45 Influential Leaders on the Sunshine Coast QLD

Last updated: June 2026

The Sunshine Coast has long been associated with lifestyle, beaches, and tourism, but in June 2026 that story is only part of what is actually happening here. The region is home to one of Queensland's fastest-growing populations, a booming advanced manufacturing sector, a technology and innovation ecosystem that hosted thousands at its annual festival, and a public health system, arts scene, university, and community sector of national significance. The leaders shaping this region are doing so across an unusually wide range of fields, and many are not as well known nationally as they deserve to be.

This list was compiled with one goal: to surface the people genuinely influencing how the Sunshine Coast operates, grows, and thinks in 2026. Each person included has a documented, fact-checked contribution confirmed from at least two independent sources within the last 12 months. The list spans civic governance, technology, manufacturing, sustainability, entrepreneurship, sport, arts, social enterprise, and academic research. It does not rank by importance. It maps the landscape.

Several entry points exist for connecting with this ecosystem. FWD Fest, held annually by Silicon Coast, is the region's flagship innovation and entrepreneurship gathering. The Sunshine Coast Business Awards, in their fourth decade, are the most rigorous recognition programme for business excellence in the region. The Sunshine Coast Business Women's Network has shaped women's business leadership for more than 25 years. For leaders wanting to invest in team performance, communication, and clarity through an external facilitator, reach out to jonno@consultclarity.org.

Category 1: Civic Leadership and Public Service

1. Rosanna Natoli

Elected Mayor of Sunshine Coast Council in March 2024, Rosanna Natoli brought to the role nearly three decades of community service and a career spanning journalism, television presenting, and more than 25 years as a lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Since her election, Natoli has chaired the Sunshine Coast Biosphere Coordinating Committee and secured a place on the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Organising Committee as the Sunshine Coast Council nominee. Her focus on community engagement, sustainable planning, and economic resilience makes her the region's most visible civic voice in 2026, with active LinkedIn posts to her network as recently as June 2026.

2. John Baker

John Baker took up the role of Chief Executive Officer of Sunshine Coast Council in December 2024, appointed from 138 applicants following a process Mayor Natoli described as securing someone of exceptional calibre. Baker brings senior leadership experience from Ernst and Young and KPMG as lead partner for local government practice, and six years as CEO of Mornington Peninsula Shire, one of Victoria's five largest councils. In his first year he restructured departments from six to five and appointed a new executive team to drive the organisation toward the 2032 Games era.

3. Professor Helen Bartlett

Professor Helen Bartlett has served as Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of the Sunshine Coast since August 2020, leading an institution ranked Queensland's top public university for overall educational experience in 2026. Under her leadership UniSC has expanded across South East Queensland and deepened industry partnerships. Bartlett chaired the Regional Universities Network from 2018 to 2021, served on the Victorian Vice-Chancellors' Committee in 2016 and 2017, and continues to chair the Australian Government's Higher Education Standards Panel.

4. Dr Peter Gillies

Dr Peter Gillies has been the Health Service Chief Executive of Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service since October 2021. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators with an MBA from Otago University, Gillies leads the health response to rapid population growth, post-pandemic recovery, and a major capital and digital transformation programme. The service's strategic plan targets at least 75 per cent of patients rating their overall care as very good, an ambitious benchmark for a system serving one of Australia's fastest-growing populations.

5. Frank Wilkie

Frank Wilkie was elected Mayor of Noosa Shire Council in March 2024, after serving as Deputy Mayor for two consecutive terms since 2016. A former newspaper editor, journalist, and high school teacher with deep roots in the Noosa community, Wilkie chairs a council governing one of Queensland's most environmentally distinctive shires, where 35 per cent of the land is protected as national park or conservation area. As a UNESCO Biosphere Shire, Noosa under Wilkie's leadership is actively navigating the balance between growth and environmental stewardship heading into the 2032 Games legacy period.

