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Jo Mithen
Chief Executive Officer
Jo has been helping organisations to strengthen business operations and build their internal capability for more than 15 years.
Prior to her appointment to CEO of Monash College in 2008, Jo was General Manager, Melbourne and National Director of Dibbs Abbott Stillman Lawyers. In this role she was instrumental in facilitating significant improvements through restructuring the organisation, including the introduction of a new partnership model and replacement of the senior management team of the firm.
As the CEO of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), Jo assisted Deakin University to purchase the business from insolvency and grow the business successfully for six years before re-structuring and selling in 2006. Her role at AHRI included representing Australia on the Asia Pacific Federation of HR Management. She was also elected by her Asian colleagues to represent Asia on the World Federation of People Management Associations, an organisation that represented over 500,000 HR professionals internationally.
Jo has undergraduate degrees in Economics and Law from Monash University and completed the Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School in 2005. She has previously been a Director of the Business Services Training Australia Board and Member Advantage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA). She is also a fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute (FAHRI). |
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Dr Anne Bright
Director, Foundation Year
Anne joined Monash College in November 2010. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Education from the University of Tasmania.
Anne has been an educational leader and teacher in two of Australia's most prestigious K-12 independent schools – The Friends' School in Hobart and Lauriston Girls' School in Melbourne (Deputy Principal/Acting Principal).
She is a teacher of History, English and Theory of Knowledge. Working in the independent sector has given her extensive experience in school governance, marketing, student recruitment and financial, human and resource management.
Before becoming a teacher, she worked in the Department of Social Security and as an Electorate Officer for a Federal Senator.
She was involved with the delivery of teacher in-country programs in Vietnam for several years with the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) and the University of Tasmania. Alongside this work, she has developed and delivered extensive professional development materials and programs for the AEF on teaching and learning about Asia in Australian schools.
With the University of Tasmania and Deakin University she has developed programs on the teaching of civics and citizenship in Australian schools. |
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Julie Coleman
Director, Human Resources
Julie joined Monash College in July 2009. She has a Bachelor of Business degree with a major in Human Resources from Deakin University.
After over 20 years in human resource management, Julie has extensive experience in the human resources sector throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Julie was previously the HR Director at Optus where she worked on delivering innovative employment offerings to reinforce Optus' challenger brand in the telecommunications industry. Before joining Optus, she worked in the transport and mining industries with BHP in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Singapore.
Having recently worked with a mid-tier law firm managing the people components of a successful merger, Julie brings her corporate and professional services experience to the transition education sector. She has developed a number of strategic HR platforms to support the development of leaders, build internal capability and align reward and recognition frameworks for Monash College. |
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Lachlan Grant
Director, Business Development
Lachlan joined Monash College in August 2012. He has a Bachelor of Mass Communication from Queensland University of Technology.
After playing professional Rugby Union for a number of years in Australia and overseas, Lachlan started his career in Marketing working for one of Australia's largest ICT resellers.
Lachlan has been in positions globally, including working in the UK and Scandinavia for Adobe System UK as its Northern European Enterprise Marketing Specialist. Lachlan also worked closely with some of the UK's largest Finance, Manufacturing, Professional Services and Government organisations.
Lachlan also has experience working in government, holding a business development position in the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) in London. His work concentrated on export strategy for Australian businesses including market identification and entry, supplier negotiations and marketing / positioning strategy.
Lachlan returned to Australia to work for Bond University and has worked in a number of roles, most recently as the General Manager International, responsible for Bond's international engagement. He later became Bond's representative on the Australian and Queensland Universities International Director's Forum (QUIDF & AUIDF) including the Chair of the AUIDF NASFA advisory group, facilitating the Australian Universities presence at the world's largest education conference, NAFSA, in 2012. |
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Cynthia Kralik
Director, Monash University English Language Centre
Cynthia commenced work at Monash College in October 2012. She has a
Master of Education (International Education), Bachelor of Arts (Social Sciences), English Language Teaching qualifications, and is currently undertaking a PhD in Education Policy.
Cynthia has extensive experience working in the English language teaching and tertiary sectors and has held roles that range from teaching, teacher training, business development and senior management.
