50 Essential Thought Leaders in Engineering and Infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand

Introduction

Engineering and infrastructure are not background industries in Australia and New Zealand. They are the physical fabric of daily life. Every commute you take, every tap you turn, every hospital you walk into, and every power grid that keeps a city running is the product of engineering decisions made by people who rarely receive the recognition that economists and policy leaders do.

In 2026, that gap between the importance of the profession and its public visibility is narrowing. Australia is managing one of the most ambitious infrastructure pipelines in its history, spanning transport, water, energy transition, and social infrastructure. New Zealand is navigating its own reckoning, with the National Infrastructure Plan released in early 2026 identifying decades of underinvestment in renewals and maintenance as a structural drag on productivity, as noted by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, in their February 2026 report 'Foundations for Growth.'

At the same time, both nations face a workforce crisis. Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew has described the engineering skills shortage as an economic issue, not merely a workforce planning problem, arguing in March 2026 that infrastructure productivity is now central to national economic performance. In New Zealand, Engineering New Zealand CEO Dr Richard Templer warned in February 2025 that hundreds of engineers were leaving the country due to infrastructure delays, a drain the profession could ill afford.

The 50 people on this list have been selected because they are actively shaping how Australia and New Zealand think, build, and lead in engineering and infrastructure. Each person was selected on three criteria: substantive and documented contribution to engineering and infrastructure in ANZ; active engagement in public discourse, whether through speaking, publishing, media commentary, or community leadership; and a deliberate effort to surface voices the reader may not already know, moving past the most prominent institutional names to include mid-career practitioners, academic leaders, advocates, and emerging voices who are doing some of the most consequential work in the field.

The list spans civil, structural, geotechnical, water, transport, energy, digital, and environmental engineering. It includes peak body leaders, government agency directors, independent consultants, academics, First Nations advocates, and champions of diversity in the profession. It covers both Australian and New Zealand voices, with geographic and disciplinary breadth a deliberate editorial priority throughout.

If your organisation is navigating the leadership, team dynamics, and communication challenges that come with large infrastructure programs and engineering firm growth, Jonno White works with engineering firms, project teams, and leadership groups across Australia and New Zealand. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Why Engineering and Infrastructure Leadership Matters in ANZ

The stakes attached to engineering and infrastructure leadership in Australia and New Zealand are not abstract. Australia's infrastructure pipeline has grown faster than the workforce's capacity to deliver it. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia's 2025 pipeline analysis found that project values committed in this year's Budget Season totalled $6.7 billion across eight projects, a sharp decline from the $25.3 billion added across 24 projects in the prior year, reflecting fiscal constraint rather than reduced need.

New Zealand faces a different but equally serious set of challenges. Te Waihanga's National Infrastructure Plan identified that the country's infrastructure investment has averaged approximately 5.6 per cent of GDP over the past 150 years, yet the quality and resilience of what has been built varies enormously, with insufficient investment in maintenance and renewals creating growing long-term liability. General Manager of Strategy Peter Nunns described the challenge in April 2026: getting more value from existing assets is now as important as building new ones.

The engineering workforce crisis underpins both these challenges. Engineers Australia has been vocal in 2025 and 2026 that senior engineers are scarce, hiring timelines are longer, and the skills pipeline through STEM education is not producing enough graduates to meet demand. In New Zealand, the situation became acute enough in early 2025 that Engineering New Zealand issued a call for the urgent release of infrastructure funds, citing hundreds of engineers leaving the country.

To book Jonno White for a keynote or facilitation session on leadership, team dynamics, and high-performance culture for your engineering firm or infrastructure organisation, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

How This List Was Compiled

Every person on this list was selected on three criteria. First, documented contribution to engineering and infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand, supported by published work, a delivered keynote or conference presentation, a recognised credential, or a substantial body of public commentary. Second, active engagement in public discourse in 2025 or 2026. Third, disciplinary and geographic diversity, with a deliberate effort to include voices in water, energy, transport, digital engineering, structural and geotechnical engineering, policy, and advocacy, across both nations, and across gender, cultural background, and career stage. The list deliberately moved past the most prominent household names to surface practitioners, academics, advocates, and organisational leaders doing some of the most consequential thinking in the field.

Category One: Peak Bodies and Industry Champions

The peak bodies for engineering in Australia and New Zealand are among the most powerful vehicles for industry advocacy, professional standards, and public conversation about the role of engineering in society. The leaders of these organisations are, by nature, the most consistently public voices in the profession. Engineers Australia represents more than 140,000 members and is the most influential professional body for engineers in Australia. Engineering New Zealand serves 22,000 members and is the professional standard-setter and voice of the profession in Aotearoa. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia is Australia's leading industry think tank on social and economic infrastructure markets. Infrastructure New Zealand performs a similar advocacy and policy role for the New Zealand sector. ACE New Zealand represents over 240 consulting engineering firms.

1. Romilly Madew AO HonFIEAust

Romilly Madew is the CEO of Engineers Australia, the peak body representing more than 140,000 engineers across the country, and one of the most consistently influential voices on infrastructure policy and the engineering workforce in Australia. Before joining Engineers Australia in 2022, she served as CEO of Infrastructure Australia, the Commonwealth Government's independent infrastructure adviser, where she oversaw the development of the Infrastructure Priority List and led advocacy for major reform in how governments plan and sequence infrastructure investment. Her background also includes 13 years as CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia, where she helped build the Green Star rating system into a national standard.

In March 2026, Madew stated publicly that infrastructure productivity is now a national economic issue, not just a delivery issue, calling for coordinated reform across workforce planning, digital capability, and project sequencing. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019 for her contribution to sustainable building. Her career is a rare combination of built environment credentials, government advisory experience, and public leadership that makes her one of the most authoritative voices on engineering and infrastructure in the country.

2. Adrian Dwyer

Adrian Dwyer is the Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, the nation's leading industry think tank and executive member network focused on excellence in social and economic infrastructure policy and delivery. His career spans business, policy, and public service roles across the private sector and the NSW and Australian governments, with deep expertise in transport, utilities, and social infrastructure markets. Before becoming CEO in 2018, Dwyer served as the Executive Director of Policy and Research at Infrastructure Australia, where he led the development of the first Australian Infrastructure Plan, a 15-year reform map for Australia's infrastructure markets.

