Jo Evans, Deputy Secretary at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Ms Jo Evans is Deputy Secretary at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. She is responsible for the divisions that work on climate change policy, including our international engagement on climate policies.

Ms Evans has a Masters of Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, a Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Melbourne and a combined bachelor degree in Asian studies and economics (honours) from the Australian National University.

Rob Grant, Head of Projects, Pollination

For 25 years, Rob has been personally and professionally passionate about advocating for and delivering climate change abatement and clean energy policy, regulation, projects investments, businesses and industries. His professional career includes roles as Director Energy at Fortescue Metals Group responsible for the company’s energy and green hydrogen businesses, Chair of the Clean Energy Investor Group, Senior Vice President Clean Power and Vice President Capital for SNC-Lavalin in Asia Pacific and for 18 years until July 2014 helped position Pacific Hydro as Australia’s most successful and dynamic international clean energy utility. Rob holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and has completed an MBA and Master of Applied Finance at Melbourne and Macquarie Universities.

Katie Hulmes, Head of Think & Act Differently, OZ Minerals

Katie has embraced her 20-year mining journey with her heart and both hands. She enjoys challenging the way we have always done things, and believes we will create value by making space to say ‘why not’ and being unafraid to experiment with new ways and get it wrong.

She has a background in engineering and mining with diverse roles as a Field Engineer, Environmental Scientist, Exploration Hydrogeologist, Approvals Manager, Scoping Study Manager, Group Environmental Lead, Project Engineer, Head of Technical Services and her current role as Head of Transformation and the Think & Act Differently Incubator.

Jason Crusan, Vice President New Energy Solutions, Woodside Energy

As Vice President New Energy Solutions at Woodside Energy, Jason Crusan is responsible for deploying technologies that enable successful energy transition. This includes Woodside Energy’s production of hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) leading to low cost, lower emissions energy for customers globally. Jason is responsible for overall system modelling to optimise the production and operations of Woodside’s New Energy solutions, as well as the front end engineering of its hydrogen, ammonia, and CCU facilities. This includes securing competitive locations globally, supporting business development via technical solutions for customers, building its portfolio of pilot plants for technology and capability de-risking, and investments to enable growth.

Ben Gust, Managing Partner, Virescent Ventures

Ben has almost 20 years’ experience in venture capital, including as Managing Director of GBS Venture Partners, one of Australia’s leading life-science venture capital firms, before moving to climate technology venture capital as Executive Director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s $200m Innovation Fund in 2018.

He has invested in and held numerous board roles with Australian and US based companies such as Hatchtech, Spinifex and Ivantis. Ben holds a legal practicing certificate and degrees in Science and Finance. Ben currently leads investments in JET Charge, SunMan, OmniTanker and GreenSync.

David Chuter, Managing Director and CEO, Innovative Manufacturing CRC

David Chuter is CEO and Managing Director at the Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC), based in Melbourne. David is an experienced senior executive with a strong industry record in leading strategic business growth, innovation, operational management and change in the manufacturing sector. He is a passionate advocate for local industry and creating a stronger platform for Australian manufacturing through catalysing transformation and investment in technology, innovation, research and development, talent, collaboration and competitiveness. David has more than thirty years of international design, engineering and manufacturing experience, with much of this gained in the global automotive industry.