Steve Greenwood — CEO Queensland Futures Institute— Talks Ideas for the Future, His Love of Queensland & Why You Should Always Have a Go
Together over a few red wines, Queensland Futures Institute (QFI) CEO, Steve Greenwood, and Founding Chairman, Jim McKnoulty, hatched ideas to create an organisation committed to improving Queensland. A relatively young organisation, QFI was established in 2013, and is an independent, apolitical, public policy body, which generates new ideas and solutions for the economic and social growth of the state’s community. QFI brings together a number of Queensland leaders and innovators from a diverse range of backgrounds to form the Queensland Futures Institute Council, an independent body which sets the organisation’s strategic priorities and policy agenda. Steve has a wealth of experience building and leading strong teams which deliver results. His extensive leadership experience includes the public sector, industry organisations and the commercial sector; strategy and transformation; corporate governance and external relationships.
Born in Far North Queensland, Steve enjoyed a “fantastic, very relaxed” childhood growing up with his brother on Mossman’s Northern Beaches. His family later moved to small town Malanda on The Atherton Tablelands, where Steve completed his secondary education. Upon finishing school, he made the leap to the city, relocating to Brisbane to study a Bachelor of Environmental Science at Griffith University. Steve recalls moving from a small community to the “the big smoke” as a significant milestone — every Sunday a young Steve would wait in line at the campus payphone to call home, his pockets full of twenty cent pieces. Throughout his degree, every holiday period Steve would return to Malanda where he worked packing cheese in the local milk factory.
Steve went on to earn a Diploma of Education from The University of Queensland, before moving into the Brisbane City Council Graduate program and later, local government. He eventually moved into the role of Executive Director Queensland for the Property Council of Australia, followed by CEO at Canegrowers Australia. He has also completed a Masters Degree in urban and regional planning and the Company Directors Course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
He lives in Brisbane with his family and he is a devoted fan of the Queensland Cowboys rugby league team.