Julie is widely recognised as a leading force in our sector. With a background in organisational psychology, she joined CCC as the project manager for the Victorian Inclusion Agency, setting up nine regional offices and hiring 50 staff in just six weeks.

Since stepping into the role of Executive Director in 2018, Julie has led the organisation through significant achievements. Under her guidance, CCC secured crucial sector funding during the COVID-19 pandemic and played a key advisory role in the Productivity Commission’s 2024 inquiry into education and care. Recently, Julie spearheaded a landmark multi-employer bargaining process that has resulted in a historic 15% government-funded wage increase for early childhood educators.

Daniela is a tenacious leader. Early on in her first director job, Daniela discovered her service was on the brink of closure. Through determination and strong leadership, she steered her community-owned co-op from struggle to success. Daniela’s acumen as a talented educator was recognised when she was awarded the Inspirational Educator Award in 2013 and the National Teaching Award in 2014. She is also a former board member of the Children’s Services Coordinators Association. Daniela is passionate about providing a voice for service directors and educators on the issues that matter to them.

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Laura brings over a decade of experience in the education and care sector to her role as Director of Policy and Strategy. Her expertise in policy development was sharpened during her time with the United Workers Union. Leveraging this knowledge, she successfully negotiated every iteration of the Professional Community Standard, steered the Big Steps campaign and directly advised the Federal Government’s Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill. Passionate about the strength and value of the community sector, Laura is dedicated to ensuring educators receive fair compensation for their vital work. If she could give one piece of advice, it would be to join your union!

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Bryony has an array of early childhood teaching experience and qualifications, including a Graduate Certificate of Developmental Trauma and a Graduate Diploma of Therapeutic Play. This background helps her guide educators and leaders to understand and include children who have had adverse early childhood experiences. She is passionate about relational pedagogy and social justice for children and families experiencing disadvantage. Bryony’s work advocates for places where children have a voice and their sense of choice and agency is promoted.

Aisha’s diverse experience in the early childhood sector spans over twenty years, across all age groups and in both private and community-owned services. With a Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Children’s Services, a Diploma of Business and a Graduate Certificate in Education (Leadership and Management), Aisha worked in leader, manager and director roles before joining CCC. Aisha is a whiz in policy development, auditing and compliance, and has supported many children’s services to achieve both Exceeding and Excellent ratings under the National Quality Standard.

Focussed on connection, equity and inclusion, Lucy is a passionate advocate for a strong and vibrant community-based OSHC sector. She has over 27 years’ experience – coordinating school-managed services, teaching at university, managing local government-operated services, and working and volunteering in environmental sustainability roles. Lucy is currently developing policy and guidance resources for the Department of Education and Training, and assisting schools to establish, manage and operate sustainable OSHC services in rural and regional communities.

Narelle believes early education starts with a professional, dedicated and highly skilled workforce. As a former director of a much-loved Brunswick co-op, she understands the challenges of keeping the doors of a not-for-profit, community-owned service open. Narelle supports services to prioritise quality and put children at the core of their practice. She loves being in nature, and guides educators to appreciate the beauty and scope of what the natural environment has to offer children.

Caitlin uses her background in early education and studies in psychology to understand different personalities, help leaders build strong teams and meet the needs of all educators. As a former inclusion professional, she supported hundreds of services across Victoria, which gave her a wealth of experience in guiding children’s behaviour.

Little did Kylie know that enrolling in the wrong uni degree would be the start of a 30+ year career in early childhood education. Before arriving at CCC, she spent fourteen years as a children’s service director – including at Perry Street Childcare Centre where she maintained an Exceeding rating. A registered mentor for early childhood educators, Kylie is passionate about supporting early childhood educators, teachers and leaders to overcome challenges so they can thrive in their jobs.