Dwyer has been an active and frequent commentator on infrastructure pipeline policy, infrastructure finance, and the energy transition throughout 2025 and 2026. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia under his leadership published 'Practical Productivity' in 2026, a suite of 52 recommendations to lift performance across Australia's infrastructure sector. The report directly addressed what Dwyer described as a decade of stagnation in the national conversation about infrastructure productivity, moving the discussion from abstract rhetoric to practical, measurable reform.

3. Dr Richard Templer FEngNZ

Richard Templer is the Chief Executive of Engineering New Zealand, the professional body for engineers in Aotearoa, a role he has held since November 2020. He holds a PhD in engineering and brings a background in science, innovation, and local government leadership to the role, having previously served as Chief Executive of Manawatu District Council. In February 2025, Templer raised national attention by warning that hundreds of engineers were leaving New Zealand due to sustained infrastructure delays, calling for the urgent release of infrastructure funds.

In February 2026, he described the National Infrastructure Plan as 'encouraging,' welcoming its focus on getting more value from existing assets and maintaining them for longer, while emphasising that for too long New Zealand's infrastructure pipeline had been subject to political churn. His direct and evidence-based public commentary has made him an important voice for the engineering profession at the government level in New Zealand.

4. Nick Leggett

Nick Leggett is the Chief Executive of Infrastructure New Zealand, the country's leading infrastructure membership association, a role he commenced in April 2023. He brings a background in local government, transport policy, and industry advocacy, having previously served as CEO of Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand and as Mayor of Porirua City from 2010 to 2016. Infrastructure New Zealand represents equity owners, service providers, public sector agencies, and major infrastructure users across transport, energy, water, telecommunications, education, and healthcare.

Leggett has been active in 2025 and 2026 making the case for bolder infrastructure investment in New Zealand, arguing publicly that the country has not focused sufficiently on the standard, scale, and specification of its infrastructure over many decades. His international infrastructure missions to Sweden and Norway in 2026 and his consistent budget commentary have made him one of the most effective translators of policy complexity for public audiences in New Zealand.

5. Helen Davidson

Helen Davidson is the Chief Executive of ACE New Zealand, a membership organisation representing more than 240 engineering, consulting, and professional services firms that deliver critical technology, construction, infrastructure, and environmental solutions across Aotearoa. She is also Chair of the Directors and Secretaries Advisory Council at FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, giving her a global platform for her advocacy on consulting excellence and inclusion.

Davidson has been among the most consistent advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the New Zealand engineering profession, co-leading The Diversity Agenda programme. In 2025 and 2026, she has been an active LinkedIn voice on the state of the New Zealand consulting engineering sector, the challenges of delivering more for less, and the standards of consulting excellence that her member firms are held to.

6. Katherine Richards AM CSC HonFIEAust CPEng

Katherine Richards is the Chief Engineer of Engineers Australia, a role she commenced in May 2025 after a 36-year career in the Royal Australian Navy, culminating in her promotion to Rear Admiral. During her naval career she served as Head Navy Engineering and Defence Seaworthiness Regulator, and most recently led the design of the new independent statutory regulator to oversee Australia's AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program. She holds First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering from the Australian Defence Force Academy.

As Chief Engineer, Richards advocates for the engineering profession nationally and internationally, engaging with media, government, and industry to amplify the voice of engineering in public discourse and decision-making. She sits on the board of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. Engineers Australia National President Dr Raj Aseervatham described her as combining technical depth with strategic vision, the combination needed to address Australia's most pressing challenges in energy, infrastructure, defence, and sovereign capability.

Category Two: Infrastructure Policy and Economics

Infrastructure is fundamentally a policy and economics challenge as much as an engineering one. The people in this category are shaping the frameworks, research, and evidence base that governments use to make infrastructure decisions. Their influence operates through reports, advice, and public commentary rather than project delivery, but the downstream impact on what gets built and how it gets funded is enormous.

7. Peter Nunns

Peter Nunns is the General Manager of Strategy at Te Waihanga, the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, and one of the most prolific and readable writers on infrastructure economics in New Zealand. In his role, he leads the research agenda that informs how New Zealand governments make infrastructure decisions, including the 2026 report 'Foundations for Growth,' which examined how infrastructure investment can increase national productivity.

In April 2026, Nunns published commentary arguing that improving productivity is not about spending more but investing carefully and strategically, making sure every dollar invested in infrastructure works as hard as possible for New Zealand's future. He also led research into NZ infrastructure delivery costs, benchmarking them against comparable high-income countries and identifying where New Zealand is paying more than it should for the same outcomes.

8. Ben van Deventer PhD CPEng

Ben van Deventer is the Director of Industry Policy at Infrastructure Australia, the Commonwealth Government's independent infrastructure adviser, where he leads research and advocacy on digital transformation, productivity, and innovation in the infrastructure sector. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer with a doctorate and has been a regular speaker at Engineers Australia's Thought Leader Series. Infrastructure Australia's 2025 Infrastructure Market Capacity Report, developed under his research leadership, provides the annual evidence base that governments use to understand workforce demand, materials capacity, and delivery feasibility across the national pipeline.

Van Deventer has spoken publicly about the power of data and digital tools in driving productivity and sustainability in infrastructure planning and risk mitigation, arguing that the sector's shift toward evidence-based planning requires not just better technology but better capability in interpreting and acting on infrastructure data.

9. Dr Alan Bollard

Dr Alan Bollard is the Chair of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, a role that places him at the apex of New Zealand's independent infrastructure advice function. He brings one of the most distinguished careers in New Zealand economics and public policy to the role, having previously served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 2002 to 2012, Secretary to the Treasury, and CEO of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat.

Bollard delivered the keynote at Te Waihanga's 2024 Looking Ahead Infrastructure Symposium in Queenstown, addressing long-term infrastructure funding and investment challenges. His contribution to the infrastructure conversation in New Zealand is less about operational engineering and more about the macroeconomic and governance frameworks that determine what infrastructure investment New Zealand can sustainably make.

Category Three: Transport, Mobility, and Urban Infrastructure

Transport infrastructure is one of the largest and most visible categories of infrastructure spending in both Australia and New Zealand. From urban rail to motorway networks, from airport expansion to active transport, the people in this category are shaping how cities and regions move.

