OUR BOARD

Baringa is proud to be a not-for-profit, community organisation and registered charity.

Family, staff and community members make up our Incorporated Association. The organisation is governed by a skills-based, volunteer Board, with Board Members bringing a range of expertise to enhance early childhood education for the community.

Contact | Jillian Flinders | chair@baringa.org.au

+ JILLIAN FLINDERS Chair

Jillian joined the Board in July 2020, and became the Chair in November 2021. She brings governance and legal experience.

Jillian has been a public servant for 20 years across a range of departments and is currently a Director in Human Resources for a key Australian Government Department.

She also has experience working with not-for-profit organisations including dealing with the National Quality Framework and broader regulations which apply to education. She has been the President of the Fraser Primary Before and After School Care Committee for six years and a General Member of the Fraser Primary P&C Committe.

She has three children, aged 16, 12 and 5, with her youngest son attending Baringa.

+ TINA CHAWNER Deputy Chair

Tina joined the Board and became Deputy Chair in November 2021. She is the Managing Director of Yellow Hat Consulting.

For over 18 years, Tina has specialised in change management, strategic communication, and facilitating stakeholders to solve complex problems through codesign. This included working with many Boards and Executive teams, to design long-term strategies, their business plans, and the cultural values to support the communities they work within.

Tina has a Bachelor of Arts (Economics), Diploma in Management and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations. Her two children attended Baringa since they were babies, have since graduated and Tina continues to be actively involved in the strategic governance of the organisation.

+ SAUL ZHANG Finance Director

Saul joined the Board as Finance Director in April 2022. He is a Senior Advisor at Proximity, a leading consulting firm for government and large organisations.

As a qualified Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a master degree in Accounting, Saul has over 13 years experience in management consulting, audit, assurance and tax across public and private sectors.

Outside of office, Saul is supportive of contributing back to the community including in his volunteer roles with RSPCA and OzHarvest. Saul finds joy in his personal life, being a loving husband to Fei, a proud father to their son Zion who is currently attending Baringa.

+ BARB LIVESEY Board Member

Barb joined the Board in November 2021. She is the Executive Director of GAPP Consulting Services.

Barb has been CEO of Reconciliation Australia where she introduced the Reconciliation Action Plan program that continues to grow. She is a former senior Commonwealth public servant with expertise in social policy, Indigenous Affairs and financial services, and has been Head of Government Relations, Australian Red Cross working across the Pacific and in Myanmar. Barb also worked in the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste mentoring local leaders and teams and gaining further insights into working cross-culturally.

Barb is an Associate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and held board positions with the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre and the Community Housing Forum of Australia.

In 2020, Barb supported the Board and Management to develop the new Baringa Strategic Plan. She was impresed with the commitment to delivering great outcomes for children and families. Barb was driven to nominate for the Board and was successfully elected.

+ WENDY BROOKMAN Board Member

Wendy Brookman, a proud Butchulla woman, from a long line of story storytellers. Her family is from the K'gari formally known as Fraser Island Qld. Her connection with Ngunnawal is being born and raised here and welcomed within community.

She is as a teacher at CIT Yurauna where she educates on Cultural awareness and has taught many of our Baringa educators studying their qualifications in early childhood education and community development.

Wendy absolutely loves and advocates for our Booris (babies). She joined the Board in November 2023, which she believes holds very strong family values she connects with.

+ LACHLAN CLOHESY Board Member

Lachlan joined the Board in November 2024. As Secretary of the ACT Division of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), he has a keen interest in education and lifelong learning.

Lachlan has previously been an academic and a union organiser, with governance experience as a Current Executive member of both the NTEU and UnionsACT. His strengths include industrial relations and labour law expertise, experience as an educator, experience in government relations, lobbying and advocacy, and governance experience related to budgeting, administration and strategic planning.

Lachlan has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education, a Masters degree in Labour Law and Relations, and he is also a Doctor of Philosophy.

His young family has been proud to be part of the Baringa community since 2021, with their newest arrival beginning in 2025. He is driven to ensuring that the excellent Baringa experience his family has enjoyed can be shared by generations of families to come.

+ ELINOR ARCHER Board Member

Elinor (Eli) Archer is a proud Palawa woman with connections to Oyster Bay and Ben Lomond country in Northeast lutruwita (Tassie), who grew up in the Canberra region on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country.

Eli joined the Board in November 2024 after teaching some of Baringa's Early Childhood Teachers in her role as a lecturer at University of Canberra in Teacher Education focusing specifically on Indigenous Ways of Knowing in teaching and learning. She has also been a classroom teacher in Arts and Humanities for over 10 years.

Eli works alongside Uncle Spilly and brutha Benny Wilson where, through their work in Country as Teacher, they aim to reinvigorate this old pedagogocial process and push for Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing in schools in order to help students and families to become great local citizens, knowing about their places and being committed to caring for them.

Before studying postgraduate Education and becoming a classroom teacher, Eli worked for many years in Koori Arts and as a Graphic Designer and Illustrator for several Aboriginal and government organisations in the ACT and NSW.

Eli lives in North Canberra and has three children. She is also part of other boards including Learning Creates First Nations education, National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition, ACT NAIDOC Committee and the ANU School of Music Reference Group.

+ TODD MCCOY Board Member

Todd joined the Board in November 2024. Todd has been a Deputy Principal since 2017, with expertise in strategic planning, policy, human resourcing and financial management, as well as School Board governance.

Prior to this, he worked as a primary school teacher for 15 years across a number of ACT public schools, including two in the local community. He brings professional knowledge in education and governance to support the Baringa Board on its improvement journey.

Working in partnerships with families and building a strong sense of community are incredibly important to Todd. He brings to the Board experience in early childhood education, leading preschool teams in maintaining compliance and promoting progress through developing annual Quality Improvement Plans.

Todd's family has been part of the Baringa community since 2022. He has two children, one of which currently attends and another who will join in 2025.