KEYNOTE SPEAKERS (CONT)
Feng Min Kan Head of Disaster Risk Reduction Asia Pacific United Nations
Dr Rowan Douglas Chief Executive Officer Capital Science and Policy Practice Willis Group (UK)
Group Captain Catherine McGregor AM Royal Australian Air Force
Trefor Munn-Venn Chief Executive Officer Rhapsody Strategies (Canada)
Feng Min Kan (Ph.D) is the Head of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Asia-Pacific office. Prior to assuming the current post based in Bangkok, she served in the capacities of a Special Advisor to the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva; the Head of Advocacy and Outreach Unit and as the Head of Africa Regional Office of the UNISDR secretariat.
Dr Rowan Douglas is CEO Capital, Science & Policy Practice at Willis Group and Chairman of the Willis Research Network. Willis is a global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker of approximately 20,000 personnel operating in around 100 countries. Previously Dr Douglas served on the board of Willis Re as CEO Global Analytics. He also sits on the Executive Committee of the International Insurance Society, New York.
Group Captain Catherine McGregor is currently serving as the speechwriter and strategic adviser to the Chief of the Air Force. She entered the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1974 and graduated to the Royal Australian Infantry.
Trefor Munn-Venn is the Chief Executive Officer of Rhapsody Strategies, a management consulting group who focus on business coaching, organisational transformation and digital marketing.
Before joining UNISDR in 2002, she represented the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as the first Regional Disaster Response Advisor in Asia based in Kobe, Japan. During her role there she set up OCHA’s regional office and advanced OCHA’s partnership and networks with national governments, regional organisations and NGOs in Asia.
Dr Douglas is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science & Technology in the UK and of the Royal Society’s Working Group on Resilience to Extreme Weather. He has held appointments for the World Bank and UN, chairing the private sector input for the renewal of the UN Hyogo Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 and serving as Patron of the World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery Understanding Risk Conference, London 2014.
She has worked for a number of international organisations in different capacities, with progressive management responsibilities within the UN system, including OCHA, United Nations Office for Project Services, United Nations Development Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration.
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Dr Douglas read geography at Durham (BA) and Bristol (MPhil) universities before entering Lloyd’s as a reinsurance underwriter in 1992. He founded the risk information company WIRE Limited in 1994 which he sold to Willis Group in 2000. In 2014 he received the Kenneth R Black Distinguished Service Award from the International Insurance Society.
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Over a career in the Australian Regular Army spanning 40 years, she has held a wide variety of regimental and staff appointments. She deployed on operations on three occasions including as the Commanding Officer of the Australian Army Training Team in Timor Leste and is a Tetum linguist. Group Captain McGregor was awarded the Order of Australia on 26 January 2012 for her exceptional service to The Australian Army. She has served continuously as speechwriter to every Chief of the Army since 2000. She is a published author and has written on politics and cricket for The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, and The Age. Group Captain McGregor is the Prime Minister’s delegate to the National Selection Panel for selection of The Prime Minister’s XI and is also the Head of Australian Services Women’s cricket. She is still active as a player and coach and was part of the ABC Grandstand team for the summer.
Trefor has worked with senior leaders around the world to help them use technology to accomplish their business goals. He has a diverse background— strategy, technology, sociology—and experience leading major initiatives that challenge norms. This has led to him working with some of the most innovative and challenging organisations in the world. Trefor’s specialties include social media, strategy, public speaking, writing and communications planning. Previously, Trefor held the position of Director, National Security & Public Safety for the Conference Board of Canada who are an independent, non-profit think-tank organisation specialising in economic trends, public policy and organisational performance.
Group Captain Catherine McGregor AM was recently named as one of Australia’s 50 most powerful women by the Australian Women’s Weekly.
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