10. Dr Miranda Blogg

Dr Miranda Blogg is the Director of Safer Roads at the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, where she oversees targeted road safety program development and delivery in partnership with state and local jurisdictions. She received the ITS Australia Woman of the Year award in 2025, recognising her contributions to intelligent transport systems and road safety over more than 25 years as a civil engineer in both private and public sectors. Her expertise spans transport planning, delivery, operations, and research, and she has been a speaker at the Transport Conference hosted by Engineers Australia in 2026.

Blogg has championed a data-driven approach to road safety, integrating intelligent transport system thinking with traditional road safety engineering. Her work demonstrates that the most impactful infrastructure outcomes require sustained, evidence-based program delivery rather than one-off capital investment.

11. Natalya Boujenko

Natalya Boujenko is a founding Director at Intermethod, a transport and urban planning consultancy, and brings professional and academic experience spanning Australia and the United Kingdom. She has been a speaker at the Transport Conference 2026 hosted by Engineers Australia and is recognised as a practitioner who bridges the gap between transport infrastructure planning, community engagement, and the design of streets and public spaces that serve people rather than just vehicles.

Her work addresses one of the most contested and consequential areas of urban infrastructure: how cities design streets and public spaces that balance vehicle movement, pedestrian safety, active transport, and liveability. As Australian and New Zealand cities face growing pressure on urban mobility, the thinking of practitioners like Boujenko who bring both technical rigour and community-centred design principles to transport planning is increasingly relevant.

12. Ben Ryan

Ben Ryan is the Executive Project Director for the Metro Tunnel Project at VIDA Metro, formerly Rail Projects Victoria, where he has led one of the most complex and consequential urban rail projects in Australia's history. The Metro Tunnel Project consists of twin nine-kilometre tunnels and five new stations. When it opened in late 2025, it represented the biggest change to Victoria's rail network since the opening of the City Loop in 1981.

Ryan brings more than 22 years of experience in project management and rail construction management. His collaborative, authentic, and transparent leadership approach has been noted in industry profiling as a distinguishing characteristic of his delivery style on a project of this scale and complexity. The Metro Tunnel Project under his direction has set a new benchmark for urban rail delivery in Australia.

13. Priscilla Radice

Priscilla Radice is the CEO of the Victorian Hospitals Building Authority, a role she commenced in February 2025 after serving as Deputy Director General of Health Infrastructure Queensland. She is a trusted leader with more than 25 years of experience leading delivery and reform across diverse infrastructure sectors throughout Australasia, including previous roles as CEO of the Infrastructure Association of Queensland, Principal Transport and Resources Australasia at Arup, and Head of Strategic Projects at Port of Brisbane.

Radice is one of the most experienced social infrastructure delivery leaders in the country, with a particular focus on ensuring that infrastructure delivers genuine community outcomes. Her transition from Queensland transport and port infrastructure to Victorian health infrastructure delivery demonstrates the breadth of her expertise across infrastructure sectors.

Category Four: Energy and Utilities Infrastructure

The energy transition is reshaping infrastructure investment priorities across both Australia and New Zealand. Renewable energy zones, transmission infrastructure, hydrogen pilots, and grid stability programs are among the largest and most complex infrastructure challenges either nation has faced.

14. Gavin Mooney

Gavin Mooney is the General Manager of Kaluza in Australia, a technology platform company focused on the energy transition, where he brings more than 20 years of experience in technology for utilities. He is an active LinkedIn voice on the energy transition, renewable energy infrastructure, and the role of smart technology in grid management, with posts regularly addressing South Australia's transition toward 100 per cent net renewables and the rapid growth of renewable energy infrastructure.

Mooney's contribution to the energy infrastructure conversation sits at the intersection of technology, utilities management, and energy policy, addressing how smart software platforms can enable more efficient integration of renewable generation into existing grid infrastructure.

15. Kennie Tsui CNZM

Kennie Tsui is a chemical and environmental engineer who serves as Chief Executive of the New Zealand Geothermal Association and has been Deputy President of Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau. She received a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2025 New Year Honours List for services to the environment and governance, and was previously awarded the Fulton-Downer Gold Medal for leadership in the engineering industry in 2020.

Tsui is the first Asian female professional engineer to serve at the governance level of Engineering New Zealand over the organisation's 110-year history, a distinction she has described as a privilege and a responsibility. Her work across geothermal energy, climate change, and engineering governance makes her one of the most rounded voices on energy infrastructure in New Zealand.

16. Susan Kreemer Pickford FIEAust CPEng EngExec

Susan Kreemer Pickford is a Principal Engineer at Engineers Australia, based in Perth, where she advocates for engineers nationally with particular expertise in the intersection of nature-positive design, disaster risk reduction, and infrastructure resilience. She transitioned in 2025 from a decade as Western Australia Division General Manager to her current national role focused on professional standards and engineering practice.

In August 2025, she published commentary in Engineers Australia's 'create' magazine on shockproofing Australia's infrastructure against future threats, arguing that embedding nature in how engineers reduce risk and build resilience offers a clear path forward, blending ecological restoration with disaster mitigation to create systems that regenerate through disruption rather than simply withstanding it.

17. Lucia Cade FIEAust

Lucia Cade is an experienced non-executive director with professional engineering and commercial experience across private, listed, and government sectors in Australia and New Zealand. She currently serves as an independent director of Infrastructure Victoria and as a director of Engineers Australia, and holds chair and director roles at Paintback, Methodist Ladies College, and Future Fuels CRC. She holds both a Bachelor and Masters of Engineering from Monash University.

Cade's expertise spans utilities, manufacturing, waste recycling, energy research, and infrastructure investment. Her role on the Infrastructure Victoria board places her in governance of the state-level body responsible for providing independent infrastructure advice to the Victorian Government on its long-term infrastructure needs.

Category Five: Water, Environmental, and Resilient Infrastructure

Water infrastructure is one of the most critical and underappreciated infrastructure sectors in both countries. From drinking water to flood mitigation, from stormwater to wastewater, the people in this category are working on infrastructure that directly determines the quality and safety of everyday life.

