Nicole is a descendant of the Kabi Kabi nation from Mt Bauple, Queensland and the South Sea Islander people from Vanuatu and the Loyalty Islands.

She grew up on the Queensland Aboriginal communities of Bamaga, Kowanyama, Woorabinda and Yarrabah and has worked with students from 91 Indigenous communities across Australia including 190 scholarship students and their families. This entailed supporting Indigenous students and their families and communities around issues of trans and inter-generational trauma, mental health and issues associated with coping with mainstream environments. Nicole initiated and launched a peer support program for student support staff to ensure they received appropriate psychological supervision while working with Indigenous students and their families.

Nicole has participated in multiple research and evaluation projects throughout Australia and is particularly interested in co-design and culturally safe and Indigenous led evaluation. She has facilitated training for community, government, corporate and private sectors in Trauma Informed Practice and Care and Healing.

Nicole’s area of research for her PhD thesis is Indigenous Evaluation, that is, understanding what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples feel is important when evaluating projects that affect their lives.

The Seedling Group conducts research and evaluation and delivers training around Culturally safe, trauma-informed practice and care. Projects The Seedling Group has worked on include in the areas of Domestic and Family Violence, Racism and Discrimination, Education and Training, Child Safety and Mental Health, The Stolen Generations and Suicide Prevention.

Eleanor is a public policy and evaluation professional with over 15 years working with the Victorian public sector. Eleanor leads the Centre for Evaluation and Research Evidence at the Department of Health and Human Services. In this role she leads the department's evaluation and research strategy and is the co-convenor for the Victorian and Australian Public Sector Evaluation Networks.

Eleanor holds a Masters of Public Policy and Management, and has worked in a variety of senior management and executive roles in Government and as a management consultant.

Eleanor is currently redeployed to the Victorian Government’s Covid policy response.

Michael is an independent evaluation consultant based in Minnesota, USA. He is former President of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and author of eight major evaluation books including fourth editions of Utilization-Focused Evaluation and Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods used in over 500 universities worldwide. He has also authored books on Practical Evaluation, Creative Evaluation, and Developmental Evaluation: Applying Systems Thinking and Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use. He co-authored a book on the dynamics of social innovation and transformation with two Canadians entitled Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed. He is recipient of the Myrdal Award for Outstanding Contributions to Useful and Practical Evaluation Practice, the Lazarsfeld Award for Lifelong Contributions to Evaluation Theory, and the 2017 Research on Evaluation Award, all from AEA. He regularly conducts training for The Evaluators’ Institute and the International Program for Development Evaluation Training. His latest books are Principles-Focused Evaluation, Facilitating Evaluation: Principles in Practice, and Blue Marble Evaluation for Global Systems Transformation.

Simon Kuestenmacher is a Co-Founder and Director of The Demographics Group which is headed by Bernard Salt. The group provides specialist advice on demographic, consumer and social trends.

Simon has a Bachelor in Geography from Humboldt University in Berlin and a Master of Urban Geography from Melbourne University; he presents across Australia and overseas on demographic trends, consumer insights and cultural change.

He writes a monthly column in The Australian and is frequently sought out by SkyNews, The Project, newspapers and radio stations across Australia to comment on demographic trends.

In his spare time Simon runs what is by now the world’s largest Twitter account dedicated to maps and data. In four years, he has amassed over 190,000 followers and reaches over 25 million people every month on social media.

Simon ranks as one of the world’s top 10 influencers in data visualisation.

John is the outgoing President of the AES Board. John was elected as President in 2018 and sat as a board member since 2016. With a background in frontline juvenile justice and child protection work before joining the Australian Public Service, John has been internal evaluation practitioner within the Australian Government for 15 years. He is also a Fellow at both The University of Melbourne and Charles Darwin University, reflecting his interests in evaluation theory and praxis, evaluation capability and capacity building, evaluation use and strategic evaluation.

His involvement in the AES evolved from regular attendance at the AES International Evaluation Conference to membership of the AES Canberra Region Committee, AES Board and the aes17 Conference Committee. In addition to President John is currently Chair of the Relationships Committee.

Duncan has done the COVID trifecta: a new puppy, a sourdough habit and 13 fortnights of JobKeeper. He runs Rooftop Social, has a PhD in questionnaire design (how hard can it be?) and used to serve on the AES Board.