6. Anna Jackson

Anna Jackson has been Chief Executive Officer of Unitywater since July 2022, leading the delivery of water and wastewater services to more than 800,000 people across the Sunshine Coast, Noosa, and Moreton Bay regions. Since her appointment she has guided Unitywater through significant population-driven growth and a major capital programme. In 2026 Unitywater was recognised by WORK180 in its Top 101 Workplaces for Women, and Jackson maintained active community engagement including at the Sunshine Coast Disaster and Emergency Expo, reflecting an open and community-embedded leadership style.

Category 2: Technology, Innovation and Digital Economy

7. Kathryn Giudes

As Chair of Silicon Coast and Founder and Managing Director of ORCA Opti, Kathryn Giudes brings to the Sunshine Coast's innovation community a career spanning senior roles at Microsoft and Amazon, non-executive directorships across listed companies, and deep expertise in cybersecurity and technology governance. Appointed as acting Faculty Executive Director of UNSW Law and Justice in early 2026, Giudes chaired the 2026 FWD Fest launch event at The Wharf Mooloolaba, connecting the region's startup and scaleup community to enterprise-level experience and governance rigour that few regional ecosystems can access at this level.

8. Craig Josic

Craig Josic, known widely as CJ, is the Co-Founder and Chief Engagement Officer of Silicon Coast and co-creator of FWD Fest. Over more than a decade building the region's innovation ecosystem, Josic has made Silicon Coast into what is by most measures Australia's most active regional innovation community. The 2026 edition of FWD Fest featured four programmatic streams connecting thousands of participants. In 2025 he was also co-appointed as Co-Director of the Queensland AI Hub's Sunshine Coast Chapter alongside Dr Karen Sutherland.

9. Gavin Keeley

Chair of Regional Development Australia Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast and a founding member of Silicon Coast, Gavin Keeley brings more than four decades of international technology and business experience to his role as one of the region's most influential ecosystem builders. Inducted into both the Australian Computer Society Hall of Fame and Queensland's Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, Keeley co-founded Silicon Coast in 2014, serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at UniSC, and in 2025 contributed to an independent federal government economic review of the region's technology and digital economy positioning.

10. Jason Garland

Jason Garland simultaneously chairs the Sunshine Coast Tech Industry Alliance and the Sunshine Coast Business Council, while running Secure Access, the specialist business technology provider he founded more than 22 years ago. He holds a Masters in Cyber Security alongside Australian Computer Society certification. In early 2025, his chairmanship of SCTechIA brought the Sunshine Coast into the national spotlight when CI-ISAC, the Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Centre, established a regional presence that Garland described as creating outstanding visibility for the wider tech community.

11. Dr Karen Sutherland

A Senior Lecturer in Public Relations at UniSC and Co-Founder of Dharana Digital, Dr Karen Sutherland is one of the Sunshine Coast's most active voices at the intersection of AI, communication, and organisational leadership. In 2025 she was appointed Co-Director of the Queensland AI Hub's Sunshine Coast Chapter alongside Craig Josic. She has worked with organisations including Eumundi Markets and Noosa Council on AI adoption initiatives, combining scholarly rigour with practical guidance for business leaders navigating AI decisions.

12. Colin Graham

Colin Graham is the Managing Director of Causeway Innovation and one of the Sunshine Coast's longest-serving innovation ecosystem builders. He was the Founding CEO of the Innovation Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2002, when the region was primarily known for lifestyle and tourism and had few technology businesses. The centre he launched went on to support more than 260 startups in ICT, creative, healthtech, and cleantech sectors. In May 2026 he co-organised the annual Sunshine Coast Cybersecurity Conference, Sun Con, attracting around 200 industry, government, and education participants at UniSC for its second edition.

13. Chris Boden

Chris Boden is the Director of the Peregian Digital Hub, Noosa Council's purpose-built technology and innovation facility, which he has led since 2019. A former senior technology executive whose career included leading Lonely Planet's digital transformation, Boden has built the Hub into one of regional Queensland's most distinctive tech communities. He launched an AI cadetship programme for high school mathematicians in 2019, added a world-class AI Lab in 2023, and in 2025 launched the Tokenizer multi-year AI skills programme for the broader Sunshine Coast region. His active 2026 LinkedIn commentary on AI regulation, health tech, and regional innovation reflects one of the region's most intellectually engaged public sector technology leaders.

