50 Influential Leaders on the Gold Coast, Queensland (2026)

Last updated: June 2026

Australia's sixth-largest city is home to a community of leaders building organisations, driving discovery, shaping culture, and serving the public in ways that earn genuine recognition well beyond the city's borders. As of June 2026, the Gold Coast has a population approaching 700,000, a visitor economy valued at $8.9 billion, and a growing reputation as a destination for biomedical research, space technology, elite sport, and higher education. The leaders below reflect that breadth.

I put together this list to surface the people genuinely shaping the Gold Coast in 2026, across business, health, education, technology, the arts, sport, and community leadership. Each person was selected on the basis of a documented, fact-checked contribution to their field, from recognised credentials and senior roles to published work, external awards, and sustained community impact. The Gold Coast has produced and attracted leaders at every level of public life, and this list tries to represent that range honestly.

This is not a list of the most social-media-visible people in Queensland. Several of the leaders here hold quiet, consequential roles in research precincts, community organisations, and public institutions. What they share is a verifiable contribution to the Gold Coast and to fields that matter. As of June 2026, each person included here is active in the role or contribution for which they appear.

Jonno White works with schools, corporates, and nonprofits as a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, keynote speaker, and author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold). If the leaders on this list are exactly the kind of people your organisation needs to develop, book Jonno at jonno@consultclarity.org to run a Working Genius workshop, executive offsite, or leadership development session for your team.

Why Leadership on the Gold Coast Matters

The Gold Coast is frequently discussed as a tourism and property market, but the city's leadership ecosystem tells a more complex story. Griffith University's Gold Coast campus has more than 40,000 students and anchors the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct, which has attracted more than $5.9 billion in infrastructure investment and sits at the centre of one of Australia's most active biomedical research precincts. Bond University, Australia's only private not-for-profit research university, operates from its Robina campus and consistently performs above its size in international rankings.

The city's business community generated what Business News Australia reported as the highest combined profit of any city in the 2025 Young Entrepreneur initiative, reflecting a density of founder activity that is disproportionate to the Gold Coast's population. The space technology sector is emerging, anchored by Gilmour Space Technologies, which reached unicorn status with its January 2026 Series E funding round of $217 million and launched Australia's first privately built orbital rocket in July 2025. The arts are anchored by HOTA, Home of the Arts, a $60 million cultural precinct opened in 2021 that draws national and international exhibitions to Surfers Paradise. And the Gold Coast will co-host eleven sports and a satellite Games Village for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a role that is already reshaping the city's leadership priorities across sport, infrastructure, and event management.

Against this backdrop, the leaders on this list are doing work that will define how the Gold Coast positions itself over the next decade.

How This List Was Compiled

Each leader on this list was selected for a documented, fact-checked contribution to the Gold Coast and to their field, from published work, recognised credentials, and sustained leadership in senior roles to external awards, research outcomes, and community impact. Current incumbency was verified for every person included. The list covers business and entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, healthcare and research, education and academia, community and inclusion, arts and culture, sport and advocacy, and civic and government leadership.

Business and Entrepreneurship

1. Sam Gordon

Sam Gordon is the Founder and CEO of Australian Property Scout, a Gold Coast-based buyers agency that Business News Australia has described as one of Australia's most profitable property businesses. Gordon won the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in both 2024 and 2025, and was named Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2025, the first Gold Coast-based entrepreneur to claim that national title since 2018. His agency runs alongside a property education platform, School of Property, and the Scouting Australia Podcast, which functions as a lead generation engine for the broader business. In January 2026, he was named Industry Thought Leader of the Year at an additional industry awards event.

His team grew by more than 60 per cent in 2025 as demand for buyers agency services strengthened. Gordon recently expanded into commercial property through a new division within Australian Property Scout, which he has described as a strategic extension of the agency's investment research capability. His public profile is built on documented property portfolio performance, transparent client outcomes, and a willingness to engage in detailed debate on property investment strategy through the podcast and LinkedIn.

2. Adam Houlahan

Adam Houlahan is the Co-Founder of Prominence Global, a Gold Coast-based LinkedIn strategy agency that was named Australia's most Innovative Social Media Marketing Agency for 2024 in the Australian Enterprise Awards by APAC Insider. He is a LinkedIn Top Voice, an international keynote speaker, and the author of four books on LinkedIn strategy, including The LinkedIn Playbook and Influencer, all of which reached bestselling status on Amazon. Houlahan hosts what Prominence Global describes as the world's largest free online LinkedIn training event, which drew more than 15,000 registrations in 2024.

