Leadership in Transport - Stepping up to the Challenges of Reshaping Mobility to Address Climate, Communities, and Inclusivity
Session Outline
- Session Moderator - April McCabe
- Elizabeth Mildwater, Chief Executive Officer Greater Sydney Commission
- Professor David Hensher, Founding Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies | University of Sydney
- Stephen Hodge, Director - National Advocacy | WeRide
- Tessa Knox-Grant, Executive Director - Planning and Programs | Transport for NSW
Session Moderator - April McCabe
April McCabe
Director, Social Strategy and Engagement | The Planning Studio
April is an experienced urban strategist + social planner with over 20 years experience in Australia, the UK and Ireland for government + private sector. Prior to The Planning Studio, April held senior roles within local government, the private sector and was the Principal Policy Advisor to the Lord Mayor of Sydney, leading a team responsible for advice across the City's broad policy + operational responsibilities as well as advising on a diverse individual portfolio.
April offers an exceptional understanding and strategic approach to the complex social, political, cultural and spatial context of cities. She is able to connect the dots between people, places and policy as the foundation of generous, sustainable, and equitable places. April understands the power of storytelling and experiences as a way to shape cities that can be the physical embodiment of those intangible but critical aspects of community and humanity - how we connect, what we value, who is welcome and how we can each have a voice about the future.
April is also a strong advocate for understanding cities through a gender lens and how this influences the experience within places. She is also a leading voice on gender equity within the planning profession and co-authored the first PIA National Gender Equity Policy in 2021.
Elizabeth Mildwater, Chief Executive Officer | Greater Sydney Commission
Elizabeth Mildwater
Chief Executive Officer | Greater Sydney Commission
MA (University of Melbourne), LLB (Hons) USyd, BE(USyd), Advanced Management Programme (Harvard), Executive Fellows Program; ANZSOG School of Government, Company Directors Course (AICD)
Elizabeth joined the Greater Sydney Commission as Chief Executive Officer on 18 January 2021.
Prior to her appointment, Elizabeth was the Deputy Secretary, Greater Sydney at Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW), where she was responsible for integrating transport modes to deliver customer-centred services and infrastructure for the Sydney metropolitan area.
She'd previously held the positions of Deputy Secretary of Customer Technology and Services and Deputy Secretary of People and Corporate Services at TfNSW.
Elizabeth's earlier executive roles included Director of Australian Programs for Save the Children Australia., leading a diverse workforce of over 500 people across Australia.
She also spent five years at Transurban, as the Victorian Group General Manager with responsibility for the operations of CityLink in Melbourne.
Elizabeth has more than 25 years' management experience across customer services, legal, company secretarial, compliance, risk, management, human resources and general operations.
She holds degrees in Law and Economics, an MA in Contemporary Asian Analysis and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in the USA. She is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Elizabeth is passionate about harnessing stakeholder and employee engagement and new technologies to achieve new levels of service. She serves as a NSW Council member with the Institute of Public Administration.
Professor David Hensher, Founder Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) | University of Sydney
Professor David Hensher
Founder Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) | University of Sydney
Professor David Hensher is Founding Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at The University of Sydney; a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences; recipient of numerous awards including the 2009 International Association of Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR) Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2019 John Shaw Medal which honours an industry champion who has made a lasting contribution to Australia's roads. In 2021 an annual prize was established and named in honour of David for best paper in transport demand modelling at the Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF). He has published over 700 papers in leading international transport and economics journals as well as 18 books.
He has over 62,000 citations of his contributions in Google scholar. Research.com, a leading academic platform for researchers, released the 2022 Edition of the Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the field of Economics and Finance and David is #1 in Australia. In 2020 David's latest book was published a book on MaaS: Hensher, D.A., Mulley, C., Ho, C., Nelson, J., Smith, G. and Wong, Y. (2020) Understanding Mobility as a Service (MaaS) - Past, Present and Future.
Stephen Hodge, Director - National Advocacy WeRide
Stephen Hodge
Director - National Advocacy | WeRide
Stephen Hodge is one of Australia's most respected advocates for bicycle riding and active transport. He has spent the last 15 years committed to making Australia a better place for all Australians who want to ride, but especially our children.
Well connected to all sides of politics thanks to his Parliamentary work, he has taken politicians from all sides of the House riding every sitting week for the last 15 years.
Stephen has been a Ministerial appointment to all federal Cities Reference Groups since 2012 and in 2020, as part of his role with WeRide Australia, he established a federal Parliamentary Friends of Cycling group Co-Chaired by MPs from across the political spectrum.
Tessa Knox-Grant, Executive Director - Planning and Programs | Transport for NSW
Tessa Knox-Grant
Executive Director - Planning and Programs | Transport for NSW
Tessa Knox-Grant is Executive Director Planning and Programs in the Greater Sydney Division at Transport for NSW. Before joining TfNSW, Tessa worked as a Transport Planner in the private sector in NSW, Queensland and internationally. Her role focuses on integrated planning and investment prioritisation across the Greater Sydney portfolio.