Category 3: Manufacturing, Advanced Industries and Agribusiness

14. Tim Kelly

Managing Director of Manufacturing Excellence Forum Sunshine Coast, Tim Kelly is an aeronautical engineer who spent more than 20 years on global aerospace programmes including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the Airbus A350. He now leads the not-for-profit industry body that brings together manufacturers, government bodies, educational institutions, and research organisations to build the Sunshine Coast's advanced manufacturing sector. In May 2026 he was a featured speaker at the Sunshine Coast Business Awards launch and holds an Adjunct Fellow role at UniSC.

15. Tim Hall

Tim Hall is the Co-Founder and CEO of GreaseBoss, a Sunshine Coast-based global IoT and digital transformation company that helps industries track and verify machine lubrication to prevent equipment failure. Founded in 2020, GreaseBoss graduated from Y Combinator, was named Australia's number one innovative IoT company, placed top 15 at Hannover Messe 2022, attracted investment from former NFL star Joe Montana, and was inducted into the Sunshine Coast Business Awards Hall of Fame after winning the Advanced Technology category for three consecutive years. Hall was also named in Queensland's Top 40 Under 40 in 2023 and remains actively based on the Sunshine Coast.

16. Maree Adshead

Maree Adshead chairs the board of Turbine Sunshine Coast, the first purpose-built, end-to-end food and beverage manufacturing and education precinct in Australia, and serves as Chief Executive of Eco-Markets Australia, the country's independent regulator of voluntary environmental markets. As Queensland's inaugural Small Business Commissioner, she was a credible and visible voice for business communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Turbine, located in the Sunshine Coast Industrial Park at Caloundra and backed by Commonwealth and Queensland Government funding, represents a major bet on collaborative manufacturing as a regional economic model.

17. Nicole McNaughton

Nicole McNaughton has led the Food and Agribusiness Network as CEO since 2023, managing a network of more than 370 members across the food value chain. FAN is the Sunshine Coast's most significant food industry cluster. McNaughton joined from Sunshine Coast Council's Major Events unit in 2018 and has since delivered significant new funding streams, capability programs, and member growth. Her public engagement through media and podcast appearances reflects an open approach to building the region's food sector reputation nationally and internationally.

18. Teneille Newton

Co-Founder of Noosa Black Garlic and the 2025 Sunshine Coast Business of the Year, Teneille Newton built Australia's most awarded black garlic brand from the Noosa Hinterland alongside husband Tony O'Brien. The business won four national champion trophies at major Australian fine food competitions in 2024, took out the Food and Agribusiness category at the 2025 Sunshine Coast Business Awards, then won Business of the Year outright. Newton, a naturopath with 25 years of experience, was a keynote speaker at the 2026 Business Awards launch in May.

Category 4: Entrepreneurship and Business Leadership

19. Travis Schultz OAM

Travis Schultz is the Founder and Managing Partner of Travis Schultz and Partners, the compensation law firm he established in Mooloolaba in April 2018 with two lawyers and three support staff, growing it to more than 70 people across four Queensland offices by 2026. The firm holds eight QLS Accredited Specialists in Personal Injury Law, the highest number of any Queensland firm. It was inducted into the Sunshine Coast Business Awards Hall of Fame in 2023 after winning the Professional Services category three consecutive years and Business of the Year in 2022. In January 2026, Schultz was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the legal profession and community.

20. Dave Clare

Dave Clare is the Founder and CEO of Circle Leadership, a Sunshine Coast-based leadership and business evolution consultancy, and one of the region's most active voices on purpose-driven leadership. A keynote speaker at FWD Fest 2025 and 2026 and Ambassador for the Pacific Region of the Global Company Culture Association, Clare has published broadly on evolving the world of work and released his book humAIn on AI and human workplaces. He has mentored founders and leaders on the Sunshine Coast for well over a decade.