His LinkedIn content is focused on organic lead generation, profile optimisation, and the practical mechanics of building authority on the platform. He has spent more than twelve years working with B2B service businesses across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America, and his consulting work is grounded in the practical realities of how the LinkedIn algorithm distributes content in 2025 and 2026. He co-hosts the Who Viewed My Profile podcast and serves as a Non-Executive Director for a number of companies.

3. Maxine Horne

Maxine Horne built Vita Group from a single Fone Zone retail store at the Gold Coast's Pacific Fair shopping centre in 1995 into a publicly listed company with more than 2,500 staff and annual revenue exceeding $875 million at its peak. She was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame and has won multiple national business awards, including EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014 and Courier-Mail Business Person of the Year in 2019. Following the sale of Vita's Telstra stores for $110 million in 2021 and the winding down of its remaining subsidiaries, she stepped back from executive life before joining Channel 10's Shark Tank Australia in 2024 and appearing again in 2025.

Her Shark Tank role has introduced her founding story and direct, practical business philosophy to a national prime-time audience. She continues to work as a keynote speaker, mentor, and investor, with a focus on the practical mechanics of scaling a retail business through operational discipline, people-first culture, and customer obsession. Her trajectory from a single Gold Coast store to a public company and now to national media figure represents one of the more complete entrepreneurial journeys in Queensland business history.

4. Dr Glen Richards

Dr Glen Richards is the founder of Greencross, the pet care and veterinary business he built from a single practice in Townsville into Australia's largest integrated pet care company before its acquisition by TPG Capital for $675 million in 2019. He now operates as a professional investor, mentor, and company director through The Richards Group, with current board and chairmanship roles across companies in the allied health and investment sectors. He joined Shark Tank Australia as a judge alongside Maxine Horne and others, and serves as a judge for the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards. In 2024, he became chairman of Arbor Permanent Owners, a Brisbane-based serial acquirer adopting a buy-and-hold strategy for profitable private businesses.

His investment philosophy is grounded in decades of operational experience scaling a business through multiple capital structures, from private ownership through ASX listing and ultimate private equity exit. His current focus on health and allied health businesses reflects the same market knowledge that drove Greencross's expansion.

5. Camilla Westerlund

Camilla Westerlund is the Founder of Business News Australia, the national business publication covering entrepreneurship, growth companies, capital markets, and emerging sectors. She is based on the Gold Coast and built Business News Australia into a significant national platform with strong Queensland roots. She serves as a judge on the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards panel, bringing a national editorial perspective to local founder evaluation. Her work over more than a decade covers every major Gold Coast and Queensland business story from early-stage startups to major capital raises and acquisitions.

6. Brad Moran

Brad Moran is the co-founder of CitrusAd, a retail media platform that he and his partners built on the Gold Coast into a globally significant advertising technology business before its acquisition by Publicis Groupe in 2021. He subsequently founded Rocket Advisory Partners, a Gold Coast-based advisory firm supporting founders and growth-stage businesses through commercialisation and strategic development. He judges the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards and maintains an active presence across the founder community as a mentor and investor.

7. Alexander Jannink

Alexander Jannink is the co-founder of Acusensus, a Gold Coast-based technology company building AI-powered road safety enforcement systems. Acusensus technology has been deployed by government road safety agencies across multiple Australian jurisdictions, as well as internationally, to detect illegal mobile phone use and other dangerous driving behaviours at scale. Jannink serves as a judge on the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards panel, placing him alongside the city's most experienced entrepreneurial voices. Acusensus represents one of the clearest examples of technology with Gold Coast origins achieving genuine international market penetration.

8. Renee Tocco

Renee Tocco is the Founder of Loanezi, a Gold Coast-based mortgage brokerage that she has grown into a business with a strong community following in southeast Queensland. She serves as a judge on the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards panel. Her work is focused on making mortgage broking accessible to a broader range of clients, particularly first-home buyers and investors navigating a complex lending environment.

9. Andrew Barnes

Andrew Barnes is the co-founder of GO1, one of Australia's most significant enterprise learning platforms. GO1 is headquartered in Brisbane but has close Gold Coast connections through its Queensland founding team. Barnes serves as a judge on the Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards panel. GO1 has raised significant international capital and has expanded its content library and platform capabilities substantially over the 2024 to 2026 period, with a focus on integrating AI-driven learning recommendations.

