Stephen Durkin is CEO of AusIMM, the peak body and trusted voice for professionals working in the resources sector. Before joining AusIMM, Stephen was CEO of Engineers Australia (EA) for five years. Stephen's leadership focuses on building high performance organisations by fostering an innovative culture and supporting teams to collaborate and thrive. At both AusIMM and EA, Stephen has led transformations of these long-standing associations to be more contemporary and financially sustainable, with a stronger external brand.

Helen Degeling is a PhD qualified geologist with over 18 years’ experience in industry, academia and government. She has worked as an exploration geologist and Exploration Manager in gold and base metals throughout Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, as well as consulting to a variety of mineral explorers and producers both domestically and abroad. During a stint with government as the Director, Minerals Geoscience for the Geological Survey of Queensland she initiated the Queensland Government’s Circular Economy, Secondary Prospectivity, traceability and Sustainable REE processing programs.

Scott Stewart is the Queensland Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals and Member for Townsville. As Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals, he is responsible for one of the state’s largest industries, which supports more than 75,000 good jobs and is worth $74 billion dollars to the Queensland economy. In 2022, Minister Stewart launched the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan. The plan sets out a clear 30-year vision for the sector with a focus on Queensland becoming a global leader in supplying critical minerals and ESG credentialing. The Minister is passionate about the future of mining in Queensland and recently announced the Queensland Critical Minerals Strategy alongside the Premier.

On February 9, 2022, the U.S. Senate confirmed Reta Jo Lewis as EXIM’s President and Chair of the Board of Directors. Chair Lewis was sworn in by Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris on February 16, 2022. Ms. Lewis is a senior executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in international affairs, legal, public policy, business and regulatory affairs, and subnational diplomacy. Ms. Lewis was most recently a Senior Fellow and Director of Congressional Affairs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. At GMF, Ms. Lewis led and oversaw initiatives, programs, and bipartisan exchanges for members of the U.S. Congress and their European counterparts, focusing on leadership development and subnational diplomacy efforts. Prior to her time at GMF, she served as the first-ever Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs under Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State during the Obama-Biden Administration. As Special Representative, Lewis was the chief diplomat in charge of the international efforts to build and support strategic relationships between the federal government, state and local leaders, and their foreign counterparts. In 2013, she was awarded the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award. Ms. Lewis was the first Black woman to serve as Vice President and Counselor to the President at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She led the Chamber’s initiatives focused on fostering strategic alliances between small businesses, especially women- and minority-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and executives. She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Member of the Board of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security. Ms. Lewis received a J.D. from Emory University School of Law, an M.S.A.J. from American University, and a B.A. from the University of Georgia. She is a native of Statesboro, Georgia.

Nigel is the Chief Scientist of Rio Tinto. He holds a BSc (Eng) and PhD in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Imperial College, London, UK and is an Associate of the Royal School of Mines. He holds an MBA from Queen’s University, Canada. Nigel has worked for Rio Tinto for 34 years in the aluminium, copper & diamonds divisions of Rio Tinto holding various operational and functional positions across the company in R&D, Environment and Technical Management, Regional Industrial Development, Technology Sales, Operational Excellence and Climate Change worldwide. In his previous roles he was the Managing Director of Copper & Diamonds Operations, Head of Group Technical – Processing for Rio Tinto, and Senior Vice President of Technology and Supply Chain in the Aluminium Product Group.

Stephen Durkin is CEO of AusIMM, the peak body and trusted voice for professionals working in the resources sector. Before joining AusIMM, Stephen was CEO of Engineers Australia (EA) for five years. Stephen's leadership focuses on building high performance organisations by fostering an innovative culture and supporting teams to collaborate and thrive. At both AusIMM and EA, Stephen has led transformations of these long-standing associations to be more contemporary and financially sustainable, with a stronger external brand.