21. Mat Barmentloo

Mat Barmentloo is an entrepreneur, VCFO, and community leader who serves as a key figure in the Sunshine Coast Young Chamber of Commerce. A speaker at FWD Fest 2026 and a consistent presence at the region's innovation and business networking events, Barmentloo brings a practical lens to finance, entrepreneurship, and community development. His LinkedIn commentary in the days following FWD Fest 2026 reflects someone thinking seriously about what it takes to build sustainable businesses in a regional economy.

22. Bill Ovenden

Bill Ovenden is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Lad Collective, a Sunshine Coast bedding business he started with his brother Ed after recognising that post-move-out bedroom chaos was a design problem, not a discipline problem. A TEDx Brisbane speaker and closing keynote at FWD Fest 2026's celebration dinner, Ovenden has become one of the Sunshine Coast's most engaging voices on product design, consumer behaviour, and the lessons regional businesses can teach broader audiences about solving real problems with elegant simplicity.

23. Rob Neely

Rob Neely is the Founder and Director of Securely Group, a Sunshine Coast-based global fintech infrastructure company that licenses patented identity and payments technologies. A 50-year entrepreneur who has built and exited multiple international ventures, Neely was a keynote speaker at FWD Fest 2026's Lunch and Learn. His presence in the Sunshine Coast ecosystem reflects the pattern of experienced global operators choosing to base themselves in the region and contribute their perspective to the next generation of founders building here.

24. Jennifer Swaine

Jennifer Swaine is Chair of the Sunshine Coast Business Awards, Non-Executive Director of Visit Sunshine Coast, and Business and Tourism Lead of Sunshine Coast 2032. Through her firm The Comms. People, she provides strategic communications services to clients across the region. Her stewardship of the Sunshine Coast Business Awards through its 30th anniversary in 2025 attracted a record 264 nominations, and her role in Sunshine Coast 2032 positions her at the intersection of business advocacy and Olympic legacy planning.

25. Paula Williamson

Paula Williamson is the President of the Sunshine Coast Business Women's Network, leading a nearly 400-strong membership organisation that has shaped women's business leadership on the Sunshine Coast for more than 25 years. At the 2025 SCBWN Awards Gala, attended by close to 300 guests including Mayor Rosanna Natoli, Williamson described the event's purpose as taking a moment to breathe, reflect, and be proud of the journey so far. Her banking and finance background at ANZ complements a community leadership role at the heart of the region's women-in-business ecosystem.

26. Rachael Bermingham

Rachael Bermingham is one of Australia's highest-selling self-published female authors, with books collectively approaching eight million copies sold globally. Based in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, she built the Bermingham Books publishing and mentoring business after co-authoring the 4 Ingredients franchise. Through Bermingham Books she helps aspiring authors write, produce, and market their own books, while her leadership of one of Queensland's largest beach protection organisations reflects a community investment that extends well beyond her commercial work.

Category 5: Leadership Development, Communication and Coaching

27. Nikki Fogden-Moore

Nikki Fogden-Moore is the Founder and CEO of The Mojo Maker and has built an award-winning executive coaching, retreat, and mentoring practice on the Sunshine Coast over more than a decade. She won the Sunshine Coast Business Awards for Education and Training in both 2022 and 2023, was a finalist in the Export category, and was a speaker at FWD Fest 2026. Her Boardroom Retreat programme and Legacy Lunch series have built sustained community around sustainable success across business, health, and life, a frame that resonates strongly with leaders who have moved to the Sunshine Coast seeking exactly that integration.

28. Mel Kettle

Mel Kettle is the CEO of Mel Kettle and Associates, based in Caloundra, and one of Australia's most recognised leadership communication experts. The author of Fully Connected and The Social Association, she has been named twice by leadersHum as one of the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership globally, in 2022 and 2023. She works primarily with for-purpose organisations, helping their leaders communicate with clarity, consistency, and compassion, drawing on more than two decades of experience across strategic communication, leadership development, and public health.

