Meagan Wheeler Email & Phone Number

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

As a key part of the Government and Stakeholder Relations team at COEX, my role was vast and varied. It included a focus on ensuring that the organisation’s strategy and delivery was aligned to the targets and strategy set by the Queensland Government, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to improve the reputational and regulatory outcomes for COEX, and identifying and responding to relevant policy related consultations. I was responsible for collaborating to develop and write COEX policy positions and responses, as well as scoping and overseeing a range of projects related to Queensland Government policies and COEX strategies. This includes an educational program for schools, environmental, social and economic impact analysis and reporting, and providing support to my team, including through assisting with the development of the First Nations engagement plan and First Nations action plan. In this role I was pivotal in delivering a range of General Manager duties for the Government and Stakeholder Relations team from mid-April, ongoing. During this time I attended Leadership Team meetings, oversaw all projects in the team and a range of BAU activities such as delivery of board requirements, guiding government related decisions for the organisation, supporting strategy development, and guiding internal integration of key strategic elements including environmental, social and economic measurement and reporting.

In this role, I was responsible for the discreet piece of work, ‘Tackling Marine Plastics in Southeast Asia’, where it was my responsibility to scope, design and set-up this piece of research for the school. This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which was one of the projects won through the establishment of UQ Plastics.In this role I identified and consulted with a range of international key bodies and stakeholders to help identify the research gap that this project could fill to be able to assist with the wicked problem of plastic waste in Southeast Asia. The overarching goal of the project was to identify critical research and capacity development needs and provide internationally relevant insights to inform Southeast Asia’s transition to a strategic leader in global zero plastic waste future.

Connecting with experts internationally to develop a research plan for tackle marine plastics in Southeast Asia and to identify key research areas that will deliver opportunities for addressing plastic sustainability and mitigating plastic pollution in the region.The establishment and coordination of UQ Plastics was conducted in my spare time alongside my roles within the FFW CRC Transform Program.I played a key role in the establishment of UQ Plastics, including coordinating meetings and communications between the stakeholders, provision of overarching holistic advice on how the plastic issue needs to be addressed as part of large bids, and development of the content for the UQ Plastics website. In this role I led the development of a proposal, and contributed to several others.I also was instrumental in writing a key grant for Federal Government funding. I wrote the vision document for this bid, which although was not awarded, was ranked very highly. The development of the vision document involved working with the team of researchers (across six universities) to understand and collate their individual visions into a cohesive overarching vision for the hub, that also took into consideration the needs to the 31 government and non-government stakeholders involved in the proposed Hub.I also presented at the Waste Management and Resource Recovery South Australian Waste and Resource Recovery Conference held in Adelaide in October 2020 on Plastics in The Circular Economy, and attended the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation ANZPAC launch/workshop in March 2020.

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

The Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (FFW CRC) is a $120 million, 10-year industry and research collaboration funded by the Australian Government, with projects spanning multiple industry and research partners. In this role I was responsible for training the new Transform Program Leader on Transform Program related matters, and for managing the Transform Program Coordinator. This role is a promotion from the Transform Program Coordinator role I was in, which I negotiated as part of the FFW CRC’s goal to double the value of the Transform Program. In this role, my duties include assisting the Transform Program Leader with strategic direction of the program and business development, implementation of the program to maximise collaboration between stakeholders, overseeing projects that are up and running, including monitoring these projects to ensure performance and taking corrective action where necessary.

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

As the Acting Transform Program Leader, I was solely responsible for managing the Transform Program, which is one of three Programs within the Fight Food Waste CRC, to ensure that the Program met its requirements, business development continued and to oversee the existing projects. This was supported by advisory provided by professors at the University of Queensland.Accomplishments during my time as Acting Transform Program Manager include: • The commencement of five higher degree students with FFW CRC top-up scholarships• The approval of a project• The submission of two projects for approval • The commencement of one new participant • Approval gained for the development of three projects with new and existing participants• The development and submission of two additional projects for approval• Advancement of projects approved for development• The finalisation of three projects• Becoming Industry Supervisor for a PhD student• Working with a project team to correct their course due to overdue milestones

Brisbane, Australia

My responsibilities in this role involved the coordination of the Transform Program, including stakeholder management, assisting to develop new projects, ensuring projects remained on schedule and to budget, and overseeing the delivery of milestones for the Australian Government.In this role I helped to develop and set up 20 projects, including connecting industry and research partners to enable the development of these projects. I also managed and supported each of these project teams to ensure that the projects ran to schedule, on budget and delivered what was required, or requested adjustments in the project contracts if required (e.g. for COVID 19 limitations). I also developed the process for finalisation of all FFW CRC projects, and successfully ran these meetings for the program. A key element of this role was to support the development of new projects within the FFW CRC Transform Program, identify and work with potential new industry and research partners.In this role I also assisted in training new Transform Program Leaders, arranging workshops and meetings including multiple stakeholders, contributed towards project concept ideas, strategised how to help achieve the Transform Program CRC level milestones, and created communication plans to ensure that communications with stakeholders are of a suitable frequency. I was also a catalyst for cultural change within the FFW CRC and for structural change within the program to ensure sufficient resources to ensure successful delivery of the Transform Program.

Brisbane, Australia

In this role, my team was responsible for developing Plastic Pollution Reduction Plan (PPRP) and related projects. Here, I co-developed the Plastic Pollution Matrix policy analysis tool, which analysed the impact and achievability in addressing identified plastic issues to determine the priority of addressing each issue. I also drafted the plan, coordinated and conducted stakeholder engagement to help develop strategy, delivered the inaugural Challenging Plastics: The PVC Forum in February 2019, and progressed a range of projects. I provided information and advice to senior management within the department through meetings, briefing notes, speaking notes and correspondence, and worked on a project to increase the sustainable procurement within the Queensland Government.

Waste Management, Recycling and Sustainability Consultancy

Graduate Diploma In Environmental Management

Master Of Business (Marketing), 'Are Green Brand Buyers Different - An Examination Of Green Buyers' Profiles And Behaviour'

Bachelor Of Marketing And Communication

Activities and Societies: Club Manager - UniSA Marketers Club