WE ARE
PROFESSIONAL SPEAKERS
OUR TEAM
TĀNE HUNTER
CO-FOUNDER, CANCER RESEARCHER, FUTURIST
Cancer researcher, bioinformatician, data scientist, and CEO of Future Crunch.
Earning a Masters in Bioinformatics from the University of Melbourne, he went on to work at the Royal Children’s Hospital diagnosing rare genetic diseases, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre using AI and molecular biomarkers in DNA to help improve treatments for people living with
cancer.
Today, Tāne is one of Australia’s most compelling science communicators. Through Future Crunch, he’s on a mission to share stories of progress and possibility - helping people make sense of the future with intelligence, curiosity, and a healthy dose of optimism.
DARA SIMKIN
PLAY AND INNOVATION STRATEGIST
Expert facilitator, learning designer and Australia's leading play at work specialist. Dara landed in Australia from the US in 2009 after winning a video competition, and she never went home.
She's worked with The LEGO Foundation and McKinsey & Co., world-renowned play researcher Dr Stuart Brown and Silicon Valley's IDEO Play Lab, and is also certified in the Danish learning methodology, KAOSPILOT, known for its innovative and dynamic approach to education and training.
She believes we can’t solve the problems of the modern workforce with the
same conventional thinking that created them.
DR ANGUS HERVEY
CO-FOUNDER, POLITICAL ECONOMIST
Angus is a political economist and a journalist specialising in the impact of disruptive technologies on society. He is a co-founder at Future Crunch.
He was the founding community manager of Random Hacks of Kindness, a global initiative from Google, IBM, Microsoft, NASA and the World Bank to create open-source technology solutions to social challenges.
He was also the first editorial manager for Global Policy, one of the world's leading international policy journals. He holds a PhD in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics, where he was the Ralph Miliband Scholar.
EHSSAN SAKEE
ENGINEER &
CARTOONIST
Ehssan is a cartoonist, leadership educator, engineer, writer, philosopher and mindfulness practitioner.
He has been lecturing at University of Sydney, UCLA Extension and Osaka University in the area of leadership, innovation and sustainability for close to a decade.
He has founded a tech startup for measuring soft skill development (PaLDIP) as well as an edutainment company (Wacky Wisdom) and Inspirational Management Australia using evidence-based personal and leadership development training.
MELISSA NEIGHBOUR
URBAN PLANNER
Melissa is an environmental town planner, community builder and sustainability specialist. She is the Owner of Sky Town Planning, a purpose-driven town planning consultancy based in Sydney.
She has developed and implemented award-winning sustainable development projects across Australia, and is on a mission to activate sustainable forms of living in urban spaces of the future.
She is a founding member of the World Economic Forum Sydney Shaper Hub and was the National Convener for the United National Association of Australia Young Professionals Network.
SARAH ROWAN
AUSTRALIA'S FIRST SPEAKER + SPEED PAINTER
Rowan is Australia's top speed painter (according to ChatGTP) and has been speed painting for over 20 years, bringing a vibrant and fun vibe to everything she does.
To date, Rowan has painted at over 500 events, raising over $350,000 for charity. Her keynotes on creativity and mental health whilst speed painting are a big hit with all her clients. As part of the Future Crunch team, she helps create extraordinary experiences, allowing audiences to learn with both the heart and the head. She graduated from Converse College in 2003 with a BFA in Studio Art, and moved to Sydney in 2005 to expand her art horizons.
BEHIND THE SCENES
TIA JEAN
Owner at Organise.Curate.Design | Admin Specialist, Life & Business Consultant
Tia is the current mind and heart behind Organise.Curate.Design, a boutique life and business admin company that blends creativity and organisation into a collective that curates clarity out of chaos through grounded, structured thinking, and a little bit of admin magic.
At Future Crunch, she brings that same grounded magic to operations, partnerships and creative logistics - helping ideas move smoothly from thought to action.
With a background in Psychological Science and Sociology from the University of Sydney, Tia’s work is guided by a lifelong curiosity about people, patterns and the way we fit together. Her career has spanned retail, hospitality, management and admin, a foundation that has shaped her holistic, human-first approach to organisation.
Sam McLean | Elite Agency
“FUTURE CRUNCH... WHERE DO I EVEN START? ABSOLUTELY INSPIRING, INCREDIBLY INTERESTING AND JUST OVERALL OUTSTANDING.”
