Our Team

Rob has worked for many years in theatre and cinema management in the UK and in Australia. An enthusiastic, if not accurate, singer in the Gay & Lesbian Singers of WA, Rob loves the enormous diversity of people he has the privilege to meet as a Curator for TEDxPerth. Coming from a family of toymakers and living in Fremantle, ask him about laying limestone blocks, Meccano and how to make industrial quantities of popcorn.

Steve Browne is a Perth based illustrator, painter and film-maker who focuses on mural installation, story boards for film and commercials and commission work, as a full time career. In his previous work, Steve has often dealt with themes such as facing fear, fear of the unknown and time. He also works with young people and young people at risk, running art and film workshops to inspire change and highlight the ability to make positive choices through self expression.

Steve has worked in multiple countries across South East Asia, including Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as nationally in his home country Australia, painting walls and making film.

Katie is an experiential marketer with 14 years experience. Currently employed as Events and Sponsorship Manager at Synergy, Katie manages a program of strategic partnerships, customer experiences and brand activations. Previously, Katie delivered the City of Mandurah’s major events program and worked as a Corporate Events Manager in the UK for five years.

She has won several awards including a Tourism Council Gold Award for best Major Event & Festival, a Gold Skull from the Perth Advertising & Design Council for best Digital Installation and Best Experiential Campaign at the PR Institute of Australia. Katie has a Bachelor of Commerce (majoring Marketing, Management), an MBA (majoring in Innovation and Entrepreneurship) and is qualified in CX, Prince2 and Agile Product Ownership.

Katie has volunteered as the Production Director for TEDxPerth since May 2018.

Financial planner by day, food enthusiast by night. Kabir works in his own financial planning busines, is highly active in volunteer roles and is known to organise food events. Kabir is ecstatic to be apart of the TEDxPerth team.

With over 8 years within the Event Industry, Leah is an event professional holding extensive end-to-end event management experience covering a multitude of events ranging in size from 120 to 120,000 people.

Leah’s unique skillset, attention to detail, customer centric attitude and passion for her projects has seen her deliver award winning events and execute record-breaking national and international stadium events as apart of the inaugural Optus Stadium Team.

Leah works as a Producer for George P. Johnson, thinking big, shifting perception and bringing brand to life delivering experiences for our high profile clients.

As an active member of the event industry, Leah believes in giving back to the community and industry through volunteering, sponsorship and creating standards of excellence and raising the bar of professionalism.

Leah has been a volunteer at TEDxPerth since 2018.

As a professional geospatial analyst, Samantha is passionate about why things are where they are and where they should be. Sam has studied and worked across Australia and has recently moved to Perth for a new role. Whilst pursuing her love of all things geospatial, Sam is a representative for her workplace community group and enjoys donating her time and energy to community based events. Sam believes sparking conversation is the start of change, and cannot wait to contribute to ideas worth spreading at TEDxPerth.
 
Samantha is excited to be a part of the TEDxPerth team for the first time in 2019.

Benjamin studied lighting design at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, during which he worked with the Australian Ballet on the Royal Birmingham production of the Nutcracker.

After graduation Benjamin worked as a freelance engineer working with a variety of different arts organisations around Australia, including ballet, opera, rock and roll, and dance.

In 2009 he moved to Mauritius to be Lighting Designer and Consultant for theatre, dance, corporate and Presidential events. His work involved large scale dance concerts, corporate entities, such as HSBC, Air Mauritius, The Shaolin Monks and events for the President and Prime Minister.

Returning to Australia in 2010, Benjamin became Head of Lighting at West Australian Ballet, working with the company for two years and including a lot of regional touring. Subsequently he moved to London to work with White Light, the leading production supplier of lighting and AV services to the entertainment and corporate event industries.

Returning to Perth, Benjamin established his own company What Noiz, specialising in design, installation and production management for corporate events and theatre. He has been Lighting Designer for the West Australian Ballet and offered technical solutions for a large range of companies, including Toyota and the Perth Arena, in space activation and live streaming events such as the UFC Romero and Rockhold Fight at The Perth Arena.

After graduating from her master’s in marketing, communication and the media, Olivia's passion for the Seventh Art quickly led her to work on the production of many short films, features and TV commercials in Paris.

With over 10 years' experience as a casting director both in France and Australia, Olivia has recently been dedicating her time and energy to support community-based and not-for-profit projects, campaigns and events, big or small, for local and international organisations, while raising her two children.