10. Brendon Sinclair

Brendon Sinclair is the CEO of Tailored Media, a Gold Coast-based marketing and advertising agency he has led for two decades. He is a keynote speaker on marketing, leadership, and team culture, drawing on operational experience managing national brands and public company marketing programs from the Gold Coast. He has built an audience through an ABC radio segment on marketing and a newsletter that at its peak reached 250,000 subscribers. His speaking work spans corporate conferences and university engagements across Australia.

Technology and Innovation

11. Adam Gilmour

Adam Gilmour is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gilmour Space Technologies, founded on the Gold Coast in 2013. In January 2026, the company secured $217 million in Series E funding from investors including the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, Hostplus, Future Fund, Blackbird, and QIC, reaching a valuation of more than $1 billion and becoming Australia's first space technology unicorn. The funding followed the July 2025 launch of the Eris orbital rocket at Bowen Orbital Spaceport in Queensland, the first launch attempt of an Australian-designed and built orbital rocket from Australian soil. The company is building an end-to-end sovereign space capability spanning rocket design, manufacture, testing, and launch, and its workforce now exceeds 220 people.

Gilmour has consistently argued that Australia has the engineering talent and policy conditions to become a significant player in the global small satellite launch market. His public commentary on space industry development in Australia is grounded in the operational experience of building a company that has raised more capital than any other private space company in Australian history.

12. David Rudduck

David Rudduck is a Gold Coast-based technology strategist and business advisor with a focus on AI adoption for enterprise organisations. His LinkedIn content in 2025 and 2026 has addressed how Australian business leaders should respond to rapid developments in AI capability, including the commercial implications of emerging AI systems. He works with CEOs and board members on technology strategy and has built an engaged professional audience through consistent original content on the platform.

13. Mark Girard

Mark Girard is the CEO of Invest Gold Coast, the city's economic development and investment attraction entity. His role is to attract capital, business investment, and major employers to the Gold Coast economy, operating at the intersection of private sector growth and public sector strategy. Invest Gold Coast operates as a key interface between the City of Gold Coast Council and the private investment community.

14. Jeff McAlister

Jeff McAlister is the Chief Investment Officer at Invest Gold Coast, responsible for translating the city's economic development strategy into specific investment propositions for national and international capital. He has a background in tourism and economic development and was featured as a panellist at the YP Gold Coast City Leaders Forum. His work supports the broader agenda of diversifying the Gold Coast economy beyond its traditional tourism and construction base.

Healthcare and Research

15. Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM

Dinesh Palipana is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher. He works in the emergency department at Gold Coast University Hospital and holds a senior lecturer position at Griffith University, in addition to an adjunct research fellowship at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland. He was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate from medical school with quadriplegia in Australia. He completed an advanced clinical clerkship in radiology at Harvard Medical School, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019, and was named Queensland Australian of the Year in 2021. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia.

His advocacy is focused on making medicine and professional life more inclusive for people with disabilities. He has contributed to the work of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, and is recognised nationally as one of the most influential disability advocates working within the clinical sector.

16. Distinguished Professor Mark von Itzstein AO

Mark von Itzstein AO is a Distinguished Professor at Griffith University's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics on the Gold Coast. He is best known as the lead researcher behind the development of Relenza, one of the world's first rationally designed antiviral drugs for influenza, which has been approved for clinical use worldwide since 1999. He received the Australia Prize in 1996 and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019. He established the original Institute for Glycomics at Griffith's Gold Coast campus in 2000, creating the only biomedical research hub of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. In January 2026, his team published Phase II clinical trial outcomes for STC3141, a drug candidate for the treatment of sepsis.

His decision to establish the Institute on the Gold Coast in 2000 effectively seeded the biomedical innovation ecosystem that is now anchored by the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct. With more than 200 published papers and extensive patent work, his research record is among the most commercially consequential in Australian biomedical science.

17. Associate Professor Lara Herrero

Lara Herrero is an Associate Professor and Research Leader at Griffith University's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics. She leads research into mosquito-borne viral diseases, with a particular focus on Ross River virus and chikungunya virus. Her team developed a patented treatment strategy for viral arthritis that successfully completed Phase II clinical trials. She was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Science in the New Innovators category in 2023. She is one of Griffith University's most-read contributors to The Conversation, with more than 5.4 million article reads as of mid-2025.

Her combination of fundamental virology research, active science communication, and mentorship of early-career researchers makes her one of the most visible and consequential researchers on the Gold Coast.

