Good Will Hunters

New government, new policy directions. Since gaining office, the Albanese Government has signalled that it’s intent on drawing a line and starting afresh. This includes the development space, with not one, but two reviews of policy currently underway, for development and development finance. The Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Minister Pat Conroy, spoke to Rachel and Jess for the second episode of Reimagining Development. In it, he spells out his vision for how the intenational development program can and should evolve: everything from putting people at the heart of development, to how to work with Pacific partners. He also drops hints about how he would like to see DFAT better integrate development practice – and it’s a big one! Tune in for a scintillating listen – one that is in equal parts inspiring and illuminating about our new International Development Minister’s vision for his portfolio.

'Reimagining Development: Conversations on the new development policy' is a joint initiative between Good Will Hunters and the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), Australia's peak body for the international aid and development sector. It is hosted by Rachel Mason Nunn, founder of GWH, and Jessica Mackenzie, Chief Policy Officer at ACFID. In the first episode of our latest series of Good Will Hunters, the CEO of youth-focused NGO Oaktree, Thenu Herath, tells Jess and Rachel about why young people are special - and need to have special provisions in policy to reflect this. She also tells us about the benefits that young people bring to the table and how Oaktree is working to harness this. "We need to work with the demographic dividend that we have, and with the youth bulge [in the Asia Pacific region],” said Thenu. Is that happening? What needs to change to make it happen? Thenu answers these questions and more. Thenu Herath is the CEO of Oaktree, a non-profit that supports young

Welcome to the third episode in our three part-series recorded at Ozwater 2022, hosted by Michael Wilson and Rosie Wheen on the ground at the conference, and myself, Rachel Mason Nunn. These interviews were recorded on Turrbal and Jagera Country. I join with Michael and Rosie in acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land that we record these episodes on. We pay our respects to Turrbal and Jagera elders past, present and emerging. In this interview you’ll hear from Roch Cheroux, Managing Director of Sydney Water, discussing the SDGs and overcoming our contemporary water challenges; and Brooke O’Donnell, Team Leader, Aboriginal Heritage and Native Title in the Water Corporation, Western Australia, on her introduction to the water sector. This brings us to the end of our Ozwater journey. We’d love to hear your insights, now. Please let us know your thoughts via social media. 
Enjoy the episode, Rachel LINKS: Roch’s Bio: https://www.careers.sydneywater.com.au/t/roch-cheroux Water Corporation,

Welcome to the second in our three part-series recorded at OzWater 2022, hosted by Michael Wilson and Rosie Wheen on the ground at the conference, and myself, Rachel Mason Nunn. These interviews were recorded on Turrbal and Jagera Country. I join with Michael and Rosie in acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land that we record these episodes on. We pay our respects to Turrbal and Jagera elders past, present and emerging. In this interview you’ll hear from Beata Sochacka, PhD researcher at the University of Queensland, discussing the importance of urban water management for liveability; Dr Bek Christensen, Program Director, The Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust, discussing the work of the Trust and the next generation of water leaders; and Kate Maddy, Engagement Lead at Melbourne Metropolitan Urban Water and System Strategy and Lisa Hocking, Policy and Program Manager at Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, on their partnership and work with communities on water management

Welcome to the first in our three part-series recorded at OzWater 2022, hosted by Michael Wilson and Rosie Wheen on the ground at the conference, and myself, Rachel Mason Nunn. Michael is Group CEO at eWater and Rosie is CEO of WaterAid Australia. These interviews were recorded on Turrbal and Jagera Country. I join with Michael and Rosie in acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land that we record these episodes on. We pay our respects to Turrbal and Jagera elders past, present and emerging. In this interview you’ll hear from Dr. Wade Hadwen, Lecturer in Griffith University’s School of Environment and Science, reminding us of the need for an interdisciplinary response to the water crisis. Then you’ll hear from Corrine Cheeseman, CEO of the Australian Water Association, on the strength of the Australian water sector. Lastly you’ll hear from Katrina Donaghy, CEO of Civic Ledger, on water and blockchain. 
We’ll be back tomorrow with the second instalment in our three part series. 
Enjoy the epis

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land that I record these episodes on, the Gadigal people of the Eora nations. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging and I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people listening today. Welcome to the seventh episode in our leadership series of Good Will Hunters. I have to admit, this series was a bit of a risk. It’s the first series we’ve done without a series partner in two years. I went back to basics and did it all myself - none of the usual help with sourcing guests or designing social media posts or marking up transcripts - it was all me, at home, making it happen and of course working with our brilliant sound editor Bruce Heald from Noise International. The series was self-funded, because leadership is an issue I personally care so much about and when I came up with the idea for this series, there was no going back. I was completely determined to have conversations on purpose-driven le

