Our Board
Shane Devitt
Chairperson
Shane is a Koori man with over 30 years experience providing Governance, Internal Audit, and Risk Management services. He has provided these services to a diverse range of public and private sector clients across Australia, USA and New Zealand.
Shane had a long history with PwC and now is the General Manager of the Waalitj Hub - The Western Australian Indigenous Business and Employment Hub operated by the Waalitj Foundation. Shane is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.
Rachel Lee
Deputy Chairperson
Rachel is a Senior Associate at global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills. She specialises in employment, industrial relations and safety law. Rachel has a passion for access to education and social justice. In 2019 she completed a Jawun secondment to the East Kimberley to work with the Board and CEO of the Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre on governance.
Prior to this, she has mentored students at Murdoch University’s Kulbardi Centre, worked for Teach for Australia, served on the Board of community legal clinic Street Law, and has volunteered in a management role for the Oaktree Foundation, a youth-led not-for-profit focussed on education access in developing countries.
David Sherwood
Co-Founder and Board Member
Dave is the co-founder of London based VC funded company Bibliotech, a learning enablement platform that empowers higher education institutions to streamline their textbook & courseware workflows and improve student outcomes, affordability and social mobility. Dave was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 for social entrepreneurship.
As the 2013 Western Australian Rhodes Scholar, Dave completed his BSc (Chemistry & Physics) at the University of Western Australia, and began studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics) at Oxford University but left to pursued other endeavors. Dave’s rural schooling experience at Bunbury Senior High School inspired him to co-found TLG in 2011 to enable rural and remote students to reach their full potential.
James Panarettos
Treasurer and Board Member
James is a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, and has previously worked in the strategy and venture capital arm of one of Australia’s largest Education companies. He graduated with first class honours in Economics (PhB) from UWA and wrote his thesis in Development Economics at Peking University in China.
James is the first West Australian to have received the New Colombo Plan Fellowship, under which he was granted a full scholarship by the Australian Government to study at the National University of Singapore. After his long-term volunteer commitment as CFO and then General Manager at education NFP, Teach Learn Grow, he was elected to the Board in 2015. James is inspired by the impact that youth can have in bridging education inequality and solving prevalent social issues.
Annie Fogarty
Board Member
Annie, with her husband Brett, established The Fogarty Foundation in 2000 and has been the Executive Chairperson since inception. Annie has experience in public and private stakeholder engagement and liaison, project management and development of effective partnership relationships.
In 2013, Annie was made a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia for ‘significant service to equity, access and advancement of education in Western Australia’. In 2014, Annie was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Education by ECU. In 2015 Annie was acknowledged by ACEL (WA) as Pre-Eminent Educator. In 2019 Annie was recognised as the 2020 WA Australian of The Year, for her efforts in advancing education, supporting young people to reach their full potential, and building stronger communities.
David Price
Board Member
David has worked in the WA public schools environment as a teacher, principal, Manager District Operations, Director of Schools, and Assistant Executive Director of Student Services. He has held positions in policy development and coordination in Aboriginal education and training, rural and remote education, and the development of cross-sectoral education partnerships. As Director of Leadership, Innovation and Strategy David has responsibility for implementation of the Independent Public Schools initiative, the Principals’ Fellowship Program, Boards and Councils. Currently, David is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the WA public school leadership strategy.
In 2000, David was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study community and school partnerships in lower socio-economic rural towns in the United States. He has been an educational representative to Japan and Israel and is the co-founder of the ANGKOR Project, an education initiative to support poverty stricken schools in Cambodia.
Ross Jennings
Board Member
Ross Jennings is the Health and Safety Manager for Independence Group (IGO) Exploration Department. Ross joined IGO in 2015 and has previously worked in all facets of mining including construction, commissioning, maintenance, open cut and underground mining, as well as Health, Safety and Emergency Response in WA and the NT in leadership and advisory roles. He is currently involved in mineral exploration in remote Australia and internationally, and has presented on leadership, people engagement, and health and safety performance. Ross is a mental health advocate and has been recognised by beyond blue for his contributions.
Ross holds formal qualifications in Health and Safety, Emergency Management, Environmental Management and Human Resources. He is a former member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (MAHRI), The Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) and the Australian Institute of Environmental Managers (AIEM). Ross enjoys anything involving the outdoors (mountains and oceans a favourite) along with coaching, mentoring and lifelong learning.
Rachael Peet
Board Member
Based in Sydney, NSW Rachael has been a teacher for the past 11 years teaching in the UK, rural NSW and Sydney. For the past four years, she has been working at a Special Assistance School in Sydney for students who have experienced complex trauma, mental health and school refusers. She started as a teacher, then transitioned to Curriculum Coordinator for 2 years where she redeveloped the curriculum and teaching and learning in the school. After graduating from Teach for Australia’s Teach to Lead program in 2019, Rachael then became Acting Principal and then Principal. She has a passion for education in specialist settings and believes that education is a key component of breaking the cycle of disadvantage.
Rachael’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Science in Human Movement from the University of Technology Sydney, and a Bachelor of Teaching in Secondary Education, Personal Development, and Health and Physical Education from the University of Technology Sydney.