18. Professor Evelin Tiralongo

Evelin Tiralongo is the Director of Griffith University's Clinical Trial Unit on the Gold Coast campus, a role she has held for more than a decade. The Clinical Trial Unit runs Phase I to Phase IV studies, supporting both investigator-led research and global pharmaceutical company trials. In 2025, the Unit had five technologies progressed to clinical trial. The Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct has named Tiralongo and her team as central to the precinct's translational research infrastructure.

19. Professor Paul Clarke

Paul Clarke is the Executive Director of Griffith University's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics. He leads a multidisciplinary research organisation focused on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for infectious diseases, cancers, and neurological conditions. The Institute is located at the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct.

20. Dr Laura Diamond

Laura Diamond is the Deputy Director of PRECISE, the Australian Centre for Precision Health and Technology at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. She won the Research category at the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards, and her work centres on the application of precision medicine and advanced diagnostic tools to improve health outcomes. PRECISE operates as a research and translation centre within the Health and Knowledge Precinct.

21. Tracey Doherty

Tracey Doherty is an Executive Director of Nursing at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, with more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in healthcare. Her commentary in 2025 addressed the challenges facing nurse leaders in complex health systems, including psychological safety, leadership capacity building, and the integration of diverse care models. The Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service is one of Queensland Health's major operational entities.

Education and Academia

22. Professor Carolyn Evans FASSA

Carolyn Evans has served as Vice Chancellor and President of Griffith University since February 2019. She was the first woman appointed to lead Griffith, a university with more than 40,000 students across campuses in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Logan. Under her leadership, Griffith has strengthened its research record, improved its international rankings, and secured the Treasury Building acquisition that will open as a Brisbane CBD campus in 2027. She is Chair of Universities Australia and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. In April 2026, she was appointed as the 22nd Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, a role she will commence in October 2026 after completing her Griffith term at the end of August 2026.

Her tenure at Griffith has been characterised by a sustained focus on combining research excellence with a commitment to social justice and inclusion.

23. Professor Tim Brailsford

Tim Brailsford has served as Vice Chancellor and President of Bond University since 2012, making him the longest-serving holder of that position in the university's history. Bond is Australia's only private not-for-profit research university, and under Brailsford's leadership it has maintained consistent performance in student satisfaction and graduate employment outcomes. He is the first Australian elected to the global Board of Directors of AACSB International and to the Global Board of Trustees of the European Foundation for Management Development.

His academic background is in finance and investment, and he has held deanship and senior academic leadership roles at major universities including the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, the University of Melbourne, and Monash University.

24. Karen Dickinson

Karen Dickinson is the General Manager of TAFE Queensland Gold Coast. She won the Large Organisation Leadership category at the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. TAFE Queensland Gold Coast delivers vocational training across hospitality, health, construction, digital skills, and a range of other industries, and operates as a major provider of pathways into employment for Gold Coast residents.

25. Adam Brandis

Adam Brandis is a principal in the Queensland Department of Education system, based on the Gold Coast. His posts in 2025 and 2026 document school-level events incorporating motion capture, 3D scanning, AI, and avatar technology for student learning, and he has recently launched NUAXION, an education technology initiative. He represents a growing cohort of school leaders on the Gold Coast actively engaging with emerging technologies as learning tools.

26. Midja Fisher

Midja Fisher is the Founder and CEO of The Legal Leadership Project and The FLEX, Gold Coast-based organisations that provide leadership training, coaching, and facilitation specifically for lawyers, law firms, and legal professionals. Her work addresses a recognised gap in the professional development of legal practitioners: the skills of leadership, communication, and management are not taught in law school, yet they are critical to building sustainable practices and retaining talent.

Arts and Culture

27. John Warn

John Warn is the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Experience Gold Coast, the city's combined entity for tourism, events, arts and culture, and education. Formed from the merger of HOTA, Destination Gold Coast, Major Events Gold Coast, Study Gold Coast, and Placemakers, Experience Gold Coast is the most significant amalgamation of public-facing city investment in the Gold Coast's history. In January 2025, Warn was appointed Chair of the Stadiums Queensland Board, placing him at the intersection of Gold Coast venue development and Brisbane 2032 Games preparation. He has more than 25 years of executive experience across hospitality, sport, tourism, and arts sectors.

