Survive to thrive: Securing the future of Jewish education in New South Wales

EDUCATION REVIEW COMMITTEE

“In a complex environment combining secular and religious instruction under heavy State and Federal Government policy oversight, Sydney’s Jewish day schools must strike a fine balance to provide engaged learning, development and growth opportunities for both students and staff.”

— Education Committee Review Chair, David Gonski, AC

Survive to thrive: Securing the future of Jewish education in New South Wales

Over the years, JCA has commissioned various education reports, convened many forums and committees, and worked closely with each of the Jewish education providers to continually question and improve the collective services delivered to the community. With the release of the findings from the Census 2016 and Gen17 reports, it was important to check in again. As a result, Nous was appointed to assist JCA, and all the Jewish day schools, in understanding the education environment, including attitudinal data from parents.

We hope that schools, parents and the community will see the advantages of the proposals outlined in the report, and show a continued commitment to strong Jewish education, supporting our education providers now and into the future.

 
 

David Gonski, AC

David is Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, President of the Art Gallery of NSW Trust, Non-Executive Chairman of Barrenjoey Capital Partners Group Holdings Pty Limited, and Chairman of the UNSW Foundation Ltd. He is a member of the Board of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a non-executive Member of LeapFrog Investment’s Global Leadership Council, a Patron of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and Raise Foundation and a Founding Panel Member of Adara Partners. 

He was previously Chairman of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Chairman of Sydney Airport Limited Board, Chair of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools for the Commonwealth Government of Australia. He was also a member of the Takeovers Panel, the ASIC External Advisory Panel and Director of Singapore Airlines Limited, the Westfield Group and Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd, the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Guardians of the Future Fund, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Board of Trustees of Sydney Grammar School and Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd. 

 

Meet our team

  • Allan Vidor

    Allan Vidor

    Allan is the Managing Director of the Toga Group of Companies, a property development, construction, investment and hospitality management group. He graduated from the University of NSW with Bachelor of Commerce and Laws degrees in 1985 and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW in 1986. Prior to Allan joining the Toga Group where he is responsible for the Group's strategy and operations, he worked in the banking and finance sector. He served on the Board of JewishCare between 2006 and 2018 including as President between 2010 and 2018. He is a Director of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce and has had strong earlier communal involvement with the Keren Hayesod and the United Israel Appeal. Other previous directorships include the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) and the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

  • Anna Green

    Anna Green is the Managing Director and a Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group, Sydney. Anna is a leader in the firm’s Telecommunications and Media business and also works with a range of Consumer businesses. Anna has been with BCG for over twenty years and has held many leadership roles including the running BCG’s Sydney office, the leader of the Global Media Sector, and Women@BCG. Currently, Anna also leads BCG’s People to function across Asia-Pacific. Beyond work, Anna is an active member of the community including being on JCA’s Allocation Committee from 2015-2018. Anna is deeply engaged in driving gender diversity, publishing several research pieces and working closely as a member of Chief Executive Women to drive action across industry and government in Australia. Anna has a Bachelor of Business with Distinction from UTS.

  • Anne Hastings

    Anne has had over 40 years of experience in education. She was a Mathematics Teacher, Head of Department, Deputy Principal (Learning and Teaching) and Principal in a range of schools in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, both government and independent. She worked at the then NSW Board of Studies as the Mathematics Inspector during the 90s, visiting schools to consider their registration. Her most recent full-time position was Principal of Emanuel School, a Jewish Day School in Randwick of over 800 students P - 12, a position she held for 8 years before retiring at the end of 2017. Since retiring she has been involved in mentoring a number of educational leaders and is a Director on two School Boards, one of which is Masada College. She is a qualified Instructor of Pilates and has a regular group whom she teaches online. She also participates in a number of volunteering projects such as managing the scholarship program for a school in Kathmandu, Nepal, and being on the Problems Committee for the Australian Mathematics Competition.

  • Caryn Sandler

    Caryn Sandler

    Caryn Sandler is a Partner and the Chief Knowledge & Innovation Officer at Gilbert + Tobin. Caryn leads the Legal Service Innovation Team and G+T Innovate. These teams provide specialised services to support Gilbert + Tobin’s legal service delivery, and also deliver new tools and services benefiting the firm’s practice and clients. Caryn’s role encompasses responsibility for over 80 lawyers and business support staff working across Innovation and Legal Transformation, Legal Technology and Legal Project Management. Prior to this role, Caryn worked as an ECM and M&A lawyer in both Australia and the UK. Caryn is a regular speaker at global legal technology and innovation conferences and won ‘Innovator of the Year’ in the Partner of the Year awards in 2021 and Women in Law Awards in both 2019 and 2020. Caryn is a director of JewishCare, the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Co-Chair of the Advisory Board for the Centre of Legal Innovation, College of Law. Caryn has a combined Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and Bachelor of Laws from UNSW and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance (Finsia). She is also a Certified Practising Project Practitioner and Certified ICAgile Professional.

