and demonstration projects, and the delivery of short training courses across many industry sectors.

In collaboration with the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, the Unit is now implementing the new Energy Efficiency Training for Trades and Professionals Program. Susan has professional experience as a teacher and also in the construction industry in architectural drafting, has worked for many years in Commonwealth Government Departments in the area of vocational training, and in her previous role as Manager of VET Research for NSW DET has developed particular interests in sustainability and green skills issues.

John Gertsakis

Senior Sustainability Associate WSP Environmental Pty Ltd

John Gertsakis is a Senior Sustainability Associate with WSP Environment & Energy in Australia. He works across a range of product-oriented environmental areas including product stewardship strategy, design for sustainability and environmental communications.

He consults to a diverse range of clients in commercial furniture, consumer electronics, business imaging, textiles and flooring. John is advisor and ecodesign judge on several boards and committees. He is also the executive officer of Product Stewardship Australia Ltd, an industry association developing national 'producer responsibility' or take-back scheme for end-of-life consumer electronics.

John is a regular contributor on the issue of product sustainability and has lectured and written widely. He was the head of RMIT University’s Centre for Design (2001- 04) where he continues his involvement as a research associate.