Dustin has cultivated an award-winning career in franchising through his people centered approach to building winning organizations. With 17 years of excellence in franchising, public speaking, and Board service, he has the unstoppable combination of experience and drive to guide franchise organizations to achieve their full potential.

Dustin’s unique perspective comes as a result from being a franchise owner, franchisor CEO, Global Board member, and Private Equity ownership & acquisition experience.

Peter Snell is a partner in the Franchise Group at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, assisting clients to expand their franchise businesses in Canada and around the world. With a unique blend of business law and intellectual property law experience, Peter is well-positioned to address key intellectual property issues and incorporate them into successful strategic planning.

Getting to know his clients and their business is fundamental to Peter’s approach, and his understanding of a client’s business risks and opportunities is a critical component of his effective expansion strategies. He is recognized as a leader in his field by such authorities as Best Lawyers in Canada, Chambers Canada, and Lexpert.

Melissa is Head of the Middle East Intellectual Property Department and ranked as a Thought Leader by Who's Who Legal on Middle East franchising, specialising in acting for international franchisors and master franchisees on their operations. Melissa advises international and regional franchisors, distributors, hotel operators, developers and service providers on their operations in the Middle East and specifically the United Arab Emirates.

She specialises in all forms of strategic and operational franchise, agency, intellectual property, and commercial law governing franchise operations throughout the Gulf and Middle East. Her experience includes franchising and exploitation of intellectual property rights in the fashion & retail, food & beverage, childcare & education, real estate, sporting goods, pharmaceutical, IT services and general retail industries.Melissa is admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland and holds an LLB from the Queensland University of Technology, Australia and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance.

Albert has more than 35 years of franchising experience. His achievements: he and his team have helped over 1400 companies in over 10 Asian countries in franchising & related consulting work; he has built the world’s largest network of franchise consultants network comprising 70+ strategic partners in 50+ nations; he’s a board member at many franchise-related bodies including the World Franchise Council, Asia Pacific Franchise Confederation and the Franchising & Licensing Association Singapore; He’d been awarded numerous awards by various national franchise associations & other organizations, the latest being “Franchise Expert of the Year, 2019 ; he had spoken in 47 nations over 300 occasions; he’d co-authored Developing and Managing a Franchise and contributed to many publications on franchising; He’s the Editor-in-Chief of Asia Franchise & Business Opportunities magazine since 1994.

He has also been invited to judge on several franchise award panels in several countries.

I have been an Educator/Researcher at the UWA Business School since 2014 teaching entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialisation, and small business management in the Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Business, Master of Biotechnology and MBA programs. I completed an ACCA qualification and worked in a private accounting firm, and following this, I obtained an HCIMA qualification in Hotels and Catering Management in Malta/UK.

I remain a keen observer of hotel and tourism development in Western Australia, and my research areas include technology innovation and commercialisation processes, entrepreneurial management, innovation in SMEs and large organisations, policy analysis, public sector administration, and the public focus on tourism. Alongside a professional career that lasted many years, I gained postgraduate degrees and obtained an MBA (2003) and M. Business Innovation (2005) at the UWA Graduate School of Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration (2020) from the University of Western Australia.

Born and raised in Auckland, Greg is a father to two children in their early 30s. Much of Greg’s career was spent in retail, holding senior positions before making the move to franchising.

In 2005, Greg and his wife purchased the Auckland Regional Master franchise for Cleantastic Commercial Cleaning. Over several years, Greg was eventually in the position to purchase the whole business outright. In 2019, Greg took full ownership of the Franchisor.

The next few years were spent refining the system while identifying new opportunities for their franchisees and support team. Greg is a regular attendee at the International Franchise Association (IFA) held in the USA, along with the NFC in Australia. In 2023, Greg gained his CFE.

In early 2024, Greg sold his business to pursue other options in the franchise arena across New Zealand and Australia. He is now the Director for Garison Enterprises Ltd.

Mark is a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) and brings over 25 years of senior management experience in franchising and strategic thinking to our team and to your business. This valuable experience ranges across many business models including multi-international companies and local Western Australian systems. Mark has been influential across a number of key industry sectors, including Retail, Manufacturing, Transportation, Childcare, Shipping and Hospitality.

As a growth strategist, Mark specialises in delivering solutions that perhaps haven’t been considered or given enough attention. He brings clarity in determining the way forward and as a natural problem solver he takes a keen interest in teaching clients how to focus on solutions rather than getting caught up in the many day to day challenges that they face. His passion lies in instilling a strong culture of best practice and service excellence with all his clients and stakeholders.

Stewart Germann founded Stewart Germann Law Office (SGL) in 1993 as a boutique law firm at Auckland, New Zealand, specialising in franchising, licensing and business law. SGL is New Zealand’s longest established specialist franchising law firm and Stewart is included in the International Who's Who of Franchise Lawyers 2022.

