Chloë Spackman
CEO
Chloë is Next25’s inaugural CEO.
Prior to taking on this role, Chloë was Director of Programs and Engagement for six years, managing the programs team and overseeing our “think” (research) and “do” (initiatives) work. During this period, she led the development of Next25 Leadership, Improving Democracy: Transforming Parliament for Women and 21st Century Service (a suite of training courses specialising in building culture and capability within the public service).
Chloë brings over a decade of experience in program design, delivery, communications, and evaluation in the international and higher education and not-for-profit sectors, focusing on leadership and global citizenship, innovation, and social impact.
Chloë is the Board President of an Australia-based international charity and an accredited facilitator of Corporate Evolution’s Illuminate: Facilitating Deep Transformation program.
She previously managed a tertiary leadership program that was awarded a prestigious international award for Innovation and Best Practice in Internationalising the Campus.
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Paula Steyer
Director of Finance
Paula manages the day-to-day financial, regulatory and reporting requirements of Next25.
A member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand, she brings almost a decade’s experience in finance and company secretarial roles in the not-for-profit sector.
Prior to moving into the not-for-profit sector, Paula worked in the public practice sector, and held senior taxation, finance and human resources positions at HSBC Bank.
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Charlotte Mortlock
Senior Engagement Lead
Charlotte leads Next25’s strategic engagement with politicians, supporting them to lead with their values and transform their system.
Charlotte is a broadcast journalist with 12 years’ experience, working in New York, Sydney, and rural Australia. In 2021, she moved into politics as an advisor and, in the same year, established The Clock, a podcast celebrating all the different paths women take in their 30s. During her time as an advisor, Charlotte combined her passions for politics and advocacy for women, launching Hilma’s Network, an organisation aimed at getting women to join the Liberal Party.
She is most passionate about democracy, social unity, freedom of speech, and women.
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Joanna Lamb
Program Manager
Joanna manages Next25’s programs, including our parliamentary leadership initiatives: Next25 Leadership and Improving Democracy: Transforming Parliament for Women.
Joanna has a multidisciplinary background in project and program development, strategy and management in a wide variety of contexts across the government, non-profit and private sectors, with a focus on capacity-building, education and the environment. She has managed innovative capacity-building projects across the former Soviet Union, Australia and the Pacific, researched and developed water and environmental policy in Europe and Australia, and has spent the past six years developing and managing strategic projects at the University of Sydney.
Joanna is also the Director and Co-founder of EnQueer - Sydney Queer Writers’ Festival.
Laura McLauchlan
Research Fellow and Project Manager
Laura works jointly with Next25 and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to manage our collaboration on Constructive Discussion, conducting research to understand the challenge, and creating, testing and implementing interventions to improve the way we talk about complex and contested issues.
Laura is an anthropologist with expertise in the biocultural influences on how and when we come to connect with and care about other people or species across lines of difference. An ethnographer with specialisations in more-than-human and iterative-evaluative approaches, her work employs a broad range of research and dissemination tools, including illustration and participatory events, with the aim of having real-world impact and working towards a less polarised, more generative future.
Her first book, Hedgehogs, Killing and Kindness: The Contradictions of Care in Conservation Practice was published in May 2024 by MIT Press.
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Amy Crichton-Peterson
Program Officer
Amy supports the delivery of Next25’s programs, communications and operations.
She brings to Next25 a passion for connecting with people and exploring ideas to catalyse sustainable and systemic changes in society.
Having studied global history and literature and an interdisciplinary approach to understanding power and identity, Amy’s previous work focused on motivating and mobilising individuals and organisations to address human rights and social impact. These initiatives included tackling root causes of injustice and violence, empowering businesses to embed ethical practices, and promoting women’s rights.
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Ralph Ashton
Senior Facilitator and Coach
Ralph founded Next25 (then Australian Futures Project) in 2011 to maximise and share Australia’s success across current and future generations.Since passing on the leadership baton to Next25’s inaugural CEO, Chloë Spackman in 2023, he continues to sit on the Next25 Board and facilitates Next25 Leadership.
Ralph has a strong track record of conceiving and building non-partisan initiatives to create systems change. His experience spans corporate law, investment banking, consulting, academia, NGOs, and think tanks. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator, and a trusted strategic advisor — working with businesses, governments, State Cabinet, the public service, politicians, the media, universities, NGOs, and philanthropists.
In previous roles, Ralph has partnered with the World Bank, United Nations, international aid agencies, and the World Economic Forum. He has held visiting positions at Columbia University, La Trobe University, and the Australian National University.
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Blogs from Ralph.
Angie Bradbury
Senior Advisor Communications
Angie has built Next25’s communications strategy and plan and continues to advise on their implementation. She is a highly respected and sought-after marketing strategist with two decades working with leading brands.
Angie was the Founder and Managing Director of several leading marketing and communications agencies and is now an independent consultant and Chair of Wine Victoria. Angie was the 2019 Women of Inspiration for the Australian Women in Wine Awards, played a lead role in the development of the Diversity and Equality in Wine Charter and is a regular guest speaker, keynote presenter and agitator on issues across the sector.
Angie consults on a broad range of business challenges, including the development of marketing, communications and brand strategies, issues management, crisis communications and stakeholder engagement.
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Dr Renu Burr
Senior Facilitator and Coach
Renu facilitates Improving Democracy: Transforming Parliament for Women.
She is Senior Consultant at Corporate Evolution, and Director of Burr Consulting, her own consulting practice. Inspiring unimagined possibilities through leadership development, organisational and personal transformation has been at the core of Renu’s 35 years of business, leadership and academic experience.
Renu holds a doctorate in Human Resource Management. She was a faculty member at the University of Western Australia’s Business School, Centre for Social Impact and ELIAS Tri-sector leadership program; the IDEAS Asia-Pacific Leadership Program, offered in partnership with United in Diversity (Indonesia); MIT’s Sloan School of Management’s Global Executive Development Program; and the Presencing Institute.
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Lisa Doig
Senior Facilitator
Lisa facilitates Improving Democracy: Transforming Parliament for Women.
She is the Founder of Corporate Evolution, a leading leadership and culture change consultancy with over 20 years experience in supporting senior executives to transform their leadership and lead culture change within their organisations. Her experience is primarily in the financial services, oil and gas, mineral resources, professional services, retail sectors and NGO sectors in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and US.
Lisa’s passion is in linking strategy to leadership and culture, with the transformation ignition point around connecting with our own values and purpose. In addition to facilitating senior teams, she has developed a globally renowned “Facilitator of Transformation” accreditation program with over 250 graduates globally bringing this work to the world.
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Malcolm Doig
Senior Facilitator and Coach
Malcolm facilitates Next25 Leadership.
As Founding Director of Corporate Evolution, he is dedicated to helping leaders transform their worlds through the creation of high-performance team leadership and organisational transformation.
Malcolm has 23 years’ experience managing high-performance teams, and has been coaching senior executives in leading organisations in Australia, Asia and Europe for the past 14 years. He is part of a leading global management consultancy’s international network.
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