EXECUTIVE TEAM
ICDP comprises a strong team of professionals with experience across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and the Pacific.
Simone Pensko
Chief Executive
Simone is the inaugural Chief Executive of the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) – an independent, non-profit, non-political organisation which forges genuine strategic relationships between Australia and the Pacific.
Over the past four years under Simone’s guidance, ICDP has been implementing the Australian Government’s Pacific Connect Program which provides a platform for entrepreneurs from the Pacific & Australia to work together to support business and economic development outcomes across the Pacific.
Prior to this, Simone was a senior executive with over twenty years’ experience in the Australian Public Service across several challenging portfolios including Finance and Social Services. Her roles involved advising several Ministers on Asset Sales and Shareholder issues including Australian Hearing, Medibank Private, ASC and Essendon Airport. She also had oversight responsibility for many strategic reviews and investigations for government which included modernising the Medicare System, driving Public Sector Reform and the digital transformation agenda. She has extensive procurement expertise demonstrated through her senior roles as head of whole of government procurement policy and lead negotiator for contracts totalling over $1 billion annually across 130 departments and agencies.
Simone is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Tina Briggs
Program Manager
Tina is responsible for organising programs and activities for ICDP including liaising with stakeholders and oversight of ICDP and Pacific Connect communications. Tina is an experienced project and program manager, compliance, and administrative specialist with over 30 years working in a variety of roles in government, not-for-profit, international development and private sectors. Tina has worked for several years in Africa with Kenya Red Cross and Botswana Red Cross on local volunteer management, disaster management and environmental programs. She also completed a Master of International Relations at Griffith University in between her various roles.
Taholo Kami
Pacific Partnerships Manager
Taholo is based in Suva, Fiji and is a well-respected leader across the Pacific who has led regional organisations, developmental coalitions and various initiatives across the region. Taholo was part of Fiji’s COP23 team as Special Representative for the Ocean from 2017 – 2020, where he was responsible for creating a dialogue for the Ocean within the UNFCCC. He was also Sherpa for the Fiji PM on the High Level Panel for Ocean and co-chair of the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership. He is a senior Advisor to Nia Tero in developing the Pasifika Programme and has completed 10 years as head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Oceania office, where he established a strong regional programme in conservation, sustainable development and high-level policy frameworks. Taholo provides key opportunities for ICDP and Pacific Connect to build and strengthen relationships between the Pacific and Australia through identification of common projects.
Kenneth Katafono
Pacific Partnerships
Kenneth is an ICT professional and consultant with over a decade of Pacific regional experience in leadership, advisory, and technical roles specialising in enterprise Management Information Systems (MIS). He is the Founder of the first Fijian blockchain tech start-up, TraSeable Solutions, which focuses on seafood transparency and traceability. Kenneth is working with ICDP to develop Pacific partnerships, particularly in supporting existing projects relating to blockchain and ICT.
Benjamin Blackshaw
Communications Coordinator & Project Support.
Benjamin joined ICDP in August 2018. He maintains ICDP’s active social media and website presence along with its community engagement platform. Benjamin is currently studying a Bachelor of Global Studies, majoring in Legal Studies and a Diploma of Languages (Chinese) at the University of Technology, Sydney. He hopes to pursue a career in international relations and development and is passionate about learning other languages. Benjamin has a keen interest in Australia’s engagement with its Pacific neighbours and global issues such as climate change and migration.
Olga Bodrova
Editorial and Writing Support
Olga is the COO and Director of Research at Global Access Partners (GAP), which is ICDP’s implementation partner. She is responsible for coordinating GAP’s research programmes and the production of all GAP reports and publications. At ICDP, Olga provides editorial, writing and project management support to the Executive Team and the Board, including the production of Dialogue reports and collateral, topic-specific research, digital communication and planning and delivery of the Annual Pacific Connect Forum. Olga is co-founder of Writing Partners and, prior to coming to Australia in 2001, enjoyed a professional career in the media and arts industry. She holds a masters degree in Musicology from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and a postgraduate degree in Media Arts & Production from UTS.
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