Careers Connect Profiles

Allison Hooper is a town planner with 15 years experience creating, implementing and managing a diverse range of strategic land use plans and policies to ensure the sustainable development of the Northern Territory. As Director Lands Planning in the NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, Allison leads a team of up to 17 professional planners and project administrators. She works closely with government representatives at local, state and Commonwealth level, and collaborates with specialists across numerous fields in the private and public sectors, including transport engineers, environmental scientists, surveyors, building certifiers, GIS technicians, and community engagement consultants.Allison completed Year 12 at Avondale in 2003, and has a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning (Hons) from the University of New England.

Paul Barker is the Head of FP&A for Canva’s Global Business Operations. His team drives decisions on resource allocation and commercial deals for Canva’s Research & Development, User Voice and General Business areas.

Prior to Canva, he had an eleven year career journey at Google which spanned five offices (London, California, Austin, Singapore, Sydney) and multiple finance roles with Google Marketing, Google Fiber and Google Payments. He is passionate about influencing decisions that impact 100M’s of users’ lives and developing global talent in distributed teams. He is actively engaged in mentoring programs and championing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives.

Paul graduated from the University of Newcastle, Australia, and started his career at PwC in Sydney & London. He graduated from Avondale School in 2002.

Outside of work, he enjoys video games with his daughters, freediving, fishing, disc golf, homesteading and slow-cooked bbq.

Joel Cooper is currently a PhD Student at Queensland University of Technology and a Research Assistant at Newcastle Law School (University of Newcastle). He graduated from Avondale School in 2017 and scored an ATAR of 99.55, and was then accepted into a double degree at the University of Newcastle in 2018 – a Bachelor of Laws (and Diploma of Legal Practice) / Bachelor of Business (combined).

He graduated from law in 2022 with first-class honours. However during his undergraduate studies, he developed a passion for academia whilst working as a research assistant with a law scholar. In 2023, he started a PhD at Queensland University of Technology. He is currently into his first year of his PhD as a law scholar, investigating issues of culture and inclusion in the video streaming market. He is in the early stage of development as a legal and technology academic.

As a graduate of Avondale in 1994, Josh Fischer has had a diverse and interesting career, working across a broad range of industries from snacking, retail, beverage, seafood, medical, tourism and manufacturing. He has had a career working for some of the largest companies in the world both domestically and globally, having spent a considerable time in PNG, Asia and most recently Europe.

Learning from that corporate experience Josh has started many companies over the years. The most recent being Camplify, an ASX listed $150m public company trading in 7 countries with over 200 staff. As a founder Josh was there from the start, through the difficulties of COVID. The triumph of listing on the stock market to the rewards of watching his huge team develop and grow in their careers.

Arron's Avondale School tenure was from 1980-90, where he graduated in Year 10 before embarking on an apprenticeship as a Fitter and Machinist at Sanitarium Health Food.

In 1997, he joined the Australian Defence Force as a Commando, undergoing rigorous training and selection processes to become a Green Beret Commando within the Special Operations Command. Over 24 years, Arron's career as a Commando involved deployments to conflict zones such as Timor and Afghanistan, where he utilised specialised skills including various insertion techniques, parachuting, combat tactics, and advanced weaponry proficiency.

In 2001 Arron joined the New South Wales Police Force. Arron served for 22 years, primarily focusing on Serious and Major Crime Investigations as a Detective. His investigations spanned a wide range of offenses including armed robberies, homicides, and drug-related crimes. Additionally, he fulfilled roles in various specialized units such as Water Police and Riot squads, and provided dignitary protection for high-profile figures like world leaders and prime ministers.

Arron's diverse career path encompasses service in both military and law enforcement sectors, marked by a dedication to duty and a commitment to protecting others.

Denver's 17 years as a psychologist have included working in an Aboriginal Medical Service, a gambling support service, on a Defence base and private practice. Along the way, he found a passion for supporting other psychologists and has been a board approved supervisor for 10 years. He currently splits work life between a private practice, where he treats first responders with psychological injuries, and working from home supervising other psychologists. Denver graduated from Avondale School in 2002.