18. Cheryl Desha FIEAust

Cheryl Desha is a Professor in the School of Engineering and Built Environment at Griffith University, Director of the N79 Disaster and Resilience Management Facility, and Theme Leader for the Cities Research Institute's Digital Earth and Resilient Infrastructure research agenda. She has been awarded Engineers Australia's Queensland Professional Engineer of the Year and received the Queensland Government's Individual Champion of Change Award in 2020. She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Chartered Engineer with more than 5,000 academic citations.

Desha was the keynote speaker at Engineers Australia's Climate Smart Engineering Conference 2025 in Adelaide, where she presented research on how studying how ecosystems adapt to stress and recover from disturbance can uncover design principles to revolutionise infrastructure, urban planning, and hazard mitigation. Her argument that engineering must look to biological resilience as a design model for infrastructure is among the most interesting reframings of resilient infrastructure design in a climate-changed world.

19. Therese Flapper FTSE

Therese Flapper is an Australian environmental engineer who was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2023. She has worked across infrastructure sectors including water, roads, waste, energy, and buildings, and served as past president of Engineers Australia Canberra. Her career has spanned environmental engineering practice across multiple infrastructure sectors, and she has been an active voice on the intersection of water security, land care, and engineering practice.

Flapper's fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technology and Science reflects the depth of her contribution to environmental engineering practice in Australia. Her background in multiple infrastructure sectors gives her a systems-level perspective on infrastructure sustainability that is rare among practitioners focused on single disciplines.

20. Rebekah Brown

Rebekah Brown is an Australian academic and Interim Vice-Chancellor and President of the Australian National University, a role she has held since September 2025. She holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with honours from Monash University and has built her academic career around urban water management, sustainable development, water-sensitive cities, and transdisciplinary research. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Brown's work on water-sensitive urban design has made her one of the most cited researchers in the field of urban water management. Her elevation to the role of Vice-Chancellor at ANU in 2025 gives her a platform to advocate for integrated, sustainable infrastructure thinking at the highest level of Australian university leadership.

21. Richard Fenwick

Richard Fenwick is an Adjunct Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Canterbury and one of New Zealand's most respected structural engineers, particularly in the area of seismic engineering. He is a long-standing member of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering and an Honorary Life Member of the New Zealand Concrete Society. He served as one of three commissioners on the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Fenwick has received multiple awards for his published work in structural engineering, including the NZSEE Otto Glogau Award and the IPENZ Freyssinet Award. His work on the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission produced findings that directly shaped how New Zealand designs, constructs, and regulates structures for seismic performance.

Category Six: Digital Engineering, Innovation, and Technology Infrastructure

The digitalisation of engineering practice is transforming how infrastructure is planned, built, and managed. From digital twins to AI-assisted design, from Building Information Modelling to smart infrastructure management systems, the intersection of technology and engineering is creating new leadership conversations.

22. Dr Raj Aseervatham FIEAust CPEng EngExec

Dr Raj Aseervatham is the National President and Board Chair of Engineers Australia, a civil and water infrastructure engineer by training who graduated from the University of Queensland and built a career as a water, tailings, and civil infrastructure engineer on mining developments before transitioning to national professional leadership. As National President, he provides governance leadership to the peak body representing more than 140,000 Australian engineers.

Aseervatham has been a consistent public voice in 2025 and 2026 on the need for Australia to rebuild confidence in mathematics education to address the long-term engineering pipeline challenge, describing declining enrolments in maths as not just an education issue but a workforce and productivity issue requiring coordinated national action.

23. Ben Schnitzerling

Ben Schnitzerling is the Co-founder and Director of Red Fox Advisory, an engineering consultancy he founded in Brisbane in 2019 that has grown to more than 40 engineers and specialists across Queensland and Western Australia. Previously Regional Director at Arup, he brings decades of experience leading complex infrastructure projects in civil, structural, bridge, and geotechnical engineering.

In March 2025, Schnitzerling published commentary in Engineers Australia's 'create' magazine arguing that Australia needs to get back to having a risk appetite in infrastructure design, acknowledging manageable risks today for cost and carbon savings while leaving room for future adaptations. He described context-sensitive, scalable design as both sustainable and responsible infrastructure planning.

24. Brendan Thomas

Brendan Thomas is the Co-founder and Director of NGNU, a company that provides corporate property services including project management, property consulting, and procurement, with a central mission to create industry pathways for First Nations people in the engineering and construction sector. A proud Dharug man with more than 20 years of experience in property and construction, including senior roles at Lendlease and CBA, he founded NGNU to champion culturally intelligent project delivery.

In a 2026 webinar on Australia's mega infrastructure projects, Thomas argued that aligning project methodology with First Nations frameworks is not about meeting a compliance requirement but about designing infrastructure that genuinely works for communities, country, and future generations. He emphasised that engineers are increasingly expected to co-design, engage early, and understand place-based impacts well before design milestones.

25. Emily Afoa

Emily Afoa is the Director of Tektus, an engineering consultancy in New Zealand, and was one of four panellists in the 2025-26 ACE New Zealand and Projectworks webinar on how engineering firms are navigating commercial and operational challenges in the current market. She brings direct experience of what it means to lead an independent engineering consultancy in New Zealand's current environment, where pipeline uncertainty, margins pressure, and workforce capability gaps are defining the leadership conversation.

Afoa represents a generation of mid-tier engineering firm leaders in New Zealand who are building businesses in a challenging environment and whose insights on commercial discipline, values-based decision-making, and sustainable firm growth offer a practitioner perspective that is often absent from the policy-level conversation about engineering and infrastructure.

Category Seven: Structural, Geotechnical, and Complex Project Engineering

The people in this category are at the coalface of engineering delivery. They lead complex projects, set technical standards, and make the decisions that determine whether structures are safe, efficient, and durable.

26. Dr Andrew Harris

Dr Andrew Harris is a structural engineer, academic, and business leader who co-founded a multidisciplinary engineering firm employing more than 55 staff across three states. He was recognised among the finalists at Engineers Australia's 2025 Excellence Awards for his contribution to the profession, and received his ICE Fellowship at the Institution of Civil Engineers Australasia Conference. His combination of academic research, engineering practice, and business leadership makes him one of the most complete structural engineering voices in Australia.