Marli says doing the work she does is more than a career – it’s a way of living. She has a treasure trove of wisdom spanning more than 40 years working with children in kindergarten, long day care and OSHC programs. Marli is most proud of her role in the working party which helped develop national training competencies for OSHC, and of being invited to deliver a co-keynote on engaging community at a conference on child care in Singapore. Her community liaison work has made her a sought-after member on reference and focus groups. Marli is also CCC’s Reconciliation Action Plan coordinator.

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Nikki is excited by how research, data and evaluation shape impactful programs and policies, and she loves using evidence to tell powerful stories. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education, a Bachelor of Sociology, a Master of Early Childhood Education and Teaching, and a Graduate Diploma in Evaluation. Nikki began her career as a kindergarten teacher and family day care educator, later working as an inclusion professional. Her experience includes research roles at the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Productivity Commission. Nikki believes that all children and families deserve access to high quality education and that no situation should prevent children from reaching their brilliant potential and their right to safe, happy and fulfilled lives.

With a BSc (Honours) in Psychology and a MSc in Clinical Forensic Psychology, Abril is no stranger to the potential of thorough, collaborative and evidence-based research to affect change. Having worked for over ten years in research and evaluation roles across four continents, Abril is driven by work that addresses structural barriers and social inequities faced by different sectors and communities. She is passionate about collaborating with those who have lived experience, and co-designing solutions to meet specific needs and contexts.

If you want to sign up for membership, Pina is the friendly voice on the other end of the phone. She’s also our events extraordinaire. Pina has been with CCC for more than 10 years, and you’ll see her at most of our events.

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Jane worked as a facilitator of professional development for long day care, family day care and OSHC services for 15 years. Her studies and interests in a wide variety of areas – including creative arts, gardening, travel and psychology of the body and movement – have scaffolded the way she approaches her work in education and care. Jane is passionate about ensuring children can reach their full potential, and her relationship-based approach is highly valued by colleagues. Jane also happens to be the niece of Community Child Care Association co-founder Winsome McCaughey AO.

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Lauren is passionate about ensuring all children feel valued, respected and included in their environments. She worked as an inclusion support facilitator for 10 years, and in long day care for five years as a group leader and assistant director. Lauren’s greatest inspiration is her children – they motivate her to support educators, teachers and leaders to provide the most loving, caring and inclusive environments possible, as that is what her children have at home and that is what she wants for all children.

Kate understands how isolated directors and coordinators can be. She loves drawing on her experience in community development to support service leaders in relationship building and connecting with community. Kate has 30 years’ experience in the sector as a long day care educator, director and hub manager, family day care field worker, and other diverse roles with ambiguous names like ‘Communities for Children Coordinator’. She also spent 20 years working in Aboriginal and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Laura has over twenty years’ experience working with children – including in long day care, occasional care, OSHC and as a nanny. Before joining CCC, she worked at Swinburne as a trainer and assessor. Before that, she spent seven years as a director of a community-owned service where she implemented the EYLF and attracted a $500,000 grant to completely renovate the centre. Laura lives by two mottos: ‘If you can be one thing in life, be kind’ and ‘Early intervention is best’.

Deanna is passionate about supporting all children to learn, grow and reach their full potential, no matter what their unique circumstances may be. With a Diploma in Children’s Services, Early Education and Teaching, Deanna started her career as an early childhood educator before stepping into a management role. Her firsthand experience taught her just how overwhelming it can be to meet every child’s inclusion needs. This has given her valuable insight into how inclusion professionals can best assist services.

For Helen, family is everything. She was raised with a proud and rich culture in which people, food, music and dance are highly valued. She believes herself fortunate to have English as an additional language. Helen worked as an early childhood educator for over 15 years and has now been in inclusion support for many more. She does her job with a smile, knowing she makes a difference in the lives of children and their families by empowering them to achieve.