28. John Kotzas AM

John Kotzas is the Head of Arts and Culture at HOTA, Home of the Arts, a role he commenced in May 2026. He brings nearly four decades of arts leadership experience to the Gold Coast, including more than 30 years at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, 20 of them as CEO. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2021 for services to the arts. His appointment to HOTA marks a significant moment in the Gold Coast's cultural ambitions ahead of the 2032 Games.

29. Simone Jenkins

Simone Jenkins is the Co-founder and Director of Elsewhere, a Gold Coast creative and event production business. She won the New Business category at the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Elsewhere operates in the event design and production space, working across corporate, cultural, and community events on the Gold Coast.

Sport and Advocacy

30. Wayne Bartholomew AM

Wayne Bartholomew AM is a 1978 World Professional Surfing Champion, inductee in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, and one of the Gold Coast's most recognised cultural figures. He served as President and CEO of the Association of Surfing Professionals from 1999 to 2009, overseeing the growth of professional surfing as an internationally recognised sport. He is a patron of the Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve and spoke as a keynote voice at the World Surfing Conservation Conference at Southern Cross University's Gold Coast campus in February 2026. He was named the 2026 Gold Coast Senior Australian of the Year.

He remains an active advocate for the Gold Coast's surf coast environment, ocean health, and coastal planning, and has consistently argued that surf breaks have economic, recreational, and environmental value that deserves formal recognition in planning law.

31. Rebecca Frizelle OAM

Rebecca Frizelle OAM is the co-owner and majority shareholder of the Gold Coast Titans NRL club following the Frizelle family's assumption of full ownership in 2025. She was the first woman ever to chair a national sporting organisation when she became Chairperson of the Titans in 2014. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2020 and inducted into the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards Hall of Fame in 2024. Her current board roles extend across Racing Queensland, Paralympics Australia, the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games Organising Committee, LifeFlight Australia, and Experience Gold Coast. She is Deputy Chancellor of Griffith University.

Her career in automotive business leadership at James Frizelle's Automotive Group spanned three decades before she moved fully into her sporting and public roles. The Titans under her ownership have developed five disability teams in their Leagueability programme.

32. Anna-Louise Kassulke

Anna-Louise Kassulke is the CEO of Gold Coast Recreation and Sport Inc, the organisation she joined as its sole employee in 1986 and has led as CEO since 2013. She was named the 2026 Gold Coast Australian of the Year for her four decades of work improving the lives of people with disabilities through sport and recreation. Under her leadership, the organisation has grown to more than 165 staff supporting over 600 participants across programmes spanning water sports, team sports, athletics, and arts-based activity. She has been a significant contributor to Special Olympics Australia since 1988 and has led Australian delegations to multiple Special Olympics World Games.

Her Active Inclusion Project has shaped inclusive practice across clubs and community sport organisations on the Gold Coast. Mayor Tom Tate cited her work as instrumental in making the city more inclusive.

33. Ian Gay

Ian Gay is the National President of the Disabled Surfers Association of Australia and the long-serving Branch President of the Disabled Surfers Association Gold Coast. Named the 2026 Queensland Local Hero at the Queensland Australian of the Year Awards, Ian has dedicated more than 20 years to helping people with disabilities experience the surf safely. Under the leadership of the Gold Coast branch, six summer events run annually at Flat Rock Beach, Currumbin. Ian has held national leadership of the Disabled Surfers Association of Australia since 2021, expanding access to adaptive surfing opportunities across Australia.

34. Wayne Goldsmith

Wayne Goldsmith is a Gold Coast-based sports performance coach and keynote speaker with a career spanning more than three decades in high-performance sport. He works with athletes, coaches, and sporting organisations on the systems and culture that drive sustained performance at elite level. He is one of the most in-demand speakers in the sports performance and organisational culture space across Australia and internationally.

Community and Inclusion

35. Ruby Allen

Ruby Allen is the founder of Kids of Purple, a not-for-profit initiative she established to improve support for young people impacted by domestic and family violence, drawing on her own lived experience. She was named the 2026 Gold Coast Young Australian of the Year. Kids of Purple fills a gap she identified in youth-specific resources, providing accessible information, guidance, and validation for children affected by domestic violence. Her advocacy has contributed to professional training programmes and to initiatives involving major Queensland institutions.

36. Jesse Noonan

Jesse Noonan is the founder of Rock'n'Slide Skateboarding and Skate Advantage, where he has created inclusive skateboarding opportunities for people of all abilities on the Gold Coast. He was named the 2026 Gold Coast Local Hero. His work was inspired by a student with cerebral palsy, leading him to develop adaptive skate frames and launch what he describes as Australia's first all-abilities skateboarding club. His programmes include youth and women-only skate classes alongside the all-abilities programming.