Harris has been active in advocating for the importance of structural engineering education and mentoring for early career engineers. His co-founding of a multidisciplinary firm demonstrates the entrepreneurial dimension of engineering leadership that is often underrepresented in discussions dominated by large global consultancy voices.

27. Kristina de Ambrosis

Kristina de Ambrosis is the Head of Business Systems Assurance for ACCIONA Australia and New Zealand's infrastructure business, where she leads an elevated focus on the management system governing the way ACCIONA captures, communicates, and continuously assesses compliance across the organisation's ways of working. She brings almost 30 years of diverse experience in civil construction, including roles as site engineer, project engineer, and quality and completion manager in the delivery of bridges, roads, and tunnels.

De Ambrosis joined ACCIONA in 2022 as the HSEQC Director for the Sydney Metro West Central Tunnelling Project, where her exceptional leadership was a key contributor to the project's successful delivery. Her advocacy for quality systems and cultural accountability in large-scale infrastructure projects makes her a distinctive voice on what rigorous delivery actually looks like.

28. Upuli Basnayake

Upuli Basnayake is the Senior Manager for Governance and Controls at Transport for NSW, where she leads a high-performing team driving portfolio governance and championing risk-informed decision-making to achieve integrated transport outcomes. She brings 18 years of experience in delivering complex brownfield infrastructure projects across Sydney's rail and public transport networks, progressing from project engineer to senior program manager.

Basnayake was a speaker at the Women in Engineering Summit 2025 and holds a Master of Engineering in Energy Systems from the University of NSW. Her career demonstrates the importance of building governance and controls capability within large infrastructure organisations, the often invisible work that determines whether mega-projects stay on track and within cost.

Category Eight: Construction Delivery and Project Leadership

Infrastructure is ultimately built by people. The leaders in this category are delivering the projects that make the other categories' policy and planning conversations real.

29. Mike Read

Mike Read is the CEO and Managing Director of Icon, one of Australia and New Zealand's largest construction firms with annual revenue in excess of $1.7 billion. Backed by Japan's Kajima Corporation, Icon operates across commercial, social infrastructure, and residential sectors, with a strong presence across both countries. Read has been particularly focused on digital delivery and modern site practices that can be applied consistently across both the Australian and New Zealand markets.

His leadership of a trans-Tasman construction business at this scale gives him one of the broadest operational views of infrastructure delivery challenges in the region, from workforce capacity to supply chain management to digital adoption on site.

30. Cathal O'Rourke

Cathal O'Rourke is the Group CEO of Laing O'Rourke, a multinational construction company with a strong Australian presence and a sharp emphasis on engineering excellence and digital innovation. Laing O'Rourke has been at the forefront of prefabrication, digital engineering, and offsite construction methodology in Australia, and O'Rourke's leadership has maintained this focus as a competitive differentiator in major infrastructure tendering.

O'Rourke's public commentary has emphasised the role of manufacturing thinking and digital engineering in transforming construction productivity, directly aligned with the broader sector conversation about what modern infrastructure delivery looks like at scale.

31. Tony Sukkar AM

Tony Sukkar is the Group Managing Director and Co-Founder of Buildcorp, one of Australia's most trusted private commercial builders and a visible leader in construction industry advocacy and philanthropy. He is an active voice on the role of purpose, culture, and values in construction business leadership, and his combination of commercial success and community contribution has made him one of the most distinctive figures in the Australian construction sector.

Sukkar's leadership of Buildcorp over decades, and the company's reputation for quality delivery and cultural strength, represents an important counterpoint to the project-by-project thinking that dominates much of the construction sector.

Category Nine: Advocacy, Diversity, and the Future Workforce

Engineering and infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand face a structural workforce crisis. The people in this category are doing the most important long-term work on the sector: reshaping who becomes an engineer, who stays in the profession, and what the engineering workforce of the next generation will look like.

32. Bernadette Foley FIEAust CPEng EngExec

Bernadette Foley is the Group Executive of Professional Standards and Engineering Practice at Engineers Australia, a role she has held since December 2024. She is a civil engineer with more than 30 years of experience across industry and education in Australia and the United Kingdom, and has previously served as Head of Accreditation and General Manager of Professional Standards at Engineers Australia.

Foley's work is focused on the frameworks that govern engineering professional standards, accreditation, and education in Australia. In a period when the engineering pipeline is under pressure and the skills shortage is acute, the quality and relevance of engineering accreditation and professional standards frameworks has direct economic consequence.

33. Neda Yousefian

Neda Yousefian is a Senior Program and Project Controls Lead at AECOM in NSW and ACT with more than 20 years of expertise in scheduling, cost management, risk, and earned value analysis. She has played a key role in major infrastructure and government projects, driving efficiency and delivery confidence. She is a passionate advocate for women's advancement in engineering and actively contributes to industry events and volunteer initiatives.

Yousefian was recognised in Favikon's Top 20 Project Managers in Australia 2025 list for her combination of technical expertise and public advocacy for gender diversity in engineering. Her work in project controls addresses one of the most persistent capability gaps in Australian infrastructure delivery.

34. Emily Robinson

Emily Robinson is the Executive Director of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISCA), the peak body for sustainability in infrastructure and construction across Australia and New Zealand, where she drives the adoption of sustainability ratings and practice improvement tools across the infrastructure sector. The IS Rating Scheme, which ISCA administers, provides the framework that infrastructure owners, designers, and constructors use to measure and improve sustainability performance across the asset lifecycle.

Robinson's leadership of ISCA places her at the centre of the integration of sustainability criteria into infrastructure procurement, delivery, and asset management. As governments increasingly embed sustainability requirements into infrastructure funding conditions, the frameworks ISCA develops are becoming standard elements of infrastructure practice.

35. Jan Evans-Freeman

Jan Evans-Freeman is the President of Engineering New Zealand, serving as the elected professional leader of the 22,000-member organisation. She brings more than 25 years of experience delivering complex infrastructure across Aotearoa and currently serves as Executive General Manager National Projects and Winning Work at HEB Construction. She is a Chartered Professional Engineer and has contributed to initiatives that build the future talent pipeline for the profession, including the Wonder Project.

Evans-Freeman's election as President of Engineering New Zealand and her active engagement with the organisation's governance, strategy, and member development initiatives reflects a leadership style grounded in both technical delivery and professional community building.

