Louise is an experienced policy-maker, programme developer and project manager at national and international levels, specialising in water resources management and policy as it relates to irrigation and food production, climate change, environmental flows and ecosystem services.
She has worked in Australian politics where was involved in intergovernmental negotiations during the Murray-Darling Basin reform period. She spent four years with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) implementing large-scale, multi-country water resources management and irrigation projects in Asia and Africa and building organisational understanding on water governance and politics. Louise was also a Senior Policy Analyst for WaterAid where she worked to integrate the water sub-sectors, influence global climate change policy, increase the flows of climate finance to sustainable water projects and provide technical backstopping support to country programming across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Louise currently leads the water programme for FAO's Regional Office for the Asia Pacific
Katharine has a Master’s in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics, and additional academic background in environmental engineering and science.
Katharine Cross
Katharine joined AWP as the Strategy and Partnerships Lead in 2022 engaging and positioning AWP in the domestic and international water spaces, building partner engagement, as well as supporting knowledge development and management. She has extensive experience (+15 years) in the water sector from global to local scale. She has a background in water resources and environmental management and has worked in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America with NGOs, government and the private sector. Katharine was most recently the AWP Mekong Coordinator engaging with Mekong governments and relevant stakeholders. Previously Katharine worked for the International Water Association and the International Union for Conservation of Nature leading on various projects and programs. Her technical competence in the water sector covers a range of areas including: climate resilience and adaptation, nature-based solutions, water-energy-food nexus, water governance, including connecting cities and urban stakeholders with their watersheds. She is also interested in convening and facilitating stakeholders across and beyond the water sector to develop solutions for better water management.
Katharine has a Master’s in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics, and additional academic background in environmental engineering and science.
Rosalie Auricht
Rosalie is the Chief Executive Officer of the Renmark Irrigation Trust in South Australia. She has extensive business management experience acquired through executive roles in a wide range of not-for-profit and public organisations. Coming from a farming background, Rosalie has a strong interest in the health of the River Murray and its communities. Since joining the Trust, Rosalie has established the innovative Renmark environmental water program and achieved global recognition for the Renmark irrigation community’s good water stewardship.
Hon. Karlene Maywald
From 2004 until 2010 Karlene was South Australia’s Minister for Water Security and the River Murray during one of the worst drought periods in living memory. She has a proven, long-standing track record in water management and is passionate about water reform in Australia. Ms Maywald has served on numerous national ministerial councils including the Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council, the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, the Primary Industries Ministerial Council and the Regional Development Ministerial Council. Karlene is also the Managing Director of Maywald Consultants Pty Ltd, providing water policy and government relations advisory services.<
Prof Andrew Campbell
Professor Andrew Campbell FTSE FAICD is directly responsible to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. As agency head, the CEO manages the administrative and financial affairs of ACIAR and its staff, with direct accountability to the Australian Government for use of Commonwealth resources.
Professor Andrew Campbell joined ACIAR as CEO in 2016, after six years in Darwin at Charles Darwin University. Andrew has played influential roles in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management in Australia for over 30 years, including as the first national Landcare Facilitator. He has a Master of Science (Management of Agricultural Knowledge Systems) from Wageningen University in The Netherlands, a Bachelor of Forest Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Forestry from Creswick. Andrew is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an honorary Professorial Fellow at the Australian National University. He represents Australia on the System Council of the CGIAR, is a board member of the Peter Cullen Trust, a Commissioner on the Commission for International Agricultural Research, and is the outgoing Chair of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. Andrew is still involved (from a distance) in his farm in western Victoria, where his family have been farming since the 1860s.
Valentina Tripp
Experienced Non-Executive Director, Chair and Chief Executive with extensive experience in strategy, transformation, and growing businesses in agribusiness (meat, horticulture, nuts, grains, dairy), FMCG, industrial manufacturing and retail across Australia, Asia and global markets.
