2021 CofE Festival Guide

G U E S T entrepreneurs

Peter Bolger Peter Bolger is a veteran of the

James Bir t Multi-dimensional defines Dr Birt’s academic career as an Associate Professor and area lead for Digital Media and Esports at Bond University. His service to higher education has formed around his 20-years’ experience, applying computer science and visual arts through extended reality and games-based experiences to assist learning and knowledge discovery. The distinctive contribution James brings to academia is evidenced by two Universities Australia citations, over 70 publications and multiple national media engagements including The Conversation, ABC News and The Project. Internationally he is recognised not only for his teaching and research, but for his position on the International Standards Organisation working group for augmented and virtual reality, his assessor’s role for the International Serious Games Showcase and Challenge and expert role as part of the Educause Horizon Report.

Lynne Benzie Lynne Benzie has over 28 years in the film, television and entertainment industry. Her career started in the United Kingdom in Engineering, she then migrated to Australia in 1979 where she developed a very diverse background in the Insurance, Finance, Legal, building and Information Technology industries, which led her to a position with EMI Records in promotion and marketing. Lynne joined Village Roadshow Studios in 1990 as PA to the General Manager of the Studios, after 5 years of being involved in the operations of the Studio Complex she was promoted to Studio Manager, then to Vice President Studios Operations and in January 2008 was promoted to President of the Studios.

telecommunications industry with more than 37 years’ experience. In 2002, Peter co-founded Pivotel Group after acquiring Vodafone’s mobile satellite business. Pivotel is a licensed telecommunications carrier and provides accessible communication solutions to people and communities in rural, remote, and other critical environments. CEO since inception, Peter has been integral in creating a robust and profitable business. After humble beginnings with just one product and less than ten staff, the business now boasts hundreds of products and more than 140 employees.

Kenton Campbell At just five years old Zarraffa’s Coffee Managing Director and Founder, Kenton Campbell, exhibited an entrepreneurial spirit, starting up a bottle collection agency collecting all the bottles in his neighbourhood to redeem for coins at his local Safeway in his home town of Eugene, Oregon in the USA. At 17, Kenton joined the US Navy and served for close to three years as an Operations Specialist on a Dive Fair program but was medically discharged just prior to the first Gulf War. As a 20-year-old in 1990, Kenton worked as a waiter and started to get interested in business, while key moments in the next couple of years also helped shape his business focus and a love affair with coffee.

Sara Carrigan Sara Carrigan has been an Australian Professional Cyclist who has enjoyed the sport of cycling since 1995 - 24 years. She commenced at the age of fifteen after being identified through a High School Sports Talent Search. Some of Sara’s greatest successes include winning the Gold Medal & being crowned Olympic Games Champion in the 130 km Road Race at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games medallist, two-time National Champion, World Cup winner, 12-time Australian Championship medallist, Australian representative at 8 World Championships, 2 Olympic Games (2004 and 2008) and 2 Commonwealth Games (2002 and 2006), three-time Australian Female Road Cyclist of the Year (2002, 2003 and 2004), receiving the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2005 Australia Day Honours List, having a street named in her honour– Sara Carrigan Crt, and being inducted into both the Gold Coast & QLD Sporting Hall of Fame in 2012.

Rueben Bramanathan Reuben Bramanathan (Class of 2002) is an investor and advisor in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. He is currently a General Partner at IDEO CoLab Ventures. Reuben was an early employee at Coinbase from 2015 to 2019. He was the company’s first Product Counsel, responsible for working directly with product and software engineering teams to identify and meet regulatory requirements. Later, he was the Head of Coinbase Asset Management. Reuben has advised a number of the leading companies in the cryptocurrency space. He wrote and lectured the world’s first postgraduate course on the Regulation of Digital Currency, at the University of Nicosia in 2015.