Meet Our Staff
A former teacher, Colin has worked in the field of educational travel and community volunteering for over a decade. He has seen interest in this area of travel grow and is aware of what local communities need and what volunteers are looking for. The trick lies in marrying the two, something to which Colin and his team are committed through Antipodeans Abroad for school, gap year and uni student travel as well as adult challenges.
With a background in Outdoor Education and Leisure Management, as well love of adventure travel, we knew that Danielle would be perfectly suited to the team at Antipodeans Abroad. Danielle headed the Operations for our expedition groups from 1999 to 2007 and is one of our most experienced staff members. As well as managing three young kids Danielle is still actively involved in managing the operations for school expeditions and school group travel.
Lucy is a very experienced manager of our volunteer program for young people - GapBreak - which places young people in developing countries volunteering for up to three months. She also works with the UniBreak program and brings knowledge and enthusiasm to our team of experienced managers. Lucy has travelled widely in South America, Asia and Africa.
Joe has a wealth of experience leading and organising trekking and mountain biking charity fundraising challenges to destinations in South and Central America, Asia, Europe and NZ. When not in sales mode, he leads our personal development expedition teams of students to Asia, Africa and South America.
Wayne has extensive experience as an outdoor educator and is currently a full-time lecturer at the University of Sydney. He has travelled extensively in Asia and Africa, setting up community projects and leading groups. Wayne's role with Antipodeans Abroad is to provide a co-ordinated approach to Risk Management procedures and systems. He is a regular Leader of expeditions and has taken many young Australians to the far corners of the earth.
Maureen is responsible for the day-to-day operations of our popular Language Immersion program, which places students in years 9-11 in a homestay in either France or Germany over the Christmas holidays. She travels to France or Germany each year to oversee the program and has an intimate knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a young student on a homestay program far from home.
After spending several years working in Asia, Fiona, originally from the UK, now calls Sydney her home. She manages overall operations of our programs and directly handles the UniBreak and Challenges programs working closely with universities, charities and individuals across Australia to meet their fundraising and volunteering needs. With a passion for responsible travel, Fiona ensures that all travellers receive thorough pre-departure preparation and professional support during their placement as well as ensuring the communities benefit from the client's presence.
After completing degrees in journalism and advertising at QUT in Brisbane, Georgia joined Antipodeans Abroad as one of our Sales and Marketing Coordinators. Georgia now takes care of all our written content, our website and promotions for our UniBreak Groups and Charity Challenge programs. Georgia’s passion for foreign culture and travel started from early age when she travelled and lived with a host family in Japan at the age of 12. Since then, Georgia has lived and studied in Belgium and France and worked in new business development at the Marketing Store in Paris.
Originally from Melbourne, Ebony completed a degree in communication and advertising at RMIT in 2009, after which she joined the Antipodeans Abroad team as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator. With a strong eye for design, Ebony is involved in all graphic and image content, as well as promotions for the Gap and UniBreak Programs. Ebony works closely with schools and universities, sending students to Asia, South America, Africa and Europe. An avid traveller, Ebony spent a year in Canada and England before starting University, and has since spent time on ski slopes all around the world.
After completing his post graduate studies in teaching in Sydney, Josh set off to experience all that he could. A varied set of opportunities saw him managing a business in Vietnam, teaching in a bilingual school, leading trips throughout Asia and working in an outdoor education camp in North America. Josh recently returned to Australia and is excited to be working in a position that draws on his set of skills and experiences and enables young people to gain such a valuable experience at such an important age.
Ben completed a Bachelor of Education which included studying Outdoor Education in the Californian mountains. After leading expeditions for several Australian Outdoor Education companies, he was then appointed as co-director of the Outdoor Education program at Illawarra Sports High School. After travelling extensively for the last 3 years, Ben then spent time working for the Red Cross. Most recently, Ben joined Antipodeans Abroad as Manager of the West Australian operations.