Susannah has been instrumental in the development of the new Bush Fire Risk Management Planning model and is currently supporting the model's rollout across NSW. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Macquarie University with Honours. Susannah has been a volunteer with the NSW RFS for 21 years and a staff member for 17 years.    

Tim has had a long held interest in community engagement and has been an active practitioner, trainer and presenter on the subject for almost 20 years. Tim has tertiary qualifications in environmental management, bush fire protection and management.  

As an Organisational Psychologist, Traci has consulted for some of Australia’s leading safety, psychological health and wellbeing organisations.She has published award winning research and delivered numerous presentations on workplace mental health and wellbeing. Traci is passionate about influencing change and championing workplaces within which people are psychologically well, engaged and supported to perform at their optimum.

Anthony Clark has more than 25 years’ experience in media and communications. As a journalist he covered major events including bush fires and in 2008 joined the NSW RFS as part of the media team. Today he is responsible for public communications and has been a key part of the information and warnings effort, and community engagement, during major bush fires across NSW, including the devastating 2019-20 bush fire season. Anthony is also leading the national approach to improving warnings, through his role as Chair of the National Warnings Group.

Leyla’s lived experience as a deaf person has led her to PhD research candidate at The University of Sydney focussing on Deaf Communities and Organisations’ capacities to respond to and support those affected by hazards and disasters.

Lewis Drayton is no stranger to the NSW RFS. He is the third generation of his family to be part of the Pokolbin Brigade where he is currently Deputy Captain. Lewis has enthusiastically promoted Get Ready Weekend in his area with great success. Originally from the Hunter Valley, Lewis has a strong passion and qualifications in marketing and communication.

Leonie is a proud Kamilaroi woman whose family originated from Moree in Western NSW. She comes from a large family of 10 all whom have established strong connections to community. Leonie is a member of the NSW Stolen Generation Committee and an active member of the Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council, Worimi and Awabakal local communities. For more than 20 years has been actively engaged as a volunteer in community sport and recreation as well as with the Clarence Town Brigade.

Inspired by the efforts of volunteer firefighters, combined with her passion for working with the community, Elisabeth joined the Hornsby Heights Brigade where she holds a variety of roles. Elisabeth's experiences on the ground during the 2019/2020 fire season motivated her to rethink traditional approaches to engagement and leverage social media to provide timely, accurate and accessible information to vulnerable and diverse communities, before, during and after operations and incidents. In her day job, Elisabeth is a consultant and has been widely acknowledged for her visual essays of firefighting, From the Fireground.

Mel Gore is Resilience NSW’s Director of New England North-West and Hunter Central Coast. Ms Gore has played a key role in the recent flood and storm clean-up and recovery process, working on the ground with the community to ensure they have the resources and assistance they need to recover and rebuild.

Cameron joined the Killingworth Brigade in the Central Coast Districtin in 2003. He has held a wide variety of volunteers roles, including Deputy Group Captain, before taking a salaried position in 2021. Cameron was employed in the mining and corporate sectors for 20 years and has experience as a Board Director in a manufacturing and services company. Cameron is currently Coordinator Community Engagement in NSW RFS State Headquarters. 

Kyle has a Masters in Organisational Psychology and has worked with firefighters, elite athletes, and religious leaders with the aim of building preventative mental health at an individual, team and organisational level. Kyle is trained in, Trauma-Informed Care, Psychological First Aid and suicide prevention.

Christina is responsible for the design and redevelopment of CFA’s core community education programs and works to continuously improve the way CFA engages with community. 

Tony retired from the NSW RFS Community Engagement Team in 2021, having been responsible for the Service's schools programs, including Project Firestorm. Tony is studying for his PhD at Central Queensland University on the contributions volunteer firefighters make to student learning. Tony is a veteran of NSW RFS with 40 years experience.  

Superintendent Michael Jay has more than 30 years within FRNSW, having filled many roles from Hazardous Materials Capability to international deployments to Washington State fighting wildfires. In his current role Michael is proud of my team's achievements, such as winning both the NSW and Australian Resilient Australia Award for the FRNSW Fire Safety Education Program and the ground breaking work with the Community Engagement Planning System.

Kylie has been NSW RFS volunteer for 17 years and she is casually employed as a training officer at NSW RFS. She is an Adjunct Academic with the University of Newcastle in the School of Architecture and Built Environment as part of their Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development post-graduate program. As an adult educator and trainer Kylie values empowering people to find their own strengths and capacities is key to better adaptability, resilience and recovery. 

Shirley Liu is the Community and Development Officer at Deaf Australia, which is the national peak deaf-led advocacy organisation. Shirley has over ten years of community volunteering work and that includes several years of advocacy for equity in accessibility.  Shirley is currently the President of the World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section, working out of Sydney.

Andy MacDougal joined Scotts Flat Brigade in 2006. He served with the 5th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam in 1969 - 70. Andy later worked throughout Asia and Australia in multinational corporations in the technology, telecoms and finance sectors. 

