Alexandra El-Shamy, President, Hockey NSW

Alexandra El-Shamy is a governance and strategy advisor, board director and chair, and co-founder of AI Career Pro - home of the AI Governance Practitioner Program. For more than 20 years, Alexandra has helped organisations govern themselves better across business, sport and not-for-profit. She has chaired boards, led commercial strategy for Paralympics Australia, served as General Manager of an NDIS disability services provider, the interim CEO of a domestic violence charity and led governance reform for NFPs and sporting bodies from grassroots to national level. Today, Alexandra applies that same lens to AI governance - helping organisation leaders, boards, and executives see the AI already embedded in their operations, understand the risks it carries, and respond from a position of readiness, not catch-up. 

Tim McKibbin, Chief Executive Officer, Real Estate Institute of NSW

Tim McKibbin is a transformative leader in Australia’s real estate industry. As CEO of REINSW, Tim has elevated the Institute’s profile and influence through clear, insightful commentary and impactful advocacy with all levels of government - including on critical regulatory reforms such as AML/CTF compliance. Under his leadership, REINSW has become a thought leader, advancing professional standards and embracing innovation, including appointing Alice Ing, Australia’s first AI Board Advisor. This reflects Tim’s vision for leveraging technology to future-proof the industry - ensuring real estate professionals are equipped not just for market changes, but for evolving compliance obligations. Tim’s unique journey - from his early days as an electrician in Broken Hill to a career spanning law and accountancy - shapes his pragmatic, no-nonsense approach. Known for his passion and authenticity, Tim is committed to enhancing the real estate profession, equipping agents to meet evolving market and regulatory demands (including AML/CTF obligations), and setting a benchmark for industry excellence. 

Anne Cornish, Chief Executive Officer, Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance Global

Anne Cornish, CSRIM, CRIM,(Life) is the Chief Executive Officer of RIMPA Global and an internationally respected leader in records and information management. With more than 40 years of practitioner experience across government, private industry, health, and not-for-profit sectors, Anne brings a rare combination of practical expertise and strategic vision to her leadership role. Her extensive hands-on background enables her to understand the real-world challenges facing practitioners and to advocate effectively for the profession at both national and global levels. Anne contributes to international standards work, advises on emerging trends in information management, and collaborates with global partners to strengthen professional capability and recognition. A sought-after speaker, she presents widely on topics including AI governance, information integrity, digital transformation, and the future skills required for the evolving information landscape. Anne is deeply committed to elevating the value of information professionals and empowering the next generation of leaders in the IM community.

Tim Boyle, Chief Executive Officer, ARCS Australia

Dr Tim Boyle ChMPP is the Chief Executive Officer of ARCS Australia, the national peak body for life sciences professionals advancing innovation in healthcare. With more than 20 years’ experience spanning research, commercialisation, regulation, and professional education, Tim brings a system-level perspective to how knowledge is created, shared, and applied across complex sectors. As CEO, Tim leads ARCS’ national agenda on workforce capability, professional standards, and sector-wide collaboration, while overseeing a large and growing portfolio of conferences, summits, education programs, and digital content platforms. He has a strong interest in the practical application of artificial intelligence to enhance event marketing, learning design, and post-event knowledge capture, while maintaining quality, creativity, and human judgement.

Shenal Basnayake, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Australian Chemical Institute

Shenal Basnayake is the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI), the peak body for the chemical sciences in Australia. With over 20 years’ experience at senior executive level across government, industry, and the not‑for‑profit sector, Shenal brings a governance‑led, outcomes‑driven approach to association leadership in an era of accelerating technological change. At RACI, he has led the practical integration of AI and digital technologies across multiple facets of the organisation’s operations, embedding technology to improve productivity, performance, and decision‑making. Under his leadership, RACI has grown its membership, expanded its national and global reach, with program engagement now spanning more than 30 countries. Shenal works closely with Boards and executive teams to navigate governance, emerging risk, compliance, and reputation, while enabling responsible innovation. He advocates for AI as a mission‑aligned tool that, when governed well, strengthens trust, enhances decision‑making, and ensures associations remain relevant, resilient, and impactful in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Tony Gleeson, Associations Advisor, Associations Forum

Tony Gleeson MBA GAICD is Associations Advisor at Associations Forum. He has over 30 years of experience in the fields of association management and governance, leadership, project and change management, organisational integration and talent development.Tony has been Chief Executive of Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air-conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) and the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), and was an Executive General Manager with CPA Australia. Prior to his roles with membership associations, he held senior consulting roles in strategy, process re-engineering and change management with PwC, Deloitte and Terra Firma Consulting.Tony is an innovative and energetic leader, skilled communicator / team builder, and adept negotiator. He has significant experience in providing support and guidance to CEOs and boards in areas of governance, strategic planning, change management and more.

Angelina Pillai, Chief Executive Officer, Association of Consulting Architects

Angelina Pillai is a senior association leader with extensive experience guiding professional membership organisations through periods of change, growth and innovation. She specialises in strategy, advocacy and organisational culture, with a strong focus on how associations remain relevant and resilient in rapidly evolving professional environments. Across her career, Angelina has worked with professional communities spanning healthcare, human resources, procurement, supply chain and architecture, partnering closely with boards, industry leaders and government to strengthen the role of professional bodies as trusted voices for their sectors. Through this cross-sector experience, she has developed a strong interest in how emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, can transform how associations capture knowledge, engage members and deliver scalable services. Angelina is passionate about helping organisations move from experimentation with AI to practical, ethical and strategically valuable adoption.

Higher Logic

Higher Logic is revolutionising engagement. We combine AI with human insight to help organisations build lasting relationships through personalised experiences. Our software connects community, marketing, learning, and events on a centralised data foundation that adapts with every interaction, enabling smarter, more relevant engagement and lasting loyalty. 

Agend

Australian associations run lean. Agend's AI helps small teams punch above their weight - spotting at-risk members, personalising interactions, and automating work that shouldn't need a human. Australian-made, modular, and built for the long run alongside the associations we serve. Practical AI for real associations, not a feature on a slide.

Survey Matters

Survey Matters partners with associations to produce profession-specific data to inform advocacy, workforce planning and professional standards. Our AI Skills Readiness Index has been built specifically to help professional and industry associations assess members’ AI proficiency and identify skills gaps, to allow you to measure, benchmark, and build AI capability in their membership.