Aileen Ashford – Chairperson
Aileen has a deep understanding of issues impacting Victorian children developed over her extensive 40-year career within the Children and Family services sectors, in particular vulnerable and disadvantaged children. She was the CEO at Kids First Australia for 11 years and previously held transformational roles as the Tasmanian Children’s Commissioner, Director Disability Child and Family Services Tasmanian government, CEO at Bethany (now MELI) and a Board Director of various peak bodies and foundations specialising in disability, early years and family services.
A feature of her work has been her ability to collaborate with community service organisations, schools, governments, research institutions and philanthropy to achieve successful reform in public policy and service delivery to the benefit of children and families. Over her career in the not for profit and government sectors she has designed and delivered a broad range of innovative evidence informed models of support, education and care for children and families. Aileen has also managed of a variety of Australian first cutting-edge evaluation partnerships with Research institutions and Universities into the benefits of preventive family focussed services with victims and perpetrators of family violence and high-quality early education and care services for children at risk.
Aileen holds qualifications in education and social work. She was awarded the 2019 Pro Bono Australia Impact Award for her work in early education and care for children at risk. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumnus of Harvard Business School- Boston, Ashridge Business School- London, Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership Melbourne, and Social Impact Leadership Australia (SILA)– Centre for Social Impact. She brings to the role of Chair a strong record of strategic development and innovation, research and policy analysis, compelling advocacy, and contemporary governance.
Samantha Kolasa – Deputy Chair
Samantha is the Chief Executive Officer of Glen Education – an Early Years Management organisation in metropolitan Melbourne. Samantha trained as a psychologist, working with marginalised, vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the not-for-profit sector before moving into senior management roles in Government, Child and Family Services, Aged Care, Disability and Early Childhood. Samantha completed her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Human Resource management and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. This is Samantha’s third Board position reflecting her commitment to the community and the provision of services for those who need it most.
Filippo Miotto – Treasurer
Filippo is an international tax advisor with twenty years of professional experience in Italy, Luxembourg, and Australia. Currently working as a partner at BDO, Filippo is passionate about sharing his financial experience with not-for-profit organisations. Filippo chairs the ELAA Finance and Risk Committee with responsibilities for oversight and governance of the organisation budget development, delegations and expenditure control, asset management and supports the Board on overall Financial and Risk areas.
Stacey Fox – Secretary
Stacey has significant experience in research and policy development, and has worked within and across government, universities and the not-for-profit sector. Stacey is a strategic thinker adept at applying evidence to policy and practice and grappling with complex challenges. She has worked on a range of public policy issues including early childhood education; integrated service delivery; maternal and child health; system design for prevention and early intervention; family support program design; the development and embedding of outcomes frameworks; and systems change. CLICK HERE for more about Stacey.
Grant Boyd
Grant is the Chief Executive Officer of Meli (formed as a result of the merger between Bethany Community Support and Barwon Child, Youth & Family). The Meli group is based in Geelong, Victoria incorporating Meli Kindergartens and Meli Housing. Grant has worked in the education, disability, health and community sectors as a practitioner, consultant and in leadership roles for government, not-for-profit and private sector organisations. He holds qualifications in Education, Special Education, Child and Adolescent Psychology, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Grant has in interest in governance, service system development, and the provision of integrated services for families and children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Stuart Braganza-Travis
Stuart is an Executive Director at ECMS – one of the largest Early Years Managers in Victoria. Ever since an early career in law, Stuart has dedicated his career to working towards social justice and, in particular, equity in education through for-purpose organisations. Stuart’s experience spans the UK and Australia and has focused on strategic planning, organisational transformation, workforce planning, growth and risk.
Tracey McKay
Tracey has 20 years of experience in the Early Years sector across government and not-for-profit organisations and since March 2021, has been the CEO of Swinburne Children’s Centres. Having completed her Bachelor qualification earlier in her career, Tracey has attained post-graduate qualifications in Management, Governance and most recently, completed her Master of Business Administration, specialising in Leadership. She is a collaborative leader with strategic and business development experience. Tracey brings passion and commitment to the delivery of high-quality services that are affordable, accessible and support children and families to reach their full potential.
Leanne Bilinski
Leanne is an experienced senior marketing professional with wide-ranging knowledge across media, not-for-profit and consumer goods industries. She is a strategic thinker who uses insights to drive strategy. Leanne has a passion for education and is now teaching Marketing and Business at Deakin University with a desire to bridge the gap between industry and academia. She was the recipient of the 2023 Vice Chancellor’s award for Teaching Excellence – Deakin Business School (DBS) Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Suite Enhancement in Education and Employability.
Leanne is also the former President of Maribyrnong Kindergarten, a not-for-profit, community run kinder with an integrated bush kinder program. In her volunteer position as President, she fostered strong community connections and advocated for enhancing children’s connection to the environment. Leanne holds a BCom, majoring in Marketing and Human Resource Management, Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Learning and Teaching) and a Master of Education (Leadership and Learning).
Hugh Bastiaan
Appointed to the Board in November 2024, Hugh is the Group Chief Operating Officer at William Buck, a leading accounting and advisory firm serving the Australian and New Zealand mid-market, where he has responsibility with the board to develop and deliver the group strategy and oversees group services, including risk, strategy, finance, marketing, learning and development, procurement, and sustainability. Before joining William Buck, Hugh held roles in operations, strategy and policy at AMP and previous to that practised commercial law at leading Australian law firm, MinterEllison.
Hugh has a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from Monash University. He was admitted as a solicitor and holds a Masters of Business Administration (Hons) from Melbourne Business School, awarded by the University of Melbourne. Now in his fifth year, he is the current President of Davis Street Kindergarten, a not-for-profit, community run sessional kindergarten in Kew where programs are influenced by the projects of Reggio Emilia.
