Syncordia Team
Carlton Taya
Carlton is the founder and head of Syncordia group. He has been in the ICT industry for 30 years having worked in a number of senior management roles with large multinational firms. Prior to founding Syncordia, Carlton held the position of Managing Director, Avaya South Pacific for over 8 years. Avaya is a global technology company specialising in business communication software and services.
Head of Commercial Operations
Kathleen Silk
Kathleen leads the Commercial function and has over 20 years’ commercial and HR experience, having worked for a range of multinational and Australian organisations in Senior roles across the manufacturing, IT and financial/wealth management sectors.
Head of Technical and Indian Operations
Lakshmish Bagalkot
Lakshmish leads the Indian operation including technology development and has over 20 years’ experience in IT and program / project management, coupled with technical expertise in enterprise applications, product development and maintenance. He previously held senior technical roles with a number of multinational technology and systems integrators.
Financial Controller
Roshan Strange
Roshan is a Certified Practicing Accountant and is responsible for managing the group financial accounts.
Creative Strategy Advisor
David Neilson
David is an award-winning designer within the Australian Media Industry and co-founder of the creative brand studio, Charles Elena Design. His career includes Editorial, Features and Lead Design positions across a broad range of Australian media agencies such as Rural Press, Fairfax and News Limited.
Marketing Program Manager
Maryanne Edwards
Maryanne leads a team responsible for the research of University curriculums and specifically, the eBook titles used in these courses. She has previously worked for companies in the retail, telecommunications and software and solutions industries.
Finance & Admin Manager
Christopher Taya
Chris manages the Finance & Administration function and has 5 years experience in managing cash flows , financials and trading on the stock market.
Strategic VET Advisor
Deborah Rulach
Over the last 15 years Deborah has held several executive management roles in the VET sector. She was the driving force behind Chisholm’s approach to client engagement and Industry engagement as the executive Director of Client Engagement and Business Growth.
Legal and Corporate Advisor
Richard Flory
Richard is a senior lawyer with substantial company and commercial law experience spanning more than 30 years. His roles have included both private and general counsel in cross border transactions, mergers, acquisitions and public offerings.
Strategic Advisor
Mr James Naiming Li
James is Founding Director, Pacway Capital; Fund Manager, Pacway Investment Fund; Chief Consultant in Australia for Shanghai International Mining Exchange; Deputy Secretary, International Mining Promotions of China Mining Association (CMA); Vice President, Australia China Mining Association.
Chetan Mittal – Infrastructure Management
Dinesh Bhatt – Institutional Research
Martin Joseph – Digital Conversion Services
Gavan Toy – Business Development
Tripti Agarwal – Customer Service
China Advisory Board
Strategic Advisor
Mr Junling Liu
Mr Liu is the Co-founder and Chairman of New Peak Group, a leading digital and mobile health group operating in China since 2015.
Mr Liu previously held the position of Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yihaodian, which was acquired by Walmart in July 2015 for an estimated RMB one billion. Mr Liu’s prior experience also includes roles as Co-president of Dell China and Hong Kong and Managing Director of Avaya China. Mr Liu currently sits on the board of number of Chinese companies as an Independent Director.
Mr. Liu received his Master of International Business Administration from Flinders University in Australia.
CEO, National E-Learning Resource Center
Professor Congkai Shan
Professor Shan is the CEO of the National E-Learning Resource Centre and is also the Director of the Digital Resource Centre at the Open University of China. He is keenly involved in research on the theory and practice of the design and development of digital learning resources.
Professor Shan previously held the positions of Dean of Distance Education at Shan Dong Radio and Television University and General Secretary of the Shan Dong Distance Learning Association. He is also Chairman of the Consortium of National E-Learning Community Education. Professor Shan has also published over 80 articles that have featured in prominent education magazines and publications in China.
Academic Advisor
Professor Naihe Li
Professor Li is Senior Consultant Professor in Marketing at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and has over 30 years’ experience as an academic within the Chinese Higher Education system. He also acts as Strategic Consultant to a major Chinese company.
Professor Li has authored several books and is an influential member of China’s academic sector.
Academic Advisor
Professor Zhou
Professor Zhou is a former Senior Professor in English Language at Fudan and Donghua Universities in Shanghai, having been an academic for over twenty five years.
Prior to academia, Professor Zhou held the positions of Principal Translator at the Chinese Embassy in Syria, as well as a Senior Translator at UNESCO. Professor Zhou has obtained many awards from the government for his services to english translation.