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Keynote Presentations

	Chris Sarra
	Chris Sarra has had an extensive career in education. In his time as Principal of Cherbourg State School he facilitated many changes that saw increasing enthusiasm for student learning. Under Chris' leadership the school became nationally acclaimed for its pursuit of the 'Strong and Smart' philosophy. Today Chris is the Director of the Indigenous Education Leadership Institute that is designed to pursue improved student outcomes for Indigenous children.

Constancia Warren

Constancia Warren
Senior Program Officer and
Director, Urban School Reform Initiative
Education Division

Constancia Warren joined Carnegie Corporation in 2002. Her involvement in school reform dates back to the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, she helped create a small science-oriented public high school in New York City. More recently, at the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Warren headed teams providing evaluation and technical assistance to school initiatives across the country, and directed AED’s Support Center for Educational Equity for Young Mothers.

Before joining AED in 1989, Warren worked to expand school-based health services for adolescents in and to improve the education of pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers. In 1988, she co-chaired the New York City Chancellor’s Working Group on the Education of Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents. She also worked in the Office of Policy Analysis and Planning of the New York City school system, focusing on high school redesign and school system-university collaboration.

She holds a doctorate in political science from Columbia University.

Download the Presentation (pdf - 175kb)

EVONNE GOOLAGONG CAWLEY

EVONNE GOOLAGONG CAWLEY, MBE, AO, is a Wiradjuri Aborigine. During her tennis career she won 92 pro tournaments, was a finalist in 18 Grand Slam events. She won Wimbledon twice, the Australian Open 4 times, the French Open once and was the runner up 4 years in succession at the US Open.

By 1990 she was determined to expand her knowledge of her Aboriginal heritage and this along with the death of her mother in 1991 prompted the Cawley family to leave their USA base and return to Australia

In 1995/96 she was a board member of the Australian Sports Commission. From 1997 to 2001 the Federal Government appointed Evonne as consultant to Indigenous Sport. In 1998 Evonne teamed up with Tennis Australia to form the national Getting Started Programme aimed at increasing overall female participation in tennis throughout Australia. In 1993, Evonne’s autobiography “Home! The Evonne Goolagong Story” was published and became an immediate best seller.

She has been Australian Sportsman Of The Year, Australian Of The Year and she is the Co-Patron of Reconciliation Australia.

Evonne, husband Roger, sometimes their daughter Kelly 28 and pro soccer playing son Morgan 24, reside happily at Noosa Heads Qld.

Joann Schmider

The Department of Child Safety in Queensland appointed Joann Schmider to the position of Director for the Indigenous Support and Development Branch based in Cairns in 2005. The Indigenous Support and Development Branch was formed to support the delivery of Indigenous child protection services by newly formed or expanded Indigenous agencies located across Queensland.

Joann Schmider is an Indigenous woman with 25 years of experience in government and Indigenous community engagement, and a background in: human services for children; youth and family programs; education and training; human rights; and social justice.

	Dr John Spierings
	Dr John Spierings is the research strategist with the Dusseldorp Skills Forum (DSF), and he has published numerous articles and essays on young people and learning and work. He joined DSF in 1998, having previously worked at Melbourne, Monash and Adelaide universities. John’s PhD is a study of business management in Australia between 1920 and 1940. Download the Discussion Notes (pdf - 73.4kb)

	Laudan Aron
	Laudan Aron is a Senior Research Associate with the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. She has over sixteen years of experience in social policy research, and has worked on many issues related to children and youth including special education, alternative education, child welfare, family violence, and homelessness. Her work had included a review of alternative education options for vulnerable youth for the C.S. Mott Foundation, a review of research related to the social, physical, and economic well-being of American youth, and a study for the National Council on Disability on the relationships between disabilities and delinquency among children and youth. She is the co-author of several books, including Serving Children with Disabilities: A Systematic Look at the Programs (Urban Institute Press 1996), and Helping America's Homeless: Emergency Shelter or Affordable Housing? (Urban Institute Press 2001). She is currently assisting the U.S. Department of Labor with strategic planning on how to develop more high quality second chance learning opportunities for out-of-school youth, is working on a second book examining publicly-funded programs for children with disabilities, and is completing a three-year study of the social service needs of victims of human trafficking for the National Institute of Justice. Download the Presentation (pdf - 136kb)

	Tjerk (Jack) Dusseldorp
	Jack is currently Chairman of the Dusseldorp Skills Forum. In 1999, he was elected President of WorldSkills (re-elected in 2003), the International Vocational Training Organisation. He was Founder, Executive Director, and Chairman of WorldSkills Australia Foundation (previously WorkSkill) retiring from the organisation in 2004.