37. Tanya Diessel

Tanya Diessel is the CEO of the Gold Coast Community Legal Centre, which provides free legal services to people on the Gold Coast who cannot afford private legal representation. She was a finalist in the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Community legal centres operate at the intersection of justice access, community vulnerability, and civic leadership, and Diessel's role involves both operational management and ongoing advocacy for adequate funding of community legal services in Queensland.

38. Tracey Crawford

Tracey Crawford is a Product Manager at Village Roadshow Theme Parks on the Gold Coast. She was a finalist in the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Village Roadshow Theme Parks operates Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Wet'n'Wild, and other major attractions on the Gold Coast, and is one of the city's largest employers in the tourism and hospitality sector.

39. Belinda Norton

Belinda Norton is a Gold Coast-based health educator, personal trainer, and author with over 24 years of experience specialising in sustainable health practices for women and families. Featured in Sprout Social's 2026 list of top Australian content creators for her health and fitness content, her work is focused on practical, evidence-grounded approaches to long-term health rather than trend-driven or extreme interventions.

40. Tammy Hembrow

Tammy Hembrow is a Gold Coast-based entrepreneur and fitness platform founder. She is the founder of the activewear brand Saski Collection and the TAMMY Fit app, and has built one of Australia's largest social media audiences in the health and fitness space. Her entrepreneurial work extends from fitness content into product development and e-commerce. She was named among the top Australian Instagram influencers by Sprout Social in 2026 for her fitness, lifestyle, and business content.

Civic and Government Leadership

41. Tom Tate

Tom Tate has been Mayor of the Gold Coast since his first election in April 2012, making him the longest-serving holder of that office in the city's history following his fourth-term re-election in March 2024. Under his mayoralty, the City of Gold Coast has hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games, reduced Council debt by more than $250 million, and pursued infrastructure investment totalling $543 million in the 2025-26 budget. He has positioned the Gold Coast's role in the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, where the city will host eleven sports and a satellite Games village, as the centrepiece of the city's next major chapter.

42. Tim Baker

Tim Baker has served as Chief Executive Officer of the City of Gold Coast since February 2022. The City is Australia's second-largest local government authority with approximately 4,000 employees and an annual budget of nearly $2 billion. Baker brought extensive Tasmanian public service experience to the role. Shortly after his appointment, he initiated a comprehensive culture survey of the Council workforce, the first in over a decade, which he has used as the foundation for a sustained organisational transformation programme.

43. Rob Borbidge AO

Rob Borbidge AO is the Chair of Experience Gold Coast and a Senior Advisor at Govstrat. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1996 to 1998, representing the seat of Surfers Paradise, making him the only Queensland Premier to have held a Gold Coast electorate. He has maintained an active civic role on the Gold Coast in the decades since his parliamentary career, including chairing Study Gold Coast and now leading the board of Experience Gold Coast.

44. Estella Rodighiero

Estella Rodighiero is a recognised economic development professional in Southeast Queensland with a career spanning international trade missions, small business initiatives, and government advisory roles. She is an Advisory Board Member of Queensland Leaders Gold Coast, a Board Member of LifeFlight Australia, and has been involved in projects supporting the Gold Coast's industries and preparing for a low-carbon economic transition.

Biomedical and Innovation Ecosystem

45. Dr Sheila Gough Kenyon

Dr Sheila Gough Kenyon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Starbound Space Solutions, a Gold Coast space technology company. She was a finalist in the Research category of the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Her work sits at the intersection of space technology and commercialisation, contributing to the Gold Coast's emerging position as a southeast Queensland hub for space sector activity.

46. Paul Clarke

Paul Clarke is the Executive Director of the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. He oversees a research organisation housing legacy research programmes alongside expanded capabilities in cancer biology, infectious disease, and diagnostics. He has described his mission as delivering real and immediate health impacts from translational biomedical science.

47. Jasmine Meagher

Jasmine Meagher is the Founder of SUPLAB and Ritua, two Gold Coast businesses operating in the health and wellness product space. She won a category at the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Her work is in the formulation and delivery of sports and wellness products, reflecting the Gold Coast's well-established health and fitness consumer culture.