Category Ten: Academic and Research Leadership

The research that shapes the next generation of infrastructure knowledge comes from universities and research institutions. The people in this category are building the evidence base that future engineering practice will draw from.

36. Professor Carolyn Oldham

Professor Carolyn Oldham is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Western Australia and a leading researcher in water quality, wetland engineering, and urban water systems. She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and has served on the board of the Water Services Association of Australia. Her research addresses how engineered water systems and natural wetland systems interact, with direct implications for the design of urban water infrastructure in a climate-changing environment.

Oldham's research group at UWA has produced foundational work on the biogeochemistry of water systems and their implications for water infrastructure management. Her contribution to the evidence base for water-sensitive urban design gives her a distinctive research profile relevant to some of Australia's most pressing water infrastructure challenges.

37. Phil Laird OAM

Phil Laird OAM is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Wollongong's Faculty of Engineering and one of Australia's most persistent and knowledgeable advocates for rail and public transport infrastructure. A transport researcher and commentator who has contributed to public debate on Australian transport policy for decades, he has been a consistent voice for investment in passenger and freight rail as part of a sustainable national transport infrastructure strategy.

Laird's rail advocacy combines technical knowledge with policy engagement and public communication, making him one of the most accessible voices on Australian transport infrastructure for a general audience. His honorary fellowship at Wollongong reflects the academic recognition of his contribution to transport research and advocacy.

38. Professor Tim Broyd FREng FIStructE

Professor Tim Broyd is a Past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and a researcher at University College London whose work on the digital future of the construction industry has been delivered to Australian and New Zealand engineering audiences through ICE's Australasian engagement program. He opened the ICE Australasia Conference with a discussion of why civil engineers are 'Invisible Superheroes' and the importance of harnessing digital engineering for the built environment.

Broyd's engagement with the Australasian engineering community through the ICE Australia and New Zealand network makes him a relevant voice for ANZ audiences on the future of digital engineering and infrastructure delivery. His work on how data-rich digital assets differ from superficially impressive graphics addresses a critical capability gap in how Australian and New Zealand infrastructure projects handle digital engineering.

39. Louise Adams FTSE

Louise Adams is the CEO of Aurecon, one of Australia's largest management-owned engineering consultancies with approximately 7,500 staff across 31 locations including major ANZ operations. She became CEO effective July 2025 and is the first female CEO in Aurecon's history. A civil engineer with over 25 years of experience, she became the first woman to serve as an executive director on Aurecon's Global Board in 2013 and has been Aurecon's global spokesperson for Women in Leadership.

In 2026, Aurecon was named one of the AFR BOSS Best Places to Work across Australia and New Zealand, receiving the Integrating Award for its culture. Adams has attributed this to deliberate culture work and the principle of designing work for people, not just performance. Her advocacy for gender and cultural diversity in engineering has been sustained throughout her career.

Category Eleven: Government and Public Sector Infrastructure Leadership

Governments are the largest infrastructure clients in both Australia and New Zealand. The public servants who lead infrastructure agencies and major project programs are among the most consequential people in the sector, even when their names are less publicly visible.

40. Rodd Staples

Rodd Staples has served as Secretary of Transport for NSW, one of Australia's largest state government transport agencies, and delivered the keynote address at the ICE Australasia Conference on the theme of 'Planning Infrastructure for Tomorrow's Generation.' His opening address at the conference explored the long-term planning frameworks that governments need to adopt to ensure infrastructure meets the needs of future populations rather than simply responding to present political cycles.

Staples' career in NSW transport infrastructure planning and delivery has given him a deep understanding of how government infrastructure decisions are made, sequenced, and funded, and the gaps between what communities need and what is actually delivered.

41. Sally Stannard

Sally Stannard has served as Acting Director-General of Queensland's Department of Transport and Main Roads, leading a department with an annual budget of $12 billion including $4.2 billion in capital expenditure and managed assets in excess of $106 billion. As the acting head of Australia's largest state transport department by budget, she provides operational leadership for Queensland's road, rail, maritime, and transport infrastructure programs during a period of significant investment aligned with the 2032 Brisbane Olympics pipeline.

The scale of TMR's asset portfolio and capital program under Stannard's leadership is a measure of the operational complexity involved. Leading a department of this scale requires integrating technical engineering expertise with financial management, community engagement, political interface, and workforce development.

42. Chris Bishop

Chris Bishop is the Minister for Infrastructure in the New Zealand Government, a role he has held since November 2023, and one of the most influential figures determining what infrastructure gets built in New Zealand over the coming decade. His commitment to working across political parties on the National Infrastructure Plan and his fast-track approvals program have made him one of the most interventionist infrastructure ministers New Zealand has had in recent memory.

Bishop's public commentary in 2025 and 2026 on the need for New Zealand to move from 'ribbon cutting' to renewals, to adopt evidence-based long-term infrastructure investment, and to create a stable pipeline that survives changes of government reflects an ambition to reshape how New Zealand thinks about infrastructure permanence.

Category Twelve: Trans-Tasman and Global Engineering Voices with ANZ Influence

Some of the most important voices shaping engineering and infrastructure thinking in Australia and New Zealand operate from international platforms or hold trans-Tasman roles that give them visibility across both markets.

43. Mark Orttung

Mark Orttung is the CEO of Projectworks, an engineering project management software platform used by hundreds of engineering firms across Australia and New Zealand. He co-hosted the 2025-26 'Road Ahead for Australia's Engineers' webinar and the 'Navigating 2025-26' webinar for New Zealand engineering leaders, producing public research including the 'Built For Growth: Engineering in New Zealand' report endorsed by ACE New Zealand.

Orttung's analytical perspective on engineering firm performance and what separates firms that grow through difficult markets from those that struggle offers a data-driven lens on engineering leadership that is distinct from the policy and advocacy perspectives that dominate most industry commentary.

44. Dr Caralee McLiesh

Dr Caralee McLiesh is the Secretary to the Treasury of New Zealand and was a panellist at Te Waihanga's 2024 Looking Ahead Infrastructure Symposium, where she addressed how New Zealand funds and finances its infrastructure needs. Her role as the head of the New Zealand Treasury places her at the centre of the fiscal and economic framework within which all New Zealand infrastructure investment decisions are made.

