Professor Sarah Pearson

Sarah has extensive global executive leadership experience spanning C-suite roles in the public and private sector, including leading brands such as Cadbury and McKinsey. Her career has spanned being an entrepreneur, intrapreneur, innovator and inventor; a scientist, academic and women in STEM advocate; an investor and mentor to start ups; public servant and advisor to governments locally, nationally and internationally; and the development of collaborative innovation ecosystems. Sarah represented Australia globally as the inaugural Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Scientist for the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, andcontinues some of this work through global roles.

Sarah currently overseas over $1bn of Venture Capital through Investment Committees (Main Sequence Ventures) and Advisory Boards (Impact Investment Exchange Asia). Her portfolio of other roles includes Non-Exec Director positions with impactful organisations such as RFDS (QLD) and RACQ. Sarah continues her long history of engaging in championing science through roles such as Chair of Inspiring Australia QLD Reference Group, and champions women in stem and innovation through numerous advisory activities.  Her passion is to leverage emerging tech & innovation to accelerate economic growth, disrupt disadvantage, address global challenges, and leave no one behind.

 She holds a PhD in Particle Physics from Oxford, is the author on eight international patents, for cancer diagnosis and novel confectionary, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.