29. Adam Franklin

Adam Franklin is an AI keynote speaker, CEO of Bluewire Media, and founder of AI Edge, based on the Sunshine Coast. The author of Web Marketing That Works, an Amazon number one bestseller, he has spent more than 21 years helping business owners use digital tools and AI to save time, build authority, and simplify their marketing. He was a speaker at FWD Fest 2026, his weekly newsletter reaches more than 30,000 business owners, and his work has been featured in Forbes, the Huffington Post, The Australian, and the Sydney Morning Herald.

30. Ally Nitschke

Ally Nitschke CSP is a Certified Speaking Professional and the founder of Made for More, operating from the Sunshine Coast as one of Australia's most recognised leadership communication and executive coaching specialists. She holds the CSP designation from Professional Speakers Australia and has built a practice around courageous conversations and values-driven approaches to developing senior leaders. Her Lead with Courage programme works with executives, senior leaders, and high-potential professionals over six months to build clarity, confidence, and communication capability, with a 2026 client base spanning nationally and internationally.

31. Ben Amos

Ben Amos is the Founder and Creative Director of Innovate Media, one of the Sunshine Coast's most established video strategy and production agencies, and the author of Engage: The Definitive Guide to Video Strategy for Business. As host of the Engage Video Marketing Podcast, a weekly show with hundreds of episodes, Amos has built an audience of business owners, marketers, and video professionals across Australia and internationally. His consistent LinkedIn activity from his Sunshine Coast base delivers genuine value to a professional network spanning the region and beyond.

Category 6: Sport, Community and Social Impact

32. Justin Pascoe

Justin Pascoe became CEO of Sunshine Coast Lightning in October 2025 when the club he co-owns through Global Sports Management completed its acquisition from the Melbourne Storm. A Sunshine Coast resident since childhood who studied at Harvard Business School, Pascoe brings senior executive sports management experience to a club that has won two Super Netball premierships and appeared in six finals series in nine seasons. Since taking up the role he has built local pathways, partnership frameworks, and a coaching structure that invests in the region's netball talent from grassroots to elite level.

33. Belinda Reynolds

Belinda Reynolds is the Head Coach of Sunshine Coast Lightning for the 2026 Suncorp Super Netball season, leading a playing group captained by Australian Diamonds star Liz Watson and vice-captained by Silver Ferns captain Karin Burger, creating one of the most experienced leadership trios in the national league. Reynolds was confirmed in the coaching role for the new era of the club following its acquisition by Global Sports Management in late 2025, and is responsible for building on two premierships and six finals appearances across Lightning's nine seasons.

34. Claire Smith

Claire Smith is the Founder of Wildlife Rescue Sunshine Coast and the 2025 Sunshine Coast Biosphere Citizen of the Year. Her conservation leadership includes mobilising more than $600,000 in community fundraising during the 2019 to 2020 bushfires to support more than 50 wildlife rescue groups, building Queensland's first dedicated kangaroo hospital, and currently leading a $5 million campaign to build a Koala Conservation Centre on the Sunshine Coast. Named Queensland's Local Hero in the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards, Smith has transformed grassroots wildlife rescue into one of the most visible conservation initiatives in the state.

35. Danielle Lenord

Danielle Lenord is the Founder of Connect Rugby League and the Lavender Sky Foundation, and a 2026 Sunshine Coast Community Awards nominee recognised for reshaping disability inclusion across the region. She established Connect Rugby League in 2022, now the most widespread all-abilities rugby league programme in Queensland, and through the Lavender Sky Foundation built the governance infrastructure to support inclusive sport, disability health advocacy, and education initiatives including the Kickstart Kindness and Breaking Down Barriers programmes operating in Sunshine Coast schools and communities.

