Our Team

Paul Byrne

Paul is the inaugural Chair of Artibus Innovation.

He is well respected in the VET sector and has extensive experience in overseeing the development and review of national training products and services – both through his time as a General Manager and later CEO of the Australian National Training Authority, his chairmanship of Australian Training Products Limited and as Board member and interim CEO of the national Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council.

Paul has a deep knowledge of the national VET system and its evolution and an excellent understanding of the strategic, technical and stakeholder engagement challenges involved in developing training packages and associated national training products.

Nick McShane

Nick has an excellent understanding of the licensing and regulatory implications for skills development and the need to ensure robust stakeholder engagement of industry regulators through his extensive work relating to licensing and regulation. He has been involved in a number of national projects that have sought to improve the interface between the national VET system and industry regulators – this included co-authoring the seminal report 'A Licence to Skill' for ANTA that resulted in a range of changes to how industry regulators were involved in training package review and development.

Nick has also been involved in a range of national projects that has provided him with a sound understanding of a range of industry sectors. This included advising a Council of Australian Government’s (COAG) Skills Recognition Steering Committee and Skills Recognition Taskforce on a major COAG initiative to achieve full and effective mutual recognition of occupational licenses. Nick has also advised the COAG National Licensing Steering Committee and National Licensing Taskforce on the establishment of a National Occupational Licensing System (NOLS). 

Manuel Barragan, CEO

Manuel has a breadth international experience spanning the fields of human rights, governance, policy development and implementation. He brings a proven ability to drive innovation and best practice to enhance and optimise organisational capability and performance. With demonstrated experience defining and articulating sustainable growth strategies, Manuel values connecting with stakeholders and corporate partners to mutually generate value.

Wendy McLeod, Business Lead

Wendy is the Business Lead of Artibus Innovation, having been with the company from its very beginning in February 2016. With a long history of service in the parliamentary sector supporting a Tasmanian Senator, she provides significant logistical and stakeholder management experience. She’s also a life member of the OHA Hockey Club.

Jeremy Rose, Industry Lead

Jeremy is the Industry Lead of Artibus Innovation and played a key role in the development of the construction and property services training packages. Jeremy has 15 years’ experience in the Vocational Education and Training and industry workforce development sectors.

Liz Perrot, Finance & HR Manager

Liz is a founding member of Artibus Innovation, having worked with the company since its inception in 2016. She has a background in business administration, finance, and quality assurance. Prior to her current role, she was Finance & HR Manager at The Work Lab for 12 years.

Frances Lamb, Industry Lead

Frances is an accomplished Policy Lead at Artibus Innovation, with an extensive career spanning over three decades in education design and policy implementation. Her impressive background includes expertise in policy development and specialised program management within the Department of Education and Training (Victoria). Additionally, Frances has held pivotal roles as a training package specialist, manager of curriculum and learning services and quality assurance positions with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority. This breadth of experience equips Frances with a wealth of knowledge and skills that she leverages to drive impactful initiatives in her current role.

Phil Freeman, IT Support Officer

Phil is a seasoned Project Analyst at Artibus Innovation, tasked with managing information systems and upholding data integrity. With over a decade of experience specialising in the development and support of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and assessment systems for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and enterprise clients, Phil possesses a deep understanding of learning management systems (LMS).

Katalin Bolkeny, Compliance Officer

Kat serves as the diligent Compliance Officer at Artibus Innovation, entrusted with upholding rigorous quality assurance standards across our contracts and deliverables. With a steadfast commitment to excellence, Kat brings extensive experience in managing the quality control process on the Training Product Content Management System (TPCMS), ensuring meticulous attention to detail at every stage.

Martin Draper

Martin is an experienced Educational Consultant and Senior Researcher with a demonstrated history of working in the education sector in developing nations. Skilled in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and wider education policy research, development and reform, market research (qualitative and quantitative), competency framework development, qualifications development, assessment and quality assurance, he has over 25 years’ experience in the design of education systems and the development of frameworks to enable these. He is passionate about improving the working lives of individuals around the world and will work closely with you to design a bespoke solution that fits your country and organisation’s needs.

Lesley O'Dwyer

Building strong relationships is Lesley O’Dwyer’s speciality.  As one of our most experienced Project Managers, she is adept at understanding and managing clients’ needs and overseeing projects to ensure delivery meets the complete expectations of our clients. For the past five years, she has focussed on the project management for the delivery of educational reform projects in developing nations, working across the Pacific, Asia, Australia and Africa. Her project management experience coupled with her intimate knowledge of the education sector make her an asset to any TVET International project.

Simon Casford

Simon is a solution focused and highly skilled education management consultant with over a decade’s experience in the education management industry, including as Head of Strategy for The Skills Organisation and General Manager of Skills International, Head of Manukau Institute of Technology’s Business School, and Chief Executive of Learn Plus and Professional IQ College in New Zealand. He is experienced in all aspects of education management and reform from education, industry and organisation research, policy development, and workforce capability planning. Simon is passionate about ensuring education sets our young people up for success across all aspects of the education system.  He will work closely with your organisation to ensure your work programme is a success.

Bridget Dennis

Bridget is an experienced senior leader who is passionate about making a difference in the lives of those around her. Bridget brings over 20 years’ experience working internationally with the past eight years focussed on the education sector where she was Senior Vice President and Director – International for Skills Consulting Group. Having worked across the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, Asia, USA, the Middle East and Africa, she believes in the transformative power of education and the importance of creating a system to equip our young people and those amid their working lives, with the skills and competence required by industry.