Our board of directors

Venerable Donald is an Anglican priest and Franciscan brother who has been president of the EPIC Board since 1999. Venerable Donald has over ten years’ experience in rehabilitation coordination and counselling, working alongside people injured in accidents. Prior to this he was involved with community development work in a state housing suburb and has helped set up a food co-op and a credit union. Venerable Donald has extensive experience in education, governance, and management. This has been at a tertiary and school level. He was a governor of a renowned secondary and primary boarding school. He was part of the reestablishment of secondary school at a management level and was a director of a degree granting tertiary institution within an Australian University. He is presently an Archdeacon in the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane with oversight of 11 parishes and two large schools. Venerable Donald’s passion to see people and communities develop and thrive underpins everything he does, and it is this drive that has seen him remain in the role of President for over two decades.

Susan has over 40 years’ experience as an educator, most recently as Principal of Marist Regional College in Burnie from 2002 to 2013. She joined Ability Tasmania Group’s Board prior to their merger with EPIC and remains a passionate advocate for education, training and meaningful employment for all members of the community. During her career, Susan worked alongside many young people with disability, and students from diverse backgrounds. She felt privileged to be involved in their progress and continues to experience great fulfilment from helping people overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

Jenny is a Deacon of the Anglican Church and a counsellor with over 30 years’ experience. Her career has focused on emotional release therapy, grief and loss counselling, play therapy, suicide intervention and sexual assault counselling. Jenny is also a Mental Health clinician, and has worked in the Child and Youth Mental Health Service for over 13 years. As a respected Aboriginal Elder, Jenny has been instrumental in providing cultural clinical support to the sector over the course of her career. Jenny has delivered numerous workshops on social and emotional well-being to families and communities, and facilitated training sessions on counselling and case management.

Grant has over 25 years’ experience as a software developer, programming in a variety of computer languages across different operating systems. He has been involved in all stages of software project development from concept to deployment, often building complex back-end systems for highly powerful and interactive applications. Grant provides technological insight and expertise to the EPIC Board, and ensure EPIC’s IT platforms and services were fit for purpose. He provides leadership to EPIC’s Information Technology Operational Platform committee. Grant enjoys collaborating with EPIC staff and Board members to implement best practice technological solutions, and ensure EPIC is equipped for success.

Aaron is passionate about empowering the next generation of young people, and is currently studying Education at University of Southern Queensland. He works as Assistive Technology Specialist for Queensland’s Department of Education and Training, a role he has held for two years. He also works with a charity that helps students with vision impairment. Prior to his current role, Aaron spent many years as a data analyst for various insurance companies. Aaron gravitated towards EPIC as their values mirror his own, and he sees his role on the Board as complementing the work he does in his professional and personal life. Aaron brings a unique and valuable perspective to EPIC’s Board through his lived experience of disability.

Sam is admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland as a lawyer. Sam holds a Bachelors of Laws and Bachelors of Business, from the Queensland University of Technology. He has prior experience in litigation and professional negligence with a national law firm. Sam is currently an Associate in a law firm and is principally involved with people from disadvantaged backgrounds, assisting them with compensation claims.

Julie’s background is in both education and business. After 15 years in education she and her husband formed their own company in 1994, specialising in marketing and strategic planning, consulting to many Australian and overseas organisations – in the not-for-profit sector as well as private and public sectors. She has developed skills in financial management as well as research and analysis. Julie has a strong belief in education, especially in the Arts, and in meaningful employment for all. This belief drove her to join the board of EPIC in 2021. She also has a strong interest in business ethics and corporate social responsibility.