Speakers

Team Rubicon Australia unites the skills and experience of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency teams in the wake of natural disasters across the globe.

David Petersen was born and raised in Melbourne. He joined the Australian Regular Army in 2006 and graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon as a Lieutenant in 2007.

Over the next 11 years, David held a variety of postings in the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery in all three streams - Air Defence, Surveillance Target Acquisition and Field Artillery.

David was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 for 9 months as the Battery Captain of Counter – Rocket, Artillery & Mortar 3.

In 2017 David was medically discharged as a direct result of his operational service in Afghanistan.

Prior to his discharge from the Army, David completed the Clay Hunt Fellowship Program in the United States.

David is actively involved in the leadership of Team Rubicon Australia as part of the Melbourne Disaster Response Team.

Since 2018, David has been the President of the Camberwell City RSL.

Employed by beyondblue as a Project Manager for a new and innovative suicide prevention program for veterans. David is able to combine his leadership, management and project management skills with his passion for serving communities in need.

Jackie established the Kianh Foundation Day Centre for children with disabilities in Vietnam 10 years ago.

She continues to be the key person at the Kianh Centre, which provides a diverse education program to over 100 disabled children and support for their families.

In December 2018, she was at Buckingham Palace to be presented with the MBE by the Duke of Cambridge for her work in Vietnam.

 

Bernadette is Interim CEO of Road Trauma Support Services. She has had more than 30 years’ experience working with families in a variety of settings with a focus on grief and trauma. She is passionate about offering quality programs and services that are relevant, accessible and responsive to the needs of the community they serve. 

Ardoch Youth Foundation is a children’s education charity focused on improving educational outcomes for children and young people in disadvantaged communities.

They partner with schools and early years services to deliver tailored education support programs that aim to increase engagement in education, build aspirations, enhance learning outcomes and increase the confidence of children and young people living in disadvantaged communities. They mobilise community and workplace volunteers to support schools and early childhood services. They also advocate for and seek to influence policy change to reduce inequity in education. 

Connie is a Volunteer Program Coordinator with Ardoch.

Justin is the CEO at Avalon Airport. In his six years in that role, he has overseen a major transformation of the facility. Thanks to Justin's management, JetStar now conduct regular flights to and from Avalon and, in recent times, AirAsia has become the first international carrier at the airport to carry passengers to and from Kuala Lumpur.