Edward Johnson

Ed is a social entrepreneur, applied anthropologist, and former rural speech pathologist. He cofounded a telehealth company (Umbo) in 2018 based on the evidence from his PhD which investigated the needs of families with children with intellectual disabilities in rural and remote Australia in the context of the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

He continues to serve as a director of Umbo, but now runs the Remote and Rural Enterprise (RARE) Program at the University of Sydney Business School. RARE helps rural, remote, and Indigenous businesses to increase social impact in their communities. He is currently developing the Cooee Program - an entrepreneurship short course and mentoring program for Indigenous people from remote communities. He was a Westpac Social Change Fellow in 2021.