Human resources adviser and lawyer Ms Cecilia White and educational leader and former Acting Head of College Mr Darren Pitt have today joined the College Board.
In announcing their appointments, the Chair of the Board, Ms Linda Matthews, said that Ms White and Mr Pitt would bring very valuable skills to the Board, together with a deep commitment to ensuring the best all-round educational experience for students of diverse backgrounds at St Mark’s.
Cecilia White and Darren Pitt have been appointed to the Board for initial three-year terms commencing today.
They succeed Dr Angela Evans AM and Mr Alister Lee, who retire from the Board after 14 and nine years of distinguished service, respectively.
Ms Matthews paid warm and deeply grateful tributes for the outstanding and tireless contributions which Dr Evans and Mr Lee have made to the College and its students, and looked forward to their continuing active involvement with the College.
Ms Cecilia White, BA, LLB (Adel), is a Director of Perks People Solutions, providing expert outsourced HR advice and support to employers across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
Prior to this, Cecilia spent nearly 10 years in private practice as an employment lawyer, advising and representing South Australian employers across a broad and diverse range of workplace and industrial disputes, enterprise bargaining negotiations, workplace investigations and workers compensation matters.
Cecilia also held a senior management role in the South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission for eight years, where she gained experience in discrimination and sexual harassment disputes, community and stakeholder engagement and policy development. It was during this time that Cecilia developed a passion for equity and diversity and supporting leaders to create inclusive organisations.
Cecilia is a Nationally Accredited Mediator with the Resolution Institute of Australia, a Board Member of the Victim Support Service of South Australia, and a member of the Law Society of South Australia and the Australian Human Resources Institute.
Mr Darren Pitt, BA (Hons), PGCE, MEd, is an educator, educational leader and educational consultant with over 25 years’ experience working in schools in the United Kingdom, Queensland and South Australia, where he has demonstrated success in delivering exceptional outcomes in learning, wellbeing and holistic education in a number of high-performance organisations.
Currently in role as Executive Project Manager at Seymour College and working with the College Board, Darren is responsible for a number of high-level projects to improve organisational efficiency, performance and stakeholder experience.
Darren has also held roles as Principal of The Springfield Anglican College in Brisbane, and prior to that as Deputy Principal at Seymour College and Director of Teaching and Learning at St. Peter’s College, both in Adelaide.
In August-November 2019, Darren served as Acting Head of College at St Mark’s College, between Ms Rose Alwyn leaving to be Warden of St John’s College at the University of Queensland, and Professor Don Markwell commencing as Head of College at St Mark’s.
In his various educational leadership roles, Darren has gained extensive experience in developing and delivering on strategy, and in improving organisational culture and business performance.
Darren has also served on a number of Advisory Boards and Executive Committees in curriculum development, wellbeing and sport, and is experienced in delivering key note lectures on education and literature in universities in England and Australia.
Darren holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership, an Honours degree in English Literature, and post-graduate certificates in Leadership and in Education.
To see the full membership of the St Mark’s College Board, click here.
