Board Of Directors

The WorldSkills Australia Board of Directors play an important role in shaping our social enterprise. As Members, our non-executive Directors collectively bring decades of experience and expertise in skills, trades, education, jobs and business across a huge range of industries. As volunteers, each Director is dedicated to contributing to Australia’s sustainable economic prosperity by positively promoting excellence throughout Australia’s vocational training sectors and providing opportunities for young Australian’s to excel.

Meet the Board

Kevin Harris

Chair

Since retiring from his role as the CEO of one of Australia’s Leading TAFEs, Kevin remains very active volunteering his expertise and extensive experience in various leadership roles.  These include non-executive director positions in VET and Higher Education and membership of national skills development committees for the Australian Government and industry employer organizations. He is currently a member of the Australian National ICT Industry Reference Committee and the chair of the Australian Information Industry Association Digital Skills Policy Advisory Network. Kevin is an active volunteer in his local community and Surf Life Saving Australia.

Kevin was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his achievements in public education and skills development.

Kevin joined the WorldSkills Australia Board in 2010 and elected as Chair in December 2017. He has previously been a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee as well as Deputy Chair.

“To ensure sustainability and success, being vocationally competent is a great start.  However, to realise the opportunities of the 21st Century world of work and the economic revolution of Industry 4, excellence in vocational skills is essential.

“WorldSkills Australia connects young people, community and industry in enabling and powering their achievement in skills excellence.  We provide the means to test and improve Australia’s skills excellence against the rest of the world as an active and leading member of the 80plus nation strong membership of the WorldSkills International organisation. As chair of WorldSkills Australia, being part of a team that enables young people to develop excellence in skills and to bring them forward as inspiring young leaders is an extraordinary privilege.” – Kevin Harris

Megan Lilly

Deputy Chair

Megan is the Head of Workforce Development for The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and a Director of the Australian Industry Group Training Service and Graduate Employment Services. Megan is responsible for the development of all education and training policy as well as member service delivery across the breadth of workforce development. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive Officer of Business Services Training Australia, the national industry advisory board for the business services and related industry sectors. Before joining the national board, she held several senior management positions in various Victorian TAFE institutes.

Megan joined the WorldSkills Australia Board in March 2017 and was elected Deputy Chair in December 2017. She is a member of the Australian Industry Skills Committee (alternating Director), Chair of Manufacturing Skills Australia, member of the Australian College of Educators, member of the Salvation Army Disability Employment Services Advisory Committee, and the Naval Shipbuilding College – Delivery Advisory Committee.

Previously Megan has been a member of the Australia India Education Council, including Chairing the Skills Working Group, Australian Qualifications Framework Council, Queensland Ministerial Commission, Victorian Skills Commission and Australia Pacific Technical College, a member of the National Skills Standards Council, and the National Quality Council, chaired the Joint COAG-NQC Working Group – VET Products for the 21st Century and has presented at international conferences. Megan holds a Masters in Educational Policy and Administration.

Jack Hanrahan

Chair of Finance and Audit Risk Committee

Jack Hanrahan has over 30 years of experience across various sectors developed with both publicly listed and private companies as well owner of his own business.  Jack operates his own retail advisory business, and multiply board appointments as a Non-Executive Director.

A Masters Degree from MGSM and author of “Retail Strategy Planning & Control”, in addition to other published papers on retail.  He has taught MBA & Graduate programs in marketing, retail, and strategy at several universities and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jack joined the WorldSkills Australia Board in 2011 and has been a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee since then.

“I’m passionate about education and training and how they provide wonderful opportunities to people. WorldSkills is a fantastic way to improve and showcase young people’s skills in a local, national and international environment and to be the best you can be.” – Jack Hanrahan

Jarrad Langdon

Director

Jarrad has completed several TAFE courses and achieved local and international success in his chosen field of graphic design. In 2005, he won a gold medal in Website Design at the WorldSkills International Competition in Helsinki.

In 2007, Jarrad established Jala Design Pty Ltd, an Australian design agency with a passion for strategic website design and development. In addition, Jarrad teaches part-time at TAFE NSW to help train the next generation of developers. He continues his involvement with WorldSkills Australia as a regional judge, project designer, national skill advisor and has previously held the position of International Deputy Chief Expert for WorldSkills International Championships.