McLiesh's contribution to the infrastructure conversation operates through the lens of public finance, fiscal sustainability, and the economic frameworks that determine what infrastructure New Zealand can afford to build and maintain. Her leadership of the Treasury in a period of fiscal constraint and growing infrastructure need makes her one of the most consequential figures in the sector.

45. Andy Lind

Andy Lind is the Director of ENGCO, an engineering consultancy in New Zealand, and was a panellist in the 2025-26 ACE New Zealand and Projectworks webinar on how engineering firms are navigating the current commercial environment. His direct perspective on running an independent engineering consultancy in New Zealand offers the kind of practitioner-level insight that is often missing from the industry conversation dominated by large firm CEOs.

Lind represents the many hundreds of small and medium engineering firms across New Zealand that collectively deliver a significant share of the country's infrastructure work. His participation in national industry forums as a firm director gives him a credibility and directness that complements the advocacy voices of peak body CEOs.

46. Steven Price

Steven Price is the Managing Director of Riley, an engineering consultancy in New Zealand, and was a panellist in the 2025-26 ACE New Zealand and Projectworks webinar. His perspective on steering an engineering firm through the challenging 2025 and early 2026 market conditions in New Zealand, including pressure on margins, a shifting pipeline, and the constant balance between cash position and team wellbeing, offers a ground-level view of what it means to lead an engineering business in a difficult environment.

Like Andy Lind, Price represents the independent mid-tier engineering firm sector in New Zealand. His participation in national conversations about how the sector is performing and what firm leaders are doing to maintain financial discipline while investing in capability is a valuable counterpoint to institutional voices.

47. Adrian Jones

Adrian Jones is the Regional Managing Director for Asia, New Zealand, and Australia at Mott MacDonald, one of the world's largest employee-owned engineering consultancies. He is based in Adelaide and holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Adelaide. In 2025, Mott MacDonald Australia generated total revenue of approximately $326.7 million across services spanning transport, water, energy, buildings, and environmental infrastructure.

Jones has overseen significant growth in Mott MacDonald's ANZ operations, including the expansion of the New Zealand business to over 250 staff in Auckland and the appointment of new sector leaders across transport and aviation in 2025. His leadership of a major global engineering consultancy at the regional level gives him a unique vantage point on how infrastructure delivery challenges are evolving across both countries.

48. James Kilty

James Kilty is the CEO of Transpower New Zealand, the state-owned enterprise responsible for the national electricity transmission grid, a role he commenced in February 2025 after three years as CEO of Powerco and nearly 20 years at Contact Energy in various roles including Deputy Chief Executive. Transpower owns and operates the high-voltage transmission grid that carries electricity from generators to local distribution networks across New Zealand, and as CEO Kilty sits at the centre of the country's energy infrastructure transition.

In releasing the 2025 Transmission Annual Planning Report, Kilty shared publicly that the next decade will be the most transformative yet for New Zealand's energy transition. He chairs the Electricity CEO Forum and serves as deputy chair of the Electricity Networks Association. His combination of energy sector operational experience and transmission grid leadership makes him one of the most relevant voices on the infrastructure challenge of New Zealand's energy transition.

49. Cameron Bagrie

Cameron Bagrie is an independent economist and commentator based in New Zealand and was a panellist at Te Waihanga's 2024 Looking Ahead Infrastructure Symposium, addressing the economic context for infrastructure investment. He is one of New Zealand's most respected and frequently cited economic commentators, with a background as Chief Economist at ANZ Bank New Zealand.

Bagrie's presence on infrastructure conference panels reflects the growing recognition that infrastructure investment decisions are fundamentally economic decisions, and that economists who can translate technical infrastructure data into economic consequence are valuable contributors to public understanding.

50. Shemara Wikramanayake

Shemara Wikramanayake is the CEO of Macquarie Group, one of the world's largest infrastructure asset managers and a globally dominant presence in Australian and New Zealand infrastructure finance. She appeared as a keynote at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia's Partnerships 2025 event, sharing her perspectives on major trends and opportunities across local and global infrastructure markets, including increasing investment through the energy transition and the growing digitisation of the AI age.

Wikramanayake represents the intersection of financial leadership and infrastructure investment at its highest level of influence. Macquarie's infrastructure fund management business is the largest of its kind globally, with assets across energy, transport, utilities, and communications in both Australia and New Zealand forming a core part of its portfolio.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

Several figures were seriously considered for this list but did not make the final 50. Brene Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek are household names in leadership whose work touches on the human dimensions of professional culture but whose contributions are not specific to engineering and infrastructure. Their exclusion reflects the list's focus on sector-specific voices rather than any judgement on their broader influence.

Mark Birrell, former Infrastructure Partnerships Australia founding chairman, has been enormously important in shaping the modern framework for Australian infrastructure policy but has transitioned primarily to governance roles rather than active public thought leadership. Several emerging voices in water and environmental engineering were identified during research but lacked sufficient public documentation to meet the source requirements for the list at this point in their careers. Several senior engineers at major global consultancies were identified but their public voice activity was limited compared to the mid-tier and peak body voices that made the final list.

Common Mistakes Leaders Make When Engaging with Engineering and Infrastructure Thought Leadership

The most common mistake that organisations make in engaging with the engineering and infrastructure thought leadership conversation is confusing procurement knowledge with strategic insight. Reading tender specifications and following project announcements is not the same thing as understanding the structural forces shaping infrastructure investment, workforce capability, and delivery reform. The people on this list are not primarily sources of procurement intelligence. They are thinkers whose work addresses the deeper questions about how infrastructure is planned, funded, built, and managed.

A second common mistake is treating the engineering and infrastructure conversation as a purely technical one. Many of the most important questions in the sector are not engineering questions at all. They are questions about governance, economics, workforce culture, procurement design, and community engagement. The leaders on this list who are having the biggest impact are often those who are most fluent in translating between technical engineering realities and the policy, economic, and social contexts that determine whether those realities are acted upon.

A third mistake is following global thought leadership while ignoring local voices. The engineering and infrastructure challenges facing Australia and New Zealand are shaped by specific geography, specific regulatory frameworks, specific economic conditions, and specific political traditions that global voices may not understand in depth. The voices on this list are valuable precisely because they are grounded in the realities of the ANZ context.

