Our Executive

Melodie Potts Rosevear is founder and CEO of Teach For Australia. She is a disruptor and a problem-solver, driven by a vision for Australia where education gives every child, regardless of background, greater choice for their future.

Melodie has made it her mission to champion better educational outcomes for our most vulnerable children in Australia. In the past 15 years, the work of TFA has reached over 650,000 students in almost 300 schools, while building a community of 1800-plus teachers and leaders who are bringing about change inside and out of the classroom.

Melodie was awarded an Order of Australia for her service to education and teacher development in 2021. She holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard where she received a Kennedy Fellowship, and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead Scholar.

Originally from rural Appalachia in the USA, Melodie lives in Canberra on Ngunnawal Country with her husband Sam and son Harrison, affectionately dubbed ‘Harry the Hurricane’, and their dog, Jack ‘The Ripper’ Russell.

Michael has a strong belief in the importance of education and the value of lifelong learning. He was delighted to join TFA in 2024 in the position of COO.

Michael is an experienced executive leader with a strong record of delivering strategic and operational outcomes to transform business performance.

Having worked in the financial services industry for many years, Michael has gravitated towards organisations that carry a strong mission and social purpose – from commercial organisations such as Citibank, ANZ and AMP, to TelstraSuper in the For Member sector, and as a Director for Australian Communities Foundation and interim CEO of a disability and education services provider, in the For Purpose environment.

Michael lives, works and plays mostly on Boonwurrung country. Born on Phillip Island, Michael has a strong affinity with the South-East coast of Victoria and often holidays in Sandy Point. Michael is married with 3 adult children.

Lynda joined the TFA team as General Manager, Growth in 2022 and leads the execution of an integrated marketing, recruitment, admissions and placement strategy. Lynda has a strategic and creative mindset with a passion for building purpose-led brands, great customer experiences and delivering commercial results. She has worked for a number of brands including RMIT University, Make-A-Wish, ANZ and more recently SGS Australia.

Lynda holds a Bachelor of Applied Science, Post Graduate International Business (Marketing), a Master of Business Administration and is a graduate and member of the Institute of Company Directors (AICD). She is also a lifetime member of the Australian Marketing Institute.

Lynda lives in Melbourne on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country with her husband Lou and has two adult children, and enjoys travelling and the arts.

Eleanor commenced as General Manager, Program Impact and Transformation in 2023. She is an accomplished executive with experience in operational and strategic roles. Eleanor’s background spans management consulting, program delivery and government. Her experiences include General Manager roles at Beyond Blue and Goodstart Early Learning, management consulting with McKinsey, and most recently with the Victorian Department of Education. She is also a warmly welcomed return staff member having been a part of the TFA team in two previous roles during her career.

Eleanor possesses a deep passion for addressing educational inequity. She is now focussed on ensuring Teach For Australia’s program participants are well equipped as teachers and leaders, ultimately to achieve our mission of developing a community of leaders committed to equity for children.

Eleanor lives in Naarm/Melbourne on Wurundjeri country, but enjoys travelling whenever she gets the chance.

Heath is a strategic thinker and inspiring leader with significant experience as CEO of a national youth organisation which relied heavily on local, state and federal support. His professional background spans law, government, advocacy and executive roles.

Heath started his career as a lawyer at national law firm Gadens (now Dentons). During this time, he acted on secondment as a lawyer at the United Nations Special Consultative Body, the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre in India. After his time at Gadens, Heath was appointed an Advisor to the NSW Attorney General. At the end of their term in government, Heath took up the role of CEO of a national youth charity, an organisation he was a participant in as a teenager, overseeing a period of rapid growth for the organisation.

Heath has been a lived experience advocate for the underprivileged in Australia. His own Dickensian story of disadvantage and abuse was profiled on Australian Story, introduced by then Prime Minister John Howard. Subsequently, Heath wrote his autobiography, which was published by Penguin Random House Australia, with a foreword from then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Heath has appeared as a panel member on the ABC’s Q&A program, is a recipient of the Davos Australian Leadership Award, and a finalist in the BOSS Magazine/Sydney University, Emerging Leaders Award.

Heath’s focus in this role will be on further strengthening TFA’s comprehensive government affairs program and stakeholder support, sustaining revenue and creating positive authorising environments for Teach For Australia’s programs.

Heath lives in Sydney on Guringai Country with his wife and son Ryker, and enjoys surfing on the Northern Beaches, and hiking in the mountains.

Heath lives in Sydney on Guringai Country with his wife and son Ryker, and enjoys surfing on the Northern Beaches, and hiking in the mountains.

Briannon is a Teach For Australia Alumna. She is a mission-driven, nonprofit leader passionate about harnessing the people-power of communities and impact networks to address system-level problems limiting the potential of young people.

Her current role is Director of Community and Internal Communications. She leads TFA’s work to cultivate leadership capabilities and networks among our Alumni with the aim of making sure that more teachers, leaders and schools in the most under-served parts of Australia flourish because of the support of strong allies. Briannon also helps drive Teach For All’s Global Alumni Strategy Community.

Across four continents, Briannon has previously worked as an award-winning classroom teacher, an instructional leader and school leadership team member (in a US charter school), a successful small business owner, and a program delivery manager in several educational charities.

Briannon lives on Dharawal country in Sydney – right near the beach – where she spends a lot of time reading in her hammock and never takes the sunrise for granted.