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2026 Enterprise Governance Symposium

How Boards Think: Cognition, Curiosity, and the Future of Boardroom Decision-Making

The Bond University Faculty of Law and the Centre for Commercial Law and Governance are proud to host the 2026 Enterprise Governance Symposium.  

Most corporate governance events focus on the external issues facing boards - ESG, AI, geopolitics, climate change, regulation etc. This is not that event.

This year’s Symposium focuses on the inner workings of boards themselves: how directors think individually and collectively, what structural conditions support good judgment, and what works against it. The premise is that a board’s ability to navigate any issue depends first on the quality of its internal thinking.

That is what we are here to examine.

Thus, the day is built around a central question: "Are boards designed to make the decisions they need to make?”

Not designed in the sense of who sits on them, though that matters. Designed in the sense of how information reaches directors, how discussion is structured, how tension is handled, how technology is (or is not) used, and whether the conditions in the room support the quality of thinking the complexity of modern governance actually requires.

Event details

Date: Thursday, 25 June, 2026.

Time: 8:30am to 5:30pm (Symposium), 5:30-6:30pm (networking).

Location: Bond Brisbane, Level 26, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane

Key themes

  • Pressure as a diagnostic. Stressor can reveal what a board’s design amplifies and what it suppresses
  • Curiosity as a condition: Not so much a personality trait, but something that can be built into how a board operates
  • “More Human, Less Human”: As tech like AI enters the boardroom, what becomes distinctly human about governance? And are we developing those capabilities or neglecting them?
  • Structural designs: The way a board is set up shapes the decisions it produces. Different designs optimise for different things.
  • Experience the difference: The day is designed so participants feel what different governance structures produce, not just hear arguments about them.

Meet your speakers

  • Tiziana Casciaro - Professor of Organizational Behavior and the Marcel Desautels Chair in Integrative Thinking, University of Toronto

    Tiziana Casciaro is Professor of Organizational Behavior and the Marcel Desautels Chair in Integrative Thinking at the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on how power dynamics and networks shape collaboration, leadership, and organizational change. Her work bridges disciplines spanning management, psychology, and sociology and has earned distinguished scientific achievement awards from the Academy of Management.


    Recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s top management thinkers, Tiziana regularly contributes to the Harvard Business Review, and her insights have been featured in The Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fortune, and TIME.


    She is the co-author of Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It’s Everyone’s Business (Simon & Schuster, 2022), winner of the Academy of Management’s George R. Terry Book Award for the most outstanding contribution to the global advancement of management knowledge.


    Originally from Italy, Tiziana earned her B.A. in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Organization Science and Sociology from Carnegie Mellon University. Before joining the University of Toronto, she served on the faculty of Harvard Business School.
     

  • Professor Keitha Dunstan - Provost Bond University

    Professor Dunstan holds the role of Provost of Bond University. She leads the research and education strategies and oversees the academic operations of the university. Her role encompasses leadership of the Bond University College, Transformation CoLab, Higher Degree Research Unit, Academic Integrity Unit, Research Integrity Unit, Academic Integrity Project, and Executive Learning Unit. Professor Dunstan also oversees the Inclusion portfolio of the University, which encompasses its Gender Equality, Equity and Diversity and Indigenous strategies. 

    Professor Dunstan is the Chair of, the Board of Advice for the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation, the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal, and the Indigenous Advisory Group for CPA Australia.  She is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a member of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

    Professor Keitha Dunstan is a proud descendant of the Mandandanji people of South-West Queensland. 

  • Paul Smith - Senior Teaching Fellow Faculty of Law, Bond University

    Paul Smith, known as “The Board Futurist”, is a globally recognised innovator and thought leader in corporate governance. As the founder of Future Directors, he is helping to revolutionise how boards and directors learn, connect, and adapt through a holistic platform combining technology, education, and community. His mission is clear: to future-proof boards and help directors become effective stewards for an uncertain and complex world. A sought-after international speaker, Paul shares insights on impactful governance, inclusive decision-making, and the transformative potential of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, in the boardroom. His philosophy, that the board of the future will be "simultaneously more human and less human", drives his work in blending behavioural science with technology to enhance decision-making.

    Paul is the award-winning author of Right Seat Right Table, a cornerstone text for emerging board members, and The Artificially Intelligent Boardroom, the essential guide for future-focused directors ready to move from confusion to confidence with this revolutionary technology. With 15 years of board experience, Paul has served as chair and non-executive director for companies across Australia, the UK, and Europe. His work extends to mentoring chairs, founders, and CEOs, and advising boards on performance, processes, and culture. Through ongoing partnerships and initiatives, Paul demonstrates his commitment to building governance practices that are inclusive, impactful, and ready for the future.

  • Annette Greenhow - Associate Professor Faculty of Law, Bond University

    Annette Greenhow is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at Bond University, Director of the Centre for Commercial Law and Academic Lead of the Master of Laws in Enterprise Governance program. She is General Editor of the Bond University Sports Law and Governance Journal and convenes the annual Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Sport.

