Kim McKay AO - Director & CEO, Australian Museum

Kim McKay’s international career in social innovation, marketing, communications and management spans over 25 years. She is an environmentalist, author and international marketing and communications expert and a regular media commentator. She has worked with National Geographic in the USA since 2000 in a variety of roles, and on returning to Australia in 2005, established Momentum2 Pty Ltd, consulting in social and sustainability marketing and communications.

Kim was senior vice-president Global Marketing and Communications at National Geographic Channels International (USA), an executive director, Discovery Communications Inc (USA) and principal of Profile Communications Pty Ltd (Sydney). She is the co-founder and was deputy chair of Clean Up Australia (1989-2009), and co-founder and deputy chair of Clean Up the World (1992-2009).

Her current not-for-profit roles include board member of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science Foundation, board member of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, member of The Genographic Project Legacy Fund and advisory board member and ambassador for the 1 Million Women campaign.

Kim was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 for distinguished service to the environment and the community. In 2013 she received Australian Geographic’s Lifetime Achievement in Conservation award and was named one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence. In 2011, Kim was included in the book “The Power of 100…One hundred women who have shaped Australia”, marking the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. In 2010 she received the UTS Chancellors Award for Excellence and was named a Luminary at the University of Technology, Sydney. She has a BA (Communications) from UTS.

Kim was appointed to the Australian Museum Trust in January 2012. She resigned in February 2014 when she was appointed Director and CEO of the Australian Museum, commencing in April 2014.

Zara Curtis - General Manager, Brand Partnerships, Digital, Licensing & Spring Productions, FremantleMedia Australia

With more than 20+ years in commercial sales, marketing and content creation across platforms, Curtis currently heads up Fremantlemedia' Brand Partnerships, Licensing, Digital and branded content production division, Spring as part of Fremantlemedia Australia. 

Curtis is passionate about content, stories and brand amplification through storytelling and consumer experience. Always curious, she’s a believer in pushing boundaries in all areas while working on FremantleMedia TV brands and assets with network partners such as The X Factor, Grand Designs, Family Feud, Wentworth, Neighbors, Dancing With The Stars, Bake Off, I Own Australia’s Best Home and Silvia Colloca to name a few. 

Heading up Spring the branded content division allows Curtis and the Fremantlemedia creative teams the opportunity to work with some of the countries blue chip brands and marketers in assisting with their content strategies and cross platform storytelling. 

Curtis is also part of Fremantlemedias Global Branded Entertainment thought leadership group that works on upcoming trends, concepts and spaces especially in digital that can be launched with a multi-territory approach. 

Previously Curtis held roles include Commercial Director News Life Media, a division of News Limited,  where she was responsible for cross platform content, video development and commercialization for large brands including taste.com.au, Donna Hay, Vogue and Vogue.com.au, Vogue Living and all newspaper masthead insert publications including The Weekend Australian Magazine, Q Weekend, and Sunday.

Curtis also had more than ten years at ACP Magazines and working as part of the Nine Entertainment Group. Part of the management team, she was responsible in her last three positions for the strategic direction and implementation of creating and growing their cross platform revenues and content output and creating new revenue streams as: Director of Advertising Sales Women’s Lifestyle, Director of Advertising Strategy and prior to that Director of Creative Production. Curtis was the liaison between editorial and advertising, digital and tv for some of Australia’s' biggest brands: The Australian Women’s Weekly, Good Health, Woman’s Day, Take 5, TV Week, Shop Til You Drop, Madison, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Dolly and managed more than 150 sales staff. Flagship properties created by Curtis included 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty, Australian Magazine Beauty Awards, 30 Days of Health and Wellbeing and Magazines Go Live.

Prior to that Curtis was working in marketing for leading luxury cosmetic houses Clarins in Sydney Australia, and Estee Lauder London UK. She started her career with Avant Card Australia. Formal qualifications include a degree in Journalism from Charles Sturt University, Diploma in Marketing, The Chartered Institute of Marketing in London and most recently Business Management and Financial Principles qualification from the Australian Graduate School of Management. 

Ben Liebmann - Chief Operating Officer, Noma

Ben Liebmann works with noma, four-time winner of the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant, and its trailblazing head chef René Redzepi.

Over the past eighteen months, Ben has worked with Redzepi and the noma team to open the critically acclaimed noma australia at Barangaroo, Sydney. Supported by Tourism Australia and Lendlease, the critically acclaimed ten-week “pop-up”, dubbed “the hottest restaurant in the world”, sold out in minutes and generated media coverage from around the world.

Ben also developed and co-produced a three-part noma australia documentary with ITV Studios for SBS Australia, and developed the inaugural MAD SYD: A Day of Talks and Ideas, in partnership with the Sydney Opera House. Featuring Redzepi, David Chang, Massimo Bottura, and Kylie Kwong, MAD SYD is part of a Danish-based non-profit that works for “a better world through a better meal”. A cornerstone of MAD (taken from the Danish word for “food”) has been the annual Symposium, hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “the food world’s G20” and “the Davos of food”. 

Ben is also Partner at Overture Holdings, overseeing a global media and rights management business focused on the rapid convergence of food and hospitality with the media, marketing and technology sectors.

Headquartered in New York, and with offices in Sydney and Copenhagen, Overture Holdings is a boutique investment group focused upon investing in the world’s leading restaurants and entrepreneurs, and working with them to build help sustainable brands “beyond the four walls” and across multiple territories and platforms including hospitality and location-based experiences, sponsorship and brand partnerships, retail and consumer products, digital and interactive.

Overture Holdings is an investor in Noma Holdings.

Prior to joining noma and Overture, Ben was global chief executive officer of Shine 360°, the group-wide division responsible for the commercialisation and management of non-broadcast rights for the Shine Group. As CEO, Ben led the way in building MasterChef from television franchise into a multi-million dollar global business across sponsorship and promotions; consumer products including food, homewares, and publishing; digital experiences across online and mobile; and live experiences ranging from culinary travel to pop-up restaurants. Shine 360° was also on the front line of Shine Group’s activities in Branded Content and Entertainment.

Ben has spent his career in media and entertainment, previously working with FremantleMedia, Vodafone and Warner Music Group, across markets including Australia, Europe, Asia and the United States.

Having returned to Sydney in 2015 after three years in London, Ben and his family will be relocating to Copenhagen at the end of the year.

Simon Cronshaw - Co-Founder, REMIX Summits

Cultural entrepreneur & Co-founder of REMIX Summits - further details and full bio →