KEYNOTES AND WORKSHOPS
CTRL + ALT + ADAPT
DON'T FEAR CHANGE, PLAY WITH IT
The present moment used to be our unimaginable future, and technology has woven itself into the fabric of every industry, redefining the way we collaborate, innovate, and lead. We’re living in a global polycrisis, complexity is the new normal, and our ability to adapt is being tested on every level.
Today’s leaders are faced with a pivotal choice, cling to outdated models or embrace the opportunity to build something new and resilient. The future belongs to the curious, flexible, bold, and above all, the playful.
CTRL + ALT + ADAPT reframes adaptability not as a buzzword or coping mechanism, but as a deep biological imperative - and serious
competitive edge. You’ll learn how the adaptability quotient (AQ) and play are not opposites, but intertwined survival mechanisms baked into our DNA. This keynote combines equal parts data and dopamine, drawing from neuroscience, anthropology, organisational psychology and a dash of rat tickling (yes, really).
Expect interactive moments, serious science and a surprising amount of laughs. You’ll leave with practical tools, fresh insights,
and a renewed understanding of how to meet complexity not with fear or burnout, but with imagination and curiosity.
FULL STACK HUMAN
REWIRE HOW YOU THINK, WORK AND LEAD
Your brain is running on software designed for a world that no longer exists. It’s time for an upgrade. While the world panics about AI stealing jobs a deeper crisis is unfolding, we’re trying to navigate exponential change with Stone Age brains. The result? Burnout, decision paralysis, and entire organisations frozen in the headlights of disruption.
Yet some people are actually thriving in this chaos.
They’re not superhuman, they’re Full Stack Humans. Professionals who flex their thinking, adapt their leadership, and operate across every layer of what it means to be human: cognitively, emotionally, culturally and existentially. Full Stack Humans have upgraded their cognitive operating system to match the complexity of the modern world. And that’s exactly what this keynote helps your audience do.
This is not another “embrace change” pep talk. It’s a provocative, science-backed experience that shows why your brain often sabotages your best intentions, how biases and outdated thinking patterns hold us back, and what you can do to build the flexibility, resilience and cognitive courage to thrive. Audiences will explore practical tools for rewiring thinking patterns, overcoming Achievement Syndrome, and building cognitive flexibility.
Through a dynamic mix of neuroscience, systems thinking, humour and storytelling, Future Crunch delivers an unforgettable experience.
THE NEXT ECONOMY
A FIELD GUIDE FOR WHAT'S COMING NEXT
The coming years will be amongst the most important in human history, in which the decisions we make as a species will determine the fate of multiple generations. How do today’s leaders ensure they’re creating sustainable businesses and organisations that work for people and the planet?
The first step is understanding what's coming next. Future Crunch draws on their latest, gold-plated research to explore the fundamental technologies shaping our future.
We’ve all heard that “software is eating the world”, but hardware is the teeth. AI, robotics, blockchain, 3D printing, web 3.0, vertical agriculture, synthetic biology - each of these technologies is transformative in their own right, and together, they constitute a true industrial revolution creating unprecedented change in every industry at once.
In the face of extraordinary change, this keynote is a field guide for navigating major technological disruption with confidence, global uncertainty with curiosity, and offers essential knowledge for anyone looking to harness the opportunities of a rapidly changing economic landscape. It’s designed for individuals and organisations seeking to maintain a strategic and creative edge while contributing to a more sustainable, equitable future. Because ultimately, the most important part of this transformation isn’t the technology – it’s us.
Being human is not a bug in the system; it’s the key to shaping what comes next.
MASTERCLASS
ADAPTABILITY AT PLAY
NAVIGATING COMPLEXITY WITH CONFIDENCE
This is not your typical corporate training workshop. Expect uncontrollable laughter, breakthrough thinking, and an alarming tendency to
question old ways of doing things.
Hijack your team’s neurobiology for accelerated skill development. When people are relaxed, laughing, and curious, their brains become more plastic, more creative, more open to new ways of thinking. It's like a cognitive upgrade disguised as a really good >me.
We've cracked the code on why most professional development feels like watching paint dry: it ignores how humans actually learn best.
Through play, experimentation, and just the right amount of science and data.
Participants will harness their own creative confidence and practice adaptive strategies to foster teamwork, innovation and resilience, and rather than just talking about being ‘adaptable’, they'll get hands-on practice with simple, concrete strategies for navigating uncertainty.
Forget death by PowerPoint. This is learning that actually works, because it's seriously fun.
