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CAUDIT Staff

CEO - Jenny Beresford
Jenny Beresford

Jenny Beresford is a creative technologist who believes strongly in the transformative power of data and digital to enhance our lives and sustain our future on this planet.

She is an internationally recognised digital and technology specialist, with a background in management consulting, as a digital business advisor, and as a CIO. Prior to joining CAUDIT, her roles included CIO with Pearson in APAC, CIO at Swinburne University, and executive positions with NAB, Proudfoot Consulting, ANZ Bank, Mahindra-BT, Extraprise Consulting and SMS Consulting Group.

Recently, as Research Director (Strategy and Innovation) with Gartner, Jenny was an advisor to CIOs, CDOs, CEOs and Boards in diverse sectors, industries and organisations, across the world – from Russia to China, UK to Turkey, Belgium to Brazil.  Her research specialisations include technology and digital business strategy, enterprise agile transformation, digital product roadmaps and workplace cultures.

Jenny is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of digital teaching, learning and research, which she believes are the most powerful levers we have for social change, equity and innovation in our economy and our society. Jenny has lived and worked in Australia, Hong Kong, the UK and India.

Her qualifications include a BA (Fine Arts and English Literature) and an MBA from the University Of Queensland. She is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), and a 30 year+ member of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Director Cybersecurity Program - Greg Sawyer

Greg Sawyer joined CAUDIT in January 2020 as Director, Cybersecurity Program. Prior to this Greg was seconded as the Strategic Initiatives Development Manager in 2019 from the University of Sydney. Greg has over 20 years’ experience in the Higher Education sector between the University of Sydney and UNSW Sydney.

During that time he has held technical roles within Communication Services, desktop and infrastructure before moving into management and director roles within Infrastructure, Security and Project management. This included a secondment as the Faculty IT Manager within Engineering at UNSW. Prior to this he completed 11 years in the Department of Defence - Army focusing on electronics, radio communication and cypher including operation service in Cambodia with the United Nations. Greg has represented on external advisory boards including the Australian Computer Society Internet of Things (IOT) and Cisco Mobile Technical Advisory Board. He has presented at numerous conferences including the Palo Alto Ignite, Cisco Live and Questnet.

Greg holds a Master of Business Technology (MBT) and graduated from the CAUDIT Leadership Institute in 2018.

Greg is based in the Blue Mountains in NSW.

Director Analytics & Strategic Initiatives - Steven Wojnarowski

Prior to joining CAUDIT, Steven Wojnarowski was at Victoria University for over eight years. Commencing as a Senior Planning Officer specialising in advanced statistical analysis, database design and reporting for strategic planning,  Steven was appointed as Manager Business Intelligence, and in his last role was Project Executive BI and headed institutional research and analytics-based projects to expand VU’s understanding of its marketplace performance, student profile and cohort demand.  He also served on key Vice-Chancellor IT and KM and the BI Steering Committees and on the selection panels for the new Student Management System, replacement HR system and the upgrading of the BI system.

On completing an honours degree in Economics/Statistics at the University of Tasmania Steven moved to Canberra as a statistical cadet with the Australian Bureau of Statistics.  He ended his federal public service five years later as a Statistical Legislative Research Specialist in Parliament House Canberra. On returning to Melbourne after two years overseas Steven joined the Roy Morgan Research Centre as Manager of the Australian Sales Research Bureau, then appointed Group Marketing Research Manager at The AGE before forming and joining OZINFO Pty Ltd as a marketing research consultant specialist in census and geodemographic analysis

A member of the Institute of Analytics Professional of Australia since its inception, Steven is also a member of the International Institute for Analytics [USA], Association of Institutional Research [USA], Australian Association of Institutional Research, the American Statistical Association and the USA Higher Education Data Warehousing Forum [HEDW]. Also co-founded the Melbourne Tableau User Group.

Steven is based in Melbourne.

Director Strategic Procurement - Steve Johnston

Stephen Johnston joined CAUDIT in 2011, having departed Edith Cowan University after 13 years of service.

At ECU he held a number of senior IT roles including the Manager, IT Infrastructure and Manager, IT Project Governance.  He has had over 15 years’ experience in Higher Education, previously working for both Curtin University and the University of Western Australia.

His Engineering background and understanding of various elements of IT Infrastructure (ranging from laboratory, desktop, server and network support to the provision of voice and video services) provides a technical basis for providing systems, services, applications and equipment able to solve real business issues.

Through the establishment of standards (in technology, services, equipment, staffing and procurement) he has been able to work with staff across ECU and the Higher Education sector to improve outcomes for staff, students and the community.

Stephen has presented a number of conferences on topics including network management, telecommunications, wireless communications, and infrastructure architecture.  He has been involved in more than thirty tenders and subsequent vendor negotiations.  He understands the need for the development of relationships between staff, institutions, vendors and resellers and works hard to ensure that the relationships are a benefit to all involved.

Stephen holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Computing Systems).  He is a Senior Member of the Australian Computer Society and is recognised by the Society as a Certified Professional.  He is graduate of the 2009 CAUDIT/EDUCAUSE Leadership Institute.

Stephen is based in Perth.

Manager Professional Development - Cassandra Spencer

Cassandra Spencer is the Manager, Professional Development for CAUDIT. Her role is to develop and implement CAUDITs expanded Professional Development Program the objective of which is to build a ‘future-ready’ IT workforce through a framework which drives improved behaviours by instilling an underlying leadership culture for the higher education sector.

