ipac celebrates thought leaders

MORE THAN 100 ‘thought leaders’recently came together at Sydney’s Establishment hotel with a common purpose of linking ideas to build a better Australia.

Hosted by financial advice firm ipac, 20 corporations, 10 charities and 30 change agents represented the broadest cross-section of corporate and community at the event.

Notable guests included Rt Hon Ian Sinclair and his wife Rosemary; Professor Ron Penny; former Olympic swimmer Shane Gould as well as authors Patrick Lindsay, Lisa Messenger and Tim Sharp.

ipac has been coaching Australians for 23 years in managing their money, and the firm’s head of corporate clients, Paul Gordon, has been running thought leader forums across Australia and Asia over the past two years.

“ipac’s passion for thought leadership in areas of life and balance, social responsibility and the ageing workforce is driven by our desire to ensure that future generations have the same opportunities as their predecessors,” said Gordon.

During the evening, Barbara Wellesley, national director of parenting group, Good Beginnings, and its ambassador Shane Gould, presented a heartfelt message about the work they are doing to create a good beginning for Australian children.

They also called on a corporate to partner with them to build a unique facility for employee family members who require constant care.

SageCo, a recruitment consultancy that specialises in the mature workforce, was presented with an award for outstanding thought leadership for 2005, in recognition of the firm’s efforts to help companies capture and transfer the knowledge of the baby boomer workforce before retirement.

“We were very happy to win the award,” said Margaret Seaberg, a director of SageCo. “The ageing workforce is a massive issue for many companies, so it’s great to be recognised for our work in this area.”

”Overall, the evening was a unique blend of thought, goodwill and most importantly a commitment to action,”said Gordon.