Navtej Bal, Chief Executive Officer
Email: ceo@ironwood.edu.au
Navtej Bal is the CEO and Managing Director of Ironwood Institute. He is dynamic and focused individual who believes in” Impossible is nothing”. Apart from his post graduation from RMIT University, Melbourne and eight years of extensive experience in management of international colleges, Navtej brings on board his personal success story as an international student who arrived in Australia 13 years ago.
Navtej believes in seizing opportunities from the challenges and embrace positivity and innovation.
He is passionate about helping student to become employment ready in a rapidly changing world and students look upon him to be great guide, helpful and trustworthy through all times of their study journey with Ironwood.
Camilo Esparza, Director of Academics and Head of Agribusiness
Email: Camilo.Esparza@ironwood.edu.au
Camilo holds a Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business from the University of Adelaide, and a Bachelor of Animal Husbandry from the National University of Colombia (South America) where he is originally from. Camilo has participated in research across 6 countries in the Pacific and in Indonesia, focusing in livelihood benefits of smallholder farmers.
Some of his areas of expertise include understanding market and consumer drivers and implementing value chain analysis across industry sectors. His new role as a trainer at Ironwood will allow him to prepare students for a fast growing agribusiness sector. Camilo aims to deliver high quality training in a dynamic way, bringing key elements from innovation and systems theory.
Karen Montgomery, Horticulture Trainer and Assessor
Email: Karen.montgomery@ironwood.edu.au
Karen holds qualifications in Horticulture, Conservation Land Management, Training & Assessment and Small Business Management. She is the past EO of the Master Landscapers of SA, President of the Horticultural Media Association, a committee member of the Horticultural Therapy Association & The Rare Fruit Society.
Karen has been running workshops and the media on a range of gardening topics including Crops in Pots, Vertical Gardens, Natures Fertilisers, Community Gardening, School Kitchen Gardens, Sustainability, Plant life Balance & much more.
She is a garden writer contributing to media including SA Gardens & Outdoor Living magazine and can be heard regularly on ABC891 and 5AA radio shows.
Karen holds a Peter Bennett Award for sustainable living practices, was a Judge for the South Australian Nursery Industry Retail Nursery Awards, judge for Swimming Pool and Spa Association of Australia (SPASA) & was on stage at the ABC Gardening Show with the ‘Ask it Solve it’ crew in Adelaide. She is also a recipient of the Playford Memorial Trust Award for her commitment to her studies and the Industry, as well as the Nursery & Garden Industry’s Doug Smart Award for ‘passion and commitment to the promotion of good gardening’.
Victoria Pearce, Partnerships Manager
Email: victoriap@ironwood.edu.au
Victoria can answer the various questions asked by students and agents about what courses Ironwood offers, which one may meet your needs and how you can become a student with the College. After more than a decade of working in the international education sector she has a good knowledge of the various needs of students, their families, student visas and admission level required. Victoria is also the first port of call for agents, looking after marketing material, training and compliance needs of agents.
Soon Teik Oon, Diploma of Leadership and Management Educator
Email: soon.oon@ironwood.edu.au
Soon Teik has 17 years of education/training experiences in institutions in Australia, Malaysia and China including the University of Nottingham, the University of Adelaide and Kaplan Business School. His experiences include working with both public and international universities in China, lecturing and developing course structure and syllabus for their International Business course module.
Apart from teaching, he was involved in coordinating work, formulating lesson plans and methods of delivery to non-English speaking students, providing students with academic advice and support to prepare them for their continuing studies and cultural change in Australia.
In addition to that, Soon has over 15 years’ experience in the corporate sector. He has held position such as Principal Consultant, engaging in international consulting and development in the Asian region, particularly Australia, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. His work includes working in high level cross cultural understanding of small/medium sized businesses. SoonTeik was also Branch Manager with a Fortune 500 company, before venturing into consultancy.
Jennifer Bourne, Admissions and Quality Administration Officer
Email: Jennifer.Bourne@ironwood.edu.au
Jennifer has extensive know-how in management, with over 5 years’ experience in the international education sector. With strengths in people, communication and team management, she has the ability to give full support to our team and agents.
She looks after all the Admissions for Ironwood to make sure the Letters of Offer, Confirmations of Enrolment and any other documents are issued in a perfect and timely manner.
Jennifer’s other roles include Quality Administration and ensuring that our administrative areas of the institute are to the highest quality and meets all the requirements that relate to a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).
Dr Vinay Patel, Horticulture and Agribusiness Educator
Email: vinay.patel@ironwood.edu.au
Dr Patel delivers horticulture and agribusiness courses at Ironwood Institute. With a Doctorate in Botany and Masters in Agribusiness he has over five years’ experience in the horticulture industry. Working with hydroponic he is an expert in growing plants starting from seed growing, grafting, staff management, chemical spray, crop work, irrigation, climate control, packaging and dispatch. Vinay teaches our students the latest skills which the industry seeks. He also has run research and development programs for major producers.
Victor Cahu, Diploma of Social Media Marketing Educator
Victor’s expertise is in marketing and advertising with over 5 years practical experience. He has an Australian Master’s in Business Administration (Marketing) and a Bachelor of Advertising and Marketing from Portugal. With a good knowledge of the emerging digital market he imparts his enthusiasm and knowledge to students with diverse backgrounds. Originally from Brazil, he has a creative aptitude with a talent for communication.
Komal Sodhi, Advanced Diploma of Leadership and Management and Advanced Diploma of Marketing and Communication Educator
Email: komal.bal@ironwood.edu.au
Komal has over 15 years of international education and training experience, specialising in business, leadership, management, marketing and accounting. She also has industry experience as an accountant. With Masters in both Education and Commerce/Management, Komal is our Advanced Diploma educator in both the Marketing and Management streams.
Lynn Zhuo, Diploma of Social Media Marketing Educator
Email: lynn.zhuo@ironwood.edu.au
Lynn has over fifteen years’ experience in marketing, having strategised and implemented marketing plans in over eight countries. Working in a variety of industries including Finance and Banking, Logistics and IT. Lynn has thrived in assisting public listed companies in their overseas expansion plans and building small start-ups for entrepreneurs.
Lynn was working as a Lecturer in Singapore for six years before moving to Adelaide to focus on her educational career in the emerging digital marketing arena.
Nicole Dix, Receptionist and Administration Support Officer
Email: nicole.dix@ironwood.edu.au
With extensive experience working with international students. Nicole has a passion for working with in culturally diverse environment and helping others improve their language skills and work to integrate into Australian society. Working on the front desk she greets Ironwood visitors and is available to assist all students with their support needs.
