Grok (verb): to understand intuitively or by empathy.
At Grok Academy, our mission is to educate all learners in transformative computing skills, knowledge and dispositions, empowering them to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the future.
To us, computing encompasses basic digital literacy through to advanced computer science and related disciplines, and the application of these skills across all disciplines.
We believe that a solid computer science understanding is vital whether you want to fight climate change, make the next blockbuster movie or unlock the secrets of the universe.
We've taught thousands of students across Australia to program in classrooms, lecture halls and online, and are now bringing top-notch STEM education into classrooms and homes around the world.
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. James Curran is the CEO of Grok Academy, a charity that combines Grok Learning and the Australian Computing Academy from the University of Sydney, where James was an Associate Professor in Computer Science.
Grok Academy’s mission is to educate all learners in transformative computing skills, knowledge and dispositions, empowering them to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the future.
James is Director of the National Computer Science School, the largest computer science school outreach program in Australia. Last year, over 22,500 students and teachers participate in the 5-week NCSS Challenge.
James was a writer on the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies and consults with curriculum authorities around Australia. In 2014, James was named ICT Leader of the Year by the ICT Educators of NSW and the Australian Council for Computers in Education.
Chief Operating Officer
Kylie Williams is the new Chief of Operations Officer at Grok Academy Limited.
Head of Partnerships
Lisette Tennant is the Head of Partnerships at Grok Academy.
Chief Engineering and Infrastructure Officer
He/Him
Geoff completed a Bachelor of Information Technology from Queensland University of Technology and has worked in a
number of roles since.
Head of Projects and Analytics
Karsten Schulz is the Head of Projects and Analytics at Grok Academy.
Chief Education Officer (Product)
Previously Head of Content at Grok Learning, Jane has overseen the development of new platform features and online
learning activities for students from early primary through to senior high school and beyond.
Chief Education Officer (Curriculum)
Bruce Fuda is Chief Education Officer (Curriculum) at Grok Academy and the Project Lead on the Schools Cyber Security
Challenges Project.
Executive Assistant
Hailee is an accomplished professional with more than 10 years of progressive experience in executive support, office
administration, accounting and budget management, human resources, and customer/client relations.
Senior Events Manager
Josephine Spongberg is Grok’s Senior Events Manager, overseeing the administration of the NCSS Summer School,
the NCSS Challenge and the Girls’ Programming Network.
Senior Data Analyst
Ashima brings over 13 years of experience in the data space spanning a diverse range of challenges, from building custom data pipelines and designing data architectures,
to creating visualisations that communicate complex insights in a simple and understandable way.
Lead Data Analyst
Bryn first got into teaching while studying for his Laser Physics PhD at the University of Oxford, working as a college tutor of Physics.
Senior Data Analyst
Esther graduated from the University of Wollongong with a PhD in materials engineering, majoring in renewable energy.
Lead Data Analyst
Piyumini has a PhD in Business Analytics and a background in consulting, academia, and research.
Assistant Data Scientist
I am currently a Data Science student at Monash University.
Head of Education
She/Her
Laura has a Bachelor of Ed (Hons) and Master of Ed (Hons).
Head of Education
Steve is a creative innovator in STEM education, educational leadership, change management, and leading teacher professional development.
Educator
Adelle is a secondary teacher in rural South Australia and has been teaching for over ten years.
Senior Educator
Adrienne has over 15 years’ experience teaching digital technologies in secondary schools and a prior career in
Information Technology.
Lead Educator
As one of the writers of the Australian Curriculum, Digital Technologies, Anna is passionate about supporting teachers to
further develop their skills and understandings of this new curriculum.
Educator
She/Her
Bianca graduated from the University of Sydney in February 2022 with a Master of Education in Digital Technologies.
Lead Educator
Caroline is a Lead Educator at Grok Academy who aims to empower teachers to feel confident using technology and
delivering technical content to successfully educate students.
Senior Educator
Celinda Corsini has worked in primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Educator
Chad really enjoys helping others discover the joy of programming.
Lead Educator
Nerd by day, diva by night. Courtney’s two great loves in life are technology and music.
Lead Educator
He/Him
Damien has a passion for Educational Technology, especially in the fields of Robotic,
Electronics and Programming.
