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.

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.

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.