Erik R. Peterson
Partner and Managing Director, Global Business Policy Council, Kearney
Erik brings a background in international and national policy research to the Research Committee. He is Director of A.T. Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council, a strategic advisory service specifically designed for the world’s top CEOs and business-minded thought leaders. He is also a senior adviser at CSIS, the Washington-based bipartisan, non-profit think tank on foreign policy and national security issues, where he’d previously served as Senior Vice President. In 2003, Erik established the CSIS Global Strategy Institute—a “think tank within a think tank”— to assess long-range trends. Before joining CSIS, Peterson was director of research at Kissinger Associates, the international consulting firm chaired by former secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger.
Elyse Sainty
Director of Impact Investing, Social Ventures Australia
Elyse brings decades of experience within the financial services and impact investing to the Research Committee. She leads Social Venture Australia’s (SVA) Social Impact Bond related work. Prior to joining SVA in 2011, Elyse had two decades of experience within the financial services industry. She is a firm believer that the hard yards involved in putting together outcomes-based contracts are worth it, as they force a deeper understanding of the cost of disadvantage, illuminate "what works", and provide a meaningful and clear common purpose. Elyse holds a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University and qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
Sean Slater
Managing Director, Allier Capital
Sean brings over ten years’ experience in corporate finance to the Research Committee. He has provided advice to multinational corporations, private equity clients, family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. Throughout his career, Sean has had a strong focus on middle market transactions having spent six years at Stamford Partners, a London-based consumer-focused, middle market mergers and acquisitions boutique. Prior to his time at Stamford Partners, Sean was with Deloitte’s corporate finance team. Sean holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Applied Finance from Macquarie University, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Steve Spurr
Executive Director, Spurcoe, former CEO of Edelman Australia
Steve brings over 20 years’ experience in strategic consultancy, sense-making and optimising outcomes for commercial and non-profit organisations to the Research Committee. He advises Next25 on its research programs. Steve was previously the CEO of Edelman in Australia leading an award-winning team and being an advocate for improving trust between stakeholders, shareholders, and citizens to improve overall business and government outcomes. Prior to this, Steve lived in the UK where he was COO of Edelman UK and Ireland, leading the day-to-day operations of over 600 staff across three offices. Steve studied economics at the London School of Economics.
Tanya Vaughan
Senior Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational Research
Dr Tanya Vaughan brings a wealth of experience in educational and scientific research to the Research Committee. She has worked in education policy design and implementation and has consulted on international and national leadership projects in education and evaluation. Tanya taught at the senior secondary level in science and coordinated biology. Tanya was the recipient of The Australian Council for Educational Leaders Victoria (ACEL-VIC) Media Award in 2019 and an Honorary Fellow at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (2011-2017). Tanya holds a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Education, professional Certificate in Instructional Leadership, and a Doctor of Philosophy.
Rodger Watson
Course Director of the Master of Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Rodger is an innovator for public good and has worked as a public servant, a strategic human-centred design consultant, bartender, pizza deliverer, emu farmhand, and the leader of an academic research centre. He is now Course Director of the Master of Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation at the UTS Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation. Rodger has a background in Psychology, Criminology, and with his colleagues at the Designing Out Crime Research Centre pioneered the Designing for the Common Good approach to multi-stakeholder collaboration. In recent years, Rodger has contributed to government strategy across topics ranging from domestic and family violence, mental health, built environment, counter-terrorism, night-time economy, waste & circular economy, environmental protection, cybercrime, transport innovation, and digital transformation. Rodger is the author and co-author of a number of publications, including Designing for the common good (2016) and Creative Reboot; Catalysing Creative Intelligence (2022).