Our Team

Kay Turner - Chief Executive Officer

MSSC UWS, BEd (Early Childhood) Macq, MAICD GIA (Cert)

Kay is passionate about children’s education, inclusion and wellbeing, and supporting their families and communities. Bringing experience from roles in small and large community organisations and at the Department of Education, Kay joined SDN to lead and develop SDN’s integrated services in Western Sydney.

She has gone on to hold roles across a broad range of SDN functions including the roles of Director of Child, Family and Children’s Services Programs; Executive Director, Integrated Services and Organisational Development; and Head of Organisational and Business Development, and Deputy Chief Executive. She has led the development of SDN’s integration and Pathways Approach. Kay is also a Level Two certified organisational coach. Kay is an Executive Director on the Board of SDN Child and Family Services and is currently co-Chair of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA).

Rod Nadwie-Smith - Head of Services

BA Human Movement (UTS), Diploma Education (UTS), Associate Diploma in Social Studies

Rod joined SDN as Head of Services in 2023 and is a passionate and experienced leader and advocate for early childhood education and care.

Rod has an extensive not-for-profit background in children’s services, as well as 20 years of management and executive experience at organisations including Uniting NSW/ACT Goodstart Early Learning, Starlight Foundation, and YMCA NSW.

In his role as Head of Services, he plays a pivotal role in ensuring SDN provides high-quality and impactful services which are aligned with SDN’s vision, purpose, values and strategy, while also supporting the operations team in providing frontline services for children and families.

Dianne Speakman - Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs

MComm (Marketing) UNSW, BA(Hons)(Psychology) USyd, GradCert (Public Relations) USQ

Dianne joined SDN in March 2012. Dianne is an experienced communications specialist and has more than 25 years’ experience in marketing communications and stakeholder management across different areas of the not-for-profit sector.

Dianne is a member of SDN’s Executive, and leads teams supporting SDN’s service delivery and shared services through strategic communications, stakeholder relationship management, customer enquiries, marketing and customer experience, and the SDN Archive. Dianne is also SDN’s Company Secretary.

Zarin Medhora - Head of People and Organisation Development

MBS (HR Mgmt) Massey, LLB(Industrial Labour Law) Bombay, BSC(Chem) Bombay

Zarin joined SDN in October 2014 as Human Resource Director. Zarin is a highly experienced HR professional and has more than 25 years’ experience in senior HR roles. Zarin has managed all areas of HR function. Her generalist HR experience was gained across various industries including 17 years in the not-for-profit sector, government organisations and the finance sector.

Glynis Chang - Director of Organisational Development

DipTeach (ECE) SKTC

Glynis joined SDN in 1998 as an Early Childhood Intervention Teacher bringing 17 years of experience leading collaborative practice in Community based early childhood education. Drawing on her commitment to play, outdoor environments and resources for play, she also contributed to the establishment of the SDN Child and Family Resource Centre.

Glynis became the Manager of Child and Family Services programs in 2006 leading a multi-disciplinary team and offering service delivery in supported playgroups, home-based and centre-based early childhood intervention service and with oversight of the Inclusion Support Agencies.

Glynis now leads our Organisational Development team and is responsible for developing and leading inclusive practices, including Learning and Development, across SDN.

Sumit Chugani – Finance Director

BCom Mumbai, MBA (Finance)USQ, MPA USQ, CPA

Sumit joined SDN in November 2023 and is responsible for the overall financial functions of SDN’s companies and works closely with the CFO. He is a Fellow of the CPA Australia (and holds a double master’s degree) with over 17 years’ experience across Asia, Africa and Australia in finance and accounting across the public sector, not-for-profit (education, mental health and disability sectors) and the private sector (FMCG Retail and Distribution), he’s held senior level position and has partnered with C-suite on transformation initiatives driven by process and systems improvements.

Adrienne Jerram - Director of Marketing and Customer Experience

BA (Comm) Macq, MA (Comm Mgmt) UTS, M.Litt (Creative Writing) USyd

Adrienne joined SDN in February 2016. She has over 25 years of experience in marketing, communications and customer experience in the education, government and not for profit sectors. Adrienne is passionate about establishing and telling a compelling brand story and about solving problems through human-centred design. The customer experience work Adrienne led for SDN won an Australian design award for service design in 2022. Adrienne is passionate about health and fitness and is also a qualified personal trainer.

Bryan Mattes – Director of ESG

BEc (Hons) Macquarie University, CPA

Bryan joined SDN in March 2021 and, before being appointed SDN’s inaugural Director of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), has had a number of acting, and project-based roles across SDN’s Corporate Services functions. He has extensive finance and governance experience in small, medium and large organisations across not for profit, listed entities and private companies.

Bryan has a long-held interest in the responsibility of organisations as corporate citizens and the role they can play in making a better society.

Bryan’s background in finance provides a data-driven focus, whilst his experience working in the creative sector has developed a communication style that works towards making the technical understandable and empowers increased understanding.