With a career spanning over three decades, Fiona Donaldson has established herself as a visionary leader in both education and the performing arts industry. Fiona's journey began upon her graduation from Avondale High School in 1990, where her love for dance ignited a lifelong pursuit of excellence in the field. In 1992, fuelled by her unwavering dedication and ambition, Fiona took a bold step forward and founded her own dance studio. What started as a humble endeavour has flourished into a thriving establishment, celebrating 32 years of success.

As the CEO and Director of her company, Fiona oversees a team of 9 professionals, ranging from accomplished instructors to proficient administrators. Her visionary leadership and commitment to excellence have been instrumental in shaping her studio into a nurturing environment where aspiring dancers can thrive and grow.

Fiona holds prestigious qualifications as a teacher and mentor with the Royal Academy of Dance in London, completed her TAE for Vet Courses, and has been a sessional lecturer in Dance at Avondale University for over 18yrs.

Prior to the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, Fiona operated a successful tertiary institution focused on dance and performing arts. Fiona wrote, delivered and assessed both a Certificate IV and Diploma of Dance in Elite Performance providing aspiring artists with a platform to hone their skills. Many former students of FSDance are currently performing all around the globe. Fiona continues to provide an enriching experience for all ages as well as helping others pursue their dreams in the performing arts.

After completing his whole learning journey at Avondale School (K-12) John obtained his HSC in 1990. He went on to start a Bachelor of Construction Management at Newcastle Uni but found his passion in his family's Kitchen & Joinery Business. John worked closely with his father Doug Mesaric and in 2000, after completing a mature age apprenticeship at TAFE he took over the day to day operations and running of the business. He received “outstanding apprentice” in 1999 in building and trades at Newcastle Campus of TAFE.

Fast forward 25 years and now John employs two fully qualified tradesman (both who came to John as apprentices and one who was also schooled at Avondale School). His son Lucas has just been signed up as a School Based Apprentice through Avondale School’s PROPEL program.

John’s knowledge and creativity is shown in the work that Mesaric Kitchen’s produces and throughout the industry he is known for his professionalism and high quality products in our local area.

Jack graduated from Avondale School in 2021. He began flying lessons at the age of 13 and completed his first solo flight at age 15. Around the same age Jack received an RAAUS Scholarship, which facilitated his attainment of his Recreational Pilot Certificate - RPC. Subsequently, through further studies, he acquired his Recreational Pilot's Licence - RPL, Private Pilot's Licence - PPL, and eventually his Commercial Pilot's Licence - CPL. Presently, Jack is employed by Airlink Airlines, where he undertakes various flying responsibilities, including regular public transport, corporate charters, medical supply deliveries, and night freight operations.

Cherie Davey is currently an International Longhaul Flight Attendant for Qantas. Cherie was successfully accepted into Qantas in 2022, completing her training and graduating in early 2023.

Cherie successfully completed her studies and graduated with her Certificate III in Aviation in 2021. Cherie has now received 14 service awards in her role with Qantas, and has just been successfully accepted for Specialised Charter Flights within the company.

Working as Cabin Crew has created some amazing opportunities over the past year, some of which included walking with lions in South Africa, being greeted and patted by an African elephant in its natural habitat, seeing the Southern Lights on the Flight Deck over Antarctica, standing on the shorelines of Hawaii with giant sea turtles, and experiencing the Cherry Blossoms blooming in Japan. She has also ventured to other places including the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Palm Springs and LA in USA, meeting some famous celebrities along the way!

Working in the Aviation field requires attending regular ongoing emergency procedures training, ongoing studies of theory and practical exams along with written exams, fire training, security training, medical training and survival training.

Cherie commenced work at Avondale School as the Receptionist in the Secondary Office in 2005, and almost completed 17 years of service here at school. Over the next couple of years she hopes to be endorsed on the new upcoming A350 aircraft once it is released, where she may get the opportunity to travel for work to Paris, London, Rome, and New York!

