CEnet appoints new Board Chair

Major not-for-profit ICT company CEnet has seen a changing of the guard recently as new Board Chair Leesa Jeffcoat AM, Catholic Education Director, Diocese of Rockhampton, steps into the leadership role vacated by outgoing founding Chair Mr Greg Whitby AM.

Owned by 16 Catholic dioceses, the shared services company connects more than 770 school and diocesan communities with a user base of over 330,000 students, teachers and staff across metropolitan, regional and rural New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT.

Miss Jeffcoat said she was very much looking forward to advancing the innovative work and critical partnerships implemented and developed since the company’s inception in 2007 to ensure better outcomes for member dioceses and schools.

“CEnet’s objective is to centrally procure and manage a range of agreed services for members to support them in achieving their goals in evangelization, learning and teaching using information communication learning technologies,” Miss Jeffcoat said.

“Bringing about solutions to access technology that supports reshaped learning environments in practical, safe, affordable and effective ways has chartered a course for CEnet that the Board and the members are very passionate about,” Miss Jeffcoat said.

The company has seen a 490 percent increase in the volume of total downloads by member dioceses since 2014 with 89 percent (daily average) of data traffic in schools coming from within the CEnet or partner networks delivered free of charge.

Miss Jeffcoat said licensing agreements brokered by CEnet have enabled significant saving for Catholic schools.

“Over the past three years alone members have saved well in excess of $23 million. Our collaborative buying power means we can deliver world-class services and outcomes that would normally be out of reach for individual members,” Miss Jeffcoat said.

“Significantly, CEnet’s guiding principles were developed to align with the mission of the Catholic Church including the Catholic social teaching of subsidiarity which underpins everything we do. It’s pleasing to see what a difference this critical service makes in the lives of students, teachers, staff – all users within our member dioceses – and knowing it’s delivered effectively and justly,” Miss Jeffcoat said.

Photo: CEnet outgoing Board Chair Greg Whitby congratulates his successor Catholic Education Director Leesa Jeffcoat.