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land that I record these episodes on, the Gadigal people of the Eora nations. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging and I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people listening today. Welcome to the sixth episode in our leadership series of Good Will Hunters. I’m Rachel Mason Nunn, and I am the Founder and Host of Good Will Hunters. Today on the show, I speak to Terence Jeyaretnam. Terence is an environmental engineer and Partner at EY in the Climate Change and Sustainability practice, based in Melbourne. He is EY’s national leader for indigenous reconciliation, as well as the D&I leader for EY’s Melbourne office. He has been an integral part of EY’s cultural diversity efforts over the past two years. Terence is a passionate social justice leader, working with NGOs from Sri Lanka, his place of birth, and also social enterprises in Australia. This is a candid conversation on contemporary lea

Welcome to the fifth episode in our leadership series of Good Will Hunters. Today’s guest is Peter Varghese AO. Peter would be familiar to many of us who have been working in development and foreign affairs for the better part of the last decade, or longer. Peter has had an extensive career in the public service spanning 38 years. From 2012-2013 he was the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (or DFAT), during the period where AusAID was integrated into DFAT. He was also the High Commissioner to India from 2009 to 2012 and authored the India Economic Strategy to 2035, commissioned by the Australian Prime Minister. I have included Peter’s full bio in the show notes. I actually first met Peter a few years ago in Melbourne during the Australia-India Youth Dialogue where he have a talk alongside the now Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell. In this episode, we discuss what it was like to lead DFAT during the AusAID Integration, including Peter’s thoughts on why the decisi

Welcome to the fourth episode in our leadership series of Good Will Hunters. I’m Rachel Mason Nunn, and I am the Founder and Host of Good Will Hunters. I hope you enjoyed last week’s episode with Giles Gunesekera Once again, the response from all of you was overwhelming, in a great way. I’ve had a lot of listeners get in touch to say this series is really resonating with them. It’s clear many of us find ourselves navigating values-based leadership whilst working in a purpose-driven role. Today’s guest is the fabulous Melanie Tran. Melanie is a designer, innovator and social entrepreneur. Her work as a User Experience Designer and social entrepreneur has been recognised internationally including being named the winner of the Laureate International Universities Global Here for Good Award 2018. Melanie’s lived experience, developed skills and knowledge allow for her work to span the disability, health and technology sectors. If that’s not impressive enough, Melanie was named in the Top 100 Women of Influence

Welcome to the third episode in our leadership series of Good Will Hunters. I’m Rachel Mason Nunn, and I am the Founder and Host of Good Will Hunters. Your response to our first two episodes has been huge. This topic is clearly resonating with you, and it’s so special to receive messages and emails from many of you about your own experience on your leadership journey. In particular I’ve received messages about the need to invest more in leadership development for young women, particularly young women of colour, and the need for more horizontal networking for aspiring leaders in the development sector. Some thoughts to ponder as you listen to today’s episode. Today I ‘m speaking to Giles Gunesekera. Like our previous guest, Jacqui De Lacy, Giles has also been on Good Will Hunters before, several years ago now. Giles is the Founder and CEO of the Global Impact Initiative and he has over 25 years of experience building teams and businesses which solve global challenges. In this episode, Giles and I discuss

Welcome to the second episode in our leadership series of Good Will Hunters. I’m Rachel Mason Nunn, and I have the great joy of stewarding has through these conversations on leadership. Your response to our first episode was nothing short of incredible. Thank you for listening with such a genuine willingness to reflect on your own leadership, and grow as a leader. Today I speak to Jacqui De Lacey. Many of you would know Jacqui as the Managing Director of Abt Associates Australia. In this role, Jacqui is on the Boards of Abt Associates Australia and the UK, as well as being on the Board of UNICEF Australia. This is Jacqui’s second appearance on Good Will Hunters. The response to Jacqui’s first episode was huge, and for a long while it was our most downloaded episode ever. Today, we speak about Jacqui’s experience growing in PNG and how it shaped a love for working in international development. Jacqui’s shares the importance of adaptive leadership and mentoring, and we talked about the human-skills requi

I’d like to acknowledge the the traditional custodians of the land on which I create Good Will Hunters, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I honour their leadership, stewardship and custodianships, and I pay my respects to their elders, past present and emerging. I’m really excited to be sharing new episodes with you, after a long break for Good Will Hunters. After four years of podcasting and over 140 episodes, I thought it was time to take stock. When I started GWH it was the first podcast airly weekly content dedicated to international development in Australia. And since then, many other incredible podcasts have come online, exploring all facets of the development sector. I’ve linked to some of y favourites in the show notes. When I considered what’s missing, though, I think it’s deep conversations on what leadership and governance means for international development, right now. As I continue in my own executive journey, I’m increasingly asking myself what does it mean for me to be a leader? In th

The Readout Democracy Series Part Five: A US Perspective by Good Will Hunters

Hi GWH listeners. We want to introduce you to a new show. It's called The Readout, and it's produced by the Development Intelligence Lab. We've never done this before, but we're simulcasting this six-part series of the Readout right here, where you get GWH. And we're doing this because we think you, our listener, will really love it. Enjoy! – GWH Team. - Welcome to Part Four of our Democracy Series, with Dr Nicola Nixon and Peter Yates (The Asia Foundation). What exactly does ‘democracy promotion’ mean in real terms? How do practitioners approach the work? And critically – what’s the challenge with adopting a US-style approach to the issue? Series host Bridi Rice shares her conversations with Nicola and Peter, where she gets stuck into the gnarly issue of being loud about democracy in the region. Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including an essay from Nicola and Peter, here. To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencel

