Peter Ellyard is a futurist and strategist who lives in Melbourne . A graduate of the University of Sydney (BSc. Agr) and Cornell University (MS, Ph.D), he is an Executive Director of Preferred Futures which he founded in 1991. A former Executive Director for the Australian Commission for the Future (1988-1991), he held CEO positions in a number of public sector organisations for 15 years, including two Environment Departments and an Industry and Technology Department. He was Chief of Staff of the Office of the Minister for the Environment in Canberra . He has been a Senior Adviser to the United Nations system for more than 25 years, including the UNDP, UNEP and UNESCO, and was a Special Adviser to the 1992 Earth Summit. He has worked extensively in developing countries Peter was a consultant to the Malaysia 2020 program for 5 years. During 1998 he completed KUMUL2020, a UNDP funded strategic vision for the future of Papua New Guinea , which was launched by the PNG Government in August 1999.

Peter is Chairman of the Universal Greening Group, a group of companies involved in environmental innovations, ecological sustainability and the creation of a sustainable society, and which includes a Green Venture Capital company. He is Chairman of the My Planet Foundation (MPF), a new global not for profit organisation. The MPF's major programs are "My Town" which is dedicated to develop 21st century sustainable prosperity for rural and regional communities and "My Country" its equivalent for developing nations.

He is Adjunct Professor of Intergenerational Strategies at the University of Queensland in both the School of Management and the School of Natural and Rural Systems Management. Peter has written a best selling book “ Ideas for the New Millennium .” He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Education, the Environment Institute of Australia and the Australian Institute of Management.