Geoff Bird, President AUSTAFE Qld/NT Chapter

Jodi Schmidt, Acting Deputy Director-General, Training and Tertiary Education Queensland

Jodi Schmidt joined the Vocational Education & Training (VET) sector in late 2005 as a Director at Southbank Institute of Technology, Queensland’s largest Public VET Provider. From March 2007 she led the development and implementation of the new governance model for Southbank Institute of Technology. Providing greater autonomy through their own governing Board, enabling closer links with Industry and partners, Southbank (Statutory) Institute of Technology was formed on 1 April 2008, with a focus on successful commercial partnerships both within Australia and Internationally.

In early 2010, Jodi joined the Queensland Department of Education & Training as Executive Director, Training and Tertiary Education Alignment, to lead the implementation of new strategic directions for the Training sector in Queensland particularly relating to the alignment of the training and higher education sectors and the positioning of Queensland’s public provider into the future. Since then Jodi was appointed as Assistant Director-General, Training & Tertiary Education Queensland Operations and more recently as A/Deputy Director-General, Training & Tertiary Education Queensland which as well as her previous duties, also includes leading the Queensland TAFE Institutes and the broader Training and Tertiary Education Queensland. Prior to joining the VET sector, Jodi held various senior positions in both Australia and United Kingdom in Health, Local Government and the private sector in Finance, Marketing and Corporate Services.

Jodi holds a Bachelor of Business with majors in Accounting and Marketing, a Diploma of Market Research from the Market Research Society of Australia and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Aaron Devine, Chief Executive Officer, Gold Coast Institute of TAFE

Aaron has been involved in Vocational Education and Training for over 10 years, from a policy and TAFE perspective.   In his role as Chief Executive Officer for GCIT (Gold Coast Institute of TAFE), Aaron Devine provides strategic direction and leadership to the Institute with a view to increasing domestic and international market share, improving the customer experience and championing its competitive advantages.   Aaron has a wealth of strategic leadership experience in the education sector and has held high level positions including General Manager TAFE Tasmania and more recently, Director VET and Leader Teaching and Learning Quality at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory.   On three occasions Aaron led Institutes that have been awarded Large Training Provider of the Year. Aaron’s leadership in the sector has been recognised with an AUSTAFE national leadership award. Aaron is also a member of the AICD.

Ann Chandra, Boystown National Operations Manager

Ann Chandra, BoysTown National Operations Manager, has more than 20 years’ experience in developing, delivering and managing employment and training services, including more than 15 years addressing the specific needs of young people. Ann holds a Certificate IV in Community Services Management, a Bachelor of Arts (Forms of Communication) and a Master of Arts (Women’s Studies).  

Aaron Smith, Director Sales & Marketing, Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE

Aaron’s career began in the creative landscape of the Film and Television industry, he then moved into education and training where he taught Film & Media studies and Business Communications before shifting into the world of marketing. Working within the private RTO sector he furthered his career consulting on a variety of advertising, marketing and business development opportunities across Australia and Asia including India, Singapore, UAE and Indonesia. Now as the Director of Marketing and Sales at MSIT, Aaron is responsible for reforming the brand, leveraging from a network of industry relationships and creating new partnerships to advance opportunities for the institute.

Linda O’Brien, Pro Vice Chancellor (Information Services) Griffith University

As Pro Vice Chancellor Linda is a member of the University executive with responsibility for development and implementation of Griffith’s information strategy and management of the University's information services; including the e-learning and e-research services, the Library and University-wide information and communication technology services, systems and infrastructure. Griffith, a university of approximately 43,000 students, is uniquely positioned, providing all University scholarly information and technology services through a single division. Linda has a Master of Public Administration, Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Science and a Bachelor of Education. She also holds a Corporate Directors Diploma. Linda has substantial senior university management experience having worked in six Australian universities in a variety of roles, including Vice Principal Information at the University of Melbourne and Vice President (University Services) at the University of Newcastle.

