PowerHour 2025 Series

Episode #3

Thursday, 17 July (9.30 - 10.30 am)

“Rethinking Renewables & Regional Collaboration”

Calling all engagement practitioners working in the energy transition! The PowerHour Forum is back in 2025 with another six-episode line-up designed to support better engagement and help you create lasting legacy across your projects.

  • Explore the role of supporting collaboration and providing trusted information in enabling informed decision-making 
  • Learn about trusted resources  
  • Learn how to identify and work with trusted messengers and local networks 
  • Discover ways to reduce misinformation and build community confidence 

Why join this PowerHour?

Join us for a dynamic and thought-provoking virtual forum exploring how regional communities and industry can work side by side to shape a smarter, more collaborative energy future.

We’ll spotlight the groundbreaking Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Energy Collaboration - a model demonstrating the power of local leadership, lived experience, and evidence-based insight coming together to drive meaningful change.

Led by Chris Sounness, CEO of Wimmera Southern Mallee Development, and joined by special guest panellists Sabiene Heindl (CEO, The Energy Charter) and Mark Hudson (Westwind Energy), this session will dive into:

  • Why regional collaboration matters now more than ever

  • Opportunities and challenges of working together

  • Insights from research and real-world experience

  • How to build trust, counter misinformation, and share knowledge effectively

  • The vital role of local networks and trusted messengers

From lived experience to practical tools, this interactive session will leave you with new insights, actionable strategies, and renewed clarity to support your regional engagement work.

This virtual forum episode is part of the PowerHour series designed to bring you bite-sized, high-impact learning from experts across Australia, with a strong focus on regional voices, collaboration, and actionable change.

Walk away with fresh thinking, practical takeaways, and a stronger understanding of how to lead regional collaboration that works.

Meet our speakers

Chris Sounness

CEO - Wimmera Southern Mallee Development

Keynote speaker

Chris is deeply committed to ensuring that changes within the region bring tangible benefits to the communities affected. He believes that while change is inevitable, it is crucial to guide it towards better outcomes. With a profound understanding of the key issues and opportunities facing farmers and regional communities, Chris passionately advocates for sustainable development.

Outside of his professional life, Chris enjoys cycling along the Wimmera River, occasionally plays cricket (albeit not very well), and proudly declares he is a West Australian despite residing in Victoria. Chris holds a Bachelor of Applied Science with Honors in Biology and has earned two Master’s degrees: one in Arts, specialising in Organisational Communication, and the other in Marketing, focusing on Agribusiness.

Sabiene Heindl

CEO - The Energy Charter

Panel member

With a proven track record of driving transformational change, Sabiene brings a wealth of experience from senior leadership roles in energy, telecommunications, media and legal sectors. Previously serving in the CEO Office at Energy Consumers Australia, Sabiene has consistently championed innovative, human-centred solutions. Her academic credentials include an Executive MBA from Brown University (USA) and IE Business School (Spain), a BA in Laws (First Class Honours) and a BA in International Business.

With a strong background as a corporate lawyer and a deep commitment to people-driven outcomes, Sabiene is passionate about shaping the future of energy through purpose-driven leadership and inspiring decision-making that creates meaningful impact for all.

Mark Hudson

Head of Land Tenure - Westwind Energy

Panel member

Mark is a MBA qualified Director with a passion for organisational strategy, business development encompassing community and stakeholder engagement to drive positive long term financial and social outcomes.

He is results focused, with a commitment to the delivery of strategic objectives. These proven key strengths have been developed and applied both nationally and internationally across multiple sectors including property development, disability services and retail, extending to retail technology, FMCG and business services outsourcing sectors working across government, top-500 corporates not for profits, healthcare and major chain retail business.

Our proud partners for PowerHour 2025 are:

About the facilitator

Wendy Agar

Principal, Engaged Outcomes

Wendy grew up on her family’s Central Queensland beef and grain farm and spent 10 years as a partner in a sheep and cattle enterprise in Western QLD. She has 20 years of experience serving in leadership roles in multi-sectorial organisations in rural, regional, and remote Queensland. These experiences ensure Wendy brings finely honed facilitation and engagement skills, a deep practical understanding of adaptive leadership, and a lived experience understanding of the challenges and opportunities of engaging, building capacity, and leading change in rural, regional, and remote communities.

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Register today

Do you want to engage more effectively & respectfully in Regional Australia? These interactive virtual forums will explore issues relevant to engaging in Regional areas, providing you with small bite-size learning opportunities, exposure to key stakeholder perspectives, and the opportunity to connect with existing resources.