People
Leadership
David Williams-Chen
Managing Director
David Williams-Chen is the Founder and Managing Director of Positive Economics Advisory, a boutique consultancy helping organisations understand their economic impact, advocate for policy change and address complex societal challenges.
With a Master’s degree in Economics and 15 years of experience, David has delivered more than 150 consultancy projects, advised on investments totaling over $175 billion in value, and analysed economic issues across 30+ countries.
Previously a Director at PwC Australia, David has worked on high-profile projects that have unlocked funding for transformative infrastructure, supported renewable energy transitions, and provided the foundation for significant regulatory and policy changes. His expertise spans a wide range of sectors, including transport, energy, agriculture, financial services, health, and manufacturing.
David’s ability to distill complex economic analysis into actionable insights has made him a trusted advisor and sought-after speaker. He has presented on topics such as energy transition, government deregulation, and the future of the Australian economy to diverse audiences, from industry leaders to academics.
Henry Williams-Chen
Director
Henry is a director on the board of Positive Economics Advisory. As a Chartered Accountant, he brings extensive expertise in tax, accounting, bookkeeping, and team management, complemented by a strong customer service background.
Team members
Zac Hatzantonis
Senior Advisor
Zac is a Senior Advisor at Positive Economics Advisory with more than 25 years of experience in public policy strategy and national reform across justice, human services, emergency services and education. She is regularly engaged by government clients for business case development, economic and social impact modelling, and sensitive program reviews and evaluations.
Zac was previously a Partner and government leader at Right Lane Consulting, and before that a partner and sector leader in EY's and PwC's government and social sector practices. Earlier in her career she spent over a decade in senior roles in the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Treasury and Finance, where she delivered budget and financial policy advice and built deep experience in complex cost modelling and program evaluation.
Jude Imbert
Advisor
Jude is an economic modelling and evaluation specialist with more than 15 years of experience working across government, health, infrastructure and international development. He brings a practical understanding of how economic analysis supports policy, investment and sustainable development at both regional and system levels.
His work combines financial rigour with clear, grounded judgement. Jude has delivered evaluations, feasibility studies and impact analyses that turn complex data into actionable insights, helping senior decision-makers shape funding cases, assess risk and build programs that deliver measurable social and economic value.
A trusted advisor, Jude is known for making technical analysis accessible. His style is to simplify the complex, draw clear lines between evidence and impact, and use visual storytelling to align diverse stakeholders around shared objectives. His work combines rigorous financial analysis with practical decision-support frameworks, helping organisations translate complex financial and operational data into clear insights for executive and board-level decision-making.
Mark Picton
Advisor
An experienced economist with expertise in computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, public economics, international trade and project evaluation. Mark has more than 20 years experience in economic modelling and policy evaluation.
He has published technical and applied academic papers and has university-level teaching experience across the economics discipline. Courses taught include Public Finance, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Applied General Equilibrium Economics as well as CGE modelling courses in Australia and overseas.
Dr Bonnie Wang
Advisor
Bonnie is an economist who specialises in computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling. She has more than eight years of experience in consulting, government and research across Australia and New Zealand. She brings deep technical modelling expertise to the team and a talent for turning complex economy-wide results into clear, practical advice for government decision-makers.
Bonnie was previously a Senior Associate at Scyne Advisory (formerly PwC), where she worked on economic impact assessments for government clients. Before that, she was a Senior Economist at the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), where she led CGE modelling for the Ministry for Primary Industries. Her work spans climate and energy policy, regulatory reform, workforce planning and regional development.
She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Auckland and has published peer-reviewed research on a range of economic and policy issues, such as carbon pricing and emissions trading.
Ken Ho
Consultant
Ken is a dynamic economics professional with a strong academic foundation and practical experience in economic analysis and financial strategy.
He holds a Master of Economics degree from the University of Sydney, where he achieved outstanding academic results, including being awarded the Peter Groenewegen Prize in Economics. Ken also holds a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from the University of Hong Kong, where he graduated with First Class Honours. Ken has a strong foundation in economic theory and quantitative analysis, and he is eager to contribute his knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems.
Jasmine Seeto
Analyst
Jasmine is a high-achieving penultimate-year Bachelor of Economics and Advanced Studies (Finance) student at the University of Sydney. She is passionate about using data and evidence to understand how economic and financial issues shape the decisions made by businesses, governments, and communities. Drawing on her rigorous academic background in microeconomics and econometrics, Jasmine brings valuable analytical and technical skills to her work, including proficiency in Stata, quantitative analysis, and data interpretation.
People we work with
Spiro Premetis
Senior Advisor
Spiro Premetis is an economist and experienced policy and adviser, with a career spanning government, financial services, industry advocacy and economic consulting.
He began his career as a macroeconomist at the Australian Treasury, working on IMF and G20 policy during the Greek debt crisis, economic forecasting and medium-term fiscal strategy. He is a published author on Australia's structural budget balance.
Spiro subsequently served as an economic adviser to a former Australian Treasurer and Chief Economist to a former Federal Leader of the Opposition. During his time in government, he worked on significant economic and regulatory reforms, including the News Media Bargaining Code and the Your Future, Your Super reforms.
In the private sector, Spiro has held senior roles in wealth management and financial services firms, working on complex regulatory and commercial matters across stockbroking, financial advice, funds management and superannuation. He has also led policy and advocacy at an industry peak body, developing economic analysis and evidence-based campaigns to influence government policy and regulatory decisions.
Spiro combines technical economic expertise with a practical understanding of policymaking, regulatory processes and commercial strategy. He specialises in translating complex economic issues into compelling analysis, policy advice and advocacy that delivers tangible outcomes.
Dr Elias Barbosa
Senior Manager
Elias is a health economist and modeller with more than 15 years of experience helping governments, health organisations and industry make funding decisions about medicines, medical devices and health programs. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy and a Diploma of Leadership and Management, combining clinical understanding with deep technical modelling expertise.
Elias was previously a Manager in PwC Australia’s Public Policy and Health Economics practice, where he worked on healthcare funding reviews, burden of illness analyses and business cases for public sector clients. Additionally, he has led numerous submissions to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee and the Medical Services Advisory Committee, which advise the Australian Government on funding medicines and medical services. Most recently, as a Market Access Manager at Daiichi Sankyo Australia, he developed reimbursement strategies for breast and lung cancer treatments. Moreover, he has published peer-reviewed research on health economics and presented widely at international congresses.
Dr Evan Cunningham
Senior Consultant
Evan is an applied economist specializing in labour markets, urban economics, and public policy. He has more than 10 years of experience producing and analyzing economic data at leading institutions in the United States.
Evan previously served as an Economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, where he helped produce the official monthly jobs report and oversaw aspects of the design, administration, and statistical analysis of the Current Population Survey. He received two Labor Secretary's Exceptional Achievement Awards for producing new national data on occupational licensing and contingent and alternative work arrangements. He was also a Research Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, where he contributed to work on the labour market impacts of minimum wage policy and how economic assistance programs affect low-income families.
Evan holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Minnesota. His doctoral research examined the local economic impacts of Amazon fulfillment centers across the U.S. and their implications for regional development policy. This work has been presented at leading conferences and universities across the globe, covered by international media, and won the Best Graduate Student-Authored Paper award from the North American Regional Science Council. He has published in the Monthly Labor Review, co-developed a national database of occupational licensing regulation, and taught cost-benefit analysis at the university level.
He writes Epic Econ, a newsletter helping leaders better understand the Australian, U.S., and global economies.