Hi GWH listeners. We want to introduce you to a new show. It's called The Readout, and it's produced by the Development Intelligence Lab. We've never done this before, but we're simulcasting this six-part series of the Readout right here, where you get GWH. And we're doing this because we think you, our listener, will really love it. Enjoy! – GWH Team. - Welcome to Part Three of our Democracy Series, with Professor John Blaxland (Australian National University). So we’ve heard why governance support is critical for prosperity in the region. But just how seriously should Australia take this? According to one of Australia’s top security experts – very. Series host Bridi Rice shares her conversations with John, where she learns that governance challenges in the region is one of the top threats to our national security. Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including an essay from John, here. To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintel

Hi GWH listeners. We want to introduce you to a new show. It's called The Readout, and it's produced by the Development Intelligence Lab. We've never done this before, but we're simulcasting this six-part series of the Readout right here, where you get GWH. And we're doing this because we think you, our listener, will really love it. Enjoy! – GWH Team. - Welcome to Part Two of our Democracy Series, with Serena Sasingian (The Voice, Digicel Foundation). To learn more about the state of democracy, and what the Summit will mean for the region, let’s start where we should – with a Pacific perspective. Series host Bridi Rice shares what she’s learnt from her conversations with Serena – including how a particular speech at APEC in 2018 paints an interesting picture for the Summit. Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including an essay from Serena, here. To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Intelligence Lab, head over to devintelligencelab.com and find us on Twitter an

Hi GWH listeners. We want to introduce you to a new show. It's called The Readout, and it's produced by the Development Intelligence Lab. We've never done this before, but we're simulcasting this six-part series of the Readout right here, where you get GWH. And we're doing this because we think you, our listener, will really love it. Enjoy! – GWH Team. - Welcome to Part One of our Democracy Series, with Richard Maude (Asia Society) and Bryce Wakefield (Australian Institute for International Affairs). President Biden has just held the first Summit for Democracy. What will it mean for the Indo-Pacific? Before we dive into the complexities for our region, let’s find out what happened at the Summit. Series host Bridi Rice speaks to Bryce and Richard about Australia’s position as we went into the Summit, what happened, and the commitments made. Want to learn more? Find our essay publication, including a foreword from Richard Maude, here. To learn more about The Readout and the work of the Development Inte

What will President Biden’s upcoming Summit for Democracy mean for the Indo-Pacific? We're excited to introduce you to a new show: The Readout, by the Development Intelligence Lab. The Lab looks at big strategic issues in Australia's development program, and their podcast, The Readout, takes you behind the scenes of their projects. We've never done this before, but we're simulcasting this series of the Readout right here, where you get the GWH series. And we're doing this because we think you will really love it. Plus, you'll recognise the series host - Bridi Rice - who was our Summer Series host back in 2020. The debut series of The Readout is looking at President Biden's Summit for Democracy in December, and they're speaking to experts about what that means for development in our region. President Biden argues that democracy must ‘prove itself,’ reasoning that this will be key to competing with China and Russia. But development experts warn against weaponizing democracy, instead favouring a nuanced inv

Welcome to the seventh and final episode in the Spring Season of Good Will Hunters, which asks, Can Australia be a Sustainability Superpower? WWF has been proud to collaborate with Good Will Hunters on this series, in the lead up to COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. COP is kicking off on 31 October, just a few days after this episode is released. As we enter COP, we’d love to hear your reflections on the series. You can join the conversation via @goodwillpod or #RegenerateAustralia. In our final episode, we speak to Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan, Minister for Energy and Mining in the South Australian Government, as well as Marian Wilkinson, award winning Australian journalist and author of The Carbon Club. First, you’ll hear us speak to Dan, about South Australia’s policies and investments in renewable energy, then, you’ll hear us speak to Marian, about the current climate politics in Australia and COP26. As the last in the series as, this conversation picked up an theme across a

Welcome to the sixth episode in the Spring Series of Good Will Hunters, which asks, Can Australia be a Sustainability Superpower? WWF is proud to be collaborating with Good Will Hunters on this series, in the lead up to COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November. You can join the conversation via @goodwillpod or #RegenerateAustralia. In this episode, Dermot speaks to three formidable female leaders. Our guests are Cissy Gore-Birch, Sheridan Waitai and Sangeeta Mangubhai. Cissy is a Jaru/Kiji woman and the Executive Manager Aboriginal Engagement at Bush Heritage Australia. Sheridan is the Executive Director Strategic Relationships and Innovation at Ngāti Kuri Trust Board. Her tribal affiliations are Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa, and Tainui. Sangeeta is Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Fiji Country Program. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in coral reef ecology. This episode is a conversation between three passionate leaders on importance of indigenous ecologi