Lead Presenters
Prof Br David Hall fms
Professor Br David Hall fms is well known to Marists and Catholic educators across Australia, having spent over 35 years as a practitioner in the Catholic education sector. He has been a principal of several Catholic schools, primary and secondary. Br David is involved in the governance of Catholic schools as a member of various boards and committees and conducts workshops and other professional learning activities in the areas of spiritual formation and leadership. He is currently the Dean of the La Salle Academy at Australian Catholic University, a unit with responsibility in the areas of Religious Education, Faith Formation and Educational Leadership.
Prior to the establishment of Marist Schools Australia (MSA) Ltd, Br David was Chair of the Marist National Schools Council. In In 2022, he was appointed as the inaugural Chair of the MSA Board. In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious ACEL Dr Paul Brock Medal for his national and international contribution to excellence in advancing educational leadership.
Dr Mark Williams
Dr Mark Williams is an internationally recognised Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience who has worked at top universities in Australia and overseas, including MIT in the USA. He is the author of the best-selling book ‘The Connected Species’, published in top-tier international academic journals and has been widely featured in the media, including Forbes, The Guardian, New York Times, The Economist and the New Scientist.
Mark has studied how we learn and develop using cutting-edge computational brain imaging analysis and the adoption of new technologies like virtual reality and transcranial magnetic stimulation. He designed and convened a very successful first year neuroscience course at university with more than 1000 students and works with schools internationally on improving teaching methods, learning outcomes, and student wellbeing.
Dr Helen Street
Dr Helen Street is one of Australia’s most highly respected educators. With a passion for educational reform, Helen has become known as a powerful advocate for children’s rights as well as a pioneer in the support of improving engagement, motivation and wellbeing in schools. In 1999 Helen moved to Perth to take up an academic position in the School of Psychiatry at The University of Western Australia. Helen and Neil Porter founded the Positive Schools Initiative which advocates for equitable education in support of all young people academically, socially and emotionally. As part of her Positive Schools role, Helen is the co-chair of the Positive Schools conferences and the host of the Positive Schools Online vodcast, ‘Critical Conversations’. During the past fifteen years, Helen has also been a regular advisor to the Health Department of WA’s Centre for Clinical Interventions and the WA Association of Mental Health. Helen has also worked with schools and colleges around Australia and internationally with schools from more than 15 countries, including England, Wales, Germany, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Helen’s latest book ‘Contextual Wellbeing – Creating Positive Schools from the Inside Out’ has been praised by leading educators around the world.
Nuella Flynn
Nuella is a Principal Policy Analyst at the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO). She has led a range of national education projects in the areas of quality teaching, assessment and school leadership development. She has experience in professional learning development and delivery and in creating teaching and learning resources for schools. Nuella was formerly a secondary science teacher in Western Australia. She currently leads work for AERO on maximising learning progress by translating evidence on how students learn and the most effective teaching practices.
AERO is a ministerial-owned company governed by a Board, jointly funded by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. AERO conducts research and shares knowledge to promote better educational outcomes for Australian children and young people. AERO’s vision is for Australia to achieve excellence and equity in educational outcomes for all children and young people through effective use of evidence.
Lucy Stronach
Lucy Stronach is a passionate human rights advocate working to create local and systems level change. Currently, she leads Youth Justice and Early Years Partnership Food Security portfolios at the Minderoo Foundation. Lucy sits on advisory boards for the Sir David Martin Foundation and the United Nations Association of Australia and is Project Manager for Hello Initiative’s Youth Justice Innovation Advisory Council. Lucy was recently named the 2024 WA Young Achiever of the Year, was the recipient of the 2024 Community Service and Volunteering Award and was named the 2022 Community Leader at the WA Youth Awards.
After graduating Santa Maria College in 2013, Lucy studied Criminology, Law, and Security, Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies and spent much of her early career working in the international space as a DFAT New Colombo Plan fellow. From 2020-21, Lucy was the Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations and Australian representative for the 12th UNESCO Youth Forum, after which she worked as a consultant to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women until 2023.