  • Gary Pinshaw

    Gary is a global leader of McKinsey’s Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice and directs this work in Australia, New Zealand and the rest of Asia. He serves leading investors on strategy, operations, analytics, and transformations across their organisations and portfolios. Gary is also a core leader in McKinsey’s M&A and Financial Services Practices, where he works closely with leading banks, insurance companies and financial-technology innovators on big strategic moves and transforming core performance. He works at the forefront of disruption, helping new tech-based companies in scaling up profitably and traditional companies in imbuing digital and analytics into their thinking and operations. Gary is passionate about diversity and inclusion and leads McKinsey’s internal and external commitments and efforts in Australia & New Zealand. Prior to joining McKinsey, Gary worked for a global investment bank and a financial-services advisory and assurance organisation. He serves as an advisor and a board member for several organisations involved in education and the wellness of children. An avid runner, he has competed across the globe and represented Australia.

  • Jacquie Seemann

    Jacquie Seemann is a partner at Thomson Geer Lawyers. She specialises in employment, discrimination and safety law. Jacquie has particular expertise in the education sector; she has worked with public and private schools, universities and other post-secondary providers for over 25 years. She is Vice President of the ANZ Education Law Association NSW Chapter and has published chapters in books on university and schools law. In a voluntary capacity, Jacquie has been involved in various Jewish community organisations since she was a teenager – including as a Hineni madricha, National Executive member of AUJS, Maccabi football team manager, Honorary Solicitor of the JCA, and as an elected deputy and Education Committee member for the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. Her current roles include Honorary Solicitor of Maccabi NSW, Committee member of Or Chadash Synagogue and Board member of Together For Humanity Foundation.

  • Jonathan Gavshon

    Jonathan Gavshon

    Jonathan is CEO of Group Homes Australia, a for-purpose business offering care for people living with dementia. Prior to Group Homes, Jonathan held a number of operational roles in the healthcare and retail sectors for private-equity backed companies. He lived in New York for seven years where he was Vice President of J.P. Morgan’s Equity Capital Markets division. He is also passionate about the broader community, having founded and now Chair of The Observership Program, a not-for-profit focused on the leadership and development of young professionals. He was previously an Executive Member of JCA, Co-Chair of Jumpstart, Co-Chair of the Marketing and Engagement Committee, a Director of The Moriah Foundation and Director of the Board of Jewish Education for Greater New York. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and MBA from INSEAD.

  • Kelly Bayer Rosmarin

    Kelly Bayer Rosmarin commenced as CEO of Optus and Consumer Australia on 1 April 2020. A respected senior executive, Kelly joined Optus as Deputy CEO on 1 March 2019 following a variety of executive roles including Group Executive, Institutional Banking and Markets at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Raised in South Africa, Kelly earned a scholarship at the prestigious Stanford University in the United States where she attained a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science in Management Science, with an Academic Excellence Award for being the top Masters graduate. Her career began in Silicon Valley with exposure to start-up and established software companies which developed her business acumen across a variety of disciplines including product development, business development, marketing, M&A and strategy. Following a stint as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, Kelly joined Commonwealth Bank in 2004 and held a variety of senior roles across the Institutional and Business Banking divisions, before being appointed to the Bank’s Executive in December 2013. Kelly was named amongst the Top 25 Women in Asia Pacific Finance, the Top 10 Businesswomen in Australia, and 50 Most Powerful Women in Australian Business. She is also a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). Kelly is currently a non-Executive Director of Airtel Africa plc, and REA Group and a member of Chief Executive Women. Kelly was previously a board member of Openpay, JCA, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) and served on the University of New South Wales Engineering Faculty Advisory Board, the Australian Government’s FinTech Advisory Group and NSW Government Digital Advisory Panel.

  • Stephen Chipkin

    Stephen Chipkin

    Stephen has had three successful professional and executive careers, as a lawyer (partner at Freehills), as an investment banker (Managing Director of Ord Minnett and JP Morgan) and then as a senior bank executive (with specialist bank, Investec, including as its General Counsel). At each of Freehills, Ord Minnett, JP Morgan and Investec, Stephen was part of the senior executive team with an active role in strategic planning and business development. He has been closely involved in leadership roles in the Sydney Jewish community since 1995. He served on the Board of North Shore Temple Emanuel and Masada College and has served on various committees of JCA since 2005 including Allocations, Planning and Status and JCA’s Executive Committee. Stephen was President of JCA for six years from 2014 to 2019. He is currently Chair of Weizmann Australia, the local representative arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, a role he has held since 2009. Stephen holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Cape Town, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Cambridge and a Masters of Laws (International Law) from the University of New South Wales.

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The Committee will endeavour to answer your question at a communal update on 5th April – please submit your questions by 31st March. Please fill in the Contact Us form to submit your query or send an email to queries@jdsreportnsw.com.au

Register for the 5th of April online update here: https://events.humanitix.com/education-report-update