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Our team and boards

Leadership   Back to Top

Misha Ketchell

Misha Ketchell

Editor

Misha is Editor and Executive Director of The Conversation Australia and New Zealand. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years. He was founding editor of The Big Issue Australia and editor of Crikey, The Reader and The Melbourne Weekly. He has also been a reporter and feature writer at The Age and worked at the ABC where he was a TV producer on Media Watch and The 7:30 Report and an editor on The Drum.

Lisa Watts

Lisa Watts

Chief Executive

Lisa is CEO and Executive Director of The Conversation Media Group and is responsible for funding and operations, and the IT and Product teams who serve the international group. Lisa's career has been in digital publishing, news and technology businesses including a GM role at Fairfax Digital. Lisa has been a Director of Vertical Networks Group and Chair of Midsumma Festival. Lisa is a Deloitte Outstanding 50 LGBTI Leader.

Editorial   Back to Top

Finlay Macdonald

Finlay Macdonald

New Zealand Editor

Finlay Macdonald is an award-winning journalist, editor, publisher and broadcaster with 30 years’ experience in the New Zealand media. He has been editor of current affairs magazine The Listener, a publisher at Penguin Books and HarperCollins, a weekly columnist for the Sunday Star-Times, and has written and presented for television and radio. He joined The Conversation in April 2020 and became the New Zealand Senior Editor in November 2020.

Veronika Meduna

Veronika Meduna

Science, Health + Environment New Zealand Editor

Veronika is an award-winning journalist and author, with two decades of experience in radio, print and digital. Before joining The Conversation in 2017, she produced and hosted a weekly science programme for New Zealand’s public broadcaster RNZ, for which she won several journalism awards, including the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s prize for best documentary. She has also contributed to other broadcasters and publications in New Zealand and internationally, including the NZ Listener, NZ ...

Debrin Foxcroft

Debrin Foxcroft

Deputy New Zealand Editor

Dr Foxcroft has 15 years of experience in journalism, public policy, project management and communications, including at The NZ Herald and Herald on Sunday. She completed her PhD in political science at the University of Waikato, her MA at the University of Missouri, and has also worked at AUT.

Liz Minchin

Liz Minchin

Executive Editor

Liz Minchin is a Walkley award-winning journalist and co-author of 'Screw Light Bulbs': a book explaining bigger-picture climate solutions. She joined The Conversation in 2012 and has been Executive Editor since 2016. Liz works with The Conversation's teams of editors in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Indonesia. She also regularly teaches our online Pitching and Writing Masterclass: https://theconversation.com/au/pitching-and-writing-masterclass Liz previously worked for a decade...

Board of directors   Back to Top

Prof. Mark Scott AO

Prof. Mark Scott AO

Vice Chancellor

Professor Mark Scott AO is chair of The Conversation Media Group board. He is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney and was previously Managing Director of the ABC and Secretary of the NSW Department of Education.

Joseph Skrzynski AO

Joseph Skrzynski AO

Director

Mr Skrzynski is the co-founder of the pioneering CHAMP Funds Management Group which has invested over $5 Billion in private companies in Australia and South-East Asia. His current directorships include the global board of Human Rights Watch, The Observership Program, Philanthropy Australia, and as Chair of the Sky Foundation. Previously he has chaired the Sydney Opera House Trust, SBS TV and Radio, The National Capital Planning Authority, and the Australian Film Television and Radio School.

Lisa Watts

Lisa Watts

Chief Executive

Lisa is CEO and Executive Director of The Conversation Media Group and is responsible for funding and operations, and the IT and Product teams who serve the international group. Lisa's career has been in digital publishing, news and technology businesses including a GM role at Fairfax Digital. Lisa has been a Director of Vertical Networks Group and Chair of Midsumma Festival. Lisa is a Deloitte Outstanding 50 LGBTI Leader.

Richard Leder OAM

Richard Leder OAM

Director

Richard is a partner and Head of Commercial Litigation at Wotton + Kearney, specialising in media law and litigation. He is Chair of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation and was Deputy Chair of the Mt Buller & Mt Stirling Resort Management Board until September 2022. He is a director of the Melbourne Press Club and Australian Friends of Asha for Slums. He is a committee member of the Law Council Media and Communications Committee.

Marianne Broadbent

Marianne Broadbent

Managing Partner

Dr Marianne Broadbent is a Managing Partner at the innovative leadership advisory and executive search firm, Future Leadership. Her career has combined executive roles in the private and education sectors. She was global Senior Vice President (New Product Development) for the technology advisory firm Gartner and her academic appointments include Associate Dean and Professor at Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors,...

Cameron Gough

Cameron Gough

Director

Cameron is a digital leader with over 25 years of experience in a range of sectors through consulting and executive roles at Pet Circle, Envato, Australia Post, ANZ Bank, Accenture and PwC. Cameron has successfully built and run large digital technology teams and in recent years has specialised in digital marketplaces and ecommerce as the founder of Digital iD, an award winning identity platform, and in his current role as Chief Customer Officer at Pet Circle – Australia’s largest online pet ...

