Susan started her career in the Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Education and Training in the areas of social policy, skills and human capital development and Commonwealth State relations. Her Victorian experience has been in the former Department of Education and Training, working on skills policy in the Office for Training and Tertiary Education.

Susan is currently the General Manager of the Strategy Division in the Office for Children and Early Childhood Development (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development). As well as providing advice on a wide range of early childhood policy issues, the Strategy Division leads input into early childhood Council of Australian Government reforms on behalf of the Department.

Dr. Schiller is a freelance Early Childhood Consultant and Author. She was a childcare administrator for several years and also taught in American public schools as a kindergarten teacher. She served as Head of the Early Childhood Department at the University of Houston where she also directed the Lab School. Dr Schiller is the author a number of full curriculum programs for early childhood as well as several children’s books, music CD’s, DVD’s and teacher resource books.

Madeleine Smith is a General Manager within the Office for Children and Early Childhood Development in the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Her responsibilities include the implementation of the new Children’s Services Regulations, program development of the school nursing, parenting and school focused youth programs and management of the maternal and child health and parenting telephone counselling services.

Madeleine initially trained as a social worker, working in child protection in Melbourne’s western suburbs and at the Royal Women’s Hospital. Prior to becoming part of the Office for Children and Early Childhood Development, Madeleine was a regional manager in the Department of Human Services with responsibilities for child protection, public housing and early years services. She has a strong interest in the social inclusion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Professor Alison Elliott is widely recognised for her leadership, research, development and policy work in early childhood education and teacher development. She is currently Head of the School of Education at Charles Darwin University and has held significant professional roles in the education and university sectors.

Alison has undertaken extensive research, evaluation and consultancy work for a range of government, non government and community authorities and agencies and has provided policy and research advice to numerous educational bodies and to various national enquiries, boards and reviews. Most recently, she has undertaken projects on practitioner capacity building, strengthening educational connectedness, and early literacy and numeracy development. Alison has authored numerous publications on aspects of early childhood education and care and is the long standing editor of Every Child.

Lou trained as an occupational therapist in the 1970’s. Her first interest developed in toy libraries and paediatrics when she was sent to Noah’s Ark as a student on placement in 1980. Since the early 80’s Lou has worked as a paediatric occupational therapist with a focus on children with disabilities. Much of this time was spent working for Noah’s Ark, which was the first toy library for children with disabilities in Australia.

Lou also worked for the Australian Toy Library Association in the early 90’s and for Yooralla early childhood intervention programs through the early 2000’s. Today Lou is a regional manager for Noah’s Arks in Victoria, Australia. Her responsibilities include overseeing early childhood intervention programs and the federally funded inclusion support into child care programs.

She has presented papers at Early Childhood Intervention Conferences in Australia, and was a keynote speaker for the second Early Childhood Intervention Conference in Malaysia 2008. Lou remains passionate about pursuing the best outcomes for the families of all children including those with a disability.

Pat has a background in teaching in the area of early childhood development specialising in working with families where the children had experienced trauma and disability. For the past twenty years Pat has worked in the field of parenting, focusing her work on preventing child abuse in families at risk. Pat is the author if three publications Getting Good Speech Going a resource to assist young children with their speech development and two group work manuals for professionals Out of the Mainstream focusing on working with parents with an intellectual disability in a group situation and From Strength to Strength for professionals facilitating diverse parenting groups.

Pat presently teaches at Swinburne University in the Child and Family Services Division in both undergraduate and post graduate courses, is the Victorian Director on the board of NAPCAN, National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Pat works part time as a project worker with Jesuit Social Services, does freelance training, projects and group work and is currently working on her Masters of Education focusing on relationships between families and professionals in the early childhood sector.

Over the past 20 years Sarah has worked with dance and drama for
3 year olds to adults, and holds a Masters in education. One of her main focuses is working as a specialist drama and dance teacher with 3, 4 and 5 year olds at a Melbourne kindergarten. One of her interests is process drama with young children, where the children create their own stories together. Sarah’s aim is to break down the barriers of dance and drama and encourage teachers to use these in their day-to-day programs.

