Hi! It’s lovely to meet you.
My name’s Alex, and I’m a speaker, facilitator, consultant and social entrepreneur, and am the Founder of #PlantASeedForSafety – a rural social change initiative that ultimately, gets people home to their families at the end of each day.
Originally from a remote sheep station, my unwavering commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of those in rural industries and communities is inspired by my journey as a part-time carer for my disabled Dad.
I’ve been in the health and safety game for over 15 years, and this is my life’s work.
I’ve worked with over 100 organisations in agriculture, fishing, mining and oil and gas, in the company of world class sociologists, organisational psychologists, safety scientists and enterprise risk specialists.
I’m a Fellow of the Governor’s Leadership Program and a graduate of the National Farmers Federation Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program, and my work has been formally endorsed by the Executive Director of Safe Work SA.
Passion, professional rigor and an infectious energy for change are at the heart of everything I do.
That’s enough from me, now I want to hear from you!
Alex.
Career Milestones
2021 International speaking debut in Wales, UK
2020 Launch of #PlantASeedForSafety in New Zealand
2019 Committee Member for RMC SA
2018 Associate Consultant for Cognicent and Sentis
2018 Board member for the Hart Field Site Group
2018 Founder and Spokesperson of #PlantASeedForSafety
2017 Co-Investigator for Dr Kate Brooks on behalf of the FRDC
2015 Self-directed research on Norwegian and South Australian fisheries
2011 Appointment by the BHP Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment & Community
2009 Establishment of Alex Thomas Pty Ltd
Awards
2020 National Winner Syngenta Growth Awards
2020 Finalist The Weekly Times Shine Awards
2019 Winner Seafood Industry Safety Award (SA)
2018 Winner SafeWork SA Augusta Zadow Award
2018 Winner AgriFuturesTM Rural Women’s Award (SA)
2015 Finalist RIRDC Rural Women’s Award (SA)
2014 Winner Agricultural Bureau of SA Rural Youth Bursary
Leadership
Adaptive, compassionate leader
High socio-emotional IQ and avid ‘people-person’
Globally-acclaimed public speaker
High-energy, articulate facilitator
Agile and effective communicator
Values curiosity, compassion, social intelligence, collaboration and innovation.
Conceptual
Seeks out opportunities to be creative and innovative
Invests time in thinking critically
Embraces problem-solving and complex challenges
Laser-focused on making informed and balanced decisions
Motivated by vision-setting and achievement
Enjoys gathering, analysing and interpreting complex information
Technical
Seeks out opportunities to be creative and innovative
Invests time in thinking critically
Embraces problem-solving and complex challenges
Laser-focused on making informed and balanced decisions
Motivated by vision-setting and achievement
Enjoys gathering, analysing and interpreting complex information
Advisory Board
James is an Executive Director with Chatham Capital and has 25+ years of experience in building businesses and advising companies in a range of sectors, including financial markets, energy and agriculture.
James has served on a number of boards in the for-profit and for-purpose industries, and is a mentor to a number of start-up founders on the core principles of building sustainable businesses.
Sarah is an award-winning social entrepreneur, speaker and change agent, highly regarded for her experience in community resilience, revitalisation methodologies and next-gen foresight.
Sarah has won a number of awards, including the Telstra Business Women’s Award, the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and was a finalist for the Australian of the Year Local Hero.
