Our leadership team

Terry Symonds is proud to serve as Berry Street Yooralla’s Chief Executive Officer and is strongly committed to partnering with people with disabilities, their families and supporters and ensuring children, young people and families are safe, thriving and hopeful.

Terry has previously held Senior Executive roles in the Victorian public sector, primarily in funding and management of hospitals, mental health and aged care. Terry’s previous experience includes senior roles at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Queensland Health.

Terry holds postgraduate qualifications in Health Management and Mental Health from the University of Queensland and has completed Executive Development in Non-Profit Management at Harvard Business School. Terry is a Victorian State Committee member for National Disability Services and serves as a Director on the Boards of Eastern Health and the Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network.

With over 25 years’ experience in the communities sector, Jenny's foundation as a social worker has seen her work in many senior advisory and executive roles for organisations such as Wesley Mission, St Vincent de Paul, Life Without Barriers and now Berry Street, within homelessness, family violence, child protection, drug and alcohol, youth, foster care, disability, refugees and family violence; including several years as Area Operations Manager in Central Australia working with Aboriginal communities.

Jenny's commitment to the communities’ sector is evident in her passion for growing and developing dynamic and diverse teams that support children, young people and families in our community. Jenny holds a Master of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Work, Diploma of Business, Certificate IV – Training and Assessment, Certificate IV – Government Investigations and is a Justice of the Peace.

Over the last 15 years Tom has worked in senior leadership roles in government and non-government agencies in the UK and New Zealand and delivered, implemented and innovated within the field of evidence-based programs in England, New Zealand and now Australia.

Tom is a qualified social worker. He started his career working in residential care settings in the UK and has been involved in the delivery of high-quality residential care for much of the last 15 years.

While at the NHS in England, Tom worked for National Implementation Service to support the growth of MST and other evidence-based programs (EBP) focused on early intervention. In NZ Tom led the implementation of the Teaching Family Model (TFM) at Youth Horizons as well as a range of other EBP.

In 2018 he led the implementation of TFM across residential care settings with Berry Street, as well exploring other innovative programs to better meet the needs of children and their families across Victoria. Tom is on the Board of the Teaching Family Association.

Melissa has worked in the Disability Sector for over 23 years, holding senior management roles for the last 11 and has worked in all areas of Disability Services including Residential Services, Community Services, Positive Behaviour Support and Supported Employment.

Melissa has also previously worked as a Quality Manager and Auditor. Melissa is passionate about service innovation: looking at ways to provide new and exciting service offerings which enable individuals to live the life they choose and achieve their goals.

Dr Jane Daniels has been in executive roles in the community services sector in Victoria for the past fifteen years, working in homelessness services, AOD, mental health, children, youth and families, aged care and family violence sectors. Jane has overseen the implementation of both state and federal reforms and worked with government in the design of new services that support disadvantaged and marginalised communities.

Jane has led work to transform internal systems, build and manage compliance, risk, quality, child safeguarding, client systems and data and past service user programs over the past five years and will now focus on defining, shaping, and implementing the strategic vision of the newly merged organisation. Jane will work closely with executive leadership and cross-functional teams to align resources, manage risk, and drive synergies that maximise value for clients and communities, as well as growth and operational efficiency.

Di has an extensive background in leading people functions across a range of sectors including for-profit and for-purpose organisations. At various times she has led operations and risk teams and is able to bring practical insights drawing upon her many executive leadership roles.

Di is focused on creating great workplace environment where individuals can thrive and come together with all their differences and varied knowledge and experience to achieve great outcomes.

Adjunct Assoc Professor Dr Annette Jackson (BSW, MSW, PhD) has worked as a social worker in child and family services for 40 years. Her responsibilities include oversight of the Berry Street School, the Berry Street Education Model, Take Two therapeutic services, Berry Street’s Principal Practitioner, and government submissions.

Her expertise includes child trauma, neglect, child protection, family reunification and the child and family sector. She is an adjunct with La Trobe University and a mentor of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics.

Craig brings with him over 20 years of Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation experience within both the private and Not for Profit Sector. Prior to joining Berry Street Yooralla Craig was the Chief Information Officer at The Salvation Army. Craig is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) having served at both sea and ashore.

Craig’s qualifications include a Master of Business Administration and Master of Theology as well as a Fellow at the Australian Institute of Company Director. Craig also serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of The Lost Dogs’ Home. Motivated by working for a purpose driven organisation, Craig continually seeks ways to enhance positive outcomes through the use of technology.

Heidi Reid is a communications and engagement specialist who has worked with some of Australia’s largest social impact organisations, developing award-winning campaigns and initiatives that have driven growth, influence and impact, raising hundreds of millions of dollars for charitable causes.

Heidi was Head of Marketing and a member of the Executive Team at World Vision, prior to setting up a consultancy focused on growth for not-for profit organisations.

Heidi is passionate about understanding the needs and values of audiences and stakeholders, and developing brands, stories and experiences that move people, and motivate them to take action.

Jenny has a background in management consulting and finance. She spent 15 years working in all areas of finance across the Victorian public service, in Education, Emergency Management, Health, and Human Services, finishing her time as a public servant in the Chief Finance Officer role at the Department of Health. She is an independent member of audit committees for the Productivity Commission and the Victorian Department of Government Services.

Jenny combines an enduring love of spreadsheets and numbers with a focus on people, relationships, communication and team building. A passionate problem solver, Jenny is excited about the opportunity to work with the committed people at Berry Street Yooralla, providing the best possible assistance to the teams who support people with disability to live the life they choose.

Matt started his professional life as a chemical engineer before moving into consulting for Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) and global deployments and travel to over 50 countries including some of the most obscure locations in the world.

Matt joined Berry Street Yooralla in 2013 as a volunteer with a dream of bringing his corporate experience to a sector that was faced with a huge transformational challenge with the move to the NDIA.

As a person living with Muscular Dystrophy, Matt loves his recumbent trike, as it’s meant he can ride independently for the first time in over 25 years and his goal is to complete the Great Victorian Bike Ride. He sports a leading- edge NDIA funded Assistive Technology that has enabled him to walk & ride anytime of the day or night.

Matt’s very active in the field of social & community inclusion, in his spare time having written the five-year Disability Action Plan and Accessible Camping for a major international music festival, is Chair of the Victorian branch of Break the Boundary – which provides adaptive MTB experiences and is working with Lake Mountain Alpine Resort and Marysville to become a destination of choice for inclusive, adaptive sports & recreation opportunities.

Matt sees listening as his number one priority and is driven by the motto: By Us, For Us – we design our future services and delivery together.