Mr Ivanov has an outstanding record of leadership, public service, and dedication to building connectivity between Australia and Asia. He joins the Asia Society from the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade where he was a Manager of the Australia-China Council (ACC) – a premier, long-standing and respected institution in the Australia-China relationship. In three years Mr Ivanov reinvigorated ACC’s profile as a prominent, bipartisan, cross-sectoral institution, which connects people, ideas and networks and provides opportunities for engagement between Australia and China.

Mr Ivanov was instrumental in defining ACC’s strategic space and direction in the rapidly-expanding bilateral relationship and ensuring the Council’s expertise was effectively utilised by the Australian Government and community. Mr Ivanov’s pro-active and big-picture approach was essential in instituting a seamless partnership with the Foundation for Australian Studies in China and BHP Billiton Chair of Australian Studies - a partnership that in the short three years saw the rejuvenation of the Australian Studies in China Program, highlighting its role as Australia’s major public diplomacy asset. Mr Ivanov also considerably ramped-up ACC’s grant-making strategy, communication capabilities and online presence, and designed the Australia-China Achievement Awards program. At DFAT, Mr Ivanov was also one of the two principal authors of the Australia in the Asian Century - China Country Strategy.

Prior to this, Mr Ivanov led the University of Sydney International Leaders Program - a training and knowledge exchange platform for established and emerging leaders from the Asia-Pacific region and advised the University of Sydney’s Vice-Chancellor on China issues.

Earlier at La Trobe University, Mr Ivanov managed commercial and academic relationships with Vietnam, Thailand, and the Gulf States and was responsible for forging partnerships the emerging government scholarship providers in the South-East Asia and Middle East.

Mr Ivanov spent over six years in China studying and working in educational and development roles in North-East and South-Eastern China. He was the recipient of the ‘Rose Award’ by the Shenyang Municipal Government in 2002 for his contribution to the development of Shenyang City education and training sector. He was awarded the Australian Government’s Endeavour Executive Fellowship in 2009, under which he undertook research on China’s leadership development policies at China’s National Academy of Education Administration. He is the Asia Literacy Ambassador at the Asia Education Foundation.

Mr Ivanov is a fluent Chinese and Russian speaker and considers himself an Asia-Pacific native. He grew up in Vladivostok, on Russia’s Pacific coast – less than a three-hour drive from the Chinese and North Korean borders and a day-long ferry ride to the west coast of Japan.

Mr Ivanov received classical Chinese language, economy and history training at the Far Eastern National University in Russia. He also studied in Jilin and Liaoning Normal universities in China and holds a Master of Educational Leadership and Management from RMIT University in Australia.

Ed is a journalist with two decades of experience reporting on politics, world affairs, and financial markets. As a managing editor for Bloomberg News in Sydney, he oversees a team of more than 40 reporters and editors covering markets, companies, economy, and government in Australia and New Zealand.

Wendy Cutler joined the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) as vice president in November 2015. She also serves as the managing director of the Washington D.C. Office. In these roles, she focuses on building ASPI’s presence in Washington — strengthening its outreach as a think/do tank — and on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade and investment, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following an illustrious career of nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Most recently she served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, working on a range of U.S. trade negotiations and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. In that capacity she was responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, including the bilateral negotiations with Japan. She also was the chief negotiator to the U.S.-Korea (Korus) Free Trade Agreement. 

Cutler received her master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and her bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University.

Haidi Stroud-Watts is the Sydney anchor for “Daybreak Australia,” Bloomberg Television’s flagship morning program, covering market-moving business and finance news in Australia as it kicks off the Asia-Pacific trading day. She also co-anchors “Bloomberg Markets Asia,” with Rishaad Salamat in Hong Kong.

Stroud-Watts has conducted in-depth interviews with many leading business, financial and corporate newsmakers including Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, Nobel Laureate for Economics Angus Deaton, World Bank Managing Director Bertrand Badre and the founders of China’s largest conglomerate, Fosun. She has also reported live from major events, most recently China’s 19th Party Congress in Beijing.

Stroud-Watts joined Bloomberg in 2015 as an anchor for Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Bloomberg, she was the Senior Business Anchor for Channel NewsAsia in Singapore. She began her career as a lawyer in Melbourne before making the switch to journalism as a Business Anchor with CCTV News in Beijing, and subsequently to Fox Business Network as its Asia Markets Reporter.

Fluent in Mandarin and English, Stroud-Watts graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, History and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Law degree.

Belinda Hutchinson AM became the 18th Chancellor of the University of Sydney in February 2013. She is a strong advocate for the critical role of world-class education and research in securing Australia’s social and economic future.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Sydney and in 2012 received a University Alumni Award for professional achievement.

She has a deep interest in developing a culture of philanthropy and sits on a number of not-for-profit boards, including Australian Philanthropic Services and St Vincent’s Health Australia’s NSW Advisory board. She is currently also Chairman of Future Generation Global Investment Company, Australia’s largest impact investing fund with a focus on child and youth mental health. Her family foundation supports a variety of community-based initiatives such as the Hunger Project in Malawi, Africa.

In the business sphere, she is Chairman of Thales Australia Limited, a non-executive director of Qantas and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Company Directors.

She was previously Chairman of QBE Insurance Group, a director of Telstra, Coles Myer, Energy Australia, TAB, St Vincent’s Health Australia, Crane Group, a non-executive director of AGL Energy and President of the NSW State Library Council.

Belinda is a champion for increasing opportunities for women in leadership positions and is a past president of Chief Executive Women, which comprises more than 400 of the country’s women leaders.

Mark is based in Sydney and is the Regional Managing Director for Compass Group in Asia Pacific and is a member of Compass Group’s Executive Board. Compass Group is a world-leading food and support services company operating in 45 countries with more than 650,000 associates, serving over 5.5 billion meals every year.

Compass Group Asia Pacific has 65,000 employees in 10 countries, serving over 400 million meals at 3,500 sites a year. One of Mark’s greatest passions is encouraging healthier lifestyles and a more sustainable food system. Mark is also passionate about seeing Australia realise its full potential within the Asia Pacific region and is chair of a BCA/Asia Society Taskforce focusing on building Australia’s trading relationship with Asia.

Prior to joining Compass Group Mark had a diverse career holding leadership roles with LG Electronics, The Coca-Cola Company, Waterford Wedgwood, Cinzano, Allied Domecq and Gillette. Mark has lived in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland and Australia.

John Meacock is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) for Deloitte and a member of the Global Executive. John is responsible for Strategy and Innovation across the Global network.

John’s role includes driving transformation of the organization to develop new business models and new ways of servicing clients and ensuring that Deloitte continues to be the World’s leading Professional Services Firm. Prior to this role, he was the CSO for Deloitte Australia and the Asia Pacific region, where he responsible for developing plans for future growth and structure of Australia and the region. Until June 2019, John was Deputy Chairman of Deloitte’s Global Board and was a member of the Global Board’s Composition and Risk Committees. The youngest of four brothers, John was born in Bruce Rock, Western Australia. He has two children. John has an appreciation for art and is the former Independent Chairman for The Brett Whiteley Foundation and a Director of the Asia Society.

Greg Earl is the editor of Briefing MONTHLY, a public update with news and original analysis on Asia and Australia-Asia relations, and the essay series Disruptive Asia. Greg was the deputy editor, opinion editor, national affairs editor and Asia Pacific editor of The Australian Financial Review. He spent more than a decade as a reporter based in Tokyo, Jakarta, and New York.