Neil is the former Director of the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership (now known as the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership) based in Melbourne, Australia.

He has a long and varied career in education, spanning more than 39 years.

Neil is a fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders.

He has worked as an educator in juvenile justice settings, specialist and primary schools, and at the Zoo Education Service in Victoria. As the Schools Education Manager at the Commonwealth Government agency Emergency Management Australia, and at the Not-for-Profit organisation The Song Room, he ran a range of national consultations and developed curriculum materials, programs and resources for schools.

Neil was the Principal at Wales Street Primary School between 1997 and 2007. In this time the school developed a strong reputation for developing students as independent learners and for having an engaged and committed school community.

Neil moved into the central office of the Department of Education and Training in Victoria in 2007 and led a policy unit focused on broad system issues, including funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and business working with education. During this time he lead the establishment of the not for profit foundation Schools Connect.

Neil was Director of the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership between 2014 and 2019, and led significant growth of the Institute, including increasing learner participation by more than 200%, expanding program reach into rural areas, introducing online learning, extending professional learning in system leadership, and leading educational leadership engagement nationally and internationally.

Neil is now engaged in several national and international education initiatives, including the Global Education Leaders Project and the WISE ALL-IN Network.  Through his own private practice Neil is currently involved in writing about the power of collective leadership in schools, advising a number of education and educational leadership professional learning providers.

His book on collective leadership for schools will be published in October 2022. For further information see – Ecosystem Leadership.

Neil is the Co-founder and Director of the Digital Learning Company LERNA.