The Board
PRESIDENT – Adjunct Professor Mary Mahoney AO
MBBS Qld, Hon MD, Qld, Grad Dip Clin Ed UNSW, FRACGP,
FAIM, FAMA
Adjunct Professor Mary Mahoney is a general practitioner and was director of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Training Program for 25 years. In January 2009 she was appointed Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine, University of Queensland. She has been a member of the C&K Board of Management for many years and president since 2000. Prior to this, Dr Mahoney was a member of the Brisbane Kindergarten Teachers’ College Council. She is a member of the University of Queensland Senate and Deputy Chair of the Brisbane Girls Grammar School Board of Trustees. Having four children and three grandchildren, Professor Mahoney recognises the importance of early childhood education and understands how vital the first five years of a child’s life are. At C&K, she believes we are privileged to have the opportunity to influence children’s experiences in helping them achieve their full potential and to be happy, healthy and well adjusted.
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT – Mr Robert Mills
KCSJ, M Disp Rsl, MIAMA, JP (Qual)
Robert Mills is a conflict resolution practitioner, in both public and private practice, and is a Life Governor of C&K, having served more than 30 years as a member of the Board of Management. He also serves as chairman of the Australian Government’s Community Water Grants National Advisory Panel and chairman of the Financial Cooperative Dispute Resolution Scheme Inc. He is actively involved in community, government and commercial activities.
VICE PRESIDENT – Hon Professor Peter Fardoulys AM
LFAIB, Dip Mech & Elec Eng, JP
Peter Fardoulys’ interest in C&K dates back almost four decades, when he first held a position on the C&K Board in 1967. As managing director of Peter Fardoulys Constructions, Peter is heavily involved in the building industry in Queensland. He is an active community member and is a member of the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital Research Foundation and Opera Queensland Board. He is also a past national president of the Australian Institute of Building. Peter is a Life Governor of C&K. In October 2007 he was appointed Honorary Professor (Building & Construction) at Central Queensland University.
TREASURER – Mr John England
JP (Qual), FAIM, BA (Psych Econ)
John England is a quality systems auditor. He became interested in child development while studying psychology. This led to his children attending a C&K affiliated centre where he was president of the centre management committee for a number of years. He has been a director of C&K for many years and more recently in the role of Treasurer. He is a strong advocate for providing quality child development opportunities in the community and believes C&K is leading the way in early years education services and as an advocate for young children.
Mr Tom Kettleton
JP (cde), M Labour Studies, WHS officer and auditor,
Cert IV Workplace Assessment and Training
Tom Kettleton is the chief executive officer of Industrial Relations Advice and Support. He has wide and varied community experience and brings a wealth of networks and knowledge to C&K.
Mrs Jennette Lavis OAM
B Ed Stud, Grad Dip EC Stud, Dip BKTC
Jennette Lavis joined the C&K Association as a life member when she graduated as an early childhood teacher. For many years she worked for C&K and tutored and supervised practice teaching for the School of Early Childhood, Kelvin Grove. As national vice-president (Qld) for the Australian Early Childhood Association, she was closely involved with the push for national accreditation of childcare centres. Advocacy for young children is Jennette’s main interest. She led the development of child abuse prevention videos, was a member of the Queensland Child Protection Council advising the Minister for Families, and is on the management committee of Gowrie Inc.
Mr Bill Lowah BA
Bill Lowah has been prominent in social justice and community based organisations in Queensland for more than 30 years. As a Torres Strait Islander, he brings an Indigenous perspective as well as a vast breadth of knowledge and networks from the grassroots, people-centred organisations that enrich Queensland. He has worked in the area of training in both the public and private sectors.
Dr Noelene McBride (Dip. KT., B.Ed., M.Ed.St., PhD)
For more than 30 years Dr Noelene McBride has been involved in many aspects of early childhood education and care and worked in a range of early childhood settings and services as teacher, TAFE and university lecturer, researcher, parent and grandparent of twin girls.
She has worked in kindergartens, preschools, childcare centres and primary schools in Australia and overseas and taught early childhood tertiary students − both in universities and TAFE.
Her active involvement on steering committees for Playgroups, Family Day Care and Child Care centres and through working at the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian have been important in an awareness of many of the issues facing parents, young children and educators, particularly within the childcare sector. Her doctoral thesis focussed on the nature of care and childcare training. Her research found that the way we care for young children is linked to our own experiences of being cared for; that is, ways of being cared for, endure.
Her experience as president of Early Childhood Australia (ECA), Queensland branch, has provided her with opportunities to advocate on behalf of young children and increased her awareness of current issues facing professionals and practitioners in their work of caring for and educating young children.
Mrs Angie Russian
Angie Russian is president of the Dayboro Community Kindergarten and is the current chairperson of the C&K Management Committee’s Forum. As the mother of three small boys Angie became involved with the C&K kindy in Dayboro when her first child started in 2005. Originally from Newcastle, NSW Angie worked in radio and advertising for eight years before being transferred to work at Triple M Radio Brisbane in 2000 as promotions manager. After meeting her husband Tony and having her first child in 2002, she left radio and is now involved with the local community in Dayboro. Angie believes that C&K, through the Dayboro Community Kindergarten, is helping her children to gain independence and self confidence.
Mr Barry Salmon
Dip T, BA, B Ed, M Ed St, FAIM
Barry Salmon first became involved with C&K in the early nineties when his children attended a C&K centre. His involvement grew through his work with the former Children’s Services Council. Barry has worked in education since the mid seventies, both as a teacher and in a managerial capacity. He is currently the Assistant Commissioner for Children and Young People where he advocates strongly in promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of Queensland’s children. He believes that C&K’s commitment and dedication to young children is unique in today’s world.
Mr John Sneddon LLB
John Sneddon is a lawyer and partner at Shand Taylor Lawyers. John attends C&K board meetings as a non-voting co-opted member and provides legal advice to the Board. John has been acting for C&K for more than three years and has a background in industrial relations law, commercial litigation, discrimination law and defamation law. John has a strong interest in the legal issues affecting the early childhood education sector and is the father of two young children. John is a member of the Queensland Law Society, the Industrial
Relations Society of Queensland, the Migration Institute of Australia, the Australian Lawyers Alliance and the International Commission of Jurists.