TasTAFE Executive Members
Dr Norman Baker
Chief Executive Officer
Dr Baker has a long history of leadership in public vocational education and training organisations in Western Australia and South Australia, most recently as an Executive Dean of TAFE SA.
He has led large scale organisational change with an emphasis on aligning training delivery to priority industry sectors and brings extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, including four years abroad in the United Arab Emirates and CEO of the Goldfields Esperance Development Commission (GEDC) and the Peel Development Commission (PDC) in WA.
He is passionate about vocational education and the transformative work and impact it has on individuals; empowering learners with skills, confidence, and opportunity, and transforming the lives of individuals, their families, communities and the State.
Dr Baker is a member of the TAFE Directors Australia Board and holds a number of VET qualifications, two master’s degrees and a Doctorate from UWA.
Will McShane
Chief Financial Officer
Will has more than 20 years’ experience working in accounting, financial services, and leadership roles across a variety of industries in Tasmania including tourism, hospitality, manufacturing, and financial services sectors. Through his background, Will brings significant commercial expertise across all areas of finance including financial analytics, budgeting, capital and risk management as well as strong experience in technology, projects and property management.
Will has been actively involved in not-for profit governance for nearly a decade including his current role as Chair at Carer’s Tasmania/Care2Serve Limited and previously the Chair of Lady Gowrie Tasmania.
Will is Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Information Systems) from the University of Tasmania, a Masters of Applied Finance from Kaplan as well as being a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
Brendan Holland
Executive Director Education - Operations
Brendan has extensive and diverse experience in vocational education and training having undertaken a range of roles with TasTAFE dating back to 2005, including teaching, Education Management and other senior roles in HR, administration and campus development. He also has considerable leadership experience in senior roles in Health and Retail related to HR and operational management. Since 2015, Brendan’s roles have had a strong operational focus within TasTAFE working with delivery teams and administration functions, leaders and staff on matters such as recruitment, administrative support, productivity, business planning, product planning and HR related issues.
Brendan is passionate about growing the potential of those he works with and takes great enjoyment from watching them succeed and the contribution they make to TasTAFE.
Lyndene Bowen
Executive Director - Quality and Academic Services
Lyndene is a champion of vocational education, having been involved in the sector for over 20 years. This long tenure has built Lyndene’s extensive understanding of the vocational education and training sector.
Throughout Lyndene’s career she has been instrumental in the provision of quality learning and assessment to ensure students are skilled and job ready. Her dedication was evidenced with being awarded the Trevor Leo Medal. This medal is awarded to an individual or organisation who has made an outstanding contribution to vocational education and training in Tasmania over a sustained period. Lyndene currently leads TasTAFE’s strategic approach to meeting the standards for registered training organisations and the provision of services to students both domestic and international.
Jim Burden
Executive Director - People Performance and Culture
Jim has held key senior leadership positions in diverse community focussed service delivery organisations in Australia for over 20 years. Well known and highly regarded for developing strong relationships, he leads with authenticity and a genuine commitment and passion for developing and mentoring others to create highly constructive, humanistic organisational cultures. Jim provides high level strategic leadership and direction for the design, development, and delivery of contemporary human resource functions and delivery practices for TasTAFE.
Colleen Sheehan
Executive Director, Governance and Corporate Affairs
Appointed to TasTAFE in late 2022, Colleen brings extensive experience in corporate governance across the banking and public health sectors, with a strong track record in managing teams and complex projects.
Colleen leads the team within the Office of the CEO, is responsible for marketing and communications, board secretariat, enterprise risk, and ministerial liaison functions at TasTAFE. She has direct reporting responsibilities to the Board of TasTAFE.
Colleen has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia.