From the CEO
What a remarkable end to the year! Thank you to the 1,300 members and friends who completed the Advance Annual Survey of Global Australians. The survey revealed many new and valuable insights and we will share the results with you soon.
We held our first in-person roundtable in Sydney with the Hon. Nick Greiner AC and delivered our final Advance Connect Global Digital Roundtable for 2020 with Peter Varghese AO.
Our congratulations go to Advance Ambassador Carol Schwartz AO, who has been recognised as 2020’s Leading Philanthropist –Australia’s highest philanthropic honour. We bid farewell to Michael Cannon-Brookes after eight years of service to the Advance.org Board. He is not lost to us though, as Michael has accepted a role as Ambassador Emeritus in Australia. We welcomed two outstanding leaders to the Board and a new Advance Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
This is my last update as CEO of Advance.org, an organisation I have been privileged to lead through transformation. I am delighted to be handing the leadership of Advance.org to the impressive Johanna Pitman. I offer Chair, Yasmin Allen, the Board of Advance.org, and the wider community of volunteers, my sincere thanks for their generous support and encouragement. Until we meet again! Maria MacNamara
A GLOBAL OUTLOOK
Esteemed advisor in foreign policy and international security, Peter Varghese AO, drew on his distinguished career in public administration, diplomacy and intelligence, to share insights at a very special and final Advance Connect roundtable discussion for 2020. More
NEW BOARD MEMBERS
We are delighted to announce the appointment of retail and logistics leader Richard Umbers and mobile technology entrepreneur Warrick Cramer to the Advance.org Board, bringing globally recognised expertise and networks in digital transformation to the organisation. More
INTO A CHANGING WORLD
Former NSW Premier and respected leader of business, sporting and cultural organisations, the Hon. Nick Greiner AC, discusses his priorities as Australia’s incoming Consul-General to New York with global Australian leaders in Sydney. More
500 BILLION TREES
The World Economic Forum celebrates the work of Advance Emerging Talent Award Winner 2020, Dr Susan Graham. This is an excellent explainer of how the company she leads, Dendra Systems, will plant 500 billion trees by 2060 using AI and drones. More
UAE-ISRAEL PEACE ACCORD
Our newest Advance.org Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates, Adam Malouf, shares an update on a historic development which recently took place in the UAE –the peace accord signed with Israel. More
THE PM IN JAPAN
Donna Weeks, Professor of Political Science at Musashino University, examines the opportunities resulting from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s trip to Japan and his talks with the new Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga. More
DATA FUELLING DECISIONS
Advance.org CEO Maria MacNamara speaks with the Hon. Victor Dominello MP, Minister for Customer Services, on the remarkable transformation he is driving within the NSW Government. The conversation covers a range of issues from cyber security to data driven decision making. More
Finally
- VALE > We lost a giant of global banking and the arts, Sir James David Wolfensohn, KBE, AO on November 25, 2020.
- WELCOME > Jan Adams AO PSM arrives as Australia’s next Ambassador to Japan
- ENTREPRENEURS > Antler VC’s Partner Anthony Millet and Director Adele Moynihan share opportunities for Global Australians who have a problem (or two) they want to launch a company to solve on their return to Australia
- QUOTED > “The Trans Pacific Partnership without the US is like Hamlet without the Prince” – the Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States in conversation with A. B. Culvahouse Jr. United States Ambassador to Australia, hosted by the USSC.