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.

Executive Director

Mailie’s work focuses on curriculum and system reform. She has been a teacher and school leader in government schools in Victoria and the ACT. Mailie also has a background in policy research and consulting. She has been a Policy Fellow at The Mitchell Institute, and a Senior Associate at The Boston Consulting Group. Mailie also holds a Master’s degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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.

Director

Emily’s work focuses on research and evaluation projects, that inform education policy and system improvement. She previously served as Principal Researcher at the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), leading national work on school improvement, and was a teacher and Assistant Principal at a large Melbourne secondary school. Emily is also a board member of the Centre for Non-Violence.

Principal Research Fellow

Heather Fearn is a Principal Research Fellow  at Learning First, leading work on curriculum reform at the system and school-level. She was previously Director of Curriculum and Assessment for Ark, a network of English schools serving pupils in areas of high disadvantage. She previously worked for England’s school inspection body, Ofsted, as a Senior His Majesty’s Inspector leading the ‘Curriculum Unit’. This unit was a team of subject specialist inspectors responsible for state of the nation subject reports.

Research Fellow

Michael’s work focuses on curriculum benchmarking, development and implementation. He has a decade of experience teaching science and mathematics in Melbourne secondary schools. Michael has conducted research benchmarking international curriculum and has developed implementation initiatives to align curriculum and pedagogical models to global best practices.

Research Fellow

Phoebe’s work focuses on research and evaluation, drawing on her extensive international research experience, with expertise in comparative education. Her research specialisations include girls’ education, gender equality, equity and inclusion, and leadership. She has been a researcher at Deakin University, the University of Cambridge, and the OECD. Phoebe has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Masters from the University of Oxford.

Research Fellow

Sonia's work focuses the processes, principles and practices that underpin effective curriculum implementation in schools and classrooms. She has developed and led professional learning programs on curriculum implementation, intellectual preparation, and the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy and instruction. Sonia is also a government school leader, and was recognised as a Woman of Influence by the Australian Financial Review for her contribution to STEM and careers education.

Senior Associate

Yasmine’s work focuses on Primary school curriculum reform and implementation. Before working at Learning First she was a primary school teacher, concentrating on improving STEM learning in the virtual and physical classroom. Prior to becoming a teacher, Yasmine worked in the pharmaceutical sector as, most notably, a liaison to hospitals on critical care medicines. She focused on equipment and drug implementation in NICUs across Australia.

Senior Research Associate

Juan David focuses on our curriculum benchmarking work and also on our Technologies curriculum work. Juan David has a Master of Teaching and advanced graduate training in Data Science. Juan David also teaches part-time at a local high school, ensuring his technical work remains grounded in best practice pedagogy.

Leadership Consultant

Anna is a social psychologist and leadership development specialist with a career spanning academia, consulting, executive education, and coaching. Anna has over 20 years’ experience delivering leadership education and coaching across universities, business schools, and in the private and public sector. Anna holds a PhD in social psychology from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psych, Hons). She has held academic positions in psychology and organisational behaviour in the Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands, INSEAD Business School (France and Singapore) and Australia.

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.