Adele Ferguson AM is a Gold Walkley–winning investigative journalist with the ABC’s Investigations Unit, appearing on Four Corners and 7.30. Her work has prompted royal commissions, national inquiries and major legislative reforms.

Most recently, Adele has led a groundbreaking investigation into Australia’s childcare sector, exposing systemic failures, child abuse, corporate profiteering and regulatory breakdowns across a multi-billion-dollar industry caring for the nation’s youngest children. The series has sparked national debate, state and federal reforms, and calls for deeper structural change.

Adele is the author of the bestselling Gina Rinehart: The Richest Woman in the World and the award-winning Banking Bad. Her reporting has uncovered misconduct across banking, franchising, wage theft, workers compensation, cosmetic surgery, the ATO and the engineered-stone crisis. Her 7-Eleven exposé led to more than $150 million in repayments to exploited workers.

She has received nine Walkleys, 21 Quills, including two gold quills, 15 Kennedys, including two gold Kennedys, Graham Perkin Journalist of the year, multiple National Press Club honours, an order of Australia, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Adelaide. She is Chair of the Walkley Foundation.

Piper Duck grew up in the Riverina town of Tumut in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and had passions for hunting, adventuring and playing sport.

She excelled at basketball but after watching the Rugby Sevens Women’s team win Gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, her attention turned to rugby.

The young back-rower made a name for herself while playing for Sydney Uni across AON Uni Sevens and the 15-a-side game, debuting for the Waratahs in 2020.

She went on to make her Wallaroos debut against Fijiana in 2022, and following that a World Cup appearance, but an unfortunate spate of injuries have hampered Duck's career early on.

She missed the entire 2023 season due to a foot injury, just weeks after she was named captain of the national side. She returned to the field in 2024 before a syndesmosis injury ruled her out of the side's WXV 2 win in South Africa.

Duck returned to the field in 2025 and played at a second World Cup, finishing in the top five for most tackles in the tournament.

Duck is studying a Bachelor of Business in between playing Rugby and works at Knight Frank in Sydney.

Dr Mary Manning is the NRFC’s inaugural Chief Investment Officer. Mary joined the NRFC in July 2024 after more than 25 years’ experience in finance, economics and investment in Australia and overseas, including in New York, London and Singapore.

She was previously a Portfolio Manager at Ellerston Capital and Aphinity Investment Management and also held senior investment positions at Oaktree Capital and Soros Funds Management.

Dr Manning has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney and has completed additional courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

She is a member of 100 Women in Finance and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.