Our Board of Directors
IDP's Board of Directors possess decades of combined experience and expertise.
Meet our Board of Directors
Peter Polson
Non-Executive Director and Chairman
Peter was appointed Non-Executive Director and Chairman of IDP Education in March 2007 and became Chairman of IDP Education Limited when the company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November 2015.
Peter has broad experience in the financial services industry, first as Managing Director of the international funds management business with the Colonial Group, then as an executive with the Commonwealth Banking Group with responsibility for all investment and insurance services, including the group’s funds management, master funds, superannuation and insurance businesses and third-party support services for brokers, agents and financial advisers.
He is currently Chairman of Challenger Limited, Challenger Life Company Limited, Avant Group Insurance Limited and Very Special Kids.
Peter is also a Director of Avant Mutual Group Limited and Avant Group Holdings Limited.
Tennealle O’Shannessy
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Tennealle was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at IDP in February 2023. Tennealle has over twenty-five years of professional experience, including scaling online education and employment platforms and e-commerce businesses. Prior to joining IDP, Tennealle was CEO of Adore Beauty, Australia's number one online beauty retailer, where she led the successful listing of the company on the ASX in 2020. Prior to this role, Tennealle spent almost ten years with SEEK, a global market leader in online employment marketplaces and education services, where she held the role of Managing Director – Americas. Whilst at Seek, she also held a number of global strategy-focused positions, including the start-up and scaling of Online Education Services, a public-private partnership between SEEK and Swinburne University. Earlier in her career, Tennealle was a consultant with global tier-one management consulting firm Kearney, focusing on strategic and operational CEO-agenda issues.
Read moreAriane Barker
Non-Executive Director
Ariane was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of IDP Education at the completion of its IPO in November 2015 and is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Ariane is a Board Member of Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation since September 2016, a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at Atlas Arteria since March 2021, a member of the Investment Committee at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute since 2011, and a former Board Director of Emergency Services & State Superannuation (ESSSuper).
She has extensive experience in international finance, risk management, debt and equity capital markets and venture capital, with over 20 years in senior executive roles at JBWere (part of National Australia Bank), Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and HSBC in the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. She was previously the CEO of Scale Investors from 2017 to February 2021.
Ariane is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
Professor David Battersby AM
Non-Executive Director
David was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of IDP Education in February 2011.
He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ballarat in 2006 and, in 2014, he became Foundation Vice-Chancellor of Federation University Australia, completing his term of office in 2016. He took up his current appointment as an Adjunct Professor at Southern Cross University in 2017.
David’s previous senior appointments have been at universities in Australia and New Zealand, and he has undertaken consultancies for UNESCO, the OECD and various government agencies.
He was foundation Chair of the Australian Regional Universities Network and the board of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Melbourne Institute of Technology. David is also Deputy Chair of the Board of Education Australia Limited.
Professor Colin Stirling
Non-Executive Director
Colin was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of IDP Education in February 2018.
He is the President and Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University and brings more than thirty years of experience in international education in Australia, the UK and the USA.
Colin is a Director of Education Australia Limited and has held various other board positions across health, academic and community organisations.
Educated at the University of Edinburgh, and with a PhD from the University of Glasgow, Colin began his award-winning scientific career at the University of California, Berkeley.
Greg West
Non-Executive Director
Greg was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of IDP Education in December 2006.
Greg is on the Council of the University of Wollongong and a Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of UOWGE Limited, a business arm of the University of Wollongong with universities in Dubai, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Greg is also a Director and Chair of Education Australia Limited.
Previously, Greg was Chief Executive Officer of a dual listed ASX biotech company. He has worked at Price Waterhouse and has held senior finance executive roles in investment banking with Bankers Trust, Deutsche Bank, NZI and other financial institutions.
Greg is a Director of the St James Foundation Limited.
He is a Chartered Accountant with experience in the education sector, investment banking and financial services.
Chris Leptos AO
Non-Executive Director
Chris was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of IDP Education at the completion of its IPO in November 2015.
Chris recently retired as Chairman of SEA Electric and is Chairman of the National Heart Foundation of Australia. In 2020 Chris was appointed by the Federal Government to conduct a statutory review of the National Housing and Investment Corporation Act reporting to Parliament in 2021.
In 2021 Chris was appointed by the Federal Government as the Independent Reviewer of the Food and Grocery Code under the Competition and Consumer Act.
He is also a Senior Advisor to Flagstaff Partners, a member of the Advisory Board of The University of Melbourne Faculty of Business & Economics, and the Advisory Council of Asialink. He was previously a Senior Partner with KPMG and Managing Partner Government at Ernst & Young where he had national responsibility for leading the public sector and higher education practice. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Fellow of the AICD.
Tracey Horton AO
Non-Executive Director
Tracey Horton is an experienced company director with extensive international experience in leadership and senior management, and as an economist and management consultant.
Ms Horton is currently a director of the GPT Group, a Sydney-based ASX100 company and a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel, Chair of the Australian Industry and Skills Committee and a Non-Executive Director of Campus Living Villages Pty Ltd and Chair of the Remuneration Committee.
Ms Horton has previously served on the boards of leading listed companies including as Chair of Navitas and Non-Executive Director at Automotive Holdings Group, Skilled Group and Nearmap. She has held several leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector including President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA and Deputy Chair of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ms Horton also has extensive international business and education experience as an executive in the education and management consulting industries, most recently as Winthrop Professor and Dean of the University of Western Australia Business School.
Michelle Tredenick
Non-Executive Director
Ms Tredenick is a company director with extensive experience in businesses operating in a broad range of industries, including banking, insurance, wealth management, education services, health insurance, superannuation and technology. She also runs her own corporate advisory business advising boards and CEOs on strategy and technology.
She currently serves on a number of listed and private company boards, including ASX-listed IAG. She is also a Non-Executive Director of Cricket Australia and Urbis, as well as First Sentier Investors.
Ms Tredenick served as a Non-Executive Director of the Bank of Queensland from 2011-2020 and was also formerly a director of the Ethics Centre and a Senate Member of the University of Queensland.