36. Selina Tomasich

Dr Selina Tomasich is the Founder and CEO of Hair Aid, the Sunshine Coast-based international charity that trains people living in poverty to cut hair as a pathway to income and self-sufficiency. Named Sunshine Coast Citizen of the Year at the 2026 Australia Day Community Awards, she has built Hair Aid since 2013 into an organisation that has trained more than 6,300 individuals across the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia, supported by more than 1,500 volunteer hairdressers, and recognised with two Gold Stevie Awards including Gold for Social Organisation of the World.

37. Min Swan

Min Swan is the Managing Director and Senior Project and Event Manager of White House International, an event production company based on the Sunshine Coast. A past president of the Sunshine Coast Business Women's Network, Swan served as Event Director for FWD Fest 2026. Silicon Coast board member Gavin Keeley described her contribution in a May 2026 LinkedIn post as creating a blur between Event Director and Silicon Coast teammate that became impossible to detect, the blur being the compliment. Her sustained investment in the region's community infrastructure extends from SCBWN leadership to the Australian Tourism Awards national judging panel in 2025.

38. Sandy Bolton

Sandy Bolton is the Independent Member for Noosa in the Queensland Parliament, elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2024, representing a constituency at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast region. A consistent advocate for Noosa's environment, community wellbeing, and local identity, Bolton has been recognised as a distinctive voice for her electorate in state parliament, including as a distinguished guest at the 2025 SCBWN Annual Awards Gala. Her independence from party politics and her consistent alignment with the Noosa community's environmental values make her an enduring presence in the region's civic leadership landscape.

Category 7: Arts, Culture and Academic Research

39. Bronwyn Edinger AM

Bronwyn Edinger AM is the CEO of The Events Centre Caloundra, the Sunshine Coast's professional performing arts centre, a position she has held since 2022. Appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours List for services to the performing arts, she brings a national career spanning Black Swan State Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, City Recital Hall, Arts on Tour NSW, Merrigong Theatre, and Perth Theatre Company, alongside the presidency of PAC Australia, to which she holds a rare life membership. At The Events Centre she is connecting the region to the national touring circuit.

40. Lyndon Davis

Lyndon Davis is a Kabi Kabi man and one of the Sunshine Coast's most celebrated cultural leaders, artists, and educators. A 2025 Sunshine Coast Biosphere Community Awards recipient for his artistic and educational contribution, Davis has spent decades sharing Kabi Kabi culture through performance, public art, mentoring, and cultural programmes in schools and community settings. He was commissioned by UniSC to create the university's new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual identity in 2025, a work called Bidjali that draws on Kabi Kabi knowledges and the shared stories across UniSC's Queensland campuses.

41. Kim McCosker

Kim McCosker is the Founder of 4 Ingredients, one of Australia's most successful independent publishing houses, and the author of more than 37 cookbooks that have collectively sold close to nine million copies globally as of 2025. Based in Caloundra, she built the 4 Ingredients brand without a publisher, pioneering a direct-to-market strategy years before independent digital publishing became mainstream. Beyond publishing, McCosker serves as President of the Caloundra Business Alliance representing more than 100 retailers, has served on the Sunshine Coast Council Biosphere Committee and Major Events Board, and has raised more than $850,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

42. Rachael Bermingham

Rachael Bermingham is one of Australia's highest-selling self-published female authors, with books collectively approaching eight million copies sold globally. Based in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast since childhood, she built the Bermingham Books publishing and mentoring business after co-authoring the 4 Ingredients franchise, and co-hosted a TV show aired in 22 countries. Through Bermingham Books she helps aspiring authors write, produce, and market their own books, and she leads one of Queensland's largest beach conservation organisations as a reflection of community investment that extends well beyond her commercial work.