Martyn Weber attended Avondale School for both Primary and Secondary School. After school in 2010, he started out studying chemical engineering and quickly found out that it’s not what he wanted to do. The following year, he started studying Dentistry and loved it, graduating from Charles Sturt University in 2016. Martyn has strived to develop knowledge of all aspects of dentistry. This has led him to completing multiple post graduate courses including a Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Orthodontics (UK), a Diploma in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics (UJI) and Diploma in Implantology (UJI).

He always wanted to give back to the community where he grew up in. This led Martyn and his brother to opening up Watagan Dental, located a short distance from Avondale School.

Kelly is a Registered Nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle. In her 6 years of nursing, Kelly has worked in various specialties including General Surgical, Trauma, Cardiothoracic/Vascular, and Orthopaedic Rehab, as well as in outpatient clinics and agency nursing within local private hospitals. Since graduating from Avondale School in 2014, she completed her Bachelor of Nursing at Avondale University in 2017 and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Acute Care Nursing through UTAS in 2022.

She says “A career in nursing challenges me daily to be curious, observant and to never stop learning. Also, in nursing, it is cool to be kind, so you get to work with some of the most amazing people”.

Elena Scifleet is a Cyber Education Lead at Alpha Echo, a cybersecurity company in Newcastle. Her role involves creating engaging cyber training to upskill the workforce and make a positive cyberculture change for her clients. Elena has been a part of the IT professional industry and educator for the last 20 years and has been securing environments even before cybersecurity was a hot topic. With various technical and non-technical roles under her belt, Elena has been a key contributor to the curriculum of CyberCX Academy is an industry-led initiative that has successfully grown over 160+ new cybersecurity professionals. Elena is very passionate about cyber security and works hard to demystify the concepts and make them accessible to all. 

Through her work and volunteering, she is striving to increase diversity in the cybersecurity field. Elena is also a firm believer in lifelong learning, a critical skill in a fast-paced industry like cybersecurity. She has completed a Masters of Cyber Security with a postgraduate medal from Charles Sturt University and is currently doing PhD in Information Technology at the University of Newcastle.

As a lecturer and researcher in Physics at the University of Newcastle, Lachlan shines lasers at diamonds to make them glow. Glowing diamonds are an exciting way to build quantum computers (for disruptive information technology) and quantum sensors (transforming biomedical sciences). He does this work as a lecturer and researcher in Physics at the University of Newcastle. After finishing all of school (K-12) at Avondale in 2002, Lachlan studied physics and maths at Avondale University and then an Honours degree in physics at the University of Newcastle. He completed a PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra, and has worked as a researcher at the University of Ulm (Germany) and Macquarie University (Sydney).

Lachlan is passionate about discovering and communicating scientific ideas with impact to change the world. He produces and co-hosts the Clear as Quantum podcast about quantum science and the exciting technologies that are getting ready to unleash a quantum revolution. One of the things he loves about science research is getting to discover new things: "It's exciting to see something in the lab and realise that nobody in the world has ever seen it before!"

He also has experience translating science ideas out of the research lab into commercial products. In 2019 he co-founded Redback Systems, a spin-out company that makes the world's smallest ultra-high-resolution "spectrometer" (a device for measuring colours in the rainbow spectrum).

Kimberley wanted to be a vet from the age of about 6, but initially chose to study a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) at Avondale University. A few years later she decided to follow her childhood dream and was accepted into veterinary science at Murdoch University. Graduating as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2018 was one of her proudest moments. 

Since then, she has worked with companion and exotic animals in Perth and Wollongong, where she currently lives with her husband, two young daughters, and a stubborn but sweet terrier mix, Daisy.

Jana Lombart holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She is a highly sought-after Session Vocalist for International brands, with her vocal style spanning opera, jazz, pop, and ethereal vocalise. Her performances have appeared on prestigious stages, television studios, film soundtracks, corporate events, weddings, and private functions.