Dr Helen Skouteris is an expert in developmental psychology, who is currently working as a Research Fellow, Deakin University. Helen is the Vice President of Bentleigh West Primary School Council and has been Chair of the Education and Policy subcommittee since 2003. Helen is a critical friend to Principal Jennifer Small and has taken an active role in the development of a mindful school and in School Council’s commitment to build social capital and community capacity as a means of fostering the children’s development and wellbeing in both our immediate school community and our local community, the city of Glen Eira.

Jennifer Small took over as the principal of Bentleigh West Primary School in July 2004. Since this time the school has undergone a pedagogical transformation to team teaching and personalised learning supported by new open-plan classroom spaces and high-end technology resources. The school is well known for its innovative programs including leading practice in environmental and sustainability education. The school was not only one of the first schools in Victoria to be accredited as a Performance and Development Culture School, it became a State reference school where Jennifer supported other principals and leadership teams to achieve accreditation for their schools.

Noah’s Ark Inc. is Victoria’s largest provider of Early Childhood Intervention Services for children with disabilities and developmental delays and inclusion support services. The professional support sessions offered by Noah’s Ark learning and development team are informed by involvement in research activities and presented by a team with experience and knowledge in children’s service provision, quality, inclusive practice and disability support services. The sessions respect the expertise and needs of service providers, reflect awareness of current and evidenced based knowledge and respond by promoting best practice that incorporates the latest thinking.

Dr Anne Kennedy has worked in early childhood education as a teacher, educator, researcher, writer, child care director, preschool and primary school teacher. Anne is Chairperson of Community Child Care Association, Victoria and is also on the Board of FKA Children’s Services. Anne is actively involved in current national and state based reform initiatives in early childhood including being a member of the Charles Sturt University-led consortium which is developing the National Early Years Learning Framework.

Anne Stonehouse AM works as a consultant, editor and author in the field of early childhood. She has published widely in both Australia and the United States, has undertaken several significant consultancies and is a member of the Charles Sturt University - led consortium that is developing the Early Years Learning Framework.

Paul is the National Training and Development Manager of Good Beginnings Australia which provides a variety of preventative and early intervention parenting programs in over sixty sites around Australia. Paul’s work has focused on implementing innovative programs in universal services for parents of babies and young children and with children who are victims of severe abuse and neglect. In recent years he has played a role in the development of Good Beginnings across Australia.

Paul has a special interest in promoting the important role fathers play in the lives of Australian children and has been instrumental in developing innovative service strategies to support new and expectant dads. In 2003, Paul was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Commonwealth of Australia for his work in developing innovative early childhood intervention programs. Paul lives in Tasmania with his 3 wonderful sons Joshua (12), Daniel (9) and Isaiah (6) and their amazing mother Leanne.

Dr. Joseph Seyram Agbenyega is a lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Education, Early childhood at the Peninsula campus of Monash University, with a specialization in inclusive education, child development and teacher professional inquiry. Joseph is recipient of many awards including the Sir John Monash award for academic excellence, International Golden Key award, International Monash Post graduate award, and Monash Research Graduate School Award. His research interests focus on the improvement of inclusive practices in early childhood settings, social inclusion and teacher professional inquiry. His current research involves cross-cultural knowing of child development and inclusion, and the impact of learning spaces on child development.

Sandra is a lecturer at the Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University. She has worked in the early childhood field as a teacher and director in long day care settings and in senior management roles supporting the professional development of children’s services staff. She is enrolled in doctoral studies focusing on pedagogical leadership, in particular the ways in which teachers enact leadership in curriculum decision making. Sandra is a member of the core writing team currently developing the National Early Years Learning Framework on behalf of the Australian Government.

Sue has worked in a variety of early childhood settings and lectured at tertiary level in early childhood courses. She is committed to promoting education for sustainability in the early childhood sector. Sue is co-author of several books including Just Discover: Connecting Young Children with the Natural World and last year edited The Outdoor Playspace Naturally. Currently, she is convenor of the Australian Association for Environmental Education Early Childhood – Special Interest Group, lectures at RMIT University and is undertaking doctoral studies at the University of New England.

Louise is an energetic and enthusiastic presenter with over 20 years experience in early childhood in a variety of roles. Louise has trained in drama, singing and dance and is soon to release a music DVD called You can do Music, which shows teachers and early childhood educators how to incorporate music into early childhood programs using every day props. She currently teaches music at Victoria University and coordinates children’s services in local government. Louise facilitates workshops across all industry sectors throughout Victoria and interstate. Her sessions are fun and action packed.

