Keynote Speaker Profiles
Sir Michael Lyons
Following a distinguished career in local government, Sir Michael Lyons now acts as strategic adviser to Government and a range of public and private sector organisations.
He is currently completing the final report of the independent "Lyons Inquiry" into the role and funding of local government that was commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequor. Interim reports were published in December 2005 and May 2006 and the final report will be published later this year (ww.lyonsinquiry.org).
Sir Michael is chairman of the English Cities Fund -a £100 million pound fund established by English Partnerships, Legal and General, and AMEC Developments plc to promote institutional investment in urban regeneration. He is a non-executive Director of three companies: Mouchel Parkman Group plc, a rapidly growing company specialising in managed services; Wragge and Co., the prominent Birmingham-based solicitors, and SQW group specialising in consultancy and innovation centres. He chairs the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Recent roles have included three years as the Acting Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Audit Commission and five years as Professor of Public Policy at Birmingham University.
Sir Michael was knighted in January 2000 for Services to Local Government after serving as the Chief Executive of three major local authorities: Birmingham City Council (1994-2001), Nottinghamshire County Council (1990-1994) and Wolverhampton Borough Council (1985-1990). He spent a short period as an elected councillor.
Sherri Torjman
Sherri Torjman is Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy. The Institute is a social policy think tank which seeks to inform and influence public opinion and to foster public discussion on poverty and social policy. It also develops and promotes concrete, practicable proposals for the reform of social programs at all levels of government.
Sherri is the author of the book Shared Space: The Communities Agenda and of many Caledon reports covering topics including the social role of local government, the social dimension of sustainable development, innovation and community economic development, welfare reform, disability income and supports, employment policy and social spending.
Sherri wrote the welfare series of reports for the National Council of Welfare and has authored four books on disability policy.
She has worked for the House of Commons Committee on the Disabled, the House of Commons Committee on Child Care, and the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies.
Sherri was co-Chair of the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities, which reported to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Revenue. (See www.disabilitytax.ca for final report).
Sherri's presentation is kindly sponsored by Transpower.
David Shand
David Shand is the Chairperson of the Independent Inquiry into Local Government Rates. He has extensive international financial experience, most recently for over eight years as a public financial management specialist at both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
David also worked on public sector reform with the OECD from 1993-97. Prior to that he held a number of senior positions in state and federal government in Australia, including Deputy Secretary of the Victorian Treasury and Queensland Public Service Commissioner.
David was a Wellington city councillor from 1971 to 1977 and is also a Director of Meridian Energy Ltd. David is a former University lecturer in public sector accounting and budgeting (Victoria University of Wellington and the Australian National University) and has published numerous articles on public management.
Rob White
Rob White joined the team at The New Zealand Wine Company, which produces the Grove Mill and Sanctuary Wines, as Chief Executive Officer in July 2003. He has an extensive management and marketing background in several agriculture and food-based industries in New Zealand and Australia.
Rob has a tertiary degree from Auckland University and a Master of International Business from Sydney University.
Rob is committed to sustainable business development and in 2006 announced that, through a pioneering sustainability programme, The New Zealand Wine Company was the first carboNZero® certified winery in the world.
The New Zealand Wine Company challenged itself to address its impact on climate change, from carbon dioxide emissions, as a result of the growing, winemaking and shipping (food miles) of its wines.
CarboNZero® certification involves three important steps: measuring, managing toward reduced emissions and finally offsetting (mitigating) the remaining unavoidable emissions through the regeneration of native forests. The process was developed by Landcare Research New Zealand and is independently audited to ensure its integrity.
Rob's presentation is kindly sponsored by Civic Assurance.
Last updated: March 2011