Dr Stuart Matthews is responsible to developing tools and systems to support fire behaviour predictions, including an ensemble modelling system. Currently he is leading the NSW RFS contribution to the build and implementation of the new Australian Fire Danger Rating System. Before joining the NSW RFS Stuart completed a PhD in Meteorology and worked with the CSIRO Bushfire Dynamics and Applications group.

Melinda McDonald is an operational firefighter and her current focus is on communications in public safety, and whether there is scope to reduce disaster risk, and increase community resilience, through a greater understanding of diverse stakeholders, and more effective engagement and communication.

Miriam supports team leaders and regional officers to maintain volunteer capacity, and development of volunteer capability. Throughout emergency events, Miriam has worked both in the field and in the Red Cross IMT to resource evacuation and recovery centres across the state. Miriam is also a NSW RFS volunteer, joining the Service when she was 16. 

Terry has been a NSW RFS member since 2001, and is currently a Deputy Captain of O’Connell Brigade. Terry has more than 26 years as a Special Education Teacher and School Executive, 10 years as a University Academic and Lecturer and his present job as a full time Teacher/Trainer and Assessor with NSW TAFE Western.  

Melissa has been part of NSW RFS for 18 years and she leads the team supporting the rollout of the Next Generation Bush Fire Risk Management Plans.  Melissa has worked closely with the research community to interpret and implement science to improve our understanding of bush fire risk and community resilience. During the 2019/20 bush fire season Melissa led the Bush Fire Building Impact Assessment team. The team assessed over 40 000 structures between August 2019 and February 2020. 

Phil has over twenty years’ experience working in horticultural and agricultural enterprises. He has also worked extensively with biological pest management and tertiary qualifications in both Mycology and Horticulture. 

Inspector Anthony Picone uses his 20 years of operational experience including primary rescue, swift water rescue, urban search and rescue to inform his work in community engagement. Anthony's current focus is on supporting frontline personnel to understand their communities and tailor prevention programs  for those most at risk.

Boris oversees a range of programs and capability development initiatives with the aim of leading and supporting engagement for safer communities.  Boris has spent ten years at the forefront of designing and implementing executive education programs focused on public value. He holds a PhD in Innovation management and Organisational learning from Deakin University.

Dr Barbara Ryan specialises in natural hazard community engagement for preparation, and disaster response communication.  She is a founder, current chair and fellow of Emergency Media and Public Affairs, a membership organisation for emergency communicators and engagement practitioners, and is a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of Australia.  She is also a volunteer with her local rural fire brigade. 

Barbara has worked in many roles in the education sector including classroom teacher, member of the school executive, and as university lecturer. Her project team at St Ives North Public School developed the STEM unit ‘Project Firestorm’ which has been recognised nationally as an exemplary model to develop an understanding of bush fires and to develop resilience within schools and the wider community. 

Lucy Saaroni is an executive leader responsible for CFA’s Community Preparedness portfolio. Beginning her professional life as a concert cellist in Paris, Lucy’s curiosity and passion for risk reduction led her to spend the next 14 years involved in emergency management planning and operations for natural and man-made disasters in France, Algeria, Samoa, Iraq, Afghanistan and Australia. 

In 2008 Philip joined the United Nations Volunteers program in Germany and was later posted to the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Cambodia. He continued to work in disaster risk reduction within Cambodia before relocating to Australia in 2016. He is experienced in stakeholder engagement in non-government organisations.

Chief Superintendent Heath Stimson has extensive emergency management career spanning 28 years across NSW RFS, NSW SES and Ambulance Service of NSW. Commencing as a volunteer in the Blue Mountains with the Winmalee Brigade in 1994, Heath understands the intrinsic value that volunteers bring to the community. He holds community and people in high regard and has a passion for people-driven leadership at all levels of the organisation. 

Since becoming a high school science teacher in 1979, Kim has had six subsequent significant career changes. Alongside his civilian life, Kim was a member of Army (both Reserve and permanent) for 28 years before retiring in 2000. He is now a casual consultant in risk management. Since 2009 he has been a member of the Colinton Brigade. Kim is presenting on behalf of the Bumbalong Valley Progress Association.

Dr Briony Towers is a sociocultural psychologist who is well-known for collaborating with Australian emergency management agencies on the design, implementation and evaluation of school-based bush fire education programs for over ten years. Her PhD at the University of Tasmania involved an in-depth investigation of children’s knowledge of vulnerability and resilience to bush fire in south-eastern Australia.

Associate Professor Michelle Villeneuve has over 20 years of experience working in regions of conflict and natural hazard disaster. Michelle leads the Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR) research program - bringing together health, community, disability and emergency services sectors to establish cross-sector DIDRR policy and practice.

Kelwyn commenced her service with the NSW RFS in July 2002 and has held a variety of staff and volunteer roles. Remaining active with her local brigade as a Secretary and Community Engagement Officer, Kelwyn’s commitment to the field of Community Risk & Community Engagement is held in highest of regard by her peers and the community.