ODA 25th Anniversary Conference
Event description
Our 25th Anniversary Conference will be a day to gather with colleagues from across Australia and beyond. We’re excited to be joined by great OD thinkers and practitioners including:
Kirk Docker, Interviewer, TV producer & co-creator of You Can’t Ask That
Dr Graham Curtis, Director of Learning and Research, Roffey Park Institute
Megumi Miki, Author and founder of Quietly Powerful
Shawn Callahan, Strategic storyteller and founder of Anecdote International
Kerryn Ellis, Chief Executive Officer, South Gippsland Shire Council
Michelle Jorgenson, Manager People & Culture, South Gippsland Shire Council
Details of the Conference
Date | Friday, 26th July 2024 |
Time | 9 am – 5.15 pm
5.30 pm post-conference drinks and canapes (at a nearby venue to be announced shortly) |
Venue | |
Getting there | Tram: Route 48 and Route 11 (stop D18). This stop is within the ‘Free tram zone’ connecting Southern Cross Station and the city. Train: Southern Cross station is ~500 meters walk to the Hub. Car: There are a limited number of metered parking spaces in the area, primarily along Bourke and Collins streets. There is limited parking at The Dock, so public transport is recommended |
| Program | Program details to be announced shortly |
Ticket Price | Early bird prices available until 8th May ODA full member – $295 early bird ($350 full price) |
Our Presenters
Kirk Docker
Interviewer, TV producer & co-creator of You Can’t Ask That
Kirk Docker is one of Australia’s finest interviewers and storytellers. He is the co-creator and director of the ABC program You Can’t Ask That, now in its 7th season. The show has been awarded Rose d’Or, AACTA and Walkley awards and is the most successful format in ABC history, selling to 17 territories, and broadcast in 9 different languages worldwide.
When it comes to the content he creates, no subject is off-topic. Kirk’s interviewees range from ex-politicians to ice users to sexual assault survivors. He has a deep curiosity, compassion and playfulness that elicits honesty from his participants, many of whom have never sat in front of a camera before. Through thousands of hours of open dialogue, what’s become absolutely clear to Kirk is that every human, no matter what they believe or how high their stature, share a core value: the desire to be understood.
Through his show You Can’t Ask That, Kirk offers a window into the unheard stories of misunderstood and marginalised Australians. Each episode takes a group that lives with a label (Transgender, Suicide Attempt Survivors, Schizophrenia, etc.). Participants are courageous, as Kirk guides them through the often crudely honest questions submitted by the public. The show’s purpose is to help the audience move past the myths and fears associated with those labels and understand who these people truly are.
“It sounds high-risk, and in the wrong hands it could be.”
~David Anderson, Managing Director ABC
In 2009, Kirk landed a spot on the program Hungry Beast (ABC), under the wing of respected producer Andrew Denton. He then went on to create and produce shows Demolitan Man (A&E) and Hello Stranger (ABC). Through his work, Kirk has interviewed thousands of people. His portrayal of these people is geared to reveal the universality of humanity, without apology or sensationalism. Through this experience, he’s honed a range of techniques that allow him to communicate effectively and empathetically with any subject.
Dr Graham Curtis
Director of Operations – Roffey Park Institute
Graham has over 25 years of experience, working in the UK and internationally. He has designed and led the delivery of global leadership and management development programmes in the UK, Nigeria, Kenya and Columbia aimed at supporting and challenging participants to reflect on their practice and their relationships with their teams. He has also led global transformation programmes, supporting organisations to deliver more distributed and diverse governance and leadership.
Graham’s approach to understanding the development needs of leaders and organisations was forged in his early career in operational leadership and management. Having completed his MSc in People and Organisational Development at Roffey Park in 2009 he went on to hold numerous senior roles, leading Organisational Development and Human Resource functions. More recently he completed the Doctor of Management Programme at the University of Hertfordshire, During his doctoral research he took up theories of complex responsive processes of relating to understand the role of the OD practitioner in organisational culture and change. Graham is a master practitioner of NLP and holds certification in several psychometric tools such as MBTI, FIRO-b and Wave.
Graham believes that great leadership is founded on developing our flexibility in response to dynamic and emergent situations through growing our curiosity, and our capability to reflect upon the contexts we find ourselves in and our relationships with those around us.
Megumi Miki
Megumi Miki is an international speaker, author, and consultant in leadership, culture and diversity and inclusion, with an earlier career experience in strategy, economics and finance.
She is best known for her book “Quietly Powerful: How Your Quiet Nature is Your Hidden Leadership Strength,” which challenges conventional assumptions about what it takes to be a successful leader. The book received the Australian Career Book Award for 2020 from RSA Oceania and Best Leadership Book of 2020 from the Australian Business Book Awards.
With clients ranging from multinationals, government agencies to smaller firms and not-for-profits, she supports clients to unleash their hidden talent and collective potential by examining their thinking and beliefs as well as providing practical strategies.
Shawn Callahan
Author and Founder of Anecdote
Shawn Callahan is the author of the award-winning book ‘Putting Stories to Work’ and the Founder of Anecdote, the world’s largest business storytelling enterprise.
He started his career in tech with companies such as Oracle and IBM but realised, at the end of the day, it was the human factors that determined the success of any company.
In 2004 Shawn founded Anecdote, a firm that helps leaders and sellers find and tell compelling business stories.
He works with Global 1,000 companies such as Shell, Danone, Microsoft, TESCO, Allianz and Bayer all around the world.
Kerryn Ellis
Chief Executive Officer of South Gippsland Shire Council
Kerryn Ellis is a passionate public sector leader with over twenty-five years of experience, who is energised by working with communities in a context of rapid change.
Kerryn’s main professional love is building high performing, ethical and agile organisations with values-based leadership working in partnership to deliver great outcomes with the community.
Kerryn’s current role is Chief Executive Officer of South Gippsland Shire Council. Prior to this position, Kerryn held the positions of Director Corporate Services at Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and Director Corporate Performance with the City of Greater Bendigo. Kerryn holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Commerce and a Graduate Diploma of Public Policy and Management. Kerryn is an active board member of several for purpose organisations, and was recognised as one of the IPAA Top 50 Public Sector Women in 2021.
Michelle Jorgenson
Manager People & Culture, South Gippsland Shire Council
With over a decade of experience managing People and Culture functions and embedding a coaching and development culture within organisations, Michelle is known for her strengths in organisational development, team dynamics and her love of developing connected, high-performing teams and organisations. Starting her career in retail and operations, specialising in learning and development, Michelle then took a bold jump across to local government where she has spent close to 15 years developing relationships and expanding her knowledge in coaching, mentoring and leadership.
Michelle has spearheaded numerous initiatives aimed at improving employee engagement, fostering continuous growth & learning and embedding equity, inclusion and belonging within an organisation. Her strategic acumen and humanistic management style has earnt her a reputation as an adaptable, sought-after leader in the sector and beyond.