FEATURED SPEAKERS
ANNA DELLER - COOMBS
URPS
As a skilled facilitator, Anna designs and leads workshop processes that bring people into the heart of planning and project thinking.
She has crafted engagement programs across a wide range of transport projects: from long term transport strategies to major bypass concept designs, main street upgrades and engagement during complex road construction periods.Anna brings curiosity, clarity and a people first approach to every project. In her training, she shares real world experience and practical tools to help others build confidence, spark richer conversations and create transport projects shaped by the people who use them.
GIL PENALOSA
8 80 Cities
Gil Penalosa is a globally respected advocate for cities that work for everyone. He focuses on making healthy, happy living the easy choice through practical policies, infrastructure, and programs—because good intentions are not enough. With a rare blend of passion, pragmatism, and experience, Gil is widely sought after to inspire and advise city leaders and organisations around the world, having worked in more than 350 cities across all continents.
He is the Founder and Chair of the award‑winning Canadian non‑profit 8 80 Cities, and founder of Cities for Everyone and Gil Penalosa & Associates, through which he delivers keynote presentations and strategic advice to decision‑makers and communities. In 2022, Gil ran for Mayor of Toronto, earning 100,000 votes in 100 days and finishing second among 31 candidates, with a platform focused on affordability, equity, and sustainability—helping shift the city’s public conversation.
Gil’s career began in Bogotá, Colombia, where he led the creation of over 200 parks and helped transform the world‑renowned Ciclovía/Open Streets program, now used by over a million people each week. He has twice served as Chair of World Urban Parks, holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, and has received numerous international honors, including a Doctorate Honoris Causa from SLU in Sweden and Australia’s World Urban Parks Distinguished Individual Award. He is consistently recognised as one of the world’s most influential urban thinkers.
SALLY STANNARD
Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Queensland Government
In this role, Sally oversees TMR’s delivery of transport services and infrastructure, the shaping of current and future transport systems, and management of the State’s transport regulation, marine and road safety functions.
TMR has approximately 6850 staff and an annual budget of $15.8 billion, including capital expenditure of $6.3 billion and managed assets worth in excess of $136 billion. TMR’s network also includes 33,000km of state-controlled roads, service contracts worth over $2 Billion per annum and important rail, bus, cycling and maritime infrastructure.
In Sally’s previous role as the Deputy Director-General (Translink), she led the delivery of customer-focused passenger transport services across Queensland, including policy, planning, ticketing, contract management and customer services.
Sally is the Chair of Cross River Rail and Chair of the Public Transport Association Australia New Zealand. She is also a board member of Transport Australia and the Australian Rail Industry Standards Organisation.
She holds qualifications in Engineering and International Studies and is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Sally is passionate about the role transport plays in equitable and sustainable economic development of our cities and regions.
Theresa Wells
GHD
Theresa Wells sits at the intersection of digital innovation, transport infrastructure, and strategic advisory, a combination that is rare, and increasingly essential.
With over 25 years of experience spanning geospatial data, digital engineering, information management, and infrastructure advisory, Theresa has spent her career helping government agencies translate complex data into decisions that matter. She currently leads GHD’s Enterprise Client Programme for Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, one of New Zealand’s most significant transport relationships, where she works across Roads of National Significance, asset intelligence, and system-wide capability development.
A recognised leader in AI and the built environment, Theresa is the Inform Workstream Lead for AI Forum NZ’s Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector working group, and has developed AI-powered tools for government clients across New Zealand and the Pacific.
Her signature Wedge Model approach, transferring genuine capability to clients rather than creating consulting dependency, earned GHD the ACE New Zealand Special Gold Award and has become a blueprint for how government and industry can build lasting digital intelligence together.
Theresa was a Finalist for Transformational Leader at the 2025 ENVI Awards, a passionate advocate for indigenous data sovereignty, and a firm believer that the transport networks of the future are already being built from the data we hold today.
Professor Amelia Thorpe
University of NSW
Amelia Thorpe is Professor in Law at UNSW Sydney, working on mobility and urban governance.
Her approach is sociolegal and interdisciplinary, drawing on degrees in Architecture (UWA) and City Policy (Murdoch) as well as Law (Oxford, Harvard, ANU) to examine the ways in which law, infrastructure and everyday practices interact to structure urban space and transport systems. Amelia’s research is also informed by practice, including as an Acting Commissioner in the Land and Environment Court of NSW.
In 2025-2026 Amelia is City of Paris Chair at the IEA de Paris (Paris Institute of Advanced Studies), researching shifts in street governance.
TRANSPORT PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION
PO Box 107 LUTWYCHE QLD 4030 conference@transportprofesionals.com.au
+61 7 3544 5670
ABN: 28 062 495 452
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