Jarrad has been a member of WorldSkills Australia Board since 2011 and is currently a member of the Nominations Committee and the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

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Trevor Schwenke

Director

Trevor is the current Chief Executive Officer of Worldskills Australia and has spent some 30 years as a volunteer within the Worldskills family. He has more than 24 years’ experience in key leadership roles in the vocational education and training, higher education, school and corporate sectors. In 2013 Trevor was recognised as the Queensland Professional Manager of the Year by the Australian Institute of Management. Trevor began his career as a tradesman (Boilermaker Welder) and holds qualifications in Engineering, Education and Online Learning. He is a previous CEO and General Manager within the TAFE sector across both Queensland and Victoria . Trevor has held several board positions and is passionate about skills and training.

Trevor joined the WorldSkills Australia Board in 2017 on the Nominations Committee and the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, and was appointed as CEO in July 2019.

Terri-Helen Gaynor

Director

Terri-Helen has significant experience in providing operational management and strategic leadership in the corporate, government, NGO, B2B, B2C and B2G sectors globally and specifically in the Asia Pacific region including as a key advisor to governments and Ministers. Her roles have mainly centered on government relations, policy development, advocacy, marketing and communications and stakeholder and community engagement.

Terri-Helen has Chaired and sat as non-executive director on a number of industry and NFP Boards. Terri-Helen is the CEO of the Australian Institute of Training and Development and a former CEO of Endometriosis Australia.

Terri-Helen is extremely passionate about youth and diversity in the workplace and has worked for many years to ensure that the connection between government, community and industry is there to support the leaders of tomorrow.

 

Stephen Roche

Director

Stephen is a current Partner within the Assurance and Advisory section of Deloitte’s Australia. He brings over 25 years of experience providing audit, due diligence and accounting advice services to listed, government and private entities at a global and local level. Stephen holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Chartered Accountant and his experience includes two years auditing in the US (New York), where he coordinated several global audits and developed an in-depth knowledge of effective corporate controls in a Sarbanes Oxley (“SOX”) environment.

Currently, Stephen is a Director and Chair of the Audit Finance and Risk Committee of the Victorian Law Foundation. He is also an Audit Committee member for Group Eight. Stephen joined the WorldSkills Australia Board in December 2017 and is Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee.

 

Mary Faraone

Director

Ms Faraone commenced as Chief Executive of Holmesglen Institute in October 2013. Mary has had extensive experience in the VET sector, working with industry, RTO’s and TAFE in various roles prior to joining Holmesglen Institute in 2003. Mary has been particularly instrumental in leading the Institute’s teaching and learning, including the introduction of higher education, securing a number of significant national and international projects, and leading the successful development and implementation of significant industry partnerships.

Mary is committed to the role public tertiary education plays in supporting social inclusion and social cohesion in the community, and its underlying values of equity and access. Mary is optimistic for the future of TAFE and VET and looks forward to leading the organisation to ensure it remains at the forefront of tertiary education with pathways and programs at the senior secondary, technical and vocational and higher education sectors. During this time the Institute has won several major awards and the state and national levels, in particular fivewins for Industry Collaboration at the Victorian Training Awards, 2017 to 2019, 2021 and 2023 and two- time winner of the same category at the Australian Training Awards in 2017 and 2019.

Mary is the Chair of the TAFE Directors Australia Board and a Board member for the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics.

Mary became a board member of WorldSkills Australia on 20 May 2022.

John Tucker

Director

John Tucker is the General Manager of TAFE Queensland (SkillsTech), the largest provider of trade and technical training in the state of Queensland.  John is a member of the TAFE Queensland executive team and leads the apprenticeship training delivery strategies for TAFE in Queensland.

Prior to his current role, John has held numerous senior executive roles in the sector and is a passionate advocate for vocational training.   John has dedicated his career to developing strategy and policies to ensure best practice in skills training at a senior level.  Apart from a Bachelor of Adult and Vocational Education, and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, John holds leadership and project management qualifications from University of NSW and University of Southern Qld.

John became a board member of WorldSkills Australia on 20 May 2022.

 

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