Ed Blakely has served in different capacities under a succession of presidential administrations, has guided government policy on urban planning and is a widely cited academic. One of the world's leading scholars and practitioners of urban policy, Professor Edward Blakely is Kleebe in Australia Planning Institute Kleebe Lecture for 2021. He has been Dean of the School of Urban Planning and Development at the University of Southern California and Dean of the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University in New York City. He is an Emeritus Professor at Univ of California, Berkeley, and served as an Honorary Professor in Urban Policy at The University of Sydney.

Tina Quinn is a Public & Social Affairs Journalist, born and raised in Australia with a particular interest in the US-Australia alliance.

Sean Britten is a radio journalist and author from Sydney, Australia. Since 2013, Sean has been host of The Daily, a news and current affairs interview program on 2ser FM at least once a week. He is also one of the hosts of the US news and politics analysis podcast, US of Ed.