Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women

Presenter

Author of the Out of Australia series, Nell Arnold is director of GLADES-GEI Pty Ltd, an Australian company researching global change, challenge, and innovations in communication. She also directs C&C-Global Promotions Inc-USA opening international doors for talented performers from diverse cultures and ages to engage with each other and with professional artists. In 2005 she extended the opportunities to photo-journalists and authors, extending their global reach through her "Cyber Corridors"column and workshops in her retreat in the USA and in Queensland. "The Writers Lair" went global helping several from the "Lair" to start reaching for "Writer Heights".

Nell Arnold began life in Africa. Her autobiography, The Goat Herder - Who Walked With Giants comes out this year, shares the challenges of being a girl-child in a man's world and a young vocal talent that learned to sing by imitating birds and found courage by walking with cheetah, lion and elephants. She was discovered and coached by Lucia Stepanovic of the Paris Opera, then awarded a seven year scholarship as protg to Australia's Marjorie Lawrence, Diva of the Paris Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Nell continued her career on national scholarship for doctoral research in the world's leading Opera School of Music, Indiana University. There she expanded her opera career into artistic development in all aspects of opera production, set/lighting design and promotions.

Fifteen years of dedicated study and work, Nell Arnold was selected to become the first director of USA's Centre for Transnational Studies - assisting artists, authors and philosophers to tour with her and to access international scholarships, tours, workshops, internships in 27 countries. She served as juror and judge for many national and international arts organizations and consulting/director for the State of California in preparing artists, arts organizations, facilities, museums, stadiums, villages, state parts, heritage towns for the 1984 Olympics.

From 1983 continuing she expanded her work with and for artists/writers into 55 countries. In 1992 she came to Australia continuing her work in the arts, Cultural Olympics of 2000 and extended consulting into 76 countries serving as judge, juror and talent scout for major arts organizations. "The arts for some are about lifestyle. For me the arts are about survival. I write 16 hours a day, because I must. I photograph to find focus. I sing for joy and I listen to learn."

Strategic Leadership Advisor

Sarah is one of Australia's most sought after strategic leadership advisors. She is also a mentor, facilitator, speaker, trainer and executive coach with a finely honed ability for spotting maximum leverage points in businesses, people and organisations.

Over the past 20 years Sarah has worked at executive and board levels in many multinational organisations, government departments and small businesses in the areas of:

• Strategic leadership advice and mentoring
• Organisational change and issue resolution
• Effective group dynamics
• Executive coaching.

She has been providing executive coaching services for over 20 years on both personal leadership effectiveness and business influence strategies to Board Directors, CEOs, MD, senior executives and high potential talent. Sarah is also a facilitator of the Mastering the Boardroom course for AICD.

Sarah has extensive experience across all areas of industry, commerce and government. Her client list includes Coca Cola Amatil, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ernst & Young, Macquarie Bank, Network 10, Pearson Education, Phillips Fox Lawyers, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Vodafone, to name a few.

Dispute Resolution Consultant

Rhian Williams is a dispute resolution consultant with 19 years experience in the provision of mediation, facilitation and dispute management design services. She is an Approved Mediation Agency pursuant to the ACT Mediation Act 1997. She worked on the development of the first Australian Competency Standards for Mediators and advised the ACT Government during the development of the ACT Mediation Act 1997.

She has trained mediators for the Australian Taxation Office, Queensland Department of Mines and Energy, Australian Federal Police, the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force, Queensland Department of Aboriginal Policy and Development, South Australian Environment, Resources and Development Court and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement. She currently provides mediation services to a range of organisations and government departments.

Rhian has been working with the Foundation since 2000 on a project aimed at developing the leadership skills of women in rural Australia in facilitating public discussion processes. This project has seen workshops delivered in every Australian state and the ACT. The workshop brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and assists them in identifying the critical principles and practices of effective dialogue processes. In 2009 she delivered a six part teleconference series called "Six Snapshots of effective Communication".

From 2003 to 2006 Rhian was engaged as a Consultant Research Fellow (Mediation Specialist) with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Islander Studies Indigenous Mediation and Facilitation Project.

She is an Honorary Associate with the Macquarie University Department of Human Geography. Since 2007 she has been appointed as a Principal Researcher to the Federal Court of Australia as part of their Indigenous Dispute Management Case Study Project.

Most recently Rhian has been appointed to teach on the Masters of Dispute Resolution at James Cook University in Queensland.