Gill is an experienced Stage 6 teacher and has been teaching Mathematics for over 10 years. She has been Mathematics Coordinator at LaSalle Catholic College and Assistant Head of Department at Waverley College. As well as mentoring and providing professional development to other Stage 6 Mathematics teachers, she has also run Talented Student HSC workshops for the Catholic Education Office, assisting in preparing students for HSC examinations.

Gill holds a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) degree, with honours, and a double major in Mathematics and Chemistry. She has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Education and a Masters of Education (Educational Psychology). She is acredited by NESA as a Proficient Teacher and has been a member of the Mathematical Association of NSW and the Metropolitan East Mathematics Head Teachers Association. Gill is passionate about mathematics and about education and loves assisting students in making connections across different areas of mathematics.

Dr Kerry Sanders gained her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Sydney. She has taught topics including the philosophy of mind; ethics; critical thinking; political philosophy; contemporary philosophy of technology; phenomenology; and the philosophy of music. She also participates in the Gifted Students Program, which provides philosophy sessions to high school students who show interest in a broad scope of ideas and wish to develop their thinking abilities through the challenge which philosophy gives. Most recently, Kerry was awarded the title of Honorary Associate to pursue research and other academic activities in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney.

Kerry’s approach to philosophy

Philosophy is a living practice which calls us to critique our own pre suppositions, and it asks us to assess ideas in relation to our own lives and society. In engaging with the ideas of philosophy, we both study and practice it. Philosophy can be thought of as engaging in an ‘adventure sport for the mind’, as we develop critical thinking techniques and learn to use the mind in new ways. The skills developed in the practice of philosophy are also relevant to many other areas of academic study, as well as in the complex living of our ordinary lives. Much of Western philosophy is based on the priority of reason and logic in human thought, however to fully understand the human condition we must also consider the role of experience, emotions and the body.

Other academic functions

• Supervision of Postgraduate seminar groups
• University preparation courses, from 2000 to 2015
• Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney
• Australian Postgraduate Research Award (four years)
• Vera Edith Thorpe Scholarship

Eleanor Shakiba is an expert in positive psychology. She has taught over 50,000 people to think and speak in ways which build success.

Eleanor started her career as a writer. Next, she discovered a passion for adult education and moved into a training role at the University of Sydney. Today, she works as a training consultant and corporate coach. She specialises in the areas of communication skills, applied psychology and business applications of positive psychology.

The focus of Eleanor’s work is teaching technically savvy professionals to create, relate and communicate. She delivers a range of services to the corporate world, including positive psychology courses; leadership training and coaching; team building and strategic planning sessions; communication and conflict resolution workshops.

Eleanor is the author of Difficult People Made Easy and is currently writing her second book, 6 Habits of Savvy Female Negotiators. She has also created over ninety training programs and a range of online learning courses.

Eleanor is qualified in Social Anthropology, Adult Education, Counselling and Positive Psychology. She delights in helping professionals learn skills for success in the real world, using experiential (interactive) learning techniques. Her students describe Eleanor as ‘a lively and enthusiastic presenter who can keep you engaged for hours.’

Christine Shorter is an educator with a strong background in science education, holding a B.A. (Science) and a Dip. Ed. from Macquarie University. She has worked at various schools, including Wenona School, Monte Sant’ Angelo College, MLC Burwood, Maroubra Bay High School, Turramurra High, and Redlands.

Christine has taught a range of courses, including Stage 4 and 5 Science, HSC Biology, Chemistry, Senior Science, Accelerated Biology, and IB Biology (SL & HL). She has also served as a Biology Coordinator, Year Advisor, Head of House, and Assistant Year Advisor, demonstrating her leadership and experience.

Christine is dedicated to creating an engaging learning environment, making lessons enjoyable and relevant through real-life applications. Her commitment to science education is evident in her teaching and leadership roles.

Chemène has earned a reputation as a trusted leader in training, education and performance.

An Olympian and national-level coach with over 25 years’ experience developing educators, Chemène trains professionals and advises organisations on learning strategy, curriculum design and educator development. She serves on the Learning and Teaching Committee of a higher education provider and has authored training and assessment materials used by over 150 education providers.

A keynote speaker, MC and facilitator, Chemène helps people develop the skills needed to communicate, teach, present and write with clarity and purpose.

Fascinated by how people learn, Chemène’s teaching philosophy is simple: listen first. Her sessions and presentations are participant-focused, interactive and designed for lasting impact.

Chemène holds a Graduate Diploma in Education, a Bachelor’s Degree in English and French, and several specialist qualifications, including Diplomas in vocational training and design, and national-level sport coaching and instructor credentials.

