Jan Ferguson OAM is a leader and strategist for the 21st Century. She currently sits on the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions Board of Directors, among other things. Her deep experience in innovation, knowledge and enterprise management is fused with a passion for people, teamwork, social justice and especially for rural and remote Australia.
She has a flair for building large, effective partnerships across industry, government, academia and the community to understand and solve major challenges. Jan now works as a strategist and company director with organisations that reflect her broad range of interests.
Jan has significant experience in research and innovation having managed two Cooperative Research Centres and led a national not-for-profit that delivered notable results for people, industries and communities in remote Australia through research, innovation and enterprise development.
Jan also worked for more than 15 years as a senior executive in the South Australian Government and was 1997 Telstra Business Woman of the Year (SA Public Sector Category). Jan was also awarded an OAM for her dedicated work with Aboriginal People particularly in developing internationally recognised protocols for Aboriginal people and their communities in research.
Her managerial expertise embraces fields such as the arts, Aboriginal affairs, economics, education, energy, knowledge and research management, precision pastoralism, rangelands issues and tourism. She has extensive experience in developing relevant, insightful and compelling reports.
Living in Beltana in northern SA, and Alice Springs, NT, she has a particular, heartfelt commitment to building a better future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and all remote Australians.