Jana’s notable work has taken her to perform on renowned stages across Australia. Jana’s list of notable collaborations include the acclaimed film composer Hans Zimmer, Lebo Morake (the voice of the Lion King theme song), Lisa Gerrard (the voice of Gladiator theme song), jazz musician James Morrison AM and band, Nobuo Uematsy, OneRepublic, the film ‘Ladies in Black’, the UN, ABC Classic, NRL, McDonalds, and Spotify. Recorded for artists such as Timmy Trumpet, Fetty Wap, The Stafford Brothers, Korn, Ian Moss, and Kate Miller-Heike. Jana has recently toured Australia as guest vocalist for the Hans Zimmer Tribute Show, Taylor Swift Orchestrated and James Bond.

Upon completing his third year of Bachelor of Civil Engineering at UoN (2022), Matthew Gough entered the workforce as a geotechnical engineer, where he has been working ever since. His role includes geotechnical and environmental investigations including pavement investigations and small to large residential/commercial developments; construction inspections for shallow and deep footing approval; writing reports for field investigations.

Phil was a student at Avondale from Year 1-10 and left in 1979 to complete school in America. On his return to Australia, he completed a nursing degree, qualifying as a registered nurse at the Sydney Adventist Hospital. Following that, he completed his electrical trade, working in the NSW border town of Albury for 17 years. In 2004 he established Phil Lindsay Electrical and on returning to Cooranbong in 2008 he continued to build the business in the local community. Currently he employs three workers, all who are ex-Avondale students, working on domestic and commercial installations.

Clint graduated from Year 12 at Avondale School in 1993. He then moved to QLD and worked for a short while at Callide B power station shoveling coal dust. He moved back to NSW and worked at Sanitarium for 7 years. 

Clint then did a mature age apprenticeship as a carpenter working for Paul Cherry (Cherry Building Co.) Clint worked for Paul as a carpenter and a construction manager for a period of 12 years, after which he then changed careers to the medical profession where he became a trainee paramedic for NSW Ambulance.

Clint has been working as a paramedic for 12 years from Newcastle to Collarenebri to Morisset, where he is now stationed locally.

Garry Fraser remembers his first flight in an aeroplane more than 50 years ago on a relative’s farm in WA. His formal flying licences and ratings were completed in the early 1980s and he now has over 40 years of flying experience. He holds professional qualifications in commercial piloting, flight instructing and flight examining. He was chief pilot and chief flying instructor for the Avondale Secondary School and Avondale University flying training programs for a number of years. He is currently involved in both training and flight examiner roles throughout Australia.

Nathan finished Year 12 at Avondale School in 1998. He began a trade in Carpentry however was unable to complete the trade due to an injury through sport.

He completed a Bachelor of Education in 2004 and had a successful career in education before making the decision to transition to a career in his area of passion; Law. Nathan studied his degree at Macquarie University as a mature aged student and graduated with a Bachelor of Law and was sworn into the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia in 2014 to practise Law. 

Nathan has worked in some very successful legal companies over the course of his career before embarking on the journey of owning his own practice. Nathan currently owns NJN Lawyers in Cooranbong and manages a busy practice with his legal team. His business focus is in the legal fields of Business and Commercial Law, Family Law and Estate Planning.

Rhiannon Dein is currently doing Cert 4 in Age Care at TAFE. After completing her Traineeship Cert 3 at Avondale House in Age Care she decided to continue on with Cert 4 which she is finding very rewarding.

Rhiannon completed Year 12 at Avondale School in 2022 not knowing where to head next as she wasn't academic but instead sporty. She was approached to do a Traineeship in Nursing, something she never really thought possible or didn't have an interest in until now.

Working at Avondale House while studying at TAFE has definitely been the right choice for Rhiannon as she finds learning easier hands on.

Levi left Avondale School in 2020 and since then has spent three very enjoyable years working for Phil Lindsay Electrical on domestic and commercial electrical installations. 

Currently he is in the fourth year of his trade certificate and is looking forward to a long and interesting career.