Megan Gilmour

Megan pursues lasting social change at scale and, through the power of human connection, shifts people from passive observers to active changemakers. A social innovator, global changemaker, tech entrepreneur and champion for human-centred solutions, Megan has consolidated her vast experience working on complex social and economic development operations in 24 countries to catalyse change through dynamic innovation projects.

A Churchill Fellow, Megan has a Bachelor of Social Science from the University of New England, a Masters in International & Community Development from Deakin University and several other qualifications. She’s a media spokesperson and TEDx Speaker, and was nominated as a finalist for the ACT Australian of the Year award in 2018. In 2019 she was ACT winner and national finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in the For Purpose and Social Enterprise category. She was named on the Financial Review list of 100 Women of Influence in Australia, received the CWB Innovation Award, and a Deakin University 2020 Alumni of the Year award for her work on using robots in new models of care in education, health, disability and aged-care settings. Megan now mentors changemakers to build enterprises for social good and has co-founded tech startups in the global development and the assistive robot sector for education, aged care, health and industry.

In 2010, after a 25-year career in government, publishing, and international aid and development, Megan’s son was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and her career path dramatically altered course. Through her experience in addressing system-wide change, Megan took on the glaring inequity facing children with serious illness – isolation due to time away from school. Megan co-founded MissingSchool, now an internationally recognised not-for-profit. She has authored publications on issues of Australian national interest and co-wrote an Australian-first report on school connection for sick kids, generating a Prime Minister's statement of support and triggering widespread media. She then led action for a corresponding Australian government report and designed the governance framework that shaped its findings. In 2017, Megan created the Australian-first national telepresence robot initiative connecting students with serious illness to their classrooms through health and education systems. She has gone on to co-found Robots4Good, a social enterprise working across Australia and New Zealand using service robots to solve the disadvantage of distance.

As an inaugural Churchill Policy Impact Fellow, Megan produced Don’t Wait Until They’re Well: School policy and technology to keep sick kids connected.