Kate Torney

Kate Torney

Director

Kate Torney has extensive experience in the Australian media, cultural and philanthropic sectors, having spent 20 years at the ABC, including six as News Director, six years as Chief Executive of the State Library of Victoria and now as CEO of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation. In October 2021, Kate joined the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation which supports the work of some of the world’s leading cancer researchers.

Misha Ketchell

Misha Ketchell

Editor

Misha is Editor and Executive Director of The Conversation Australia and New Zealand. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years. He was founding editor of The Big Issue Australia and editor of Crikey, The Reader and The Melbourne Weekly. He has also been a reporter and feature writer at The Age and worked at the ABC where he was a TV producer on Media Watch and The 7:30 Report and an editor on The Drum.

Tony Walker

Tony Walker

Vice-Chancellor's Fellow

Tony Walker is a vice chancellor's fellow at La Trobe University. He is a columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a dual Walkley Award winner for commentary, and recipient of the Paul Lyneham Award for Excellence in Press Gallery Journalism. He is a former foreign correspondent for Fairfax and the Financial Times in China, the Middle East and North America. Publications include Arafat:The Biography and The Peter Thomson Five.

Merlin Crossley

Merlin Crossley

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Quality and Professor of Molecular Biology

Merlin Crossley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at UNSW and Professor of Molecular Biology. He has also worked or studied at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Harvard and Sydney. He has been recognized by numerous awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship, the Australian Academy of Science's Gottschalk Medal, and the NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Sciences in 2020.

David Levy

David Levy

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford

David is currently Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, following a decade as its director. His career has spanned broadcasting and academia and he has a particular interest in connecting research, policymaking and wider public debate. He previously worked at the BBC as a reporter, editor and Controller Public Policy

Elizabeth Ritvo

Elizabeth Ritvo

Liz has served as counsel for numerous media organizations and is Of Counsel at Brown Rudnick LLP. She served on the boards of the Media Law Resource Center and the New England First Amendment Coalition, and the Advisory Board of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. She served on the Governing Council of the Boston Bar Association and as president of the Women’s Bar Foundation of Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Didier Pourquery

Didier Pourquery

Président, The Conversation France

Editorial board   Back to Top

Merlin Crossley

Merlin Crossley

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Quality and Professor of Molecular Biology

Merlin Crossley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at UNSW and Professor of Molecular Biology. He has also worked or studied at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, Harvard and Sydney. He has been recognized by numerous awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship, the Australian Academy of Science's Gottschalk Medal, and the NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Sciences in 2020.

Glenn Wightwick

Glenn Wightwick

DVC Innovation & Enterprise

Professor Glenn Wightwick is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Innovation and Enterprise) at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is responsible for UTS’ innovation, entrepreneurship and external engagement strategies. Most recently, Professor Wightwick was Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) where he led UTS’ research portfolio.

Julie Willis

Julie Willis

Professor of Architecture and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning

Professor Julie Willis is Pro Vice Chancellor (Research Capability) at the University of Melbourne. She is a Professor of Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning. She has extensive editorial and editorial board experience, including as editor of the Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture (2012).

Lisa French

Lisa French

Professor & Dean, School of Media and Communication

Professor Lisa French is Dean of The School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, and Professor of Screen and Media. She is internationally recognised for her research on women in Australian Cinema. Her scholarship reflects a career long interest the nation’s screen culture, with a specialist interest in gender. Her books include The Female Gaze in Documentary Film – An International Perspective (2021); Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute (2009); and Womenvisio...

Shamit Saggar

Shamit Saggar

Professor and Director, Public Policy institute

Professor Shamit Saggar is the Director of the University Western Australia Public Policy Institute and Professor of Public Policy. The UWA Public Policy Institute was launched in 2018 as a new way for the University to share its world-class research and expertise with decision makers and community leaders to help shape the future of our society. Professor Saggar has held academic appointments at the universities of Liverpool, Queen Mary London, Sussex, UCLA, Yale and Toronto.

Giselle Byrnes

Giselle Byrnes

Provost

Professor Giselle Byrnes is Provost at Massey University, New Zealand, where she is responsible for leading the research and enterprise and the learning and teaching activities of the University. Reporting directly to the Vice-Chancellor and a member of Massey’s Senior Leadership Team, Giselle is responsible for supporting a high-quality research culture, further developing Massey’s national and international research collaborations and supporting excellence in teaching and academic development.

Annamarie Jagose

Annamarie Jagose

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University Schools

Professor Annamarie Jagose is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University Schools, at the University of Sydney, having previously held positions at the University of Auckland and the University of Melbourne. She is internationally known as a scholar in feminist studies, lesbian/gay studies and queer theory and is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer.

Susan Forde

Susan Forde

Director, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research

Susan Forde is Director of the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, and Professor of Journalism at Griffith University, Brisbane. She has authored or co-authored three books and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters on community and independent forms of media and journalism.

Arthur Christopoulos

Arthur Christopoulos

NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Department of Pharmacology

Arthur Christopoulos is the Professor of Analytical Pharmacology and Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University. Prior to this he was a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC. He is an international leader in novel approaches to drug discovery, a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.