Workshops

Sonya Law

Founder
SL Human Resources Consulting

Sonya is the founder of SL Human Resources Consulting, providing human resources support across a diverse range of businesses and industries.  

The company’s vision is “Putting the Human back into Human Resources” driven by a belief that if you take care of your people, they will take care of business.  Follow Sonya Law on LinkedIn  

Her authentic leadership style to Human Resources throughout her career has contributed to creating positive and inclusive workplace cultures; where people feel valued and safe.  This approach has resulted in improved employee engagement.  Sonya has been able to replicate this now with her clients as part of her HR Consultancy in transforming cultures as well as providing practical advice on employee relations matters.  

As the only female at the executive level in the Mining Industry her insights are now shared in a new program in 2024 “Empowered Leadership for Women Program” which covers how to harness your power through personal branding, how to show up authentically, how to operate in a more purpose led way and having more impact. Saying goodbye to ‘Imposter syndrome’ and playing big perhaps where you have felt held back in your career!  Sonya now provides 1:1 leadership coaching to executives who want more impact and less burnout instead feeling more empowered, elevated, and energised. 

Sonya is a talented Recruiter who invests time in finding the right candidate for the job for her clients. Having been a Human Resources Manager she understands how important it is to have the right fit with the culture, not just fill a position. Sonya specialises in Executive Search and General Recruitment.  

Being a well-being is essential to happy and healthy employees! Sonya is passionate about Mental Health in her community and has her Mental Health First Aid Certificate. She actively prom,otes men’s mental health in her community. 

Sonya enjoys running international marathons (New York, Berlin and Chicago) and coaches a local triathlon group in bayside suburbs of Melbourne who compete in 2XU triathlons. 

As chair of the National HR Summit workshops, she hopes that the attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors enjoy the event and leave feeling energised and reinvigorated!   

Ashlea Roach

Founder & Managing Director
People Co.

For almost 20 years now, Ash has been supporting businesses of all shapes and sizes unlock the potential of their greatest resource – their people.  
 
A strategic people and culture executive, Ash has long held a passion for pushing Human Resources in exciting and empowering directions. And she channelled this passion into founding People Co. Managing a progressive people & culture consultancy means Ash can keep partnering with business to make real progress for people – and help shape a better world of work. And when her own work’s done for the day, you’ll find her spending quality time with Benji, her fur baby. 

Ally Jones

Senior Global Expansion Manager
Multiplier

Ally Jones, a seasoned professional in global expansion strategies, currently serves as the driving force behind global expansion at Multiplier. With a rich background encompassing a decade of experience in Singapore, she returned to her roots in Sydney in October 2023.

Her mission: to facilitate international businesses in leveraging Australia’s vast talent pool while empowering local enterprises to thrive in a borderless, interconnected world.

As a strategic leader, Ally’s vision is not just about bridging geographical divides but fostering inclusive work environments that transcend boundaries, enabling companies to tap into global talent seamlessly.

At Multiplier, a pioneering global HR operations platform that facilitates hiring, onboarding, and managing a global workforce in over 160 countries, Ally spearheads initiatives that enable businesses to expand more easily, rapidly, and efficiently than ever before.

Her dedication lies in dismantling barriers to international expansion and empowering organizations to navigate the complexities of global talent acquisition with ease.

With Ally at the helm, Multiplier continues to revolutionize the way businesses operate in an increasingly interconnected global landscape, setting new standards for cross-border collaboration and growth.

Alex Gelman

Partner
Strategy Assist

Alex Gelman is a serial entrepreneur and corporate technology adviser with a passion for social impact.  He inter-twines technology advisory with innovation, governance and organisational change to achieve business outcomes.

In his role as Strategic Technology Advisor at Strategy Assist, Alex advises corporate and social impact enterprises on technology strategy, technology architecture, digital transformation and practical innovation. He operates at a senior level, advising numerous clients in the Health and Ageing, Professional Services, Property, Not for Profit and Government sectors.

Alex has assisted numerous clients strategically define their HCM requirements and select the right systems, then proceeding to oversee the implementation to achieve agreed outcomes.

