 About the Speakers
 Elizabeth Power | Country Consular Coordinator
United States Consulate General, Sydney, Australia
Elizabeth Power is the Deputy Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Sydney, as well as the Country Consular Coordinator for Mission Australia. As Country Consular Coordinator she is responsible for the supervision and oversight of all consular services in Australia. She was previously the Country Consular Coordinator in South Africa, 1CA Director, Consul General in Lima, Peru, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Maseru, Lesotho. In a variety of other assignments, including positions in Washington, Mexico, Uruguay, and Nigeria, she has developed broad expertise in developing policy and implementing programs related to international development and consular affairs, and in leading large and varied operations. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University.
Having grown up in a military family that retired to a small farm, Elizabeth developed both the desire to travel and a love of the outdoors. She and her husband have three children.
 Dr Christopher Reynolds | President
Australian American Association (Gold Coast Division)
Dr Reynolds was first listed in the International Book of Who’s Who in 2006. As the only Australian to hold Senior Staff positions with both the US Senate and Congress during the 1980s, Dr Reynolds received a Presidential Commendation for an outstanding contribution to American Government. He has also been the Executive Officer for the NSW Minister for Public Works, Roads, Ports and Darling Harbour, and the Executive Director for the Sydney World Trade Centre.
At Claremont Graduate University, one of America’s most prestigious universities, Dr Reynolds studied Political Science-Philosophy, Government, Constitutional Law and Ethics with several famous educators including; Peter Drucker, Al Louch, Christopher Levy, and Gerry Jordan. Dr Reynolds was a Claremont Fellow in 1982 and 1983, granting him full tuition.
His broad experience and education has given Dr Reynolds a grounding as a professional in business management, politics and education. He is the author of “Global Logic: The Challenges of Globalisation for SE Asian Business” in 2002 and “In the Shadow of the Crown” in 2015. In 2020 he had a series of poetry books for children published and is currently completing a rewrite of Australian History.
Dr Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience in education and business management. His unique education program for increasing learning ability in children, developed between 2003-2009, led to recognition of his Reynold Learning program in the Oxford-Cambridge Guide to Global Education and Skills as among the top 200 programs in the world for innovative education. His experience as a teacher, professor, business manager and political strategist, are balanced with a life of social concern and friendship with people in the countries where he has lived.
 Prof Andrew Phillips | Deputy Director Graduate Centre in Governance and International Affairs
The University of Queensland (UQ)
Andrew Phillips is an Associate Professor of International Relations and Strategy and Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland. He formerly held an appointment as a Fellow in the Department of International Relations at the Australian National University. His research interests focus broadly on the evolution of the global state system from 1500 to the present, and concentrate specifically on the challenges that 'new' security threats such as religiously motivated terrorism, the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and state failure pose to the contemporary global state system. Dr Phillips' book, War, Religion and Empire: The Transformation of International Orders (Cambridge University Press, 2011) examines the evolution of international orders in Europe, East Asia, and the Islamic world from the Protestant Reformation to the present, and offers the first book-length effort to synthesise insights from realism and constructivism in accounting for international orders' constitution and transformation. Additionally, Dr Phillips also has works published or forthcoming in journals including Review of International Studies, Australian Journal of International Affairs, National Identities, and Security Challenges. Prior to undertaking his postgraduate studies in international relations, Dr Phillips also worked as a policy advisor in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Specialties: Research Interests: International relations theory, historical sociology, world history, international security, theories of world order and disorder, grand strategy and Great Power rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region, terrorism and counter-terrorism, insurgency and counter-insurgency.
 Honourable Rachel Nolan | Executive Chair
The McKell Institute, Queensland
Rachel Nolan is the Executive Chair of the McKell Institute Queensland, a national progressive thinktank focusing on economic policy. McKell has strong ties to US politics, particularly on the Democratic side. She is a former Queensland Minister for Finance, Transport, Natural Resources and the Arts and spent 11 years as a State MP, starting out in 2001 as the youngest woman ever elected in the state. Rachel holds an honourary academic position in Philosophy at UQ and regularly teaches and consults on public policy and governance to South East Asian Governments through UQ International Development. She maintains a keen interest in US politics, having lived in that country in her early 20s.
 Panel Facilitator
James Cahill | Political Commentator
Former Deputy Editor - Election Watch, Melbourne School of Government
James is a recognised expert in American politics, appearing regularly on Australian television & radio over the last five years. He arrived in Australia from the US just over 25 years ago and did his post-graduate studies in political science at the University of Queensland in the early 2000s.
As Deputy Editor of the University of Melbourne digital publication Election Watch, James has covered elections in Australia, the US and throughout the world. This combination of lived experience, academic study & research, and broad-ranging professional work give James a unique ability to explain, compare & contrast, and provide historical context for the often bewildering world of American politics.
In newer forms of media, James has been a key part of G’Day Patriots, a highly-regarded weekly podcast on US politics that ran from early 2016 to mid-2019 and may be revived for the 2020 election cycle. |