Sustainability tinkers at the edges. Systems transformation embraces innovation to build entirely new, sustainable models.
Ashleigh Morris is a global voice on Systems Intelligence, redefining how leaders navigate complexity by redesigning the systems that shape our world. Ashleigh is the CEO & Co-Founder of Coreo, Australia’s most awarded systems innovation company, helping organisations move circularity from theory to commercial reality.
Raised on a farm where bees, soil, water and crops determined survival, Ashleigh learned early that outcomes are never isolated, they are produced by systems. That ecological truth now underpins her work with boards, CEOs and governments facing the defining challenge of our decade: the systems that once powered our growth are now driving unmapped vulnerability.
Today's reality is stark: climate, supply chains, policy, markets and nature increasingly determine year-on-year performance, yet most organisations still manage in silos and optimise within organisational boundaries. Instead, Ashleigh operates in the spaces between them. She makes invisible performance drivers visible, translating overwhelming complexity into clear patterns and strategic leverage points.
Her approach is refreshingly practical. Take your morning coffee. It depends on 9 climate systems, 7 trade routes, and 5 political stability indexes before you even add a sweetener. This simple example captures the systems thinking leaders need to spot problems before they emerge and design solutions no one knew were possible. By mapping how internal decisions cascade through external forces, Ashleigh reveals where circular interventions across Net Zero, Scope 3 emissions, water, waste and nature can deliver compounding commercial returns, or unrealised aggregated risks.
Under her leadership, Coreo has grown from Australia's first circular economy pilot into a multi-million-dollar enterprise trusted by BHP, Rio Tinto, Woolworths Group, L'Oréal, Fortescue, Qantas, and Lendlease. Leaders seek her counsel because she breaks down systems intelligence into graspable concepts that transform how they see their business. As Brené Brown noted, this represents "the foundational strategic thinking of everything we're doing right now" (HBR, 2025).
An internationally recognised leader, Ashleigh has been appointed to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Legacy Committee, selected as a Prime Minister’s Scholar, named an Australian-ASEAN Emerging Leader, and invited to the United Nations General Assembly. She is a TEDxSydney speaker, Brisbane Young Business Person of the Year, a Queensland 40 Under 40 awardee, and is named among the Top 100 Global Corporate Social Responsibility Influential Leaders.
Ashleigh has served on advisory councils and expert working groups across responsible mining, ESG, international aluminium production, and circular economy. She is an international mentor for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and holds academic appointments including as an industry fellow for Coreo’s Business in Residence collaboration with the University of the Sunshine Coast, bridging research and real-world application.
Ashleigh is known for making the invisible drivers of performance visible, dancing even when others cannot hear the music, and digging in her garden to nurture imaginings beyond the realm of our linear economic system.
Talking Points
A New Economic Model: From Theory to Action in the Circular Economy
The circular economy is an economy that serves people and nature, rather than one that people and nature live in service of. In 2017, Brisbane sisters Ash and Jaine quit their jobs to undertake Australia’s first Circular Experiment, working with 42 businesses in a city street to implement a range of circular solutions. The experiment showed the way for future cities to operate in the new economy. Learn the underlying principles of a circular economy in order to take your purpose-led business to the next level.A New Economic Model: From Theory to Action in the Circular Economy
Takeaways:
- Understanding of what the circular economy is and how it relates to the future of work
- Learning of the three principles and five business models of the circular economy
- Learn how to talk about climate change and sustainability within your business context
Applicable to heads of sustainability and procurement, board directors and transformation leaders across business government and community organisations.
How will businesses create value in the future? By designing out waste.
Future cities, future businesses and future leaders everywhere are wasting a valuable opportunity! The circular economy applies to every business and every leader in the future of work, and is so much more than a waste management strategy. Rather, the circular economy is an opportunity for an economic and an environmental revolution!How will businesses create value in the future? By designing out waste.
Globally, 91 per cent of all raw materials are wasted after their first use, which means that not only are we wasting the materials themselves but also the value they could contribute to the economy, such as jobs. Learn what a waste-less world might look like and how can we supercharge innovation, partnerships and shared values to be a part of a better future.
Takeaways:
- Understanding waste as a design flaw
- Learning various circular economy approaches to innovate waste out of the system
- Explore what we value as a culture and how that relates to the value we might create
Applicable to senior leaders and managers of people and culture, executives and managers across manufacturing, food and beverage, agriculture, property, state and local government, and education institutions
Living, Working and Thriving in the Circular Economy: A Vision for the Future
The circular economy represents a 2 trillion dollar opportunity over the next 20 years as reported by PwC in April 2021. A circular economy would likely abate 165 million tonnes of carbon pollution each year in Australia, an outcome that closely aligns to the Paris Agreement. The question is not why accelerate the move to a circular economy, it is why not. Ash and Jaine engage, energise and excite the audience with their pragmatic and attainable vision for the future. As recognised global changemakers, they believe shared understanding is the hidden metric that will scale the shared value creation of the circular economy.Living, Working and Thriving in the Circular Economy: A Vision for the Future
Takeaways:
- Understanding the circular economy as a systems-based solution
- Learning the metrics of doing good being good for business
- Exploring Yarrabilba, a community thriving through circular economy design
Applicable to people from all walks of life including corporate teams, community groups, students and policy makers.
