A/AA Celebrating Pride in Flight

CELEBRATING PRIDE IN FLIGHT

Thu 2 Mar 2023 (8:30 am - 11:30 am)

Thales Australia
World Trade Centre Northbank Warf, Atrium Lobby/18 Siddeley Street, Melbourne VIC 3005

CELEBRATING PRIDE IN FLIGHT
AT AVALON AIRSHOW

ABOUT THE EVENT

Aviation/Aerospace Australia (A/AA) is delighted to present Australia's first Pride in Flight panel to celebrate World Pride during Avalon Airshow 2023.

For over 20 years, World Pride has advocated for LGBTQIA+ rights on an international level. On the 50th anniversary of Australian Gay Pride Week, World Pride was hosted in Sydney - the first time the event has been hosted in the Southern Hemisphere.

To celebrate Pride in Flight and support LGBTQIA+ rights in the workplace, A/AA brought together industry leaders across the Australian aviation, aerospace, and space sector to engage in meaningful discussion on issues important to the LGBTQIA+ community and workforce representation, with the aim is to support, build, and unite the LGBTQIA+ community, and contribute to a more diverse, inclusive, equal, and innovative workforce. 

WATCH THE PANEL DISCUSSION HERE



INDUSTRY SPEAKERS

MC

/ Air Vice-Marshal (ret’d) Professor Tracy Smart AO | Professor, Military and Aerospace Medicine at The Australian National University

SPEAKERS

/ Ronán Carolan | Vice President, Human Resources at Thales Australia & New Zealand

/ Dave Dawson | Chair of the Boeing Employees Pride Alliance (BEPA), APAC at Boeing Australia

/ Flight Lieutenant Nathan Howarth | Air Force Operations Officer & Vice President of DEFGLIS (Defence LGBTQIA Information Service) at the Royal Australian Air Force

/ Sarah McSwiney | Strategy & Operations Manager, Office of the Chief Engineer at Boeing Defence Australia & Chair at Aviation/Aerospace Australia

/ Captain Lisa Norman | Senior Manager Training Operations at Qantas

/ Jacob Sibbald | Senior Strategy and Planning Associate, Co-Chair – Virgin Australia’s Pride Network

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

/ Ronán Carolan | Vice President, Human Resources at Thales Australia & New Zealand

In May 2019 Ronan Carolan was appointed Vice President of Human Resources, Thales Australia. He is responsible for the development and implementation of the Thales Australia’s HR strategy. He leads the HR strategic people plan focused on attracting, developing and retaining our most valuable asset, our employees, to achieve our Ambition 10 strategy.

Prior to joining Thales, Ronan was the Head of HR, Consumer for Optus Australia. He brings more than 20 years’ experience across multiple industries, including financial services, pharmaceutical/healthcare and telecommunications. Ronan is a proven leader who thrives on empowering teams towards excellence through transforming culture. He has deep experience in developing and executing strategy in complex and challenging environments. Achieved by effectively partnering with business leaders to bring a pragmatic and commercial approach to solve people and business issues. He is a fellow of Australian Human Resources Institute and serves on the Australian advisory panel of Enterprise Ireland.


/ Dave Dawson | President of the Boeing Employees Pride Alliance (BEPA), APAC at Boeing Australia

David has spent over 20 years in the Aerospace Industry. Many of his roles have focused on risk management, finding solutions for problems and ensuring continuous improvement. With experience in data management, IT application, export and quality compliance, and business improvement, he credits continuous improvement methodology for improving not just business outcomes but the team’s culture and morale, too.

As chair of Boeing Employee Pride Alliance (BEPA) Asia and the Pacific (APAC), David has volunteered and dedicated his role in establishing the first Chapter of BEPA outside the United States.  David leads the pride working group in ensuring a safe and equitable workplace environment through which everyone is included.

David is currently studying International Business at Queensland University of Technology.


/ Flight Lieutenant Nathan Howarth | Air Force Operations Officer & Vice President of DEFGLIS (Defence LGBTQIA Information Service) at the Royal Australian Air Force

Nathan initially joined the Australian Defence Force as a soldier enlisting into the Army in October 2007, assigned to the Royal Australian Corps of Transport (Operator Movement).

