About

With more than 25 years experience and a leading global reputation, Nick is passionate about driving next generation entrepreneurship. As Director of Innovation and Enterprise, Nick leads Wade Institute, setting our strategic vision and delivering a range of activities, immersive education and training programs.

Prior to joining Wade, Nick served as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship (SSE). During Nick’s tenure, SSE built its world-class reputation for supporting and inspiring a diverse community of next generation entrepreneurs and was awarded the prestigious Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centre’s (GCEC) Award for Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Centre, recognising international excellence for a centre less than five years old.

Nick also served as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship for a decade, and has served on boards and organisations globally in the innovation and entrepreneurship space.

Rachel is passionate about the transformational impact of education and more specifically helping to develop, and deliver the next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation training programs and activities.

As Associate Director, Programs and Operations, she oversees the delivery of all Wade Programs and manages the operations our of our Centre.
Rachel has more than 20 years experience working in the education sector and prior to joining Wade Institute spent a decade supporting the development and delivery of programs in graduate business and executive education at the Melbourne Business School.

Rachel holds a BA (Hons) and Master of Arts (Research) in History from the University of Melbourne.

Midsy has worked in education for twenty years, including Head of English at an international school in Thailand to alumni relations and business development in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at The University of Melbourne. He has a Master of International Business and a Bachelor of Arts. Midsy is passionate about bringing people together around topics of common interest and growing community engagement.

Midsy looks forward to meeting the next participants of the VC Catalyst and UpSchool Programs and following their respective investor and educator journeys.

Little known fact: he has been called Mids or Midsy since primary school when there were four Andrews in his Prep class.

May is passionate about supporting others to achieve their entrepreneurial aspirations and as a natural connector she’s keen to bring together like-minded people.

She plays a pivotal role for the Master of Entrepreneurship, managing the end-to-end experience spanning across recruitment, student experience, alumni and the interactions with the broader community.

Her interest in entrepreneurship started at a young age having had exposure to family businesses, and after graduating from university she took the leap herself in running her own business. Since then she’s continued to apply this entrepreneurial mindset in various roles working in the education sector across marketing, student recruitment and management.

Jacqui is a senior executive with extensive experience across multiple industries including education, manufacturing, consumer products, banking and financial services, retail and not for profit.

Jacqui is passionate about driving transformational change, creating, and nurturing an organisational culture of innovation and intrapreneurship. As an experienced business transformation, operations and corporate services leader, Jacqui brings her creating thinking, strategic and commercial acumen to guide the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship as part of her executive portfolio as Chief Operating and Innovation Officer at Ormond College.

Kim is a senior leader and team player with more than 12 years’ experience in higher education marketing and recruitment, 10 with the University of Melbourne. A creative problem solver and strategic thinker, Kim has been the project lead on internationally award-winning campaigns and enjoys stretching brands into new and unexpected places. She is an audience insights and product development specialist, and is passionate about designing great experiences and programs that meet audience and stakeholder needs.

Hedieh is a marketing communication professional with over 8 years of experience in the tertiary education sector. Her expertise include integrated marketing communications, advancement, and marketing research. Audience-driven with an analytical and strategic mindset, she has a proven track record of developing end-to-end digital campaigns. With a PhD degree in Marketing Strategy from the University of Melbourne, she is also an experienced educator who enjoys using innovative tactics to co-create engaging learning experiences.

Joanna is an experienced designer and professional communications all-rounder.

Her skills range from strategic branding through to print design and integrated digital design for web, social and advertising channels. Ranging from projects for the government through to the arts sector, she has worked on philatelic design projects for Australia Post, rebrands for prominent architects and planning firms, and poster design for film and television.

Joanna holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Communication Design and Associate Degree in Graphic Design from RMIT.

Sophie is a writer and editor, with extensive experience working across the arts, media and non-profit sectors. She provides communications support for the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship, including communications for newsletters and digital channels. Sophie holds a Bachelor of Arts and an Honours Degree in English from Monash University.

Focused on precise planning and delivery, Ysh brings valuable experience from event management roles at LaunchVic and the Florey Institute (University of Melbourne). Beyond this expertise, Ysh is a skilled songwriter, artist and singer – whose professional achievements as a musician have included a stint on The Voice! Outside his work with the Wade Institute, Ysh explores his interest in music tech and is currently immersed in building a comprehensive catalogue of songs for publishing.

Ysh works three days a week (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) to support Wade across our program portfolio, with a special focus on our custom and UpSchool programs.

Driven by a dedication to advancing educational excellence, Liz Prem holds an MBA from the University of Technology in Sydney. With a proven track record in successful event orchestration – from intimate workshops to large-scale conferences – Liz excels in ensuring seamless execution and high attendee satisfaction. Her approach to her work is strategic and meticulous and she’s committed to coordinating programs for diverse audiences.

Liz joins Wade from a program management role at Stephenson Mansell Group and she’s always looking for opportunities to align educational initiatives with industry trends.

Bella has a Bachelor of Business from The University of Newcastle, where she majored in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and International Business. She completed the HEX Startup Program in Singapore in 2023, where she successfully pitched her own business idea, and has a passion for start-up businesses, creative thinking, and community. Bella comes to Wade with prior work experience in the retail and disability support sectors.

As a full-time Program and Events Coordinator at Wade, she provides support to a range of programs including the Master of Entrepreneurship and VC Catalyst as well as the Dream Ventures Minderoo program.