Molly Alexander has had a successful career spanning 25 years in downtown revitalization, economic development, and enterprises in both the public and private sectors.  As the Downtown Austin Alliance’s (DAA) associate director, Molly Alexander leads the organization’s strategic planning and implementation, downtown retail development, operational management, and special projects such as the Congress Avenue initiatives. She orchestrates a full range of programs that help vitalize the Austin business sector and create a sense of place.  

Malcolm Allan

President, Bloom Consulting
United Kingdom

In 2003 , Malcome set up the world’s first dedicated place branding agency – Placebrands. 

Prior to Placebrands, Malcolm Allan was as a town planner and development economist in local government in the UK. 

Over the course of 40 years of practice he developed an interest in place-making and destination development which led to a deep and passionate interest in the contribution of place brand strategy to those fields and has pioneered the role of place brand strategy in the real estate development, in the renewal of city and town centres and in developing the offer of the tourism and culture sectors.

Alastair Porter

CEO / Director, Remarkables Park Limited
Queenstown, New Zealand

Alastair has held many executive and non-executive directorships in the property, marketing, retail and farming sectors. He was for many years the deputy Chairman of the New Zealand Game Industry Board, Chairman of the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce for five years and a Chamber Board member for eight years.

He has extensive experience in urban and rural residential property development both as a principal and a consultant. A founding member of Queenstown’s award-winning Shaping Our Future steering committee, Alastair still plays an active role in helping to plan for Queenstown’s future communities.

Duncan Gilchrist

Manager Economic Development, Inner West Council
Petersham, New South Wales, Australia

For the past ten years, Duncan has worked as the Economic Development Manager for Ashfield and Marrickville Councils which have now been amalgamated with Leichhardt to form the Inner West Council.

Duncan formed the Economic Development Network Inc, as well as serving on the national board of Economic Development Australia and acted as the Chair of the NSW Chapter for a number of years. He is also a committee member of the ICTC Society.

Leo Jensen

Principal, Leo Jensen Consulting
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Leo has held executive level positions in a number of local government authorities including Rockhampton City Council, Caboolture Shire Council, Moreton Bay Regional Council and Lockyer Valley Regional Council.  He has also held senior planning roles at Gold Coast City Council.

Leo has extensive experience in development assessment, strategic land use planning, environmental planning, community engagement and community development.

Munir Vahanvati

City Architect, Darebin City Council
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Munir is a qualified architect and urban designer with more than 15 years of experience in local government and private sector. His architectural background and a strong approach to design innovation has allowed him to work on a wide range of projects starting from product design, building design to large scale master planning, urban regeneration and streetscape improvement projects.

During his 9 years at Moreland City Council he was responsible for setting up the Urban Design team and developing innovative programs and strategies including the multi award winning Moreland Apartment Design Code, Moreland Parklet Program and the Virtual Moreland Project.

Currently Munir is working as a City Architect at Darebin City Council responsible for shaping and implementing Darebin’s Design Excellence project.