Alex is regularly called upon to speak on business technology, innovation, and emerging technologies. Using insights from his work, he published Great Choice!, a self-help guide for organisations to strategically purchase technology. In supplementing his corporate and government clientele, Alex enjoys helping Social Impact organisations optimise their business to do more good.

Alex also engages with boards either as a Non-Executive Director or through advisory boards.

Dr Lucas Karayannis

Health Consultant

Lucas has been a Chiropractor for over 38 years, graduating with a double degree in 1986. He initially worked for 2 Chiropractors before starting his own practice in Mascot in 1988 and still there to this day. Lucas has had extensive mentoring and training in Gonstead Chiropractic technique to the point where he is now able to teach the technique worldwide.

He became involved with corporate health care in the early 90’s mainly dealing with manual handling type training. This later became more solution solving and he began caring for employee’s onsite. His work is very much about being pro-active with each individual’s health before any chance of injuries occurring. The onsite work today is also very much about caring for the sedentary workforce.

Over the years Lucas has worked very closely with companies such as Qantas Freight, Pilkington Glass, National Cables, Kimberley Clarke, Grocon Constructions, TNT, as well as A.H Beard. His work at these companies has been highly effective.

He is also married to a Chiropractor, Melissa, and has also had the pleasure of seeing one of his daughters graduate as a Chiropractor.

Ray Good

CEO & Founder
The Good Place

As the founder of The Good Place, Ray is on a mission to create a more mindful world and help fight the global mental health crisis. Ray teaches mental fitness, high performance and mindfulness grounded in neuroscience and positive psychology to help individuals, teams and organisations fight stress, think better and perform at their peak.

Many of Australia’s biggest organisations have relied on Ray’s expertise, including Tourism Australia, the Victorian & A.C.T Governments, RACV, Mercy Health, Macquarie Bank, Torrens University, Tennis Australia, and Nova Entertainment, to name a few.  

Jessica Cody

Director
Inner Rhythm

Jessica founded Inner Rhythm with a desire to share the herd wisdom of horses with collective cultures to create cohesive, psychologically safe environments for people to thrive in.  

With over 15 years in the Education industry, to completing her Master’s degree with Honours in Equine Assisted Therapy in Germany, a public speaker and facilitator, Jess utilises Equine Assisted Coaching, working on improving cultures across a diverse range of sectors including schools, nursing homes, sporting teams and the corporate space. 

Jessica advocates for the belief that to truly thrive we need to embrace our humanity, emphasising the importance of being, rather than merely doing, to truly embody the essence of human connection in any environment. 

“Jessica is a highly intuitive leader whose inner confidence has always had her challenging the status quo and leading life on her terms.” – Augusti Vera, Europe Executive Coach 

Gavin Nelson

Productivity Ninja

Gavin Nelson is a learning and development specialist, professional facilitator and a certified Productivity Ninja practitioner.

In 2020 Gavin formed the microlearning agency Microgo to help organisations create and implement highly engaging training programs easily, quickly, and conveniently via any platform including mobile phones.

Having spent many years of working life leading L&D initiatives in the corporate world,Gavin has first-hand knowledge and experience to understand today’s fast-paced learning environment. Gavin’s passionate about helping people – by understanding what motivates them, their wants, and their needs.

He has experience in multinational, large and small organisations as well as leading sporting organisations. This provides a broad perspective when discussing learning and development, instructional design, stakeholder management and project requirements.

Gavin’s style has been described as “engages well with everyone”, “a great facilitator”, and “super-helpful”. As a presenter and certified facilitator, Gavin receives highly positive participant feedback. Gavin’s passions are productivity, micro learning, his family, and his interests include running as well as kayaking and cycling far and wide.

Birthe Nohrden

CEO & Founder
TeamTalks

Birthe Nohrden is a thought leader in the realm of human connections at work. With expertise as an innovative learning designer, she has become a sought-after speaker and facilitator, specializing in leadership, productivity, workplace wellbeing, and personal development. In 2022, her company TeamTalks Pty Ltd achieved a significant milestone by winning a seat in the prestigious EY Foundry Start Up Accelerator Program. Leveraging a unique combination of technology and human-centered design, Birthe’s company has successfully created an innovative employee experience that fosters connection among hybrid teams. Her proprietary teaming framework is a simple, yet effective way to build psychological safety in teams in a fun and sustainable way.