We are pleased to announce that David Barnett has been appointed as the Chair of Catalyst Education.
David has spent thirty-six years in the education industry, holding a number of senior leadership positions in Australia and across the Asia Pacific region at Pearson, the global education company. He was particularly closely involved in leading Pearson Australia’s transformation from a print and analogue business to a significant provider of digital products and services, with a greater focus on the learner.
In more recent years, David has taken on various new roles in the education field, further showcasing his dedication to the industry. In 2022, he joined the board of E2, an edtech company, as a non-executive director and Chair. He has also provided advisory services to Adventus, an international student recruitment platform, and KordaMentha, an advisory and investment firm.
In 2023, David served as the Interim Chief Operating Officer & Vice President at the University of Canberra. He has also joined the Board of Victoria University Online, where he currently serves as the Chair.
David is a graduate of Macquarie University, MGSM, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has held previous non-executive roles, including serving as the Chair of Robert Menzies College, a residential college at Macquarie University, and as a Director of the Copyright Agency.
“The team at Catalyst is driven, passionate, and committed to making a difference. I am incredibly excited about the upcoming projects and the transformation we will bring to the organisation and the sector as a whole.” – David Barnett, Chair, Catalyst Education
We are thrilled to welcome David Barnett as the new Chair of Catalyst Education. His presence brings a renewed sense of energy, infusing our organisation with fresh creativity.
We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Kean Selway as the CEO of Catalyst Education!
Kean Selway has an enduring passion and commitment to advancing the transformative effect that harmonised education and training can have to advance the economic, social and cultural care, wellbeing and prosperity of our society and the diverse communities in which we work and live, for future generations.
Over the last twenty-five years, through the intersecting lenses of vocational, industry and higher education and training in Australia and the Indo-Pacific, Kean has built a broad and significant portfolio of achievement as a senior executive, CEO and board director. He has led transformational change and growth across a diverse spectrum of business and education operations, industry and government partnerships, and educational market development in contemporary, dynamic and complex regulatory, industry and community contexts.
Kean’s leadership roles have included as managing director of his own company in hospitality and corporate development, as chief executive of a leading private vocational and industry education and training organisation, and as a senior executive of a leading, high-growth, contemporary Australian university with significant VET partnerships and pathways. Throughout, Kean has taken key roles in representing organisations, associations and regions with political, government, industry and community leaders and negotiating strategic and complex multi-lateral partnership, development and funding opportunities.
Kean holds a Bachelor of Business (Monash), Graduate Diploma of Management (Victoria) and an Executive Certificate in Global Strategy and Innovation (MIT). He has also completed the Senior Executive Programme at the London Business School and the Executive Colloquium at the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. He has been a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) since 2003.
Kean believes there is a wonderful opportunity to build on Catalyst Education’s national leadership and aspiration to meet the vast, diverse, and growing needs of community care in Australia for the future – through skilling and building Care workforces for people in our communities and improve lives for generations to come – and leverage this distinctive value to benefit the broader aspirations and social impact goals of For Purpose Investment Partners.
The values Kean holds, lives and leads, align naturally with those of the team at Catalyst Education; to show care and compassion, to be brave, to have integrity, and to make a difference, together.
“I am thrilled to have been appointed CEO of Catalyst Education, and with the team, I am energised to explore and lift the trajectory of aspiration, discovery, growth and achievement for the future.” – Kean Selway, CEO, Catalyst Education