Board of Directors

The Dear Dyslexic Foundation is supported by a Board. The DDF board contributes a diverse mix of skills and expertise including lived experience of dyslexia, higher education, not-for-profit, policy, advocacy and finance. The Board provides governance and oversight to DDF and has several subcommittees.

Shae Wissell, Board Managing Director and Secretary

Shae Wissell is the CEO, Founder and Executive Director of the Dear Dyslexic Foundation, she serves as Managing Director and Secretary of the Board.

Shae trained as a speech pathologist and then completed a masters degree in Public Health and one in Health Administration.

Shae’s passion for working in public health and empowering people with dyslexia led her to establish the Dear Dyslexic Foundation.

As a dyslexic herself, Shae has experienced and seen first hand, the challenges those with dyslexia can face and the impact dyslexia has on education, employment and quality of life. Shae is currently a doctoral candidate researching the impact of dyslexia in the workplace.

Shae recently won three awards People’s Choice Award for Leadership, the Women’s Business School Accelerate Award and second for the Making a Difference Award (Non-Profit) as well as being shortlisted for Telstra Business Woman of the Year for my work at the Dear Dyslexic Foundation.

On the Board, she is a member of the Risk, Audit and Finance and the Advocacy and Fundraising Committees.

Christine MacJouvelet, Chair

Christine originally trained as a primary school teacher and has a strong background in education and financial services. She has taught at kindergarten and primary levels as well as adult education at Victoria University, the Salvation Army and NMIT Preston.

She developed and ran the ‘Able Sports Programme’ for the Australian Sports Commission and Vic Sport and Recreation. Christine has also worked at registered training organisations, including AAMC Training Group and was a Director of Skill Solutions.

Christine works as a mortgage broker and mentor, and has used her educational skills in teaching finance for the financial services sector. Social justice is a strong motivator and Christine wants to make a difference for people with dyslexia and specific learning disabilities, particularly in teacher/tutor training and direct support services to dyslexics over 16.

Christine is dyslexic herself and believes that education is one of the best vehicles for growth and change. Christine joined the Dear Dyslexic Foundation board in April 2017. She is a member of the Quality, Risk and Governance Committee.

James Sedman, Board Treasurer 

James brings a vast range of strategic experience, acting on several Board and Committees and holding high-level management and policy roles within government and the not-for-profit sector.

James is a passionate advocate and policy developer, specialising in economic, governance and disability rights and support. James is dedicated to removing the stigma and misperceptions of dyslexia in the workforce and is committed to empowering dyslexics to achieve their education, work and life goals.

James’s other passions include heritage conservation and participating in ultra-marathons.

Kate Madden, Board Director

Kate is passionate about community development and education and is an accomplished leader with over 20 years’ experience in the sector. Kate has travelled and worked in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.

Kate graduated with a BA in Psychology from the University of Port Elizabeth (South Africa) and has qualifications in community development, management, facilitation and education and training, with an abiding interest in entrepreneurship. She has worked in a variety of roles including the Department of Cultural Affairs, not-for-profits and the corporate sector in community development and education and training.

Kate is committed to lifelong learning and has a love of the arts. She has been involved in community arts projects enterprises, delivered workshops and retreats. A committed volunteer, Kate served as President of the Rotary Club of Greensborough and continues to contribute as a member and on the Board.

Kate joined the Dear Dyslexic Foundation Board of Directors in 2017 and is a member of the Fundraising Committee.

Carmel Riley, Board Director

Carmel is Principal Consultant and Shared Value Strategist at Carmel Riley Consulting. She has a tertiary background in Speech Pathology, Family Sensitive Practice, Executive MBA and over 15 years of experience, spanning the private sector, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations across health, community, education and sustainability service industries Australia-wide.

With a deliberate bias towards social justice, Carmel brings together diverse perspectives, lived experience and systems-oriented business acumen to explore, design and deliver a strategy to create shared economic and societal value for the community.

Carmel, together with her husband John, parent three primary-school aged children with unique minds who do not always align with mainstream approaches. She has seen first-hand the negative impact of hidden learning differences on community and passionately believes in the difference improved recognition and consideration of dyslexia could make to improve the social, emotional and mental wellbeing of children and their families.

Carmel’s work has recently been recognised through nominations for:

• 2019 Vice-Chancellor Award at Queensland University of Technology as an instrumental partner in the establishment and development of a strategic social enterprise engagement model between the Graduate Business School and Impact Investment Body
• 2019 Telstra Business Woman of the year, social enterprise category.

Carmel joined DDF as a non-executive Director in Dec 2019, having held previous Board roles with Olivia’s Place Inc. Warragul, Victoria and St Simon Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Ocean Reef, Western Australia.

Dr Norman Chorn, Board Director

Dr Norman Chorn Non-executive Director; Strategy Consultant; Part-time Academic. Norman is a non-executive director of the Dear Dyslexic Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that works to improve the lives of children and adults with dyslexia and learning difficulties. He works as a strategy and organisation development practitioner in Australia, UK, SE ASIA, China, New Zealand and South Africa. After leaving a leading consulting firm, Norman founded a strategy and research firm with affiliations in the UK and North America. His work integrates the research from neuroscience with economics and strategy. It addresses:

• Strategy - is highly uncertain environments, using various approaches such as scenario planning and neurostrategy

• Organisation development – designing and developing innovative organisations

• Leadership and personal resilience – achieving growth and adaptation.

Norman has particular skills in developing future strategy and aligning organisations with their current and future environments. His integration of neuroscience and strategy principles (neurostrategy) has enabled the development of a range of proprietary techniques and approaches to achieve an enhancement in performance.

Norman has published widely in his field and has contributed to a range of journals and international conferences. His recent book, Strategic Alignment, has received acclaim in the management and business press and the 2nd edition has just been published. His new book, The Future Builders deals with the practices of creating the future and organisational adaptation in uncertain environments. This is due for publication shortly. He holds visiting and associate appointments with a number of leading Graduate Schools of Management, including Macquarie University (Australia), the University of Pretoria - GIBS (South Africa) and until recently, Canterbury Graduate School of Management (NZ).

Prior to his consulting career, Norman held a variety of senior Marketing and General Management positions in the services and manufacturing sectors. He has a BA (Economics and Sociology) from the University of Cape Town, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management, an MBA, and PhD from the University of Witwatersrand. Norman is also an Ambassador for Thought Leaders Global and a member of the AICD.