Our commitment
Successful school reform requires trust, courage, and a commitment to staying the course. We build long-term relationships with leaders at each level of the system based on honesty, integrity and deep experience and expertise. These relationships enable us to help systems further develop the skills and capacities of their people to ensure sustainable improvementpolicy and school and teacher effectiveness.
Our People
Our commitment
Successful school reform requires trust, courage, and a commitment to staying the course. We build long-term relationships with leaders at each level of the system based on honesty, integrity and deep experience and expertise. These relationships enable us to help systems further develop the skills and capacities of their people to ensure sustainable improvementpolicy and school and teacher effectiveness.
Dr Ben Jensen
CEO
Ben has advised governments in Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia on education strategy and reform. Before founding Learning First in 2014, he was director of the Grattan Institute’s School Education Program. He also worked with numerous education systems across the world during five years at the OECD, where he conducted research on education policy and school and teacher effectiveness.
Nicole Murnane
Director
Nicole is a Director at Learning First and leads work on curriculum implementation and school improvement in systems in Australia and overseas. She joined Learning First after a decade teaching and leading science in Melbourne secondary schools. Nicole has conducted research on global best practice in science education and has developed initiatives to promote science pathways.
Mailie Ross
Director
Mailie is a Director at Learning First leading large projects supporting systems with curriculum reform and other policies. Prior to Joining Learning First, Mailie held numerous positions at Hume Central Secondary college and has also recently worked as a science coach across multiple secondary schools. She has been a Policy Fellow at The Mitchell Institute, and a Senior Associate at The Boston Consulting Group.
Emily Pearson
Manager
Emily is a Manager at Learning First leading research and evaluation projects to support education policy. Before joining Learning First Emily worked as Principal Researcher at the Australian Education Research Organisation leading research on school improvement, Assistant Principal at a large school in Melbourne’s outer west and Head of Strategy and Impact at Teach For Australia. Emily is a Non-Executive Director of the not-for-profit organisation Centre for Non-Violence.
Hai-Chau Le
Data Manager
Chau is the Data Manager at Learning First and is in charge of data management, analysis, and software development to collect data for all projects. He joined Learning First after ten years of working as a Data Scientist and Data Analyst for organisations such as the World Bank.
Dr Anna Clark Leadership
Consultant
Anna works with Learning First’s leadership and training projects. A consultant with INSEAD, one of the world’s leading business schools, she trains middle and senior managers in Asia, Europe and Australia on leadership development.
James Button Communications
Consultant
James works with Learning First and its clients to develop, through reports, policy briefs and blogs, a narrative of school reform told in strong stories and plain language. He spent 20 years as a journalist with The Age newspaper in Melbourne, was a speechwriter for former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and worked at the Grattan Institute.
Our clients
Our clients include federal governments in various parts of the world and state and provincial governments in Australia, the United States and Canada. We do considerable work with curriculum authorities in several systems, and work with systems on how to connect curriculum development and implementation to other policies for meaningful change in classrooms. We have conducted research and advisory work for several high-profile organisations such as the OECD, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Centre on Education and the Economy.