Richard Owens

Director of Woodleigh Institute

I am the Director of the Woodleigh Institute, a global innovation lab dedicated to understanding and enhancing transformative approaches to learning and leadership. The Institute has a special interest in regenerative education and the role it can play in building the capacity of young people to contribute to the thriving of people, places, and our planet.

I have over 25 years of experience in teaching, senior leadership and innovation roles, previously serving as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, university lecturer, Deputy Head and Head of School, and was the founding director of an international centre for leadership and learning in Singapore. I enjoy working with teachers, school administrators, academics, system leaders, regional executives and academics from Australia, Asia, both North and South America and across Europe.

I currently serve several networks focused on systems change in education. I am the Convenor of ReimaginED, a unique, participatory conference series that aims to develop our collective capacity to address complex challenges in education. I am the Convenor of the Compassionate Systems Collective, the Australian hub of a global ecosystem of educators advancing deep change in education through a focus on systems awareness. I am also a member of the Capabilities for Life faculty group at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), with a mission to transform the way capabilities, skills, behaviours, mindsets and values are nurtured through a focus on connecting people's needs with those of the planet.