43. Professor Daniel Hermens

Professor Daniel Hermens is a Professor of Youth Mental Health and Neurobiology at the UniSC Thompson Institute, the University of the Sunshine Coast's pioneering mental health and neuroscience research and clinical centre. With more than 12,800 research citations as of early 2026 and an active publication programme including papers in BMJ Open and Social Science and Medicine in 2025 and 2026, Hermens leads research addressing youth suicidality, PTSD, adolescent mental health, and biopsychosocial risk factors. His scholarship provides the evidence base for the Sunshine Coast's mental health conversation at a time of unprecedented national demand for credible, locally produced research.

44. Travis Schultz OAM

(Note: Travis Schultz OAM appears as #19 in Category 4: Entrepreneurship and Business Leadership. The legal and professional services contribution he makes to the Sunshine Coast was covered in detail in that entry.)

44. Brigid Woolnough

Brigid Woolnough is the Founder of KOKOPOD Chocolate, a premium Sunshine Coast-based chocolate manufacturer producing single-origin, small-batch chocolates from the Caloundra region. In 2025 GreaseBoss hosted a community event at the Manufacturing Excellence Forum specifically to support KOKOPOD through a challenging business battle, with Tim Kelly coordinating support across multiple Sunshine Coast business communities. Woolnough's story as a Sunshine Coast food manufacturer navigating national distribution challenges for a premium artisan product represents one of the most distinctive entrepreneurial narratives in the region's agribusiness and food sector.

45. Professor Ross Young

Professor Ross Young is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of the Sunshine Coast, confirmed in a landmark November 2025 announcement as the academic leader behind UniSC's partnership with Maroochy Private Hospital and global orthopaedics company Medacta to deliver Australia's largest clinical trial facility outside the major metropolitan centres. Professor Young described the partnership as creating a new model for regional growth, enabling UniSC to deliver clinical trials in medical devices and surgical interventions that will give the Sunshine Coast community access to cutting-edge treatments while building the region's research economy.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

The line between included and not-included reflects the aim of keeping the list as tight and regionally grounded as possible. Luke Anear, the Founder and CEO of SafetyCulture, now valued at $2.5 billion AUD, was a headline speaker at FWD Fest 2026 and a strong candidate from the region's innovation community. Craig Scroggie, CEO and Managing Director of NEXTDC, Australia's leading data centre provider, brought his perspective on digital infrastructure to FWD Fest 2026. Daniel Flynn, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Thankyou, listed as travelling from the Sunshine Coast and was the closing keynote at FWD Fest 2026. Each of these voices is well worth following and represents the calibre of speakers the Sunshine Coast's innovation ecosystem is able to attract and produce.

Common Mistakes Leaders on the Sunshine Coast Make

The Sunshine Coast's growth brings with it a distinctive set of leadership traps. The first is treating the region's community orientation as a reason to avoid the difficult conversations that any high-performing team requires. Warmth without accountability is not culture. It is avoidance. The leaders on this list, without exception, hold people to standards.

The second mistake is building for local relevance at the expense of national or global ambition. The Sunshine Coast's entrepreneurial ecosystem, led by Silicon Coast and FWD Fest, has invested deliberately in helping founders think globally from a regional base. But many organisations still treat the local market as the ceiling rather than the floor. The leaders on this list almost uniformly hold a bigger frame than the postcode.

The third mistake is underestimating leadership development needs during growth. A region growing as fast as the Sunshine Coast is producing organisations that outpace the leadership capability of their people. The investment in team alignment, communication, and accountability during growth phases determines whether that growth is sustainable.

To explore what leadership development, Working Genius facilitation, or an executive offsite could offer your Sunshine Coast team, reach out to jonno@consultclarity.org.

Implementation Guide: Engaging with the Sunshine Coast's Leadership Community

FWD Fest, held annually by Silicon Coast, is the region's flagship innovation and entrepreneurship gathering and the single best event for encountering the breadth of the region's entrepreneurial and technology community in one place. The Sunshine Coast Business Awards, in their fourth decade, are the most rigorous recognition programme for business excellence in the region. For leaders in food and agribusiness, the Food and Agribusiness Network provides a model for what industry collaboration looks like when it is genuinely well-run. For healthcare leaders, the Thompson Institute at UniSC represents a research community worth engaging with. For leaders interested in arts and community, the programmes run by The Events Centre Caloundra and the cultural leadership of Lyndon Davis provide touchstones for what community investment looks like here.

