Glenn Downey

Glenn Downey

Following his Law and Economics degrees at ANU, Glenn Downey moved to California where he gained experience in corporate strategy and investment and obtained his MBA from UCLA.

Having gained substantial experience in the telecommunications, technology and media industries and emerging internet sector throughout his time in the US, Glen returned home to Australia in the mid-1990s in prime position to advise companies on their inevitable digitisation strategy that came with the coming dot-com boom. He co-founded the Maltby Group, who facilitated the first listings of internet-facing companies on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Glenn continues to work in this space – not just on advising businesses how best to commercialise and work with new technology, but also on innovation public policy. In this role, he assists government in developing strategies to ensure growth can be facilitated, and that support is given to the sectors which need it.  “We need to make sure we’ve got a seat at the table – we can’t take it for granted that things will remain the same: it’s an enormously competitive world.”

Having named his own organisation after his own mentor, George Maltby, Glenn is keenly aware of the value of a good mentor, and of a fresh challenge. “It can be a difficult relationship to manage – mentors aren’t oracles: they don’t know everything, and at the beginning they might not know much about their mentee at all. It’s more about building a relationship, being a shoulder to lean on, and guiding them through some options - rather than telling them what to do.”