Toby-Lea has a passion for the documentation side of programming and planning, and engaging the ‘child’s voice’ in all aspects of the curriculum. She has worked in early childhood for 15 years as a room leader, kindergarten teacher, educational leader and inclusion support assistant in OSHC, long day care, occasional care and funded kindergartens. When Toby-Lea realised that working in a service was limiting her ability to share her passion and knowledge, she took on the role of inclusion professional where she travels across Victoria, supports many educators and learns something new each day.

Brenda worked as a room leader and centre director in long day care for twelve years, and as an OSHC director for three. Having accessed inclusion programs as a director, she understands how daunting the process can be for services. Brenda’s passion for supporting all children to meaningfully participate in education and care stems back to her childhood when she had an aunty with an acquired brain injury that wasn’t given the same opportunities as others. To this day, Brenda firmly believes that if we lower our expectations of children with additional needs, then we’re robbing them of the chance to thrive.

Susan has worked in early childhood for over 20 years in almost every role under the sun, including diploma assistant, room leader, 3IC and 2IC. Susan believes children are our future and that we have a great opportunity to provide them with skills for life – and we have so much to learn from them too. A self-described critical reflector, Susan feels that if we are open to learning, the sky’s the limit.

Glenda’s background in nursing and teaching helps her support educators to understand children’s medical and psychological needs. Glenda is the proud mother of a son with Down syndrome, which makes her well placed to mentor, challenge and inspire educators supporting children with additional needs. It also helps her to understand what may appear to be the unrealistic expectations that some families place upon children’s services – as Glenda notes, it takes time to come to grips with the realisation that your child will walk down a very different pathway than what you had dreamt for them.

For Faye, having parents from a culturally and linguistically diverse background has sparked a lifelong love of learning about other cultures and different ways of ‘being’ in the world. She has brought this passion to her 30+ years in children’s services – including residential care, long day care and vacation care – as well as 20 years in inclusion support. Faye has also been a board member for several other organisations.

Mirna is a dedicated professional with a remarkable 28-year career in early childhood education and care. She worked as an educator and director before joining CCC as an inclusion professional. Her ability to truly listen and understand others’ needs has made the support she offers her services invaluable. Mirna aspires to be a positive role model who encourages others to create atmospheres of belonging, meaningful participation and equal opportunities for all children.

Jodie’s 30-plus years in education and care started as a mothercraft nurse before moving into site and management roles in long day care, and eventually becoming a governance advisor with Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA). She holds qualifications in early childhood education and care and human services. While Jodie’s experience is diverse, her time in long day care working with 3–4-year-olds and witnessing their opinions and perspectives about the world still sparks her passion today. Jodie’s goal is to empower services to develop skilled and informed practice and she loves seeing educators have the ‘aha’ moments.

With over a decade’s experience working in early childhood education and care and out of school hours care management roles, Lara firmly believes that community-owned services deliver the best outcomes for young people. After experiencing how essential inclusion professionals are in optimising service delivery, Lara was inspired to become one herself. She is a passionate believer in equal access for regional and remote services and the idea that lived experience builds understanding. Lara likes to base her professional pedagogy on the expression: ‘Nothing about us without us.’

Ally’s commitment to justice began in high school, with an inspirational teacher who sparked a strong desire in her to make a difference. Since then, Ally has carried that passion and drive with her through her studies in early childhood education, therapeutic foster care, and through a range of roles, including preschool field officer, and roles in centre-based day care, out of school hours care, primary school, kindergarten and supporting kinship carers. This diversity of experience means she has a strong understanding of different perspectives in the sector and is skilled in finding a way forward that meets everyone’s needs.

Samantha holds an unwavering passion for the full and equal inclusion of each child, especially those who have experienced trauma, challenges or disadvantage. With over fifteen years’ experience in the education and care sector, and degrees in psychology and education, Samantha believes that listening, understanding, critical reflection and an anti-bias focus are essential. For Samantha, these practices form the foundation for inclusion, helping her to create exciting and inspiring learning and care environments that fully welcome and value diversity.

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