“Be the light or the mirror that reflects it.”

Dominic Siow is the quintessential optimist. A passionate transformation coach, he has dedicated the past 17 years of his career to helping organisations create workplace culture that inspires their people to be at their natural best. His talks, coaching and workshops on leadership, collaboration, influence and emotional intelligence have created a positive impact on more than 150 organisations throughout the Asia Pacific region. More than 50,000 people have attended his talks and training, with many rating them as the most impactful professional development they’ve experienced.

Prior to his present vocation, Dominic was a senior operations manager for IBM Australia and VP of Product Development at Grapevine Technologies. He is the author of the Amazon Best Seller “What’s GREAT about this? How to be Resilient and thrive through disruption and change.”

Tony Spencer-Smith loves words. He has worked with them all his life – ever since he published his own magazine while still in primary school. He moved on to become a prominent journalist, an award-winning novelist and a corporate writer and editor. In his training, he inspires others to share his enthusiasm for the power of language.

Tony is one of Australia’s top corporate writing and editing trainers. In over a decade he has helped thousands of people from blue chip companies, government and not-for-profit organisations to upgrade their communication skills.

The broad experience he brings to his training includes being Editor-in-Chief of Reader’s Digest magazine in both Australia and South Africa; a senior newspaper journalist; and a corporate editorial expert who has written speeches, brochures, reports, websites and internal communications for top clients.

His children’s novel The Man Who Snarled at Flowers won the biggest literary prize in South Africa, while his book The Essentials of Great Writing was published in Australia in 2009.

Trainees leave Tony’s classes with a comprehensive set of writing and editing skills to raise their writing to the next level.

Tony has a Bachelor of Social Science degree and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. In his training, he strives to inspire others to share his enthusiasm for the power of language.

Michael Sribney brings a dynamic blend of hands-on expertise and visionary leadership based on experience in diverse industries including education, financial services and travel.  

Michael has an unwavering passion for leveraging technology to understand and solve complex customer problems.  Throughout his career, Michael has thrived in high-profile roles at renowned organisations like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Qantas, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  

Michael's approach to product management puts the customer at the heart of every decision and relies on data-driven insights to navigate the ever-changing landscape and deliver solutions that solve customer problems and deliver substantial business value. 

Michael shares his expertise through teaching at the prestigious University of Sydney, actively contributes to the start-up ecosystem as a mentor at the renowned Stone & Chalk incubator and takes on a leadership role as a council lead at the Association of Product Professionals, driving industry-wide product management best practices. 

Michael’s holds a Master of Commerce from the University of Western Sydney, as well as certifications in product management, human-centered design, cloud computing, agile delivery and successfully completed the Company Directors Course.

Andrew has delivered workshops on data strategy, program evaluation and AI applications in social science. His expertise includes machine learning, multimodal AI pipelines and advanced statistical analysis. He has previously taught on topics including restorative justice program evaluation and data-driven decision making.

Andrew worked as a Senior Research Associate at the Vera Institute of Justice, where he led AI-driven data solutions and ETL pipeline development across cloud platforms. He has managed research teams and analytics projects for John Jay College of Criminal Justice and government agencies, with a focus on equity, diversion programs and public health.

Andrew holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington and is a Pi Alpha Alpha Honours inductee. He has completed advanced training in AI and machine learning, including LangChain systems, LLMOps, and prompt engineering, alongside certifications in Principles of Machine Learning and AI strategies from UC Berkeley and Deeplearning.ai.

Mark Tredinnick, winner of the Montreal Poetry Prize (2011) and the Cardiff Poetry Prize (2012), is the author of The Blue Plateau, Fire Diary, and nine other acclaimed works of poetry and prose.

His work is widely published in Australian and overseas newspapers and journals, including Australian Poetry, Blue Dog, Five Bells, Indigo, Island, Isotope, Kunapipi, Manoa, Mascara, Meanjin, Orion, PAN, Southerly, Snorkel, The Grove, The Sun-Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, Wet Ink, World Literature Today. He writes regularly for newspapers including The Australian, The Sun-Herald, and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Mark talks and teaches widely on writing, landscape, justice and ecology. For over a decade he has run writing programs at the University of Sydney and at writers' centres in Australia and the United States. He runs them these days, too, in his cowshed in Burradoo. He mentors aspiring writers, and now and then he edits a manuscript in need of help. He teaches grammar and composition, and he consults, on writing matters, with clients in business and government. For ten years, before all that, Mark was a book editor and publisher. Once upon a time he was a lawyer.