Meet Our Speakers for EFWA 2024
Jane Milburn
Sustainability consultant Jane Milburn believes in the power of adaptation in the natural world and her own. After agricultural science and leadership study applied to a career in rural communications and advocacy, Jane navigated a unique pathway to influence change in the way we dress in a climate-changing world. She is the founder of Textile Beat, author of Slow Clothing: finding meaning in what we wear, and won a prestigious Churchill Fellowship. As a natural - fibre champion, trained permaculture teacher and lifelong maker, Jane is at the forefront of social change in Australia and a keen supporter of Eco Fashion Week Australia.
Hon Dr. Brad Pettitt
Dr Brad Pettitt was elected to the Legislative Council of the WA Parliament in 2021. Until taking up this role in the Upper House of the State Parliament, Brad was the Mayor of the City of Fremantle. He was first elected mayor in 2009 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Prior to this Brad was the Dean of the School of Sustainability at Murdoch University.
Sylvia Calvo
Sylvia Calvo, born in Barcelona, studied English Philology and a MBA in Chicago, USA, where she lived for about 15 years. After attending a conference about Eco-Fashion in 2012, she started to investigate sustainable fashion and the alternatives available to have a positive social, economic and environmental impact in the fashion industry. In 2015, she created “Sylvia Calvo BCN”, working mainly with original used coffee bags to transform them into garments and complements. Furthermore, Sylvia co-founded the Nonprofit Association “Moda Sostenible Barcelona” (MSBCN), the first association of this kind in Spain, in order to promote the benefits of sustainable fashion, its creation, production and sale, and to bring it closer to consumers. Sylvia stands out as a speaker and promoter of circular fashion and circular economy. Sylvia is now a board member of ModaFad, Gremi Artesà Tèxtil de Catalunya, and PIMEC, as well as a member of PIMEC’s Circular Economy Commission.
Nina Gbor
As the founder of Eco Styles, Nina Gbor is a sustainable fashion educator, international speaker, sustainability consultant, clothes swap maven and eco stylist. Eco Styles engages with media, councils, organisations, schools, community groups and individuals to provide ways societies can move towards a holistic sustainable fashion future.
Nina Gbor is the Director of the Circular Economy & Waste Program at The Australia Institute. She was featured on season 3 of ABC TV's award-winning environmental series, War on Waste. Nina is also an impact consultant on the War on Waste tv show. Nina has a master’s degree in International Development and guest lectures at universities in Australia and abroad. She is the founder of Clothes Swap & Style and has been hosting clothes swaps for 12 years. Nina coined the phrase ‘get off the fashion trendmill’ to help people embrace sustainable personal style instead of fashion trends.
Prof. Dora Marinova
Dora Marinova is Professor of Sustainability at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy
(CUSP) Institute, Australia which she established in 2007 and where she was Director
between 2015 and 2018 and Deputy Director between 2007 and 2015. Her areas of research
interest cover sustainability, innovation and sustainometrics.
Dora has more than 400 refereed publications and has supervised 75 PhD students to
successful completion. In 2023, the book Food in a Planetary Emergency which she co-
authored with Diana Bogueva received “Best in the World” in the Future of Food category of
the prestigious 28th Gourmand Award. Five of her papers were rated by Altmetric in the top
5% in the world for the social media attention they have received. Since 2013, Dora regularly
serves as a member of different peer review panels of Australia’s National Health and
Medical Research Council (NHMRC). She is an Elected Member of the Australian Institute
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and Elected Fellow of the
Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ). For the period
1975–2023, Scopus lists her as Australia’s top author and 21 st in the world in the area of
sustainability.
Lisa Piller
A researcher, academic and advocate for systemic change to the fashion supply chain, Lisa lectures in innovation, fashion design and fashion business. This follows a 16-year career working in fashion product design and development, and sustainable supply chain management.
Announced as the 2024 Australian VET Sustainability Fellow, Lisa will investigate successful international initiatives and collaborations across stakeholder networks that tackle textile waste. Published works include Designing for Circularity: sustainable pathways for Australian fashion small medium enterprise (2022), and The State of Fashion & Textile Circularity in WA Report (2023), providing a local context to the national agenda.
Lisa is a founding member of the Circular Textile Working Group WA, and the 2024 WA Trainer of the Year, dedicated to supporting students and industry in lasting careers as ethical, sustainable and innovative designers.