She was the Director of the English language centre of RMIT University for a number of years and then held the position of Academic Director in which she led the academic direction and product development activities of the centre as well as managing an extensive partner network in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Cynthia also led a major RMIT University project to formulate, implement and evaluate a cross-university English language strategy to support the university's students located in Australia and at its many offshore locations.
She has been part of an Australian Government Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) project team investigating the English language support activities of Australian universities and has presented at a number of international education conferences in Australia and overseas.
Cynthia has also held non-executive board director positions with English Australia, the peak body association for English language colleges in Australia, and the National ELT Accreditation Scheme (NEAS). |
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Dr Faye Lambert
Director, Monash College Diplomas
Faye joined Monash College in June 2010. She has a Doctor of Philosophy (Educational Administration), Bachelor of Commerce, a Graduate Diploma of Evaluation and a Bachelor of Education.
Faye has a diverse educational background, a passion for teaching and learning and experience in both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors.
She started her career in human resources and subsequently moved into teaching as a foundation member of a progressive school. As a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, she conducted a range of evaluation studies in educational settings. In her role as Senior Consultant at KPMG Management Consulting Group, she was involved in the design and delivery of challenging and innovative leadership and management development programs for senior executives.
Before joining Monash College, Faye was Deputy Head of an independent school in Melbourne and was responsible for key organisational changes and curriculum design initiatives. Among these was the development of a unique online system of assessment and reporting which was granted a National Quality Award for its contribution to excellence in teaching and learning.
Faye has presented and published both nationally and internationally in a range of fields including teaching and learning, organisational change, program evaluation and leadership development.
She has been active in education and training throughout her career including teaching at the Prahran TAFE and the Australian Institute of Management and participated in Industry Advisory and Working Committees at RMIT University for the development of a range of business and international trade courses and programs. |
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Amanda Semertzian
Company Secertary and Business Planning Manager
Amanda joined Monash College as an Executive Officer and was appointed Company Secretary to the Monash College Board of Directors in October 2009. She has a Certificate in Governance Practice & Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Executive Administration and a Bachelor of Arts.
Amanda has extensive experience in project management, secretariat duties and dealing with company boards in the law and education industries.
With over 15 years experience working with company boards, Amanda worked as Executive Officer to the national board of a law firm and was the board secretariat for a not for profit vocational education and training company.
Amanda also has extensive project management experience, having worked on two company mergers, office relocations and setting up of new offices interstate. |
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Michael Vella
Chief Operating Officer
Michael joined Monash College in January 2012. He has a Graduate Diploma of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Business and is a registered Certified Practising Accountant (CPA).
Michael has extensive experience in management and finance across several industries within the corporate sector.
Michael began his career through numerous roles at Loscam Limited, an ASX listed company majority owned by Pacific Dunlop, where he reached the position of Chief Financial Officer/Company Secretary.
Following acquisition by GE Capital, Michael served as Managing Director of GE Returnable Packaging Systems integrating business into the GE family, before being appointed Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital IT Solutions. Michael was then appointed Chief Financial Officer Asia Pacific with Mercator Software, where he set up financial operations, systems and processes. This in turn led to increased responsibilities as Vice President of Finance (International), where he worked in Frankfurt and London, and was responsible for all finance operations outside of America.
Michael returned to Australia after joining publisher Thomson Learning, joining publisher Cengage Learning (formerly Thomson Learning) in the position of Vice President of Finance and Operations. In this role, Michael was responsible for upgrading the IT environment, improving the financial rigour and reporting of the business and driving operational improvements in the supply chain that resulted in Cengage Australia becoming the most profitable Cengage company outside the USA. |
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David Wade
Director, Professional Pathways Australia
David commenced work at Monash College Professional Pathways Australia in January 2008. He has a Bachelor of Economics Degree from Monash University.
Prior to joining Monash College David had extensive business management experience as a long term employee of Ford Motor Company of Australia. David held many national management positions in Marketing & Sales including national manager, Ford Business Centre (fully accountable corporate sales operation that enabled proactive management of Ford’s 3,000 clients and prospects), National Planning Manager and Falcon Family Marketing Manager.
David also held a number of regional management positions and also worked for the Ford Asia-Pacific office involved in launching Ford products world wide. |
