Governance
The River Nile School [RNS] is a not-for-profit incorporated association, recognised by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient.
RNS is governed by a Board with a diverse mix of capabilities, experiences and networks including leaders from the education, business and African and multicultural communities with a shared vision and passion for the difference we can make.
Current members are:
Jane Kanizay
Chair
Specialist literacy educator and Integration Aide at Moorabbin Primary School, Learning Fundamentals and private tuition. Working with students P-10 who have dyslexia; spelling, reading and literacy issues.
Practising and exhibiting visual artist of portraiture in oil paint and watercolour, providing volunteer art workshops and mentoring at River Nile and Space2B with refugee and recently arrived migrant women.
CELTA (Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) and Monash University Integration Aide graduate.
Former civil, structural & architectural drafter, CAD trainer and business owner. Xavier Social Justice Network Committee Chair.
Mountaineering experience in Borneo, Tibet & Nepal to 8000m+ altitude.
She was an active River Nile in-class volunteer from 2016 – 2020 and is a periodic RNS Arts Program specialist educator and mentor, and has been an RNS Inc. Member since 2017..
Charles Hertzog
Principal
Charles has extensive leadership experience and a lifelong commitment to the pursuit of educational excellence and equality. Most recently, he served as the Assistant Principal – Campus Leader at Berry Street School.
Before joining Berry Street School, Charles served as the Vice Principal at Coney Island Prep Middle School in Brooklyn, New York. He has held the position of Director of Literacy at Coney Island Prep Charter Network. In this role, he worked on creating scalable academic processes across the network of schools.
Charles served on the board of governors for Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School and was a member of the AcademicAccountability Committee. He is passionate about creating environments and processes that allow students to achieve academic excellence and challenge inequity.
Dr Jennifer Fitzgerald AM
Deputy Chair
Over a forty-year career, Jennifer has worked as a clinician, senior executive, Chief Executive Officer, and Non-Executive Director, in the health, aged care, community, and disability sectors. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Applied Sciences (Physiotherapy), Graduate Diploma of Physiotherapy (Neurology), a Master’s in Business Administration and a Doctor of Physiotherapy. She holds fellowships for the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Institute of Managers and Leaders and is an Associate Professor of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne. She was awarded a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in 2021, along with being recognized as a member of the COVID-19 Honor Roll in recognition of her leadership in the response to COVID-19. In 2016, she was the Victorian winner of the Telstra Businesswoman of the Year. She has been an RNS Inc. Member since 2022.
Esther Wambui Migwe
Treasurer
Has more than 15 years’ experience in Marketing, Communications, Brand Strategy and Financial Management with varied roles in Africa, Europe and Australia. She has a Masters Degrees in International Finance and Diplomacy from Deakin University and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Currently a Strategic Communications and Engagement Advisor with the Department of Transport, she has previously worked with Insight Publications and the Brotherhood of St. Laurence.
She is a graduate of Leadership Victoria’s New & Emerging Communities Leadership Program and is involved in initiatives that promote financial literacy and empowerment of disadvantaged women, such as SisterWorks, Stepping Stones and Herconomics.
Wambui spent her formative years and education in Kenya, and speaks fluent Swahili – one of the most widely spoken languages of Africa.
Natasha Norton
Secretary and Public Officer
Born and educated in the UK, Natasha has a wide range of experience including a period as technical and financial journalist in London and Tokyo. She’s lived in Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong where her three children were born, and moved to Australia in 1998.
For the past 17 years she has volunteered twice weekly with Vision Australia recording talking books and presenting on Vision Australia Radio. She has always believed very strongly in the power of education to overcome disadvantage.
She has a BA Honours Degree in Metallurgy, Economics and Management, University of Oxford.
She has been an active River Nile in-class volunteer since 2015, and an RNS Inc. Member since 2017.
Carmen Ridley
Chartered Accountant providing consulting and training relating to financial governance and risk, sustainability, audit, ethics and financial reporting.
Carmen’s board roles include Independent Member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Baw Baw Shire Council, Board Member / Secretary at Mums Supporting Families in Need, Board Member at the Australian Accounting Standards Board and Member of SME Implementation Group at International Accounting Standards Board.
She has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Mathematics, is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, a graduate of the AICD Company Directors Course and an accredited Mental Health First Aider. She is currently studying a Diploma of Governance with the Australian Institute of Community Directors. She has been an RNS Inc. Member since 2022.
Dr Rosemary Brooks OAM
Pro bono solicitor and migration agent, Refugee Legal, Collingwood. Visitor, International College of Hotel Management. Principal of St Ann’s College 1985-2019, a university residential college affiliated with the three undergraduate universities in South Australia, providing accommodation to university students from rural/regional Australia and overseas. Lecturer in charge of Art History and Theories at the University of Adelaide 1981-2010. Pro bono assistant 2008-2019 to counsel in human rights, Aboriginal legal rights and native title, with internships in Zanzibar, Cambodia and Darwin. Experienced board director of People’s Choice Credit Union 1995-2017, Pembroke School and Wilderness School. PhD in Visual Arts (Flinders University), MBA (UniSA), MA (Cambridge University), LLB Hons (University of Adelaide); SA Winner and national finalist Telstra Business Women’s Awards. She has been an RNS Inc. Member since 2022.
Dr Winnie Waudo
Having worked for various organisational entities, Winnie brings significant strategic thinking, business development, diplomacy and leadership experience to the role. As CEO of PlugIn Pulse a start-up energy technology service in Kenya, her company won the Young Innovation Award – United Nations Development Program, presented at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit during President Obama’s 2015 Kenya visit as well as the World Bank’s Negawatt Challenge. She has a passion for empowering and enriching communities by sharing her knowledge and skills, volunteering in community and not-for-profit organisations roles with a strong focus on supporting migrant youth. PhD in Renewable Energy (UQ). Formative years and education in Kenya. Speaks fluent Swahili – one of the most widely spoken languages of Africa. She has been an RNS Inc. Member since 2018.
Charitable, Tax Exempt and DGR Status
The River Nile School [RNS] is a not-for-profit incorporated association and is recognised by the Australian Taxation Office as a Deductible Gift Recipient. RNS was incorporated on 21 March 2006 under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Vic) (the Act); registration no. A0048482L, as RNLC and the name was changed to RNS in September 2016.
Effective from 18 July 2006, RNS is registered for GST with the Australian Taxation Office [ATO] and, as a public benevolent institution, accorded the status of GST Concession, Income Tax Exemption, FBT Exemption and Deductible Gift Recipient.
RNS's ABN is 20 382 591 724