Systems Transformation: How Circularity Can Reshape Your Business
Discover how embracing circularity can fundamentally transform your business operations, enhancing sustainability and resilience while reducing environmental impact.
Systems Transformation: How Circularity Can Reshape Your Business
Closing the Loop: Resource Efficiency and the Circular Economy
Explore strategies to achieve resource efficiency through circular economy principles, closing the loop on production cycles to minimise waste and maximise value.
Closing the Loop: Resource Efficiency and the Circular Economy
Beyond Sustainability: Circularity as a Driver for Innovation
Learn how adopting circular economy practices can drive innovation, fostering new business models and products that prioritise sustainability and long-term viability.
Beyond Sustainability: Circularity as a Driver for Innovation
Circularity: Not Just Another Buzzword, It's the Future of Business
Understand why circularity is more than a trend—it's a strategic imperative for businesses aiming to thrive in a resource-constrained world while meeting societal expectations.
Circularity: Not Just Another Buzzword, It's the Future of Business
The Entrepreneurial Spirit in a Circular World: Building Businesses for Good
Explore how entrepreneurial ventures can lead the charge in circular economy adoption, creating businesses that prioritise environmental and social impact alongside profitability.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit in a Circular World: Building Businesses for Good
Nature Knows Best: Learning from Circular Systems in the Natural World
Draw lessons from natural ecosystems to inform circular economy strategies, leveraging nature's efficient use of resources to inspire sustainable business practices.
Nature Knows Best: Learning from Circular Systems in the Natural World
Climate Change and the Circular Economy: Working Together for a Sustainable Future
Examine the intersection of circular economy principles and climate action, highlighting synergies that can accelerate progress towards a sustainable and low-carbon economy.
Climate Change and the Circular Economy: Working Together for a Sustainable Future
How Can Circularity Address Resource Depletion?
Delve into how circular economy principles can mitigate resource depletion by promoting resource efficiency, recycling, and sustainable sourcing across industries.
How Can Circularity Address Resource Depletion?
Women, Business, and the Circular Economy: A Powerful Combination for Change
Spotlight the role of women in driving circular economy initiatives, showcasing how gender diversity can foster innovative solutions and inclusive growth towards sustainability.
Women, Business, and the Circular Economy: A Powerful Combination for Change
Video
Embodied Water | Ashleigh Morris | Saxton Speakers
In this thought-provoking presentation, Ashleigh Morris unpacks the often-overlooked concept of embodied water and its critical role in our everyday lives. As a globally recognised systems strategist and circular economy expert, Ashleigh highlights how water is not just something we consume directly but is embedded in every product and service we use—from the clothes we wear to the electric vehicles we drive. She challenges us to rethink our understanding of water’s value, emphasising the urgent need for systems change and better resource management to secure a sustainable future. Ashleigh’s captivating talk explores the global impact of our water usage, the environmental and cultural costs of resource extraction, and the interconnectedness of our economic systems. Her compelling insights make her an exceptional Speaker for conferences aiming to inspire actionable change and forward-thinking solutions.The Future of Water | Ashleigh Morris | Saxton Speakers
In this insightful video, Ashleigh Morris, a leading expert on sustainability and the circular economy, explores the future of water and its critical role in our global economy. She discusses how businesses can minimise water use in their supply chains through refurbishment and remanufacturing, emphasising the need to measure and manage embodied water in products—much like how carbon is currently evaluated. Ashleigh challenges industries to adopt water stewardship practices, highlighting that the decisions we make today will impact economic, social, and environmental outcomes in the face of growing water scarcity.Ashleigh Morris, How the Circular Economy can drive enterprise Innovation
AusIMM’s Thought Leadership Series panellist Ashleigh Morris to discuss the Circular Economy
AusIMM is thrilled to have Ashleigh Morris, CEO and Co-Founder of Coreo, join our outstanding panel of thought leaders. Ashleigh will share her expert perspectives on the rise of a Circular Economy. Does the sector understand it? What are the enablers? Is your business equipped to maximise the opportunity?Ashleigh Morris | Creating a Circular Economy that Serves People & Nature | Discovery Session
Imagine if we were able to create an economy that serves people and nature, rather than one that people and nature serve. Our linear take, make, waste economy is fast becoming an impossible equation. Using shared understanding as the multiplier, Jaine and Ash will bring you into the loop on the circular economy. Let’s get empowered to design our way into a gorgeous future.
