Australia's 10 Most Influential Education Leaders-2019

Karen has also received awards nationally
by the Federal Government agency EOWA
for Leading CEO for the Advancement of
Women and for Excellence in Music
Education and from the Modern Languages
Teachers Association for Excellence in
School Leadership. Karen feels honoured by
all of these accolades and awards, as all she
wants to do is help others as she has been
assisted and mentored, and give back to the
profession.
She is also a Fellow of the Australian
College of Educators, the Australian Council
of Educational Leaders, the Australian
Institute of Company Directors, Australian
Institute of Managers, the CEO Institute and
the Australian Marketing Association.
Enlightening the World
Pertaining to her profound experience,
Karen ceaselessly contributes to uplifting
the value of education. For her, one of the
most significant contributions has been
encouraging the leadership of others.
“Seven staff who worked with me directly –
are now Principals of other Independent
Schools around Australia – and I have
mentored at least another ten into senior
leadership roles,” says Karen.
Additionally, through the Aspiring Women’s
leadership conference which she launched in
2006 with her colleague Ros Curtis, she has
positively motivated and influenced the
career of hundreds of female leaders. This
conference has been offered in both
Brisbane and Perth annually since its
inception in 2006.
“Research says that quality educational
leaders make an evident difference to the
academic outcomes of students and their
experience of school life as well as to the
success of a school. When we have an
ageing workforce and evidence of declining
interest in school leadership roles, it is vital
that we have strong and motivated teachers
in the leadership pipeline,” Karen expresses.
Karen emphasizes on the necessity of each
student being in classrooms with highly
qualified, passionate and successful teachers
who can genuinely support each student to
achieve their best and make them feel good
about themselves. This has been achieved
through setting high expectations of Karen
herself, the leadership team and all the staff
of the school. Each change and teaching
strategy has been grounded in educational
research.
In addition, Karen also enjoys presenting
research papers at international and national
conferences on a variety of topics including
educational improvement and change.
The Bridge towards Success
John Paul College was established in 1982
as Queensland’s first Christian Ecumenical
College. It is an independent, co-educational
K-12 College with an Early Learning
Centre, a small Boarding house and an
English Language College. JPC’s purpose is;
To Educate, To Inspire, To Make a
Difference.
As a relatively young school, the calibre of
its alumni is a great testimony to the success
of the school. This list of alumni includes
Dami Im, Mitchell Larkin, David Baxby,
Luke Trouchet, William Liu, Clare
Ferguson, Lachlan Power and Paul Olds.
Known in the 80s and 90s for its Marching
Band on the international stage at the
opening of the Sydney Olympics, the
Calvary Stampede and Expo ‘88, as well as
being one of the first schools in Australia to
introduce 1-1 laptops, JPC is especially
proud that ACARA identified it as one of the
few schools in Australia that demonstrated
significant improvements in their writing
and numeracy progression based on the
2018 NAPLAN results.
Describing the work culture at John Paul
College, Karen says, “We are all here for
one reason - our students.” She expresses
that it is the reason she and other educational