Ruby Heard

First Nations Clean Energy Network, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne

Ruby is a descendant of the Jaru people of the Eastern Kimberley region of WA. An electrical engineer, she runs Alinga Energy Consulting, providing renewable energy and microgrid consulting services including research, feasibility studies, design and implementation, with a focus on remote and off-grid applications. Ruby is a Steering Group for the First Nations Clean Energy Network.

Brendan Kennedy

Tati Tati elder and Enterprise Principal Fellow in Cultural Economies and Sustainability, The University of Melbourne and Life Course Centre

Brendan Kennedy is a Tati Tati and Wadi Wadi Traditional Owner who has deep knowledge and extensive work experience in the areas of Indigenous culture, language, art, science and advocacy. Brendan holds leadership positions in the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Language and the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) where he has been instrumental in elevating the profile of First Nations Water Rights in the Murray Darling Basin. Brendan also works with a range of government and regulatory agencies to enable opportunities and outcomes for Indigenous communities. This includes the Murray Darling Basin Authority, Departments of Environment and Planning in NSW and VIC and the Commonwealth and Victorian Water Holders.

Jamie Lowe

CEO, National Native Title Council

Jamie Lowe, a proud Gundjitmara Djabwurrung man, first joined the National Native Title Council (NNTC) as Chair in 2017. Two year later, he was appointed CEO, charged with supporting First Nation’s people’s right to true self-determination in advocating for their right to speak for and manage their own Country; to govern their own communities; to participate fully in decision making and to self-determine their own social and economic development. In 2021 he was appointed as the Indigenous Specialist Representative for the Australian Heritage Council – the principal adviser to the Australian Government on heritage matters. In July 2018 he joined the Victorian Heritage Council as an Indigenous Specialist Representative and is a joint council member of the Coalition of the Peaks. Jamie was instrumental in the Closing The Gap Agreement with the Federal Government, that came into effect July 2020.