Our Team

About Australian Learning lecture

Our team is made up of people who are specialists in their field. We draw regularly on the advice and support of other specialists.

Ellen Koshland

Ellen Koshland

Ellen Koshland, Founder and Director of Australian Learning Lecture, has worked for over three decades to contribute to quality education for all Australians. She has been instrumental in establishing many initiatives including, Education Foundation and the Global Education Leaders Partnership - a powerful alliance of global education leaders who seek to transform education. Ellen was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll for Women and received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from Swinburne University in 2018.  Her work is characterised by a desire for equity, a belief in the power of learning, and the quest to drive impact.

Andrew Hiskens

Andrew Hiskens

Andrew is a consultant with experience in public programming, events, exhibitions, learning/education, marketing/communications and publishing across the cultural sector, most notably at State Library Victoria and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Working with Ellen Koshland, he has been involved with the Australian Learning Lecture from its inception.

Kathe Kirby 

Kathe Kirby 

Kathe Kirby is an experienced education professional who has worked nationally and internationally over a career spanning education policy, teaching, teacher education, and leading innovation in schools and education systems. Kathe was Executive Director of Asialink and Asia Education Foundation at The University of Melbourne from 1995 to 2015. Asialink is Australia’s largest Australia-Asia centre with leading programs across business, the arts, health and school education. In 2015 Kathe took up the roles of Principal Consultant to the Centre for Strategic Education and Executive Director of the Global Education Leaders Partnership (GELP). She is a Board Director of Education Services Australia and a former board member of the Foundation for Young Australians, the Australia Malaysia Institute and the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Ministerial Reference Group.

Penny Underwood

Penny Underwood

Penny Underwood is a journalist and strategic communications consultant who develops and implements high-level communication strategies that deliver results and solutions for clients. These have included changing legislation around forced marriage in Australia, extending funding for homelessness and family violence programs, the introduction of stem cell legislation in Victoria. She is a Board Director for the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and a former board member of WaterAid Australia.