Senior Educator
Daniel completed a PhD in Education and Bachelor of Software Engineering at the University of Newcastle.
Lead Educator
Daniel has worked across Primary and Secondary education as a STEM specialist with over 20 years of experience.
Senior Educator
Darin is a former secondary teacher with over 10 years’ experience teaching in regional Queensland schools, as
well as working with the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.
Senior Educator
Deon is a creative educator who has been a coordinator and director of Digital Technologies and ICT programs in Tasmanian schools across most year
levels.
Educator
Graduating from the University of New England with a Bachelor of Information Technology/Bachelor of Teaching, Drew spent
his teaching career working across Kindergarten to Year 12 in rural and remote schools in New South Wales.
Senior Educator
Dugald is a former Secondary Teacher with over 15 years’ experience teaching Computer Science across both government and
independent schools in New South Wales.
Senior Educator
Jen has been a dedicated and passionate teacher and educational leader for over 25 years.
Lead Educator
She/Her
Julie has been involved in Digital Technologies education for over 30 years and is passionate about motivating students to pursue career pathways in this area
through exposing them to engaging learning opportunities.
Lead Educator
She/Her
Kylie is a secondary teacher with over 30 years’ experience in Queensland schools, including digital technologies, STEAM and digital solutions.
Senior Educator
She/Her
I am a passionate computing educator with over 20 years experience teaching computer science across the secondary and tertiary sectors.
Lead Educator
Lead Educator at Grok Academy, Lael recently headed up Robotics at Barker College, stewarding the program through substantial growth and culminating in the Barker Redbacks
induction into the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Hall of Fame in 2021.
Senior Educator
Lindsay Miller is a Secondary Mathematics and Music Teacher who studied Music and Computer Science at the University of
Sydney and obtained a Masters of Teaching from Western Sydney University.
Associate Educator
Luke is an experienced educator in South Australian Schools, teaching for over 12 years in a range of year levels
and curriculum areas.
Educator
Until recently, Mark has been a specialist computer science and design teacher having created and taught programmes for both QCAA Digital Solutions
and International Baccalaureate Computer Science syllabuses.
Educator
Marnie is inspired to show students how to create with technology, instead of just consume and is passionate about
developing Grok lessons that engage and excite students through rich, real-world tasks.
Senior Educator
Meridith is an experienced teacher who has experience teaching students K-10 and she is an experienced facilitator
of adult workshops, with experience working in both school and corporate environments.
Lead Educator
Nathan Alison taught Digital Technologies and senior computing courses in Victorian secondary schools for 11 years, as
well as 5 years as coordinator and developer of professional learning and resources in the state’s subject association,
Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria.
Lead Educator
Owen Brasier is a Lead Educator at Grok Academy.
Lead Educator
Paula is the former Digital Technologies Curriculum Manager, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and is a
co-writer of the Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum and the ICT general capability.
Senior Educator
Rob is a former secondary teacher with over 17 years experience in regional Western Australia, running the gamut of
computing subjects from Year 7 Digital Media through to Year 12 Computer Science.
Lead Educator
Sally completed a Masters of Education (Digital Technologies) in 2022, and is passionate about supporting classroom teachers
to learn more about digital technologies.
Senior Educator
Sanjin Dedic is a robotics engineer and an educator with over 10 years of teaching experience in the field of Digital
Technologies.
Senior Educator
Sarah is an experienced STEM Educator, having taught all kinds of students from primary to University level.
Senior Educator
Sharon completed her Bachelor of Computer and Information Science as a mature-age student whilst working full-time,
initially as a qualified electrician building irrigation systems and then as a Helpdesk Support Technician at an
independent school in Adelaide.
Senior Educator
Sue Carter is an experienced K-6 educator and has worked in NT Education for over 36 years.
Lead Educator
Sujatha is a Lead Educator at Grok Academy. Previously, she was a lecturer at the University of Sydney, designing and
teaching units in the Master of Education (Digital Technologies) program.
Lead Educator
Dr. Bill Collis is a passionate educator and engineer; and is driven to see other educators, and their students, succeed in today’s hi-tech world.
Systems Administrator
Seasoned System Administrator with over 20 years of experience on the IT Infrastructure field equally divided between
Italy and Australia.
Senior Software Engineer
Danny is a software engineer with a background in music and audio engineering.