Prior to this Cassandra coordinated the delivery of CAUDIT’s flagship programs, the CAUDIT Leadership Institute and CAUDIT Managers Program along with managing CAUDITs administrative functions, communications and supporting the CAUDIT Communities of Practice.  The transition to the full-time management of the Professional Development portfolio was implemented in early 2020.

Prior to joining CAUDIT, Cassandra worked within the forestry sector in senior Member Services and Executive Officer roles.

Cassandra is based in Canberra

Manager, Partner Program P/T - Larissa Denham

Larissa Denham is the Manager of the CAUDIT Partner Program. Responsible for facilitating opportunities for engagement between service providers and sector organisations, and CAUDIT Members, through the multilevel pathways that the Partner Program offers.

First introduced to CAUDIT in 2015 as the Event Assistant for the annual CAUDIT Leadership Institute program held on the Gold Coast, Larissa has continued to be a part of this weeklong event, every year since. In November 2019 Larissa took on a more permanent role as the Administration & Engagement Officer, managing administrative duties, Executive Committee support, accounts liaison and supporting the Communities of Practice. In October 2021, Larissa moved in to managing the newly developed Partner Program.

Larissa’s previous work history has included event coordinating, marketing and advertising, account management, sales and office support.

Larissa is based on the Gold Coast.

Events & Admin Support Officer - Semir Cerkic

Semir Cerkic is Events Coordinator and Collaboration Support Officer. His role with CAUDIT is to ensure the smooth running of CAUDIT events and to assist in supporting communities of practice.

Semir brings over 13 years of experience working in various administrative roles. Most recently he was Senior Administrative Officer with the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) where he was in charge of administering the Council's Priority Projects Grants Scheme. Prior to that he was Office Manager for a number of government and public companies including Viecore, Australian Dental Association (NSW) Centre for Professional Dental Development and The Northern Sydney General Practice Network (NSDGP). He also has years of customer service experience from working part-time in the hospitality industry.

Semir is qualified in Business Administration and besides being fluent in English he speaks all languages of the former Yugoslavia.  Semir was born in Bosnia and has lived in Australia since 1992. He is married and has one child. He has a keen interest in IT, travel and collecting music memorabilia.

Semir is based in Sydney.

Strategic Procurement Officer, Andrew Nolan

Andrew Nolan joined CAUDIT in May 2021 as Strategic Procurement Officer, supporting the Director, Strategic Procurement in coordinating strategic ICT planning, procurement, and vendor relations on behalf of the CAUDIT membership.

Andrew joins CAUDIT after having spent over 20 years working in a multitude of IT roles at La Trobe University, initially in technical roles until moving into “softer skill” managerial and relationship roles. Through a quirk of fate Andrew stepped into a software asset management role, spawning a journey and appreciation for IT asset management, contract management, procurement and finance in general.

Andrew holds a Computer Science degree, Graduate Diploma in Education and graduated from the CAUDIT Leadership Institute in 2005.

Andrew is based in Melbourne, Victoria.

Procurement Officer P/T, Miranda Curran

Miranda joined CAUDIT in May 2021 and is a Procurement Officer, supporting the Director, Strategic Procurement and the Strategic Procurement Officer.

Miranda previously worked at Queensland University of Technology, having spent over 14 years in the Software Licensing and Procurement team, first as a Software Licensing Assistant and then in the role of Software Licensing Officer. Miranda gained valuable licensing and procurement experience in both roles, having worked closely with both external and internal stakeholders to maximise the value of licensing contracts and ensure license compliance. Miranda has a strong focus on Software Asset Management (SAM) having played a key role in implementing a SAM tool, as well as developing a database for software contract management.

Miranda is based in Brisbane.

Administration Officer P/T - Amy Chau

Amy started at CAUDIT in July 2021 as an Administration Officer. Previously, Amy worked at RACQ Bank for over 5 years and was one of the most experienced administration consultants. She has written RACQ Bank's administration manual, trained other staff in administrative duties and has been key to transforming the administration space to become more efficient and effective. Amy also consistently achieved one of the highest scores in verbal and written communication. She is qualified in Business.

Amy is based in Brisbane.

Project Support P/T - Steven Turner

Steven Turner joined CAUDIT in September 2018 and provides valuable support for the CAUDIT Awards Program, website redevelopment and other key initiatives. 

Steven has been working in the events industry for over 15 years, primarily focussing on events and activities in the technology and higher education sectors. During this time, he has gained experience in all areas of event management and has successfully delivered an extensive range of events and conferences from small breakfast gatherings to international events attended by over 1000 delegates. 

Prior to providing Project Support for CAUDIT, Steven was employed by NICTA (and later CSIRO) as part of the team delivering the Digital Careers project. This was a federally funded initiative consisting of a consortium of Government bodies, universities and the IT industry, aimed at increasing both ICT enrolments within universities and growing the pool of home-grown talent for the Australian IT industry. In this role, Steven was responsible for several national marketing activities and managing participation at student career expos across Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Steven has a Degree in Illustration from the Queensland College of Art, and prior to working in the events industry he spent several years working as a practicing visual artist.  Steven has always had an interest in the relationship between technology and the Arts and is keen to explore this further.

Steven is based in Brisbane.