The Pratt Foundation Fellow

The 2008 International Pratt Fellows:

Professor Tim Flannery

Professor Tim Flannery is Australia's leading scientist and a much admired writer, thinker, environmentalist and adventurer. In 2007 he was named Australian of the Year in recognition of his work in alerting the world to the effects of human activity on climate change, and the potentially devastating effects of those changes on life on Earth.

Through his writing (including his bestselling book, The Weather Makers), his profile, his passion, and his optimism, Prof. Flannery is helping to move Australians from environmental apathy to understanding and action.

Kate Gilmore

Kate Gilmore is the Executive Deputy Secretary-General of Amnesty International in London, where she has led broad organisational change and oversees more than 450 staff based in offices worldwide. She joined the international secretariat in 2001 following a stint as national director of Amnesty International in Australia.

Previously, Kate worked in the Australian health sector, during which time she established the first Centre for Sexual Assault (CASA) for the support of rape victims, and helped to establish the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture.

The 2007 International Pratt Fellows:

Angela Glover Blackwell

Angela Glover Blackwell is President of PolicyLink, a US research, communications, capacity-building and advocacy organisation that is guided by the belief that those closest to the nation's challenges are central to the search for solutions.

A pioneer of the community building approach to social change and a committed and skillful advocate, Angela founded PolicyLink in 1999 after serving as Senior Vice President for The Rockefeller Foundation.

A frequent and respected guest in the US media, Angela Glover Blackwell has also served on several high-profile US boards, including the Urban Institute, the James Irvine Foundation and the Foundation for Child Development.

Bernard Salt

Bernard Salt is a partner at KPMG Australia and a leading commentator and advisor on consumer, cultural and demographic trends and their likely impacts.

A regular newspaper columnist, Bernard Salt is well known for his ability to articulate the motivational factors that have shaped, and continue to shape, the Australian community.

He has made numerous appearances on TV programs including Business Sunday, The Today Show and SBS Insight, and is the author of the best-selling book The Big Shift, which charts the changes that have shaped Australia, as well as The Big Picture, which tackles the social and demographic questions facing the nation.

The 2006 International Pratt Fellows:

Professor Meredith Minkler - University of California Berkeley's School of Public Health

Professor Meredith Minkler is Professor of Health and Social Behaviour and Director, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley.

Professor Minkler has close to 30 years' experience in working with disadvantaged communities on issues identified by communities themselves, and then using community building, community organising and community-based participatory research to measure results.

Her current interests include the impact of community-based participatory research on public policy. Professor Minkler has developed community participatory empowerment models for community participation working with a range of groups from youth to the aged.

Professor Minkler has published extensively on topics such as - community organising, community building, health education and behaviour, youth empowerment strategies, social epidemiology, people with disabilities, health start programs and ageing.

Her speaking at the Communities in Control Conference is a major coup for Australia, both in the community and public health areas.

Bryce Courtenay - internationally acclaimed best-selling author, businessperson, speaker and storyteller

Bryce Courtenay is one of Australia's great success stories. An internationally acclaimed best-selling author, Bryce is also a very successful business person, having worked with direct marketing guru Ian Kennedy to produce 'The Power of One to One' - an invaluable business textbook. Prior to turning his hand to storytelling, Bryce had a much-awarded 34-year career in advertising.

Bryce's first novel, 'The Power of One', was an international best-seller and translated into 11 languages. More books followed - 'April Fool's Day', 'Tandia', and 'The Potato Factory' (now the highest selling work of fiction in hardback ever published in Australia) among them. Bryce's latest work is called 'White Thorn'.

In 1995 Bryce was awarded The Order of Australia, and a decade later he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Newcastle.

Judy Rogers, CEO, City of Vancouver, Canada

Judy Rogers is City Manager (CEO) for the City of Vancouver, Canada's third largest municipality and consistently rated - along with Melbourne - one of the world's most livable cities. Since she became the first woman appointed CEO of Vancouver in 1999, the City has received a significant number of awards for innovation and excellence and has won international recognition for a truly leading-edge administration that promotes community control.

Under Rogers' leadership, Vancouver has worked extensively with community groups and neighbourhoods to boost public participation and improve civic policy, programs and services. One of her most notable community achievements was developing Neighbourhood Integrated Services Teams (NIST), a unique project that brings City departments and outside agencies together with empowered Vancouver residents to help solve difficult issues in their neighbourhood. In 2003, NIST received the prestigious United Nations Award for Innovation in Public Service.

Rogers was a key architect of the award-winning Vancouver Agreement, a landmark urban development agreement with the federal, provincial and city government that has been instrumental in the revitalisation of the city's historic Downtown Eastside and played a critical role in the development of the groundbreaking Four Pillars approach to addressing drug-related problems in Vancouver through prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction.

It was also under Rogers' stewardship that Vancouver won the right to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Rogers was instrumental in ensuring that the Games include an inclusivity agreement that ensures organisers work with the lower-income, inner city communities for mutual benefit.

Rogers holds a Masters in Public Administration degree. She's a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Excellence in Public Service in B.C., and has twice been selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

The 2004 International Pratt Fellows:

Sir David Henshaw, CEO, City of Liverpool, UK

Sir David Henshaw is the CEO of the City of Liverpool - a City now committed to community control. After taking over the running of Liverpool in 1999 Sir David took three years to transform the city from the bottom of the performance indicator league table to the top. In the process, Liverpool was rewarded with the title of European Capital of Culture and David Henshaw was voted one of the top 100 UK Citizens (Guardian) - in the category of innovator.

Shelley Martin, Executive Director, University of California Berkley's Centre for Community Wellness

Shelley Martin puts into practice the work of Professor Emeritus Len Syme, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley and Professor Lisa Berkman, Head of Public Policy - Department of Health, Social Behaviour and Epidemiology, Harvard University (last year's Pratt Fellows).

The Centre for Community Wellness applies Len and Lisa's work for practical on-the-ground outcomes, tangibly improving health and wellbeing. The Centre has for the past 14 years worked with community and state agencies, families and individuals to empower people in leading healthier lives.

The 2003 International Pratt Fellows:

Emeritus Professor Len Syme, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Professor Syme established the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. He is regarded by many as the father of social epidemiology and has evaluated thousands of projects and programs attempting to prevent risk behaviours and involve community connection and ownership in the promotion of wellbeing and health.

Syme says, "Of the billions of dollars that are spent each year in the United States, not one dollar actually works to prevent child abuse, suicide, heart disease, stroke, school truancy... except funds going to communities who set their own priorities, and are enabled to establish their own programs. Communities in control is the only preventative method that works".

Professor Lisa Berkman, Professor of Public Policy and Epidemiology & Chair of the Department of Health and Social Behaviour at Harvard School of Public Health, USA

Professor Lisa Berkman's epidemiological research has demonstrated the preventative value of strong communities and inclusive community networks. Her groundbreaking work showed that connectedness with a community group was instrumental in improving public health and wellbeing.