Presentations

At age three, Ellie Cole’s right leg was amputated after she suffered a life-threatening sarcoma cancer, but rather than dwell on adversity, she has instead shown an incredible ability to overcome the odds. It’s not only her courageous story but her unrivalled sense of humour, wonderful humility and never-say-die attitude that make her a true inspiration.

With a record-breaking 17 Paralympic medals and an OAM and more recently an AM to her name, Ellie is an extraordinary individual. Overcoming injuries and adversity, Ellie has
risen to prolific heights and, in recognition was honoured as the flagbearer at the Tokyo 2020 Closing Ceremony.

Ellie is raw and real, funny and wonderfully charismatic, refreshingly humble and completely unaware of the true inspiration she is. As an accomplished speaker, she finds ways to connect with a variety of different audiences; whether students, corporate teams or senior boards. Ellie is incredibly passionate about the subject of diversity and inclusion, leveraging her strong platform as a media personality and former athlete to highlight important causes like #WeThe15 – a movement that endeavours for disability visibility and representation.

In 2020, Ellie featured in the Netflix original film, Rising Phoenix – a documentary that explores global understanding of disability and the excellence that is encouraged by the Paralympic Games. No stranger to the stage or screen, Ellie has been instrumental in a number of global initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion – starring in WOWOW Japan’s WHO I Am series, being invited to speak at the Cannes Lions in 2019 on the subject of diversity and inclusion not only in sport but in life, and closer to home partnering with her sponsors to deliver greater awareness of and support for the Paralympic movement and the disability community.

She has a strong and engaged social following and is well loved by the media both here and abroad. She has appeared in countless magazines and broadcast programs across a variety of networks spanning the 7 network, the ABC, SBS, 9 and 10 and most recently was announced as a key member of the Channel 9 commentary team for the Paris Olympic and Paralympics Games in 2024 and as a regular host on 9’s Wide World of Sports program.

Ellie has been featured on the cover of and in the pages of countless magazines – including Womens Health and Body & Soul, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, and many more.

It is Ellie’s charisma and her unrivalled sense of humour that make her truly magnetic. She tells her inspiring story with her customary humility, never for a second dwelling on the odds she has beaten to be where she is today.

Suzanne is passionate about work that helps people thrive. She has been focused on inclusion of people with disability in work for 35 years. She is a trusted advisor, non-executive director, business owner and mentor. She co-founded the Australian Network on Disability (AND) and nurtured its success and growth as CEO for 20 years.

Suzanne’s work at AND transformed the way private and public sector businesses included employees, customers, and stakeholders with disability. In collaboration with member organisations and people with disability, Suzanne designed, developed, and implemented policies, publications, and world-class programs that successfully facilitate inclusion. AND Members invest in acquiring the behaviours, attitudes, systems, and knowledge that they need to welcome people with disability as employees and customers. AND is recognised as the authoritative voice for businesses on inclusion of people with disability and now one in six Australian employees works for an AND member.

Suzanne also established Australia’s first senior executive network to champion the inclusion of people with disability. She facilitated executive learning exchanges that were a powerful way of amplifying the influence and effectiveness of the voices of employees with disability in their organisations and D&I.

It was Suzanne’s previous 10 years’ of assisting people with significant disability into well paid sustainable jobs that led her to realise that large and complex employers needed more help. During that time, she was also inaugural Chair of ACE National Network, now DEA. She learned that, given the chance, almost everyone can work.

For Suzanne, her professional experience mirrored her personal experience. Her late husband, businessman John Little, a wheelchair user with significant disability continued working into his 70’s.

Suzanne is driven by the belief that everybody can contribute through work, and it’s up to us to make sure we don’t leave anyone behind.