In my professional realm, I bring more than 30 years’ experience in higher education in the UK and Australia, including senior roles at Charles Darwin, Torrens, Deakin, Monash and Adelaide universities. I am currently the CEO at the Australian College of the Arts (Collarts), a dual-sector, independent provider, ranked #1 in Australia in student engagement for creative education.

I’m a specialist in conceptualising the future of higher education and inspiring organisations to meet customer needs. I believe that education transforms hope into agency, powering up the next generation of activists and changemakers. I’ve fallen in love with the staff and students of Collarts, seeing living proof every day that creativity is vital, difference is powerful, and stories change the world.

I am grateful for a recent stint in the remarkable top end of Australia, where I learnt that grief best leaves the body through the hands, and that linear time is only one way to approach a deadline. Once in a while I think about leaving the sector, but graduation still makes me cry: education has my heart.

I have served on several community boards, including as Deputy Chair of Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival, Chair of Adelaide’s Feast Festival, and the Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council, NTAHC. I currently volunteer for the Pinnacle Foundation and remain resolute about seeking out and supporting queer community wherever I live.

I’m an experienced guest and keynote speaker and enjoy offering opinions on topics close to me, including the future of the sector and the need for more models of queer leadership.