Fay Hadley has 20 years experience in the early childhood field and is currently lecturing at the Institute of Early Childhood at Macquarie University. She has worked in long day care centres both in teaching and directing roles, in both the community and private sectors. She has worked on several research projects in the past 10 years about culturally and linguistically diverse families and how to ensure inclusion in service delivery. Her thesis (completed in 2007) focused on the connections between families and early childhood services that serve to support families in their role as parents.

Dr Rhonda Galbally AO has focused her life’s work on making a difference for a more equitable society. In 1990 Rhonda was awarded an Order of Australia, and received the Centenary Medal in recognition of her service to the community in 2001. Rhonda’s years of social justice work led to the establishment of www.ourcommunity.com.au in 2000. Our Community is the Australia-wide resource and training hub – improving the operational and governance capacity of Australia’s 700,000 community organisations.

In the late 1980s Rhonda established the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) as foundation CEO for ten years. VicHealth was recognised by the World Health Organisation in 1996 with the WHO medal for being the first body in the world to use a dedicated tax on tobacco for innovative health promotion. Rhonda is currently the Chair of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council, the National People with Disability and Carers Council and the Royal Women’s Hospital, and she is Patron of Compassionate Friends.

Karen is a Noonuccal woman from Minjerripah (North Stradbroke Island, Qld) who also has Bidjara ancestry (Canarvon Gorge, Qld). She has taught in Aboriginal community education services, and has published and lectured widely in Aboriginal early childhood education.The outstanding analytical depth of Karen’s research has seen her awarded the 2005 Barbara Creaser Memorial Award by Early Childhood Australia, the 2006 James Cook University Medal, the joint 2007 Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE), Doctoral Research in Education Award and the 2008 NAIDOC Scholar of the Year Award. Karen is a member of the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) Research Network, and is currently Associate Professor Early Childhood at Southern Cross University.

Tracy Young teaches at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, is a committee member of Environmental Education in Early Childhood (EEEC Vic inc) and has established a Victorian Early Childhood Australia (ECA) sub group with a focus on advocating for sustainability. She completed the Diploma of Sustainability at the National Centre for Sustainability at Swinburne and now lectures in this course in addition to childcare courses. She has been instrumental in the development of a dual option for childcare students whereby they can complete a childcare and a sustainability diploma concurrently. Tracy has been a long-term advocate for inclusion of a sustainability competency in the National Community Services Training Package and this is now about to be implemented.

Tracy has co-authored numerous publications including: Just Discover: Connecting children with the Natural World and Just Investigate: Science and Technology Experiences for Young Children, In addition to writing two chapters in The Outdoor Playspace Naturally. Tracy is the proud recipient of the Jean Denton Memorial Scholarship for 2008 and will be using the funds to continue her masters of education research with the thesis focusing on the First Footprints: Sustainable early childhood programs.

Catharine Hydon began as a teacher in a sessional kindergarten program and has gone on to manage a range of services for children and their families from childcare in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne to school based programs in Papua New Guinea.

Following her work in children service’s Catharine moved to a support and training role for early childhood professionals at the FKA Multicultural Resource Center, where she coordinated the training program. Catharine then moved to the Brotherhood of St Laurence where she led several early years projects that contributed to a strategic advocacy agenda for young children living in disadvantage. A major feature of her work was a collaborative project to progress the establishment of an integrated service on a public housing estate in inner Melbourne. Catharine is now working as an independent early childhood consultant.

Catharine has been a long time member of the Executive of Victorian Branch of Early Childhood Australia, and significantly, was a co-founder of Real Rights for Refugee Children, an advocacy group for the promotion of refugee children’s place in early childhood services. In 2003 Catharine was awarded the Barbara Creaser Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to early childhood education. Catharine is a Director on the National Board of Early Childhood Australia representing Victoria and contributed to the review of the ECA code of ethics.

Kathy Walker is a renowned Melbourne – based Educational Consultant who conducts a range of professional development sessions through-out Australia for staff working across all sectors of early childhood and primary education, as well as a range of government organisations. She also works with parent groups on a range of topics. Kathy is formerly a university lecturer in education and author of the best selling book for parents, What’s the Hurry? as well as her latest book for teachers Play Matters on the Australian Developmental Curriculum.