Nathan spent the next 13 years in the Army completing two operational tours of the Middle East Region, serving in units across the eastern and central lands of Australia and was lucky enough to conduct countless domestic and international exercises in his role over this time.

After being promoted through the Junior enlisted ranks (finishing as a Corporal), Nathaniel was successfully appointed as a commissioned officer in the Air Force in February, 2020.

/ Sarah McSwiney | Chair at Aviation/Aerospace Australia and Strategy & Operations Manager, Office of the Chief Engineer at Boeing Defence Australia

Sarah McSwiney is the Senior Manager of Strategy and Operations for the Office of the Chief Engineer at Boeing Defence Australia. Prior to this Sarah held various engineering and management roles for the past 16 years at Boeing, most recently as the Composites Technology Manager at Boeing Research and Technology Australia, leading a team in Resin Infusion material and process development and helping guide the Enterprise Resin Infusion Roadmap. Sarah previously led the liaison engineering team across all programs at Boeing Aerostructures Australia, and prior to that she worked as a design engineer and an liaison Engineer both in Melbourne and Seattle. 

A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company directors, Sarah is also the Deputy Chair of Kilvington Grammar and is on the industry advisory boards for Aerospace Engineering at both Monash and RMIT Universities. Sarah holds an Executive MBA from Monash University and a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering (Hons) from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. 

Sarah is passionate about gender equality and encouraging more young women into the fabulous Australian Aviation and Aerospace industry.


/ Captain Lisa Norman | Senior Manager Training Operations and B787 Captain at Qantas Airways

Captain Lisa Norman has been flying with Qantas for 30 years and has been the Manager Introduction for the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft into Flight Operations for the past four years. Captain Lisa Norman has been flying with Qantas for over 30 years and has been the Manager Introduction for the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft into Flight Operation. During her time at Qantas, Lisa has flown a range of aircraft types, including the Boeing 747-400, Boeing 767, Airbus 330 and Boeing 787. 


/ Jacob Sibbald | Senior Strategy and Planning Associate, Co-Chair – Virgin Australia’s Pride Network

Jacob is currently a Senior Associate in Virgin Australia’s Strategy and Planning team and is involved in a number of transformative projects across the Group. Having managed Virgin Australia’s annual Pride Flight in 2022, Jacob was nominated as the Co-Chair of Virgin Australia’s Pride Network, which represents one of the key pillars in Virgin Australia’s Belonging strategy. Since its re-establishment, the Pride Network championed for Virgin Australia to become a Principal Partner of Pride in Diversity and is working with the organisation on several initiatives that will cement the airline as one of Australia’s most loved and most inclusive places to work.   

/ Air Vice-Marshal (ret’d) Professor Tracy Smart AO | Professor, Military and Aerospace Medicine at Australian National University

Professor Smart is a medical doctor, health leader, aerospace medicine specialist, and retired Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) senior officer. She is currently Professor, Military and Aerospace Medicine at the Australian National University (ANU), a Mission Specialist in Space Medicine at the University’s Institute for Space and was ANU’s COVID-19 Public Health Lead from August 2020 to March 2022.

During 35 years of RAAF service, Prof Smart served on overseas deployments; undertook exchange tours with the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force; was twice Commanding Office of the RAAF’s Institute of Aviation Medicine; and served as Surgeon General of the ADF and Commander Joint Health from 2015 to 2019. She transferred to the RAAF Specialist Reserve in early 2020.  

Prof Smart’s other current roles include: Immediate Past President, Australasian College of Aerospace Medicine; Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne; and membership of several Boards and committees including the: Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal; ANU National Security College Advisory Board; Australian Football League’s Mental Health Steering Group; Australian Space Agency’s Technical Advisory Group on Space Medicine & Life Sciences; Australian War Memorial Development Project Veterans’ Advisory Group; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Veteran’s Advisory Group; and Health Security Systems Australia’s Divisional Advisory Panel.

Prof Smart is a Fellow of the Aerospace Medicine Association in the US, an Academician of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine, and a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. She is a regular keynote speaker in the areas of leadership, mental health, public health, cultural change, and diversity.