People

Known for her smile and her boundless energy, Tanya loves to challenge herself. She believes that the power of curiosity and self-awareness helps people to develop resilience and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. With a professional background in journalism and production, and a legal career in commercial and contract law, Tanya utilises her diverse skill set to approach situations from a range of perspectives. Her ability to create simple solutions to complicated problems and communicate scientific, technical, or complex information to various audiences is one of her biggest assets.

Tanya is an MBA graduate, a certified compliance professional, and was recognized as one of Australia’s emerging media and entertainment professionals early in her career. 

With an adventurous spirit, Scott can be found kayaking in the wilderness or towing his children on a snow sled as the seasons change. With global experience in environmental science, economics, and engineering, Scott is an expert in understanding technical information from data to decision. Known for his computational modeling and simulations of landscapes, people, and environmental systems, Scott utilizes his skills to advise and provide technical and scientific assurance to executives. 

 Scott has a Ph.D. in Geomatics Engineering, has worked in the United States of America, Canada, and Australia, and has authored a plethora of peer-reviewed articles.

Kyrie O’Connor is an internationally experienced marketing executive with a successful track record in creating opportunities for existing and new businesses for companies of all sizes. She developed her flexible, entrepreneurial approach through classical marketing training at Kraft/General Foods and honed her skills with brands including Cuisinart, Bally Shoes in Switzerland, BhS (British Home Stores in the UK), OneClip.com, Corning, and London Fog.

Her track record of managing teams in England, Switzerland, and the US underscores her ability to rapidly assess and understand the situation, work within cultural differences, and generate results.

David Dodd (CEcD/FM/HLM) is the Founding President of the ISRC and is a globally recognized disaster risk reduction and climate resilience expert. His international work includes developing the framework for Japan’s economic recovery after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In the United States, David has been a part of ten disaster recovery efforts, including the aftermaths of Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina.  David  serves as treasurer and co-chairman of the sustainability and resilience chapter for the World Association of Public Private Partnership Units & Professionals’ (WAPPP). He helps to lead the American Society of Adaptation Professionals’ Funding and Finance and Policy and Practice groups and is a panellist or featured speaker at  global economic development and climate events.

Dino (MPH, CEcD) is a policy advisor, advocate and strategist known for his work in economic development, tax incentives and business. He is a Director of the Small Business Innovation Research Consortium in Louisiana where he promotes State and Federal policies for growth and entrepreneurism. Dino was instrumental in securing the first funding for uLand.

Calandra is the founder and CEO of StateBook International and Co-Founder of Viral Insights. Passionate about data, Calandra is one of the leading technology innovators in economic market data analytics and advises proptech, fintech, and govtech firms on how normalized public and private data can be integrated with their proprietary data and applications to derive deeper and more meaningful insights for their businesses and customers.

She also works closely with hundreds of economic development organizations (EDOs) across the U.S., providing data and technology-driven, digital marketing tools to help attract new businesses, jobs, funding, and resources to their communities.