She has contributed to a number of state and national initiatives, including being a member of the eResearch Expert Working Group developing the 2011 national Strategic Roadmap for Research Infrastructure, Co-Principal Investigator for the Australian and New Zealand Horizon Report 2012 and is currently as a board member of the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation.

Clare Edwards, Change Works

Clare is a highly motivated organisational development professional with extensive experience in the hospitality industry and corporate business. After 16 years working as a senior manager with international organisations (including McGraw Hill and SAP), Clare followed her vocational path into people development working with 2 leading UK team development companies. In 2005 Clare relocated to the Sunshine Coast and created Changeworks. She consults and facilitates various development programs for corporate, not for profit and public sector clients and speaks on the topics of Resilience, Culture and Corporate Storytelling. Clare’s unique combination of a management career and personal rollercoaster journey of life lends the necessary gravitas to challenge and inspire her audiences to reflect on the status quo and make positive change.   Clare holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from the University of West London and is a certified Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), a Team Management Systems® (TMS) Practitioner and Aus Identities® Personality Profiling Practitioner. She holds a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and is a Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia (NSAA) and Toastmasters International. She has also studied the Foundations of Positive Psychology with The University of Pennsylvania's College of Liberal & Professional Studies.

Allan Andersen, National Training and Safety Advisor, JJ Richards

Allan is the Training & Safety Advisor for J.J. Richards & Sons Pty Ltd national operations. He has worked in manufacturing and waste industries for over 25 years in maintenance, operational and management roles. The last 15 years has been predominately in training and safety related fields. Allan views training as the strategic part of his role. “If we get that right, our 1700 workers know what to do and how to do it without incident.” That is why engagement with like-minded RTO’s is crucial for J.J. Richards to maintain itself as Australia’s largest privately owned waste management company.

David Sachse, National Manager Ramsay Training Institute

David is the National Manager of the Ramsay Training Institute. With Bachelors, Honours and Masters Degrees in Education and Training and Development, David is a career educator and he has a career spanning education in a variety of settings and organisations, including schools, universities, the VET sector and public health education management.  David has research interests in the areas of curriculum design, pedagogical theory, patient safety, organisational change and transformative behaviours and he has been published and presented at a range of conferences and forums on each topic.

Mary Hassard, Manager Academic Credit Transfer, Griffith University

Mary is Griffith University’s Academic Credit Transfer Manager responsible for developing and administering all the University’s academic credit functions including links and agreements with outside institutions. Mary has managed the University’s VET Strategy since the mid 1990s and considers one of her most rewarding achievements is personally transferring over 10,000 TAFE Graduates into a Griffith University degree program.

Kirsti Kee, Treasurer, Regional Development Australia, Wide Bay Burnett

Kirsti qualified as a Primary Teacher and taught for 13 years in both Australia and Malaysia.   During her time as the owner/manager of a delicatessen and catering business, Kirsti began part-time teaching at North Point TAFE.  During her 12 years at the Institute, she held a range of positions including Head of Faculty; Business Operations Manager; Educational Services Manager and Acting Director.  Following the amalgamation of North Point and Brisbane Institute of TAFE, Kirsti served for a short time as Institute Director at Logan TAFE before taking up the position of Executive Director, Schools at the Kedron Office of Education Queensland.  She moved to Wide Bay in 2005 as the Regional Director, Education Queensland retiring from this position in 2009.  Kirsti returned briefly in 2011, as the acting Institute Director of Central Queensland TAFE.  She then worked with the CQIT Dual Sector Project until retiring (again) recently. In retirement, Kirsti is the treasurer of Regional Development Australia, Wide Bay Burnett, and secretary of the Management Committee for the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre.  Kirsti is a keen advocate of the need to develop a range of positive relationships and supportive networks in order to achieve business outcomes. Kirsti's other interests include spending time with family; cycling and baking.  She is passionate about the need for strong regional communities across Queensland.