    An Arbitrator on the National Sports Tribunal and a Queensland-admitted Solicitor with over 25 years' legal experience, Annette brings a rare combination of frontline commercial practice and scholarly rigour to questions of enterprise governance. Her current research examines sports arbitration, sport governance accountability and the evolving role of athletes in institutional decision-making. 

  • Matt Fullbrook - Corporate governance consultant, One Minute Governance host & Bond University Facilitator

    Matt Fullbrook is one of the most recognisable and respected voices in North American corporate governance, bringing 24 years of experience to more than 300 boardrooms, ranging from local nonprofits to multinational giants. His One Minute Governance and Ground-Up Governance platforms are designed to demystify complex governance concepts and provide new ways of thinking about common challenges.

    Matt serves as an Executive in Residence at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, where he has shaped the future of governance since 2001. Previously, he directed the David & Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation. 

    Matt is the Academic Director of the Program Working Effectively with Your Board: A Program for Senior Executives at Rotman, in partnership with the Institute of Corporate Directors. Matt’s additional governance education experience includes the Rotman/ICD Directors Education Program, CUES Director Development Seminar and Governance Leadership Institute, and custom board/executive training sessions for at least 30 organizations per year. 

  • Anna Byrne - Partner, Neuro Group

    Anna is a Partner with Neuro, an international behaviour strategy firm that focuses on humanising work.  She specialises in shaping mindsets, decisions and behaviours, and works as a strategic advisor and partner for Boards, CEOs and leaders. This means she spends her day focused on diverse topics related to humans and how we work, from effective decision-making and transformation, through to motivation, anti-fragility and navigating complexity.

    With a background in law, psychology and political science, Anna’s always been fascinated by human beings - our potential for brilliance, how we interact and work with each other, and the inherent opportunities and challenges of good decision-making and governance. From her perspective, there’s never been a more important time for Boards all across the world to understand what truly makes humans tick, particularly as we integrate AI and other technology into our daily decision-making.

    Anna speaks internationally on topics ranging from the biology of leadership and building ‘One Team at the Top’, through  to build high performance networks and cultures, through to digital ethics and how to influence and persuade with integrity. She is co-author of Behavioural Economics for Business (launched at the World Bank), Chair of the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation, and strategic advisor to the Telstra Best of Business Award-winning mental health start up, ConnectedLE.

  • Sara Harrup - Governance Professional, Executive Coach, Founder of Unique Mind Co

    Sara Harrup is a Brisbane-based governance professional, executive coach, and the founder of Unique Mind Co. She is widely regarded as a pioneer in neuroinclusive governance design: the intentional design of board environments, systems, processes, and relational styles to anticipate a wide range of neurocognitive profiles, so that people do not need to mask, disclose their neurodivergence, or request adjustments in order to participate fully.

    Sara brings this work to life across her own portfolio of board roles, including as Deputy Chair of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission, Chair of Jabiru, and Non-Executive Director at HCI. She coaches neurodivergent executives and board directors, and provides training and consulting on neuroaffirming leadership to organisations seeking to move beyond awareness into genuine structural change.

    Sara is Autistic and ADHD, and a person with disability, and speaks openly about what it means to govern well when your body and mind work differently, and what boards lose when they are designed with narrow assumptions about how Director’s bodies and minds are built.

  • Michael Collins – Director of Sport, Bond University

    Michael Collins is the Director of Sport at Bond University, bringing to the role a distinguished career spanning elite professional rugby and high-performance sports administration.

    A former professional rugby player in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Michael captained Waikato before transitioning into sports leadership. He served as CEO of Taranaki Rugby before being appointed CEO of the Chiefs Super Rugby club in 2017, steering the organisation through the significant disruption of the global pandemic while maintaining elite on-field performance with the Chiefs reaching Super Rugby finals in four of five seasons during his tenure.

    At Bond, Michael leads a sport program that sits at the intersection of high performance, community engagement, and institutional strategy. He is recognised for his ability to leverage sport as a driver of deeper engagement, both within the university campus and across the broader community.

    Known for his calm and inclusive leadership style, humility, and integrity, Michael brings a rare combination of commercial acumen, cultural intelligence particularly in the context of Tikanga Māori and genuine passion for improving lives through sport.

    His experience navigating complex, high-pressure organisations makes him a compelling voice on questions of governance, leadership culture, and institutional decision-making.

  • Lucas Patchett - Co-Founder & CEO of Orange Sky Australia and New Zealand

    As Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Orange Sky Australia and New Zealand, Lucas Patchett leads the organisation’s vision, strategy and growth. He has built Orange Sky from a grassroots idea into a service supporting thousands of people experiencing homelessness and hardship each week.

    A 2016 Young Australian of the Year and 2020 Order of Australia Medallist, Lucas is an entrepreneur, innovator and storyteller.

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Your board is designed. The questions is for what? This is the day that changes.

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