Stewart Germann has over 40 years’ experience in franchising law and acts for franchisors in New Zealand, Australia, USA and the UK. SGL also act for franchisees and provides legal advice. Stewart has spoken at franchising conferences in New Zealand, Australia, Italy, South Korea and USA and he was on the Board of the Supplier Forum of the International Franchise Association (“IFA”) for 6 years until March 2007.

SGL clients include many of New Zealand’s best known national and international franchise brands and Stewart has extensive franchising contacts worldwide and locally.

Dr Judy Lundy is the MBA Director at the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University. She has a long career in the education, consulting and hospitality sectors and has taught in leading business and hospitality schools in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Judy’s main research interests are in the field of inclusion and diversity, and she is passionate about using her teaching and research to help build adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable workplaces.

Her aspirations as MBA Director are to help shape future leaders who will transform workplaces to meet the needs of increasingly diverse workforces in a way that embeds care for people and planet. She has a DBA from University of Newcastle, an MBA (HRM) from University of New England and a Bachelor of Adult Education from the University of Canberra.

Nicola joined Stevens & Bolton LLP (the large Surrey based law firm in the UK) in 2011 as a partner and head of franchising. She also leads the Fashion and Luxury practice as well as its ESG team. She is a commercial lawyer specialising in business expansion primarily through franchising and has a particular emphasis on international expansion.

She has in depth experience in advising casual dining and quick service restaurant concepts as well as retail businesses more generally on the scale up of their operations. She has been a member of the Britis Franchise Association’s Quality Standards Committee for many years advising on compliance issues and the promotion of best practice in franchising as well as advising the BFA itself on legal issues.

She is also the director of the American Bar Association's Franchise Forum's international division and a member of the International Bar Association's International Franchising Committee.

Stefan Robert Thomas is a Lecturer at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. Stefan has worked more than 25 years in Senior Management positions within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry (FMCG) in various capacities such as a Director Supply Chain and Business Development Europe, Middle East and Africa and as General Manager. Stefan’s professional experience both national and international, is predominately within the global Coca-Cola organisation, but he has also worked within major multinational organisations such as The Ford Motor Company, Huhtamaki, Cargill, ALDI and McDonald’s Corporation.

His research work has been published in the International Journal of Human Resource Management and HRMOnline. Stefan has published multiple articles in various national and international Management Magazines, and is a sought-after guest speaker. Stefan has an MBA equivalent degree from Siegen University (Germany) and completed additional studies in marketing at the European Business School (Germany/UK) and Kellogg University (USA).

With over 25 years of franchise experience, Danny Hanlon is a passionate home improvement executive, known for his creative strategic thinking and motivating style.

In effect the company’s first employee, he contributed significantly to the brand’s growth in Australia and North America, before permanently relocating to the United Kingdom to do it again! He now oversees the group’s EU operations, based from its headquarters in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Franchise industry stalwart Paul Constantinou AM founded Quest Apartment Hotels in 1988 in Melbourne. Paul created the first business format franchise model for the accommodation industry, which was pivotal to the growth of the Quest brand. Today, Quest Apartment Hotels are in 170+ locations across Australasia and the UK. For over 30 years, Paul has led the ongoing development of Quest’s business format franchise model, applying learnings to hone and evolve the model to meet the ever -changing needs of Quest’s core target customer – the business traveller.

Over the years, Paul has worked closely with hundreds of franchisees providing support and mentorship. Through his steadfast focus on franchisee compliance to the Quest franchise model, Paul has helped franchisees achieve financial prosperity for themselves and their families. Paul unequivocally believes this is his greatest career achievement.

Charles Kobelke blends a formal background in marketing with over ten (10) years of commercial management experience. Before becoming Chief Executive of Business News in 2019, he successfully led the commercial side of the business as General Manager of Sales, Engagement, and Development.

Mr Kobelke has previously held senior management roles for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA and senior marketing and business development roles with the luxury car brand BMW in Melbourne and Perth. He also owned and ran Performance Advertising and Marketing for eight (8) years. Mr Kobelke has a Commerce degree from Curtin University and completed the Deloitte Academy of Excellence.

Ingrid is currently the Director of Postgraduate Coursework at Murdoch University. As a marketing specialist, her research focuses on issues that matter for a more inclusive and sustainable future. Ingrid is particularly active in the area of customer engagement, co-creation of value and volunteering, engaging in practice-driven theory development, utilising real-life case studies to help inform theory. Within the Murdoch Business School, Ingrid is part of the leadership team that work to help produce global leaders who value diversity, prioritise ethics, and drive positive change through responsible practices.

Ingrid also has over 25 years international marketing strategy and consulting experience. Having worked in Australia, UK, Europe, USA and China, she is experienced in a variety of industries such as financial services, resources, professional services, healthcare, retail, agriculture, government, online marketing and education. Comfortable working with the most senior members of organisations, Ingrid has the ability to not only recognise and develop new business opportunities, but also deliver solutions and strategies that make a real difference to the performance of an organisation.