Board of Trustees

Eileen Young, Chair

Eileen Young is an inaugural Trustee of DEA.  Prior to joining DEA, Eileen served as Principal of St Mary’s College Adelaide. She began her career as a History and English teacher, was Deputy Principal of Siena College Adelaide and has held Senior Advisor Central Office positions in Catholic Education SA. Eileen was the recipient of the 2010 ACEL Award for Leadership and the 2016 Australian Principals’ Institute Award. Eileen presented at the 2013 Edmund Rice Leaders Conference in South Africa on a school model of Restorative Justice and worked with several CESA and South African schools to introduce the principles underpinning restorative justice and the culture change required if a school is to undertake this community model.

Eileen was appointed Chair of DEA in January 2019.

Anthony O’Byrne

Tony O’Byrne joined the DEA Board in January 2021. His most recent professional experience was as Governance Consultant with the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne. He has had governance experience at school, system and national levels. He was Principal of Aquinas College, Ringwood, from 1989-2013 before being appointed as part of the team in the Professional Standards and Investigations Office for Catholic Education, Melbourne, from 2014-2015.

Apart from various roles in teaching and educational leadership, Tony has worked in other professional arenas that make him well suited to the work of DEA. He completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Program in 2013.  Tony was appointed Deputy Chair in March 2022.

Paul Reid

Paul joined the Board of DEA in January 2020.  Prior to that, he was a member of the Board of St Lucy’s School, Wahroonga from 2016-2019. He is a former Audit Partner, specialising in Financial Services, with KPMG. He was a partner of KPMG for over 25 years, and, in the not for profit sector, was a Director for Australia of the UNHCR from 2004-2018. Paul was a Board member of the Archdiocese of Sydney’s Catholic Development Fund from 2003-2009, serving as Chair from 2008-2009. He has also worked as a member of the finance committees of both the Sisters of Mercy Parramatta and the Good Samaritan Sisters.

Sr Julianna Drobik OP

Julianna Drobik is an inaugural Trustee of DEA.  Julianna is a member of the congregation of Dominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands. She has been a principal in three primary schools in Victoria and NSW and worked in the Catholic Education Office in the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Diocese of Sale. She held the position of Education Officer for the Faithful Companions of Jesus and Loreto Sisters overseeing the governance responsibilities of two FCJ and seven Loreto schools in Australia. Julianna has been a member of the Congregation Leadership Team and the Executive Director for the Dominican Education Council from 2002-2016. She has served on the Board at Santa Sabina College, Siena College and the Advisory Committee of Catherine Sullivan Centre. She represented religious congregations on Catholic Schools Victoria Limited (CSV) 2008-2013.  Julianna is currently a member of the Executive of the Catholic Religious Institute and Ministerial Public Juridic Person Victorian Schools Limited (CRMV Ltd).  She also represents DEA on the Association of Ministerial Public Juridic Persons (AMPJP).

Kerryn Boland

Kerryn joined the DEA Board as a Trustee in January 2022.

Kerryn is an experienced lawyer and CEO who has used her professional expertise in advocacy work, especially for children and women, both within and beyond the Catholic Church.

From 2005 to July 2017 Kerryn was the NSW Children’s Guardian. Her previous roles include Chief Executive Officer, Commissioner for Children and Young People, with a mandate to protect children by promoting and regulating child safety, quality organisations and services reporting to the Minister, FACS. One of her achievements was the design and implementation of the Working with Children Check.

Kerryn has held a number of Board and advisory roles, including three years as a member of the Board of Directors of Cabra Dominican College from 2018-2021, her alma mater.

 

John Neate

John completed a Diploma of Education from Flinders University in Adelaide and a Master of Education from Australian Catholic University.

He commenced teaching at Thomas More College and then became Deputy Principal and later Principal at Kildare College.  He was principal at Cabra Dominican College from 2003 until mid-2009.  He also worked overseas for a number of years.

Currently, John is the Community, Spirituality and Identity Coordinator at St Patrick’s Technical College in Adelaide.  John also is a member of the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools (SACCS) and holds the position as Chair of the SACCS Leadership, Wellbeing and Inclusion Standing Committee.

John’s Dominican connections started with his primary schooling and he has been a member of the Dominican Parish since 1994.

Michael Vial

Michael became a Trustee of DEA in February 2024.  He began his teaching career at Cabra Dominican College in 1991 as a physics and RE teacher and later served as the school’s Religious Education Coordinator for many years.

His career has included being a Catholic Studies lecturer at UniSA, and sector leadership in Catholic Education SA as Coordinator of Religious Education and Faith Formation (2009-2022). With postgraduate qualifications in theology, education and religious education, Michael’s professional interests have included school religious leadership, RE curriculum, the Catholic identity and mission of schools, the spiritual and religious formation of staff, and peace and nonviolence education.

Michael was a member of the NCEC’s Faith Formation and Religious Education Standing Committee (2010-2021) and its deputy chair (2020-2021).

Robert Napoli – Chief Executive Officer

Robert Napoli has a strong history of service to Dominican Education having worked in a Senior Religious Leadership role at St Mary’s College Adelaide since 2007.  Additionally, Robert has been the Convenor of the SA Secondary RE Leaders Association, a member of the Ecological Advisory Committee of Catholic Education SA, Coordinator of On Common Ground, a Student Leadership gathering of all Dominican Colleges in SA and the Eastern States, as well as Immersion Leader to Oak Valley in the Maralinga-Tjarutja Lands of Australia.

Robert’s long leadership background has prepared him for this mission focused governance role, and we look forward to the perspective Robert will be able to offer to the Formation programs of DEA ministry boards in addition to his executive function of the CEO role. Robert commenced as CEO of DEA on May 8th, 2023.

 

Jenni Hickson – Director of Mission and Formation

Jenni has been working in Catholic Faith Formation for over 20 years. She has Bachelor degrees in English Literature (University of Sydney) and Theology (Catholic Institute of Sydney).

Jenni has held leadership positions in various Catholic Ministries, including: St Vincent de Paul Society (Diocesan Youth and Young Adult Coordinator);  The Australian Jesuit Province (National Director Young Adult Formation); and Mater Hospital North Sydney (Mission Leader).

Jenni was appointed a member of one of the writing and discernment groups for the Australian Plenary Council. She has been consulting for DEA over the last 18 months, creating and facilitating Catholic formation sessions for the DEA Trustees.

Jenni has a passion for bringing the gospels alive for people from all walks of life. She is married and has 3 young daughters.