You can find more on leadership development practices and the ANZ leaders shaping this conversation at consultclarity.org/post/thought-leaders-leadership-training-anz. For a broader look at consulting thought leaders working across Australia and New Zealand, see 

consultclarity.org/post/consulting-thought-leaders-anz.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential leaders on the Sunshine Coast QLD?

The most influential leaders on the Sunshine Coast in 2026 span civic governance, technology, health, agribusiness, entrepreneurship, sport, arts, and social enterprise. This directory of 45 leaders includes Mayor Rosanna Natoli, Council CEO John Baker, UniSC Vice-Chancellor Professor Helen Bartlett, Silicon Coast leaders Craig Josic and Kathryn Giudes, and recognised community leaders including Claire Smith, Selina Tomasich, and Lyndon Davis. The region's leadership community is broader and deeper than most national observers recognise.

What industries are the Sunshine Coast's leaders known for?

Sunshine Coast leaders are making significant contributions across technology and innovation, anchored by Silicon Coast and FWD Fest; advanced manufacturing, led by the Manufacturing Excellence Forum and Turbine Sunshine Coast; food and agribusiness, centred on FAN and award-winning producers; healthcare, shaped by the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service and UniSC's Thompson Institute; arts leadership through The Events Centre Caloundra; and community impact through a strong social enterprise and voluntary sector.

How does the Sunshine Coast compare to Brisbane as a leadership community?

The Sunshine Coast's leadership community has a different character to Brisbane's rather than being a smaller version of it. The region's ecosystem is more collaborative and more community-oriented, in part because it is small enough for people to know each other across sectors. The Silicon Coast model of bringing together entrepreneurs, technology leaders, and corporate and government supporters under one roof is harder to replicate at Brisbane's scale.

What is the Brisbane 2032 Olympics impact on the Sunshine Coast?

The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will see the Sunshine Coast serve as a co-host city, bringing major infrastructure investment including the $170 million Sunshine Coast Airport terminal expansion and planned upgrades to Sunshine Coast Stadium and a new Mountain Bike Centre. Mayor Rosanna Natoli serves on the Brisbane Organising Committee as the Sunshine Coast Council nominee, and Sunshine Coast 2032 is the community alliance working to maximise the legacy benefits of the Games for the region.

Final Thoughts

The 45 leaders on this list are a cross-section of what is genuinely happening in one of Australia's most dynamic regional communities right now. The Sunshine Coast is not waiting for the 2032 Games to step onto a bigger stage. The work is already underway, led by people who have chosen this region not as a pleasant place to retire from ambition but as the place from which to build something that matters.

What strikes anyone who studies this community closely is the density of connection. These 45 people exist in an ecosystem that is unusually collaborative by Australian standards. That collaboration has been built over years by organisations like Silicon Coast, FAN, the Sunshine Coast Business Awards, and the Sunshine Coast Business Women's Network, by civic leaders who have made community investment a priority, and by individuals who show up to each other's organisations and initiatives. The result is a regional leadership community that is greater than the sum of its parts.

To explore what leadership development, Working Genius facilitation, or an executive offsite could offer your Sunshine Coast team, reach out to jonno@consultclarity.org. Whether virtual or face to face, a conversation costs nothing and the outcomes tend to last.

For more on Queensland leadership, see the list of local government thought leaders across ANZ at consultclarity.org/post/local-government-thought-leaders-anz.

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

Next Read

Leadership development does not happen in a vacuum, and the people on this list are connected to a broader national and global community of thinkers. The list of local government thought leaders across ANZ takes the civic leadership conversation further, profiling the practitioners and leaders shaping how councils in Australia and New Zealand think about governance, strategy, and community.

Keep reading: consultclarity.org/post/local-government-thought-leaders-anz