MELBOURNE KNOWLEDGE WEEK FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

SMART CITY OFFICE | CITY OF MELBOURNE 

Connecting Minds, Creating Change
Melbourne Knowledge Week (MKW) was the City of Melbourne’s premier innovation festival, designed to explore the interconnected challenges and opportunities shaping the future of Melbourne and its people. It provided a platform for audiences and industry to connect, collaborate, and engage with the talent and ideas driving innovation, contributing to Melbourne’s development as a smarter and more resilient city.

As Director over five years, I transformed MKW from a small academic conference with 1,100 attendees from 10 universities into a dynamic, multifaceted public festival attracting over 15,000 participants. The festival’s evolution included securing 94 industry partners, including the Victorian Government, and achieving national television coverage.

Key achievements:

• Secured Council Premier Festival status by 2016, solidifying MKW’s position as a flagship event.
• Earned the Tech Diversity Award 2016 – Government Category for championing diversity and inclusion across programming, with 95% of events free to attend.
• Delivered broad-reaching impact by engaging cross-industry stakeholders and providing accessible programming to diverse audiences.

Under my leadership, MKW grew to become a national exemplar of innovation, collaboration, and public engagement, running annually until 2022 and leaving a lasting legacy in Melbourne’s knowledge and innovation landscape.