PepTalks Brisbane, 28 March 2019

Isabel Lucas is an Australian actor and environmental activist who splits her time between Hollywood and Byron Bay. Making her Australian TV debut in 2003 in Home & Away, she’s gone on to appear on the silver screen in films such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen amongst other Hollywood and Australian productions. As her star has risen, so too has her reputation for being someone who speaks out about the big issues: she’s passionate about climate change and conservation, and often lends her voice to these causes. In 2007, she was part of a group of people who narrowly avoided arrest after swimming into waters off Taiji, Japan, to protest against dolphin culling. In 2009, she climbed Mt Kilimanjaro with US friends in a large expedition to raise awareness about the clean water crisis in Africa, and recently she took part in an educational trip to Heron Island with the Australian Climate Council to learn more about the impact of warming temperatures on the Great Barrier Reef. Isabel will be appearing in conversation with journalist and ethical fashion label founder Erica Bartle, for an in-depth chat about why these issues are important to her, what drives her and the things we can all do to make a difference.

Erica Bartle is Communications Director for Outland Denim, the Australian jeans company changing the lives of young women in Cambodia through its profit-for-purpose business model. The company began as a means to create employment opportunities for young women affected by sex trafficking emerging from NGO after-care programs, and has since developed to offer a more inclusive business model offering training, employment, living wages and personal development initiatives to people of varying vulnerabilities. Outland Denim was also one of the ethical and sustainable Australian brands selected to be worn by Meghan Markle on her recent tour of Australia. Previously Erica worked as a freelance journalist and blogger – writing for Marie Claire, The Sunday Telegraph and The Walkley Magazine amongst other titles – and lectured in journalism at QUT. She has appeared at the Sydney Writer’s Festival and Walkley Media Talks, and has a passion for issues affecting women and girls globally. She is mother to two girls and calls Tamborine Mountain home.

Ex-dairy farmer Robert Pekin was forced off his farm in the late 1990s, and has since been on a mission to create a fairer food system. In 2005, he founded Food Connect – a social enterprise connecting local farmers and eaters in South East Queensland. Food Connect ethically and transparently engages local farmers to supply food that’s in season and super fresh, and pays them about four times the amount of the big food chains, so more dollars go directly to the growers. It’s also a social enterprise that financially supports the Food Connect Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation with a vision of a world where all Australians can access healthy, fresh, ecologically-grown food that is fair to growers and eaters.

Carly Willoughby-Rolls, aka Minimalista, is a qualified life coach and educator, activist, changemaker and minimalist. In her workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions she shares tips and resources to help people ditch busy, clutter and overwhelm, get more done in less time, unlock a greater ease and flow to their days, and start to thrive in motherhood, business and life. Working in socially progressive campaigning for almost two decades, Carly is also a specialist in activist education and development.