Digital and Media Leadership

48. Rebekah Goan

Rebekah Goan is a Senior Digital Channel Manager at Village Roadshow Theme Parks, where she leads digital marketing and channel strategy for one of the Gold Coast's most visited tourism destinations. She was a finalist in the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Her work spans digital campaign management, audience segmentation, and platform strategy across the major theme park brands.

49. Leon Purton

Leon Purton is a Gold Coast-based leadership coach and consultant who partners with executives, HR leaders, and managers on the behavioural and interpersonal dimensions of leadership that determine team performance and culture. His coaching practice reflects the Gold Coast's growing market for leadership development services as its corporate and government sectors mature.

50. Shelley Jacks

Shelley Jacks is the Founder and Director of Magnus Health, a Gold Coast health and wellness business. She won a category at the 2025 Gold Coast Women in Business Awards. Magnus Health operates in the preventive and integrated health space, which is a growing sector on the Gold Coast given both the city's active consumer health culture and its increasing biomedical research infrastructure.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

This list focuses specifically on leaders currently active on the Gold Coast. Several figures with strong Gold Coast connections did not make the final list because their primary current activity has shifted beyond the region. Gerry Harvey and Katie Page, inducted into the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards Hall of Fame in November 2025, were considered but operate their primary businesses nationally from Sydney. The Griffith University Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics continues to produce researchers of extraordinary calibre, and several early-career scientists working from the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct are building track records that will bring them to this kind of list in future years. Former Queensland Premier Jeff Seeney, who represented Gold Coast electorates for many years, was considered in the civic leadership category but no longer holds an active Gold Coast-based role.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Leadership Influence on the Gold Coast

Leaders at every level of the Gold Coast's ecosystem make predictable mistakes when trying to build influence and impact in the city. Understanding these patterns matters whether you are a founder trying to establish credibility, a senior executive looking to expand your network, or a community leader seeking to grow your organisation's reach.

The first and most common mistake is treating the Gold Coast as a provincial stepping stone rather than a city in its own right. The Gold Coast's population is approaching 700,000 people, its visitor economy exceeded $8.9 billion in 2025, and its Health and Knowledge Precinct anchors biomedical research of genuine global significance. Leaders who hold the city's resources and networks at arm's length, always looking to Brisbane or Sydney for validation, consistently underestimate what can be built here.

The second mistake is narrowness. The Gold Coast's strengths cut across sectors that do not always talk to each other: a university biomedical precinct, a startup ecosystem with high founder density, a major arts precinct, an NRL franchise, major theme park operators, and an accelerating space technology sector. Leaders who operate only within their own sector miss the cross-pollination that has historically driven the Gold Coast's most interesting institutional developments.

The third mistake is confusing proximity to influence with influence itself. The Gold Coast has well-established chambers, industry associations, and networking groups. Being visible within those structures is not the same as having genuine impact in a field. Several of the leaders on this list have built influence primarily through doing excellent work that others recognised, rather than through strategic visibility.

The fourth mistake is underestimating the importance of community trust. The Gold Coast is a city where people know each other across sectors and where reputations are built and lost at a community level. Leaders who have built sustainable influence consistently name community trust, long-term relationship building, and consistency of purpose as the foundations of their credibility.

Implementation Guide: Building Leadership Impact on the Gold Coast

The pattern that emerges from studying the people on this list is worth understanding for any leader working to build sustainable impact in or through the Gold Coast.

The leaders here who have built the most durable influence have done so through a combination of substantive work in their domain, sustained engagement with the broader Gold Coast community, and a willingness to invest in others. Tom Tate has been Mayor for thirteen years through a disciplined focus on infrastructure and economic development. Anna-Louise Kassulke has led her organisation for more than a decade through unwavering clarity about mission. Mark von Itzstein chose the Gold Coast in 2000 when it was a greenfield site for biomedical research and built the institution from the ground up. Adam Gilmour has spent more than a decade building a company that has just reached unicorn status.

For leaders working at the organisational level, the practical steps are consistent: understand where the Gold Coast's genuine institutional strength lies, engage with those ecosystems proactively, and look for opportunities to contribute before you try to extract. The Queensland Leaders Gold Coast network, the Experience Gold Coast board and advisory structures, the HOTA and Gold Coast Arts funding ecosystem, and the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct all offer entry points for leaders who want to contribute to the city's direction.

For leaders building public profiles, the Gold Coast's media landscape includes the Gold Coast Bulletin, Inside Gold Coast, and Business News Australia's Gold Coast coverage. The Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards, the Women in Business Awards, and the YP Gold Coast network have tracked emerging leadership for many years and represent genuine community validation. LinkedIn remains the most important platform for professional thought leadership in the city's business community.

