Celebration of Entrepreneurship Programme 2022

G U E S T entrepreneurs

Alana Cresswell Alana Cresswell is a Registered Nurse and has been working in Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation for more than 20 years. In addition to working at the bedside caring for patients and supporting families she has always had a strong focus on education and has spent much of her working life involved with providing professional education to nursing, medical and allied health staff. More recently her focus has moved to working within the community translating clinical information and knowledge into community education and action. As part of the DonateLife communications team Alana manages a volunteer program and facilitate community engagement and education to raise the profile of organ and tissue donation increasing the opportunity of access to life saving transplantation for all Australians.

Jade Axford Jade Axford is a media and advertising executive and leads new client acquisition globally for a multi-award-winning growth agency Claxon. Jade’s strong commercial mindset and relentless desire for success has led her to shape outcomes of major companies like NewsCorp where she was one of their youngest General Managers ever, prior to joining Claxon. Jade is passionate about developing the next generation of businessmen and women. Jade is truly excited to be part of the Somerset Entrepreneur summit.

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.

Justine Cirocco Justine is a lawyer by profession. She practiced as an Accredit Specialist in Family Law for many years. After having children, Justine became immersed in volunteering life first as a P&F President and from there a number of Board positions. Justine now works in Governance, Risk & Compliance in the Not for Profit sector, specifically education and volunteering. She is currently a Director of Volunteering Gold Coast Inc and Coomera Anglican College. She is a parent of 2 Somerset students and a Bond Uni graduate.

Brad Cooper Brad has worked in Not-For-Profit organisations for the majority of his working life. He has over 15 years of experience in senior operational and executive roles in human services organisations across Victoria, Tasmania, and Queensland. Brad began his career as a Nurse moving from hospitals into tertiary education and research, then transitioned to community aged care, homelessness services, and mental health services. Brad’s focus is on outcomes and impact for service users and employees, drawing on the collective wisdom and insights across the organisation. Brad has held volunteer roles as a board member and project roles developing professional practice standards.

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.

Joel Ceh Joel Ceh graduated from Somerset College in 2011 where he went on to complete a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2015. Joel has always had a strong interest in engineering and after working in the manufacturing industry had the opportunity to join Gilmour Space Technologies in 2021 as a Propulsion Engineer. Joel now works on the development and qualification testing of Gilmour Space’s rocket engines and is excited to be part of Australia’s growing space industry.

Sherrie Dunshae Sherrie’s experience as a Career Coach and Educator enables her to assist students to identify potential career paths and options by aligning an individual’s purpose, strengths and interests. She is passionate about guiding students through the process of self-awareness and exploring industry, pathway and occupation options to broaden their career aspirations. With a strong background in training, she enjoys sharing employability skills and career planning tools that fast track an individual’s journey. Her coaching style reflects a warm, friendly approach that she utilises effectively in her role with Study Gold Coast.

James Fitzgerald James is a Somerset alumnus and the Managing Director of the JLF Group of Companies, a Gold Coast based property investment and development company, where he has bought, sold and developed more than 2,000 properties over the past decade. James is also author of Bulletproof Investing: Gaining Financial Control in Uncertain Times , a book aimed at helping Australians build confidence and control with their personal finances so that they never have to worry about money. He is also Chairman of Toogoolawa Schools Ltd, a not-for-profit school for disadvantaged youth.

Ed Cherry Diligent, discreet, and unfailingly dependable, Ed values creating real and authentic connections with his clients. Luxury beachside, development, executive acreage homes, or anything in between – it doesn’t matter. Ed offers the same devotion and relentless honesty to every client he works with. Ed’s strengths in Real Estate lie particularly in sales, marketing, and auctions. He is renowned for his relationship-building skills, is resourceful, and is a Southern Gold Coast area expert. Throughout his 5-year Real Estate career, he has won the ‘No 1 Harcourts Agent Award in Queensland’ July - September 2021, broke the Southern Gold Coast Single Residential Record Price by selling 16 Darwalla Avenue, Currumbin for $11,300,000 only a few weeks after selling 8 Darwalla Avenue for $10,000,000.

Roxane Foulser-Piggot Roxane is the Founder of FreddyMatch, a platform dedicated to increasing volunteering rates in Australia by matching charities and volunteers using a web-based smart recommendation system. Before starting FreddyMatch, Roxane worked in quantitative fields specialising in advanced data analytics and AI. Her academic background, including PhD at Imperial College London and post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, focused on analysing catastrophe risk and how the impacts are felt in an increasingly connected world.

Sam Bowden Sam Bowden has spent 15 years as a practicing vet. He has owned two practices in this time, each of them achieving phenomenal results in growth and profitability. He has devoted his last 12 years to helping practice owners increase their happiness, work life balance and profitability. He is the founder of - United Vets Group, The Ultimate Veterinary Practice, Complete Vet Systems, More Vet Clients Websites, Accelerate Mastermind Group, Vet Business Manager Program, The Dental Academy. His skillset is combining long-lasting mindset changes together with proven practical strategies to allow practice owners and teams to reach their full potential. He is considered a leading educator on how to increase profitability, work life balance and happiness in the veterinary industry.