A three-day high-powered gathering of prominent business, government and community leader on Hayman Island, Queensland this past weekend was attended by global CEO of Plan, Tom Miller - a former US ambassador.

Media interviews can be arranged with Tom Miller – a former US career diplomat for the past 29 years who was the US Ambassador to Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina – and was appointed as the international CEO of Plan in January 2005. Tom Miller was invited to attend the Australian Leadership Retreat - an annual three-day gathering organised by the Australian Davos Connection and the Business Council of Australia.

The annually retreat brings together Federal Cabinet Ministers, State Premiers, CEOs from the top 100 companies in Australia, senior government officials, leading academics, community leaders and international speakers to discuss key issues affecting the nation and the world.

Topics discussed include: building future economies; climate change;  water preservation;  global economy; emerging economies (China, Japan, India);  energy crisis;  Middle East crisis; infrastructure needs; globalisation;  gender and social process; and international development and the private sector.

At the retreat, Mr Miller brain-stormed ideas on the important role the private sector can play in international development. Mr Miller also showcased the example of the impact of a $500,000 personal donation from Dymocks CEO John Forsyth to Plan to build schools after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

“We are a global community and if we want our future to be one of world peace and prosperity, then business as well as governments and individuals cannot ignore the extreme poverty that billions of people, especially children face everyday,” Mr Miller says.

Plan is an international child centred development organisation that works in 46 developing countries in Africa, Asia and South/Central America assisting children, their families and communities escape poverty and reach their potential.

Tom Miller is based at Plan’s International Headquarters in the UK and is responsible for the coordination and management of all operations where Plan works. Tom Miller and his wife Bonnie, who have two adult children, have always sponsored two children in Africa, South America and Asia through Plan for the 37 years of their marriage. “My sponsorship experience started when I was just 10 years old (47 years ago), when my family first sponsored a child in Hong Kong.”

Australian Davos Connection (ADC) is a wholly Australian, non-political, not-for-profit leadership organisation and brings together leaders from business, government, the public sector, academia and the broader community. ADC aims to improve understanding of key issues affecting Australia and the world.

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Tim Cansfield-Smith
Plan Media and Communications Manager
Ph: 03 972 3656 Mob: 0411 642 194