The most important thing is to start with contribution. The Gold Coast rewards longevity, consistency, and genuine service to the community.

Organisations looking to develop the leadership capacity of their teams can book Jonno White for Working Genius facilitation, executive team offsites, or leadership keynotes. Jonno is the author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold) and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. Email jonno@consultclarity.org. International travel is often far more affordable than clients expect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential leaders on the Gold Coast?

The Gold Coast's most influential leaders span business, research, education, civic life, sport, and the arts. In 2026, the list includes people as different as Adam Gilmour of Gilmour Space Technologies, who has built Australia's first space unicorn; Anna-Louise Kassulke, who has spent four decades building inclusive sport access; and Tim Brailsford, who has led Bond University as its longest-serving Vice Chancellor since 2012. Influence on the Gold Coast is sector-specific and earned through sustained contribution rather than any single credential.

How big is the Gold Coast's business community?

The City of Gold Coast estimates the city's population at approaching 700,000 people as of 2026, making it Australia's sixth-largest city. Business News Australia reported that Gold Coast finalists in the 2025 Young Entrepreneur Awards generated the highest combined profit of any city nationally in that initiative. The city's visitor economy exceeded $8.9 billion in 2025 according to Tourism Research Australia data released through Experience Gold Coast.

What is the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct?

The Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct is a co-located cluster of health, research, and education institutions including Griffith University's Gold Coast campus, Gold Coast University Hospital, and the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics. More than $5.9 billion in infrastructure has been invested in the Precinct, which is operated as a collaboration between Griffith University, Queensland Health, Gold Coast Health, and the City of Gold Coast. It is home to research that has produced multiple technologies in clinical trials.

What does Gilmour Space Technologies do?

Gilmour Space Technologies is a Gold Coast-founded rocket company building an end-to-end sovereign space capability for Australia. Founded in 2013 by brothers Adam and James Gilmour, it launched Australia's first privately designed and built orbital rocket in July 2025, then secured $217 million in Series E funding in January 2026, reaching a valuation of over $1 billion. The company is building the Eris orbital launch vehicle and developing satellite manufacturing and launch infrastructure.

How can I hire a facilitator for a Gold Coast leadership event?

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant and Certified Working Genius Facilitator who works with organisations across Australia and globally. He delivers Working Genius workshops, executive team facilitation, keynote presentations, and MC services. Many clients find that bringing Jonno to the Gold Coast costs significantly less than engaging a local provider at a comparable level. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss your Gold Coast event.

Final Thoughts

The Gold Coast's leadership ecosystem is more diverse, more ambitious, and more deeply anchored in substantive sector expertise than is often assumed from the outside. The city that produced a space technology unicorn, Australia's most innovative social media marketing agency, a global biomedical drug discovery institute, and the 2026 national award recipient for inclusive sport access is not a city that should be defined only by its coastline and its tourism economy.

What connects the leaders on this list is not a shared sector or a shared profile. It is a relationship with a specific place. The Gold Coast has a way of generating long-term loyalty in the people who choose to build here, and the leaders whose influence has proven most durable are almost always the ones who committed to the city over time. That consistency is a form of leadership in itself.

If your organisation is working to develop its own leadership culture, working with a facilitator who understands what genuine long-term influence looks like can accelerate that process considerably. Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, the author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold), and a keynote speaker who works with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His podcast The Leadership Conversations has produced 230+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to book Jonno for your next Gold Coast workshop, executive offsite, or keynote.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, 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.

Sources

Tourism Research Australia, visitor economy data for the year ending December 2025, released through Experience Gold Coast, June 2026. Business News Australia, Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Awards coverage, October-November 2025. Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct, AusBiotech 2026 precinct profile, November 2025. Gilmour Space Technologies, Series E funding announcement, January 2026. City of Gold Coast, 2026 Australian of the Year Awards announcement, June 2026.

Next Read

Gold Coast leaders do not exist in isolation from the broader landscape of Queensland leadership. If you want to explore the specific sector that currently has the most active thought leadership community in the state, working through the forces reshaping an established profession with a built-in leadership development problem, the list of Queensland law firm leadership thought leaders covers 26 practitioners, firm leaders, and legal educators doing exactly that.

Keep reading: 26 Vital Thought Leaders in Law Firm Leadership in Queensland