School Association & Board

Boris Bielert (Chair)

Boris is a highly capable leader with over 20 years of experience in organisational leadership, business development and operations in domestic and international markets, complemented by a legal practice background. He has worked in multi-national companies, medium-sized businesses, and, more recently, a start-up which he helped to scale up to a large, highly profitable and rapidly growing enterprise. His professional journey has spanned a variety of industry sectors including technology, legal & professional services, and premium retail and manufacturing. This experience has provided Boris with a broad perspective, a refined skill set, and a deep understanding of different business environments, all of which is valuable and relevant for DSM.

Finance, Governance, HR, Infrastructure, German Government Relations

Lorena Healey (Vice Chair)

Lorena is an Organisational Development practitioner, with an extensive career in HR. Currently running her own consulting business, she works with organisations to help them grow and scale, and maintain the magic of their start up cultures. With over 20 years experience in learning & development, Lorena is passionate about helping individuals and teams achieve their full potential, and ultimately, supporting organisations to become great places to work.

Human Resources, Community & Events

Christine Baumberg (Board Secretary)

Christine is a financial lawyer and has strong links to the DSM community. Christine's international experience includes working at law firms in Germany, New Zealand, and Australia. She holds the Board Secretary role and focuses on governance and policy.

Compliance & Risk

Darkus Lam (Treasurer)

Darkus is a Chartered Accountant and has a Master’s Degree (Accounting) from RMIT University as well as Bachelor degrees in Finance from Monash University. He is currently performing the role of the Finance Manager for the ANZ Employment Business & Commercial Operation at SEEK. Darkus has over 10 years of experience working in various finance roles for Domain, Kikki.K, and AIESEC. Being bilingual himself, speaking English, Cantonese and Mandarin, he is very passionate about bilingual education.

Finance

Teagan Collins

Teagan is currently the Associate Principal at Westbourne Grammar School. Teagan holds a Master of Business Administration, Master of Education (Management and Leadership), Professional Certificate in Positive Psychology and most recently is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her strategic thinking and application are evidenced through her work and vision for leadership.

Governance, Infrastructure

Simona John von Freyend

Simona holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Hamburg and has extensive experience across academia, healthcare, and business management. Notably, she played a strategic role in the development of the Victorian Heart Institute, a multidisciplinary research institute, integrated into Australia’s first dedicated cardiac hospital, the Victorian Heart Hospital. With her consultancy background, she has successfully managed projects for biotech companies and overseen business planning, strategic development, and international team leadership in science and technology services. She is well-versed in working within regulated environments and has a deep understanding of governance practices, gained from roles in both corporate and community organisations. She is dedicated to supporting DSM’s growth and governance, particularly as the school expands its offerings to meet the needs of an internationally diverse student body.

Communication, German Government Relations

Angela Southwell

As a daughter of two teachers, Angela has lived and worked in five states of Australia, and in Germany. She has been part of the DSM school community since she arrived in Melbourne in 2018, making the decision to move here for the long term and raise her children in the bilingual community of DSM. Professionally, she has over 20 years of experience working with government, not-for-profit, philanthropy, and the private sector, enabling evidence-based decision-making through research. Angela also has hands-on experience in evaluation, consultation, and social and market research, as well as providing communications and strategic advice and advocacy for the translation and application of research findings to better policy and practice.

Communication, Risk & Compliance

Verena Thomas

Verena has a Master's in Architecture from the TUM in Munich and the Institute of Technology Karlsruhe. She has had extensive involvement with the school community over the last six years, including as co-chair of the PRC, leading a subcommittee of the Together Project, and organizing multiple community events. She is driven to use the insight gained from these engagements to help shape the future direction of the school. To her, DSM is more than just a bilingual school. It is also about its wonderful community, embracing multiple cultures, and gaining different perspectives.

Community & Events, Infrastructure, German Government Relations

Armin Voelske

Armin is a registered architect in Australia with a Dipl. Ing (FH) in Architecture from the University of Applied Science in Oldenburg, Germany. He is currently a director at his own architecture company after having spent 18 years in various high-profile firms in Melbourne. His interests are in risk management and infrastructure.

Infrastructure, Finance