Stephen Lead

Stephen Lead has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. In 1997, they began their career as a Cartographer at British Aerospace Australia. In 1998, they joined ESRI Australia as a Technical Support Representative, where they provided technical support for the entire ArcGIS product suite. In 2003, they moved to the UK to join ESRI as a Pre-Sales Representative, providing pre-sales and post-sales advice to large utility companies. In 2008, they joined the NSW Department of Lands as a Senior GIS Analyst, working with the emergency services to develop and deploy GIS databases and processes. That same year, they also began producing Ignite Sydney, a presentation night with a rigid format of 20 slides, each of which lasts for 15 seconds. In 2009, they became a Consulting Principal at Ajilon (Australia), responsible for developing and delivering Location Intelligence solutions. In 2012, they co-founded Full Extent, a startup that writes software to help organizations do more with maps. In 2013, they founded GeoPortal Genie, a front-end to Esri's Geoportal Server. Finally, in 2015, they became the Head of Technology at Ignite Talks PBC.

Stephen Lead attended the University of Sydney from 1992 to 1996, where they earned a BScAgr in Agriculture with a 2:1.