Olivia is passionate about bringing people, talents and aspirations together and feels privileged to have met unique emerging artists and inspirational leaders through her eclectic experience in Perth.



She is thrilled to be joining the TEDxPerth Production Team this year.

Russell was born and raised in Zimbabwe and moved to Perth six years ago. He loves Perth and recently graduated from Curtin University with a double degree in Mechanical Engineering and Management.

Throughout his time at Curtin, Russell volunteered in a variety of roles and had the privilege of leading teams and working on-campus. He has taken part in programs and initiatives such as the John Curtin Leadership Academy (JCLA), orientation week and student experience videos, as well as John Curtin Weekend (JCW) and Remote and Indigenous (R&I) volunteering trips. More recently, he has been involved in leading some Red Frog events. All of these people-focused roles have allowed him to meet people from very diverse backgrounds, cultures and religions, which Russell absolutely loves.

He loves people and has learnt to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders. He believes that everyone has a story and that that story is worthy of being heard. His first (and lesser known) name is Zvikomborero, which means 'blessings' in his native language of Shona, and he strives to be a blessing to those around him. He wants to see the world become a better place for everyone and believes in loving those around us, including those amongst us that happen to be on the margins.

Russell is passionate about leadership and helping others, and loves initiatives that help to solve some of the world's problems. As he kicks off his career, he is keen to develop and grow in all facets. As a fan of TED and TEDx events from across the world, as well as having attended previous TEDxPerth events, he is very excited to be a part of the TEDxPerth team and community.

Capucine has over 20 years marketing manager, communication and event experience across various sectors and internationally.

Capucine arrived in Perth in 2013. Wanting to contribute more, she is also working for other not-profit-institutions, such as Australian Red Cross as Vice President of the Bindaring Unit.

This position is currently vacant. For more information, please contact Leah O'Brien: leah@tedxperth.org.

Chris is an experienced Talent Acquisition leader with local and international experience across oil & gas, banking, finance, digital and technology markets.

He has provided advice at executive board level in multinational organisations, as well as worked with ASX top 10 listed companies. His experience is supplemented by acting in a consultant/advisory roles on two international office start-ups and a passion for continuous improvement and process automation.

In his spare time, Chris can be found coaching Auskicks, playing amateur soccer and being a father to his two sons and his daughter.

He is enthusiastic and passionate about bringing all he can to bring value to the TEDxPerth community.

Jiaranai is an IT student at the University of Western Australia who shines brightest when using her skills to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical problems. IT has become part of everything in the world she knows, Jia understands that knowledge from various domains is interconnected and even greater when combined. However, Jia's background was all about people, not machines, she was involved in a personal development project, helping the young generation in her community realise their potential. With this project, she was nominated for the Western Australia Young Leadership Award in 2018.

Her love for Perth has grown tremendously since moving here in 2016. Jia has joined TEDxPerth to support Perth’s brightest minds to spread their ideas that can potentially transform the world.

Loren has been a management consultant at EY for over six years, focusing on helping clients to improve their processes and risk management. Loren has a particular interest in helping businesses implement new ways of doing things and supporting not-for-profit organisations to improve their governance. Originally from New Zealand, Loren loves to explore the WA wine regions and bush.

Andy consults in leadership and communications. Helping clients to find their own talent and growing confidence by tapping into inner resources.  Andy has changed the way researchers communicate, emerging and established leaders find their voice and develop their leadership through clear communications. He is thrilled to be part of the TEDx Perth team.

Charlie Gunningham sits on various advisory boards and is active among Perth’s tech startup sector. His full-time role is with the federal government’s Accelerating Commercialisation programme providing access to commercial advice and matching grants of up to $1 million for eligible projects. Having landed in Perth in 1997, Charlie topped the MBA at the UWA Business School, cofounded and then later sold aussiehome.com, ran reiwa.com and was CEO of Business News.

Michael Tucak is Principal Lawyer at creative legal, a specialist legal firm for WA's creative industries. He is a board member of pvi collective and the Chamber of Arts and Culture (WA), and a previous board member/chair at RTRFM 92.1, board member/secretary of Emerging Writer's Festival and board member at Artrage (Fringeworld).

Michael is passionate about developing the creative capacity of Western Australia and championing the benefits that flow from our own creative abilities. He has lectured in Arts Law at WAAPA and in Fashion Law and occasionally presents RTRM 92.1's 'Siamese Dream' show. He was recently elected as a local Councillor.