Organisations that build leadership cultures strong enough to execute on complex infrastructure programs need more than technical expertise. They need leaders who can have difficult conversations, build aligned teams, make clear decisions under pressure, and hold people accountable without destroying the relationships that make delivery possible.

To book Jonno White, bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold globally) and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, for a keynote or workshop on leadership culture and high-performing teams, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Implementation Guide: How to Engage with Engineering and Infrastructure Thought Leadership in ANZ

Building a genuine connection to thought leadership in engineering and infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand does not require following every voice on this list at the same level of depth. The most effective approach is to identify the two or three categories most relevant to your work, follow the relevant voices actively, and engage substantively with their ideas rather than simply consuming their content passively.

For government infrastructure agencies and public sector clients, the peak body CEOs and the government and public sector voices offer the most directly relevant strategic perspective. For engineering consultancies and contractors, the mid-tier practitioners and firm leaders offer the most useful commercial and operational insight. For academic and research institutions, the academic leadership voices and the policy and economics voices will be most directly aligned.

The most effective way to engage with this community is to bring something to the conversation rather than simply consuming it. Contributing to debate at industry conferences, publishing original thinking in sector publications, and engaging directly with the ideas that thought leaders are advancing builds the kind of professional reputation that opens doors in the engineering and infrastructure community.

One of the most significant shifts in how this thought leadership community operates is the move toward LinkedIn as a primary venue for professional discourse. Many of the voices on this list are most active and most interesting on LinkedIn, where the combination of their professional standing and the platform's reach means that substantive posts reach audiences that would previously have required conference presence or media coverage to access.

If your organisation is working through the leadership, communication, and team dynamics challenges that come with large infrastructure programs and engineering firm growth, Jonno White works with organisations across Australia and New Zealand on leadership development, Working Genius facilitation, and executive team alignment. Many organisations find that flying Jonno in is far more affordable than they expect, and his programme can be delivered virtually or face to face. Email jonno@consultclarity.org or visit consultclarity.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

How was this list compiled?

Every person on this list was selected on the basis of documented contribution to engineering and infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand, active public engagement in 2025 or 2026, and a deliberate commitment to disciplinary, geographic, and demographic diversity. The list moves past the most prominent institutional names to include mid-career practitioners, academics, advocates, and organisational leaders across both countries.

Who are the most influential engineering and infrastructure thought leaders in Australia?

This is a genuinely difficult question because influence in engineering and infrastructure operates through multiple channels simultaneously. Romilly Madew at Engineers Australia and Adrian Dwyer at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia are among the most consistently public and policy-influential voices in Australia. At the practitioner and mid-tier level, Ben Schnitzerling and Brendan Thomas offer distinctive perspectives. Cheryl Desha is among the most influential academic voices. The most relevant answer depends on which dimension of the conversation matters most to your work.

How is the engineering skills shortage affecting infrastructure delivery in Australia and New Zealand?

According to Engineers Australia's public commentary in 2025 and 2026, the engineering skills shortage has become a national economic issue in Australia, not just a workforce planning matter. Senior engineers are scarce, hiring timelines are longer, and the STEM pipeline is not producing enough graduates to meet demand. In New Zealand, Engineering New Zealand CEO Dr Richard Templer warned in early 2025 that hundreds of engineers were leaving the country due to infrastructure delays.

What are the biggest infrastructure challenges facing Australia in 2026?

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia's research identifies productivity as the defining challenge. Their 2026 'Practical Productivity' publication identified 52 specific reform recommendations to improve infrastructure delivery performance. Energy transition infrastructure, including transmission and renewable energy zones, is a particularly demanding segment given its scale and complexity.

What is the infrastructure outlook for New Zealand in 2026?

Te Waihanga's National Infrastructure Plan delivered to government in late 2025 identified decades of underinvestment in renewals and maintenance as New Zealand's most pressing infrastructure challenge. General Manager of Strategy Peter Nunns described the opportunity in April 2026 as getting more value from existing assets, not simply building new ones. The government's fast-track approvals program and increased investment commitments in hospitals and school infrastructure represent the most significant near-term signals of changed direction.

Can I hire someone to facilitate leadership workshops for my engineering or infrastructure team?

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author, and leadership consultant who works with engineering firms, infrastructure organisations, and project teams across Australia and New Zealand. His facilitation and keynote work covers leadership culture, team dynamics, difficult conversations, and high-performance team building. International travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to start a conversation.

How is digital engineering changing infrastructure delivery in ANZ?

According to commentary from Infrastructure Australia's Ben van Deventer and ICE past president Professor Tim Broyd, digital engineering is transforming how infrastructure is planned, designed, and managed, but the sector's adoption is uneven. The distinction between data-rich digital assets and visually impressive but data-thin digital models is becoming a critical capability question in procurement and delivery.

Final Thoughts

The 50 voices on this list represent a cross-section of the engineering and infrastructure community in Australia and New Zealand that is more diverse, more creative, and more publicly engaged than casual observers of the sector might expect. The conversation about how both countries build and maintain their infrastructure has never been more consequential, and the people leading that conversation are doing so with a level of rigour and public directness that reflects the urgency of the moment.

The engineering skills shortage, the energy transition, the backlog of infrastructure renewals, the productivity challenge, and the need to build infrastructure that reflects the values of all communities, including First Nations communities, are not issues that will resolve themselves. They require sustained attention, genuine leadership, and the kind of honest, evidence-based thinking that the voices on this list consistently bring to public discourse.

If your organisation is navigating the leadership dimension of these challenges, whether that is building leadership culture in engineering firms, developing executive teams in infrastructure organisations, or facilitating strategic alignment in project delivery environments, Jonno White works with organisations across Australia, New Zealand, and globally. He is the bestselling author of Step Up or Step Out.

Get your copy: Step Up or Step Out on Amazon. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, bestselling author, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 230+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected.

To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Next Read

If you found this guide useful, you may also find value in the Consult Clarity blog on best thought leaders in commercial building construction in Australia and New Zealand, which covers the delivery side of the built environment in depth. Another relevant read is the guide to thought leaders in finance and accounting in ANZ.

Keep reading: consultclarity.org/news-updates