Arron Wood

At the pulse of what makes Melbourne an incredible city, Arron is Chair of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and currently serves on the South East Water Board, and previously Chaired the Melbourne Ecocity World Summit Advisory Board and was a member of the Fisherman’s Bend Ministerial Advisory Committee.

In 2020 Arron was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to local government, to the environment, and to the community of Melbourne.

Current Work

Arron is both an entertaining and informative keynote speaker and a highly capable emcee and event facilitator. With Arron as the face of your event you’ll rest assured that the event will be exciting, on schedule, high energy, deliver on your key event messages and generate excellent delegate feedback.

Arron’s insight and ability to identify emerging green markets and risks to existing markets has seen him speak at the Australasian Mutuals Institute Annual Conference, the KPMG Graduate Induction and the Ernst and Young Human Capital Forum, to name but a few. He has been very well received by clients such as Sony Australia and emceed events for Commonwealth Bank, CPA Australia, business breakfasts and Microsoft.

Arron is the founder and Managing Director of Firestarter Pty Ltd, an environmental communication and education consultancy business. He initiated and runs the highly successful Kids Teaching Kids Program for students from around the world which has attracted $30 million in funding over the life of the project (single-handedly raised by Arron) and seen 135,000 students participate in the program. Kids Teaching Kids won the prestigious 2010 People’s Choice Banksia Award chosen from 55 finalists across 10 categories.

Previous Experience

Awards: As the 2007 Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year Award winner Arron speaks passionately about the need for Australian businesses to be at the forefront of the new green economy to secure the nation as an environmental knowledge and technology leader. Whether it is advising 700 local government executives from around the world on how to see sustainability as an opportunity or speaking at the National Business Leaders Forum on Re-calibrating the Risk From Climate Change Arron’s leading edge understanding coupled with global experience on sustainability issues results in constant demand for his talents across a wide variety of industries, community groups and government organisations.

Appointments: He’s previously been a Deputy Lord Mayor and Acting Lord Mayor for the City of Melbourne, Board Member of the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority, a Board Member of Sustainability Victoria, Chair of the 2017 World Ecocity Summit, and Chair of the Melbourne Parks and Gardens Advisory Committee.

Features: He’s also been featured on the WME Magazine Leaders List in 2012, the same year he was appointed as the youngest Governor of University College (Melbourne University).

Radio: For many years Arron was the weekly environment reporter on radio 3AW and appeared fortnightly on Network TEN’s morning show 9am with David and Kim and The Circle presenting a popular segment updating all things environment.

Author: He released his autobiography ‘Billabong Boy’ published by New Holland. Arron first book ‘Inspiring the Next Young Environmental Leader. Kids Teaching Kids – Addressing Our Environment Crisis’ has sold 5,000 copies.

Feature: He was been named among the Top Ten Education Leaders nationally in 2009 by The Weekend Australian Magazine.