Currently CEO of Davey Water, leading the growth and expansion into the global water industry across transfer, treatment, solutions and emerging technologies.
Previously, CEO of ASX-listed Murray River Organics leading a major turnaround and growth strategy for this vertically integrated farming, processing and FMCG business.
Prior to MRG, was with Simplot as Executive Director, Transformation & Corporate Development and Executive Director, Top Cut Group where she led the turnaround, repositioning and growth of the meat processing and distribution business in Australia, China, Japan & Korea.
As Senior Director with KPMG Consumer & Industrial sectors for the Management Consulting division, led major programs across transformation, strategy, customer growth, supply chain, operational and financial turnarounds.
Served as a strategic advisor to the Australian Food & Grocery Council (AFGC), founding and producing the AFGC/KPMG State of Industry Report from 2009-2014 and further published the AFGC Competitiveness & Sustainable Growth Report in 2013.
Advocate for ethical and sustainable global supply chains.
Currently serving as Non-Executive Director with Marine Stewardship Council Board International (UK) and Australia's Private Sector Representative for APEC's PPFS.
Previously served as Non-Executive Chair for Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand for 6 years, Fairtrade International Board Director (Germany) for 3 years, Non-Executive Director with Capilano Honey Limited and Board Member for Dried Fruits Australia.
Skilled in Corporate Advisory, Executive Management, Corporate Strategy and Implementation, Operations, Operating Models, Risk Management, and Corporate Governance.
Qualifications: Master Business Administration, Bachelor of Commerce and Certified Practising Accountant. Also completed AICD program in 2010.
Corinne Cheeseman
Corinne is a strategic leader who has championed change successfully in a range of organisations. She has successfully implemented information management and analytics as core capabilities in utilities and resources; financial services; government; and not-for profit organisations. Regarded as a high integrity leader, Corinne builds strong relationships at all levels.
Achievement orientated and adept at understanding business context, Corinne has successfully led data and analytics solutions that have added value, reduced risk, increased productivity and improved customer experience.
Corinne has successfully achieved executive approval for enterprise information governance and implemented new data capabilities to execute against business strategy. She enjoys a challenge and has thrived in roles where she has designed and built new capability, service offerings and products.
She is passionate about solving business and societal challenges, creating a data driven culture and improving diversity in the workplace. Corinne has an inclusive, collaborative and coaching style which has resulted in constructive team culture and leadership impact in the teams she has led.
Corinne has postgraduate degrees in environmental science; leadership and management; and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She is an engaging speaker and well regarded in the field, with a growing following having been invited to speak at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit, CDAO Sydney, DAMA Sydney and Mainstream Conference - Asset Management Innovation.
Vanessa Winning
Vanessa started at IrrigationNZ in October 2020 based in Wellington, New Zealand. She is a strategic executive leader with over 20 years experience in the agriculture, banking and corporate sectors.
Prior to IrrigationNZ Vanessa was the GM Farm Performance at DairyNZ, where she led a large team across the country to help farmers improve their businesses and reduce environmental impacts. Previously Vanessa spent 18 years in banking and trade; product development and marketing and communications. Vanessa has an economics degree and postgraduate degree in marketing. Vanessa is also an experienced director and is on the board of Surf LifesavingNZ, a number of advisory groups for government, and the food and fibre leaders group. She is an active member of Dairy Women's Network and an AWDT Escalator alumni. Vanessa is passionate about water - its sensible harvesting, fair management, pragmatic use for balanced outcomes across the economy, environment, and our communities.
Vanessa brings excellent stakeholder management and engagement skills having worked across multiple sectors, with a range of stakeholders, local and central government.
Dennis Mullikin
Denise Mullikin is Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Hunter Industries. She leads 125 sales professionals along with Hunter’s Global Sales Operations, Global Sales Support, and Customer Service teams. Denise believes in creating exceptional customer experiences, working in partnership to build successful business outcomes, and delivering on Hunter’s commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability.