Tickets are now open for the second event of the 2026 Leadership Series: “Growth on the Coast” on Thursday, 8 October at Matthew Flinders Anglican College in Buderim.
Hosted by the Matthew Flinders Foundation, this biannual networking initiative brings the Flinders parent and business community together to learn from local leaders as they share insights, spark dialogue and encourage collaboration.
Book your tickets now here.
Event MC Richard Thompson returns to lead what is set to be another high-energy conversation with humour and heart.
Guest speaker Kate Mallord, CEO of ScienceAlert, will share insights as a strategic leader with expertise in go-to-market and commercial growth, having previously held senior marketing leadership roles at LinkedIn and Meta, alongside her background as a former BBC Worldwide editor.
The three guest panellists – Nathaniel Simpson, Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson and Tim Forrester – will share real-world perspectives on performance, leadership and excellence, fostering community impact around issues key to the Sunshine Coast’s future.
This event is Proudly Supported by Rafter Myers and Bridgewise Insurance.
The Matthew Flinders Foundation is dedicated to fostering a spirit of connection, engagement, and enduring support within the Matthew Flinders Anglican College community. At the heart of the Foundation lies a deep commitment to philanthropy, an ethos that has enriched our College life through meaningful contributions to academic, cultural and campus initiatives. These generous gifts have opened doors to enhanced learning experiences, supporting both our students and staff in their pursuit of excellence.
EVENT DETAILS:
Growth on the Coast: Leadership Series 2026
When: Thursday, 8 October 2026
Time:
- 5:30pm to 6:15pm – Arrival Drinks and Canapes
- 6:15pm to 8:30pm – Guest Speaker and Leadership Panel Presentation
Where: Infinity Centre, Matthew Flinders Anglican College, 1-47 Stringybark Road, Buderim, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Tickets: $40pp includes refreshments and canapes
BOOK NOW here.
SPEAKER LINE-UP
Event MC: Richard Thompson, Director, Thompson Legal and host of the Success X Happiness Podcast
Guest Speaker: Kate Mallord, CEO, ScienceAlert
Leadership Panel:
- Nathaniel Simpson, CEO, Youi Insurance
- Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) University of the Sunshine Coast and Director, Matthew Flinders Anglican College Board
- Tim Forrester, Founder and Managing Director of Aria Property Group
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
EVENT MC: Richard Thompson, Director, Thompson Legal and host of the Success X Happiness Podcast
As a solicitor and former professional athlete, Richard brings a rare blend of legal expertise and elite performance. He practised across commercial, property and succession law before dedicating five years to competing as a full-time ultra triathlete, ultimately winning two world titles and setting a world record. Returning to law in 2023, Richard founded Thompson Legal in 2024, specialising in commercial and business law.
Thompson Legal is the fastest-growing law firm on the Sunshine Coast, widely recognised for its client-focused approach, strong core values of integrity and teamwork, and ability to deliver practical, results-driven legal solutions.
GUEST SPEAKER:
Kate Mallord, CEO, ScienceAlert
Kate Mallord is a strategic leader with deep expertise in go-to-market and commercial growth. Passionate about making science news accessible for all, Kate joined ScienceAlert as CEO in 2024. ScienceAlert is the world's leading independent and trusted science news website, entertaining over 30 million readers each month.
Prior to leading ScienceAlert, Kate held senior marketing leadership roles at Meta and LinkedIn. At Meta, Kate spearheaded global developer marketing for Meta Horizon Worlds, a role highlighted by her co-leading a cross-functional team of 30+ to build a fully-functional virtual reality world in just five days.
At LinkedIn, Kate built the foundational marketing teams and go-to-market strategies for LinkedIn Learning across the Asia-Pacific region. She also led the Women@LinkedIn initiative at APAC, which supported more than 1,000 female employees. By partnering with the business, the team was able to significantly address underrepresentation at leadership levels and tackle high employee churn in countries across the Asia-Pacific region with significant gender imbalances.
With a background spanning journalism for major titles like BBC Worldwide and The Daily Mail, Kate brings a unique mix of high-impact storytelling, technical commercialisation and rapid platform scaling to the stage.
LEADERSHIP PANEL
Nathaniel Simpson, CEO, Youi Insurance
Nathaniel Simpson is Youi's Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director on the Youi Board. In this role, he leads the continued expansion of Youi, one of Australia's most successful challenger brands in the insurance industry. Appointed as CEO in July 2023, he previously held various executive positions within the company, most recently serving as the Chief Product Officer, where he led the strategy for Youi's product, actuarial and strategic partnerships.
Nathaniel's career spans financial services roles across both Australia and South Africa. While he is an actuary and holds a master's degree in financial engineering, he is just as passionate about people as he is about business. His experience includes serving on the start-up team for a direct-to-consumer life insurer within OUTsurance, a multinational insurance group. He also successfully delivered Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled insurance products to market, one of which was a Good Design Awards (Australia) finalist. Nathaniel has also brought to market several technology-driven initiatives spanning IoT, Big Data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Nathaniel also contributes as a Director on the Matthew Flinders Anglican College Board.
Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) University of the Sunshine Coast and Director, Matthew Flinders Anglican College Board
Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson brings more than two decades of leadership experience spanning early childhood, schooling, higher education and executive leadership. She has made significant contributions to national curriculum and assessment development, student success and retention strategies, and the integration of contemporary educational technologies. Her work also focuses on designing inclusive learning environments that effectively support diverse student cohorts. Maree is committed to engagement in the Education community and serves on many advisory and reference committees both locally and at the state and national levels. She also contributes as a Director on the Matthew Flinders Anglican College Board.
Tim Forrester, Founder and Managing Director of Aria Property Group
Following his schooling at Matthew Flinders Anglican College (Class of 1999) and growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Tim Forrester moved to Brisbane to pursue his entrepreneurial pursuits. What started with a single mobile coffee cart evolved into land deals and development site flipping, before maturing into delivering flagship projects. Today, he leads the nationally-awarded Aria Property Group, a fully integrated, high-rise apartment development business featuring in-house construction, sales and property management teams.
Tim is driven to create places that leave a lasting legacy for families and the community. Anchored by this vision of pioneering world-class, sustainable residential developments, he leads Aria to challenge and redefine existing industry frameworks. Aria is now Australia’s most awarded developer and has been named the recipient of the Best High-Density Development in Australia award seven times (including 2017–2019, 2022–2023, 2025 and 2026).
About the Matthew Flinders Foundation
The Matthew Flinders Foundation is proud to support the College while actively engaging the wider community. The Foundation aims to encourage philanthropy to facilitate the ongoing development of facilities, scholarships and educational programs for the long-term benefit of our students, both now and into the future.
