Company Secretary – Jackie Brien
Jackie is the Company Secretary of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement. Her personal focus has always been to advance quality of education and child wellbeing through informing, affirming, challenging and supporting professional education practice in early childhood settings and schools.
Over the last 15 years, Jackie has worked as a senior leader with the Department of Education, working with school leadership and leading departmental teams to support and improve effectiveness in meeting the individual learning needs of students, work that was embedded in policy development, implementation, research and practice. Currently, Jackie is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Melbourne, completing research on the influence of professional reading on knowledge, motivation and implementation of evidence-informed professional practice that promotes learning, development and wellbeing of young children. In addition, Jackie has been a long-term member of Early Childhood Australia’s National Publications Advisory Committee and Editor of the national magazine, Every Child.
In her role as Company Secretary, Jackie supports the Board in meeting governance and policy requirements.
Executive Director – Andrea Stringer
Dr Andrea Stringer (she/her) is the executive director of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement. She is an experienced teacher and leader in K–12 schools, with international teaching experience and a global perspective on education. The University of New South Wales awarded Andrea her Doctor of Education degree, and ICSEI/JPCC honoured her with the 2024 Innovation Award. During her doctoral studies, she developed a ground-breaking series, #ConnectTheDocs, to assist research students during their academic journey. Andrea is passionate about bridging the gap between practice and research, supporting aspiring women leaders, and empowering educators through personalised professional learning.
Andrea specialises in working with educators and leaders to enhance their professional growth relating to learning, motivation, and wellbeing. She is interested in supporting early career teachers and creating environments to retain effective teachers. Andrea, a certified coach with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, established Contextual Coaching as a consultancy firm to help schools strategically implement coaching programs, and develop their coaching capacity. She collaborates with various Australian universities to conduct research and facilitate workshops designed to build teacher capacity.
Minutes Secretary – Magriet Cruywagen
Magriet Cruywagen is the Minutes Secretary to the ICSEI’s Board. She is completing a PhD in Education in the University of Glasgow’s School of Education where she also works with the Robert Owen Centre’s for Educational Chang’s Network for Social and Educational Equity as an international research associate. She is a qualified journalist, communication designer and systemic coach with extensive experience in political and research communication, knowledge mobilisation and organisational development. Her research explores collaborative knowledge and value creation across epistemic communities in the public, third and voluntary sectors with a particular emphasis on education and social policy.