For the past 15 years Anthony has worked as an educator, innovator and advocate with a broad range of government, non-government and private organisations. His skills and expertise have seen him work with organisations across Australia and overseas including Columbia University, New York. What began as a young teachers desire to help individuals transform the quality of their lives, relationships and values, led to Anthony combining his skills and knowledge with Colin Slattery and in 1999 they founded Semann and Slattery. This is a company truly committed to transformative practices and philosophies.

Anthony is one of the most dynamic young professionals in Australia today. He is in demand as a presenter, facilitator and public speaker which has seen him deliver over 45 opening addresses and over 75 conference papers at national and international conferences. Anthony is an innovative and inspirational trainer and educator and he has delivered over 350 professional development programs. Participants of these programs acknowledge his outstanding ability to empower, transform and assist organisations and people, leading them to excel and be more responsive to their clients. He has an exceptional capacity to challenge organisations and people and have them reflect on how their approaches to communication, leadership, diversity, values, relationships and workplace culture affect their services, businesses and ultimately the community.Anthony’s achievements have been publicly recognised by his peers and the broader community and he has been awarded the Young Manager of the Year Award and the Inaugural Advocate of the Year Award.

Denise Proud is a Murri woman born in Wakka-Wakka. She was born in an Aboriginal settlement known as Cherbourg. After her secondary schooling she left her family to take up study in Brisbane where she completed her qualifications in early childhood. She has worked in range of early childhood settings in Queensland and has been an advisor for many years. Denise has also worked in correctional centres, youth detention centres, women’s centres and universities. She is the author of Fall from Grace? Reflecting on Early Childhood Education while Decolonizing Intercultural Friendships from Kindergarten to University and Prison.

Michelle has been the Centre Director of Greythorn ECC since it first opened in 1996, and together with her dedicated staff, has worked to build a warm and nurturing environment for children to grow and learn. Greythorn ECC is a community run centre providing long day care to 40 children per day and strives to provide innovative and flexible programs that meet the needs of its community.

As Centre Director, Michelle is responsible for the development and maintenance of budgets, recruitment, training and management of staff, policy development, continuous improvement and liaison with relevant Early Childhood Professionals. In addition to the overall management of Greythorn ECC, Michelle also undertakes direct contact with the children in each room and ensures she maintains open and trusting relationships with all children, parents and staff.

A creative thinker, Kirsten Slifirski is happiest when she is drawing on her diverse work experience and bringing seemingly disparate ideas together to solve problems. For the last six years Kirsten has worked in community development, focusing on the early years. She is strongly committed to working in the gaps and, within the social inclusion agenda, investing in children now and in their own right. Lecturing in cinema studies in a previous life informs her interest in capturing children’s voices, multiliteracies and cultural competencies. She has worked delivering the early years strategy at the Brotherhood of St Laurence and is currently the Internal Consultant for the Early Years at Berry Street. Kirsten joined the KPV board in 2008.

Kathy has worked in children’s services for nearly 20 years and has extensive experience working across all sectors of the early childhood field. Kathy has also worked as a Community Development Officer with the City of Greater Dandenong including working with the local Aboriginal Community and the Child Care Links Pilot Project. Child Care Links aimed at linking early childhood services with the local community and supporting staff in developing positive partnerships with families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Kathy has been with the FKA Children’s Services since July 2006.

Colleen is the Project Manager for Communities for Children, where she manages a multidisciplinary and multi-agency team. Their task is to develop and implement a community strategic plan that uses capacity building and early intervention approaches to improve outcomes for young children and their families within the Broadmeadows community.

Colleen’s specialisation is community psychology. Colleen has contributed to applied research and community-based practice in workplaces as diverse as early intervention child services, aged and disability services, local government, migrant women’s health, the Victorian AIDS Council and the trade union sector.

Cathy has been a kindergarten teacher for many years and is currently the teacher at Coolaroo South Primary school kindergarten. She was recently awarded the Outstanding teacher of the year award in Early childhood services by DEECD.

Cathy chairs the Coolaroo Child and Family Network and has a leadership role in development of the community hub and strengthening local community partnerships.