National Symposium on Australia-China School Partnerships

Guosheng Yang Chen is the Honorary University Fellow and Director of Chinese Australian Studies Forum at RMIT University. With nearly 50 years of experience in education, she has taken leadership and management roles bringing various sectors together including education, government, business, and community at both local and international levels. In 1984, she was invited by the Victorian Ministry of Education to join the education system in Victoria, where she has led a number of national and international projects for 40 years. She successfully initiated and managed a number of programs that sent Australian students and academics to China, and brought Chinese leaders from education, business and government to Australia for professional development.

Caraline is the Head of Regulation and Accreditation. She joined AISNSW in 2018 and leads the Regulation and Accreditation teams. Caraline’s teams support schools to meet State and Commonwealth regulatory requirements, particularly NESA requirements, and provide a range of services relating to teacher accreditation, including Experienced Teacher accreditation. Prior to joining AIS, Caraline worked at NESA as a Senior Inspector in NESA’s School Registration and Accreditation Directorate where she lead a team of inspectors responsible for school registration regulation as well as managing NESA’s regulatory programs for CRICOS and TAA approval. In her 15 years at NESA she also held roles in the curriculum team as a VET Curriculum Officer and in the policy team as one of NESA’s Liaison Officers for the North Coast. Caraline’s teaching background is as a secondary school TAS teacher, specialising in Food Technology, Hospitality and Design and Technology.

Gary Cowan took up his role as CEO of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations in March 2024. Gary is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Gary served overseas as Australia’s Representative in Taipei from 2018 to 2021 and earlier in roles in Australia’s missions in Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo. In Canberra Gary served as the First Assistant Secretary, North and South Asia Division (later South and Central Asia Division) from 2021 to 2024, managing Australia’s relations with Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, and the countries of South and central Asia. In earlier roles he headed Australia’s international climate policy and negotiations team at DFAT and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and was speechwriter for the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Gary holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Australia New Zealand School of Government (2010), and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (1997) and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) (1995) from the University of Sydney. He speaks Mandarin.

Jane is an educational leader and passionate advocate for teachers and quality teaching and learning. Across two decades she has taught and led in schools across Queensland as well as internationally. In Jane’s current role as Director, School and region reviews, she leads teams to deliver school reviews, including reviews in offshore schools. Previously Jane was responsible for Queensland Certificate of Education implementation in China as Director, Senior Assessment and Certification Support, Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. In this role she worked closely with school leaders to support high quality education outcomes in transnational education settings.

Jenny is Co-Founder of Aceleader Education and also chairs the Board at Zhongguancun Foreign Language School and has had extensive experience in international education since 1999. She holds a Masters degree in Education Leadership and Management from the University of Sydney and lived in Sydney for 7 years with her daughter, who attended school from Year 3 to Year 9. Her career spans higher education and K-12 international education, with deep insights into the differences and commonalities between Chinese and Western educational systems. She has successfully led and facilitated transnational collaborations between universities in China, the UK and Australia and with RMIT University for VCE and PLC for HSC programs.

Simon Huang is a well-rounded educator with a demonstrated history of teaching excellence in both independent and public schools. He specialises in multiple subjects including Business studies, Global politics, Chinese, Digital Technologies, PE and Maths. As an innovative language educator, Simon was selected for the inaugural Teaching Excellence Program (TEP) in 2022, followed by a Teaching Innovation Fellowship at Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership in 2023. Simon represented Newmark Primary in the Australia-China Digital BRIDGE Program in 2023. Currently, Simon is working as a classroom teacher at Abbotsford Primary School, a leading bilingual school in Australia.

During 2023, Vanessa led the National School Reform Agreement Taskforce, that provided support to the Review to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System Expert Panel. This work provided advice to all Education Ministers on what reform priorities should be included in the next schools agreement. Vanessa has had a career with the Australian Public Service spanning over 20 years. Vanessa worked as an Assistant Secretary within the Department of Social Services and was responsible for student payments policy. Prior to this, Vanessa was seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to lead a cross portfolio taskforce to deliver the More Choices for a Longer Life package in the 2018−19 Budget. Vanessa has a Graduate Diploma in Economics and a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.

Hongbin (Lucas) Li, is as the Director of Global Engagement at AIDE Education. Since 2019, Lucas has been actively involved in developing institutional partnerships to foster Australian education opportunities through VCE offshore programs and Higher Education projects in China and Southeast Asia. He has played various roles in collaborating with Victorian schools to initiate and implement VCE offshore programs across various Chinese cities. His own positive experiences in a VCE program in China fuel his commitment to connecting future students with Australian educational opportunities. Before stepping into the international education sector, Lucas taught at Alphington Grammar School. He earned his Bachelor of Education from Monash University and is set to begin his Master’s in Digital Education at Oxford University in October of this year.

Essie MA, a Project Coordinator at Arts Centre Melbourne, leads Australia's largest cultural infrastructure project, the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation. Her journey began as an international student at Wellington Secondary College, where she excelled as a student leader, fostering connections between international and local communities. Recognised with the Victorian International School Student Leadership Award in 2014, Essie continued her advocacy, aiding fellow students in adapting to new life and cultures in Victoria. Graduated with an Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from Monash University, Essie transitioned from being a mechanical engineer in the oil and gas sector to project management in the creative industries in Victoria. She’s currently pursuing a Masters in Project Management while working full-time, demonstrating her commitment to lifelong learning. Outside of work, Essie’s interests include hiking, CrossFit and cultural exploration through travel and language acquisition.

Tom Shugg is the Co-founder of Meg Languages and it was the inspiration that comes with being exposed to other cultures that inspired him to start a company that can advocate for that. Meg’s mission is to leverage technology to create Global Citizens through Language and Intercultural experiences. Tom spent more than a decade living and working in China, he is a fluent Mandarin speaker and prior to starting Meg, worked for the Australian Trade Commission at the Australian Embassy, Beijing.