Our Board

Shane Devitt
Chairperson

Shane is a Koori man with over 30 years of experience providing Governance, Internal Audit and Risk Management services. He has provided these services to a diverse range of public and private sector clients across Australia, USA and New Zealand.

Shane retired from full-time employment in 2023 after a long career with PWC and most recently the Waalitj Foundation. Shane was involved in the design, establishment and operation of the Waalitji Hub - The Western Australian Indigenous Business and Employment Hub. Shane is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

Rachel Lee
Deputy Chairperson

Rachel is the Head of Legal - Employee Relations at global mining company BHP. She manages a team that provides advice and manages contentious matters for assets across Australia, the UK, Asia and Europe. Prior to this, she worked at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills as an employment, safety and industrial relations lawyer.

Rachel has a passion for access to education and social justice. In 2019 she completed a Jawun secondment to the East Kimberley to work with the Board and CEO of the Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre on governance. She has mentored students at Murdoch University’s Kulbardi Centre, worked for Teach for Australia, served on the Board of community legal clinic Street Law, and has volunteered in a management role for the Oaktree Foundation, a youth-led not-for-profit focussed on education access in developing countries. She has also completed an AICD course on not-for-profit governance for directors.

David Sherwood
Co-Founder and Board Member

Dave is the co-founder of London based VC funded company BibliU, a learning enablement platform that empowers higher education institutions to streamline their textbook & courseware workflows and improve student outcomes, affordability and social mobility. BibliU has had over 1 million students use their platform across the US and UK. Dave was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 for social entrepreneurship.

As the 2013 Western Australian Rhodes Scholar, Dave completed his BSc (Chemistry & Physics) at the University of Western Australia, and began studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics) at Oxford University but left to pursued other endeavors. Dave’s rural schooling experience at Bunbury Senior High School inspired him to co-found TLG in 2011 to enable rural and remote students to reach their full potential.

James Panarettos
Treasurer and Board Member

James has served TLG for 10 years, as a volunteer tutor, CFO, CEO and most recently, as a Board Member. He brings top-tier strategy and education experience from his current role as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in New York City and his previous in-house strategy role at an international education company. He carries an MBA from Harvard Business School (Class of 2023) and first-class honours in Economics (PhB) from The University of Western Australia. He wrote his thesis in Development Economics on a joint program with Peking University in China as Western Australia's first ever New Colombo Plan Fellow.

After his long-term volunteer commitment as CFO and then General Manager at TLG, he was elected to the Board in 2015. James is inspired by the impact that youth can have in bridging education inequality and solving prevalent social issues.

David Price
Board Member

David Price is an organisational consultant, facilitator and executive coach who has extensive and diverse experience working with individuals, teams and organizations in developmental and strategic capacities. David has worked extensively across the public education sector in roles including Regional Manager, Director of Education, and Assistant Executive Director for Student Wellbeing. He has also held leadership positions in innovation and reform, service delivery and leadership development, as well as the coordination of cross-sectoral education partnerships. He has a long involvement in organisational performance monitoring and review and has worked closely with major international consultancies on a range of projects. His international experience includes community development in Cambodia, a Churchill Fellowship in the United States and the quality assurance of an International School in Indonesia.

Ross Jennings
Board Member

Ross Jennings is the Chief People and Safety Officer for Australian Vanadium Ltd (AVL). Ross joined AVL in 2023 and has previously worked in all facets of mining including exploration, construction, commissioning, maintenance, open cut and underground mining, as well as Health, Safety and Emergency Response in WA and the NT in leadership and advisory roles. He is currently involved in mineral exploration in remote Australia and internationally and has presented on leadership, people engagement, and health and safety performance. Ross is a mental health advocate and has been recognised by Beyond Blue for his contributions.

Ross holds formal qualifications in Health and Safety, Emergency Management, Environmental Management and Human Resources. He is a former member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (MAHRI), The Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) and the Australian Institute of Environmental Managers (AIEM). Ross enjoys anything involving the outdoors (mountains and oceans a favourite) along with coaching, mentoring and lifelong learning.

Rachael Peet
Board Member

Based in Sydney, NSW Rachael has been a teacher for the past 15 years teaching in the UK, rural NSW and Sydney. For the past seven years, she has been working at a Special Assistance School in Sydney for students who have experienced complex trauma, mental health and school refusers. She started as a teacher, then transitioned to Curriculum Coordinator for 2 years where she redeveloped the curriculum and teaching and learning in the school. After graduating from Teach for Australia’s Teach to Lead program in 2019, Rachael then became Acting Principal and then has been Principal of Waranara School since 2021. She has a passion for education in specialist settings and believes that education is a key component of breaking the cycle of disadvantage.

Rachael’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Science in Human Movement from the University of Technology Sydney, and a Bachelor of Teaching in Secondary Education, Personal Development, and Health and Physical Education from the University of Technology Sydney.