Lead Software Engineer
He/Him
Dave is a lead software engineer with a background in design and sociology.
Lead UX Designer
Elisa is a lead UX designer with a background in interface design and behavioural science.
Senior Software Engineer
He/They
Graduated University of Technology Sydney with a Bachelor of Chemical Science.
Associate Software Engineer
He/Him
Isaac wrote his first ever piece of code as part of the NCSS Challenge on Grok in 2013.
Senior Software Engineer
As a senior software engineer, Julian has a passion for building and creating.
Senior Software Engineer
Kristina came to Grok after working in the IT industry for 10 years.
Senior Software Engineer
Latesh Garg has extensive 11 years of working experience in IT industry.
Software Engineer
He/Him
Matthew completed his Software Engineering degree at UNSW.
Software Engineer
He/Him
Nathan completed his Computer Engineering degree at UNSW.
Senior User Experience Engineer
Nicky is a senior user experience designer who has spent the last 8 years making the world a less frustrating place.
Senior Software Test Engineer
Paul has a broad range of professional experience that includes primary school teaching, finance, and IT.
Associate Engineer
Penny Player is an Associate Enginner at Grok Academy that transfered from the education team.
Lead Software Engineer
Peter is a lead software engine with a focus on systems and operations.
Lead Software Engineer
Sachin is a professional with a diverse background in technology, finance, and management.
Senior Product Designer
Thania is a senior product designer, mentor, tutor, and career specialist.
Lead Architect
Tim is a seasoned engineering leader with over 20 years of experience creating and managing technology products and teams.
Senior Software Engineer
Tristan is a senior software engineer with a background in Computer Science and Mathematics, graduating from the
University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science in both.
Head of People and Culture
Dia is a people leader with a passion all things People and HR - she has held various
management roles in the Fin-Tech, Construction Tech, Global Luxury Fashion, Media &
Professional services etc.
Head of Sales and Marketing
Violeta Apostolovski is our Head of Sales and Marketing.
Head of Finance
Gavin Wallace is Head of Finance at Grok Academy.
Assistant Customer Success Officer
Ainslie is currently a Computer Science and Aerospace Engineering student at UNSW.
Lead Marketing Manager
She/Her
Christie graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Advanced Science and a Bachelor of Arts.
Graphic Designer
Craig Carroll is the graphic designer at Grok Academy. He has a Bachelor of Education (Visual Arts).
Graduate Marketing and Social Media Officer
She/Her
Krystelle is a Business School graduate from Monash University in Melbourne.
Lead People and Culture Manager
Jessica has over 8 years’ experience in HR in the not-for-profit sector, working across disability, homelessness,
mental health, and social enterprise, and has been fortunate enough to travel throughout Australia to rural and
remote and indigenous communities in her work
Lead Graphic Designer
With almost two decades of experience in graphic, digital and UI/UX design, Joe has worked in a variety of
in-house roles, creating children’s products, games, UI/UX for wearable technology and education resources.
Assistant Customer Success Officer
Liam is currently an undergraduate student at UNSW studying Computer Science.
Lead Marketing Manager
Mark Ankucic is a passionate, problem-solving marketer.
Customer Support & Success Officer
Melanie is passionate about bringing out the best in people. This passion has led her to work for more than ten years across Public Relations and Marketing in public and private institutions.
Lead Sales Manager
Ryan is an experienced sales professional and former digital technologies teacher. He holds a Master of Education and has over 20 years of teaching and leadership experience in South Australia.
Customer Success Manager
She/Her
Saritha completed her Computer Science degree at the University of Sydney.
Assistant Customer Success Officer
They/Them
Toast is a current Software Engineering student at Macquarie University.
Project Manager
Anastassia Terziman is a Project Manager at Grok Academy. She has completed a diploma in ICT and Bachelor of Arts
from the University of New South Wales.
Lead Project Manager
Ange takes a human centred approach to project delivery and has worked across entertainment, creative agency / marketing and not for profit space.
Lead Project Manager
Anne loves project delivery and helping teams succeed.
Senior Project Manager
Indu is a Project Management professional with over 11 years of experience.
Senior Project Manager
Mehdi is a seasoned project manager with over 9 years’ experience managing projects in various industries including but not limited to Cybersecurity, Healthcare ,
IT Operations and Petrochemicals.