Our People

Open Colleges (formerly Cengage Education) is led, managed and operated by a diverse team of passionate professionals. From our student support officers to our IT team we share a common commitment to improving the life opportunities of our students through the delivery of great courses.

Our education leadership team includes:

Anthony Böhm
Chief Executive Officer

Anthony has extensive experience in the private education sector having worked in senior executive positions in Australia and the UK. Most recently, Anthony was co-founder and CEO Operations for Think: Education Group - one of Australia's leading providers of campus-based education and training. Prior to this, Anthony held senior executive positions with Kaplan Inc. (New York and London) and IDP Education Australia (Sydney). Anthony has a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) with Merit and is co-author of a number of seminal research publications in the area of international education.

Anthony was a member of the NSW Vocational Education & Training Accreditation Board (VETAB) and has previously been an active member of the NSW State Committee of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET). He is also a member of the NSW Tertiary Pathways Review Committee of the NSW Department of Education & Communities.

Anthony is the co-founder and Joint-CEO of Nexus Education Group Pty Ltd, the parent company of Open Colleges Pty Ltd.

Paula Irvine
Head of Faculty,
Business, Finance & Accounting

Paula has more than 20 years' experience in the vocational education and training sector and is a passionate advocate of online learning in Business, Finance & Accounting.

Prior to joining the Open Colleges team, Paula was General Manager, Real Estate Education at Kaplan Professional and the Education Manager for Australian Property Institute NSW. Paula has a Bachelor of Arts (Adult Education) and postgraduate qualifications in management.

Mandy Lacy
Head of Faculty,
Health & Community Services

A workforce development and training specialist, Mandy has extensive experience in Health & Community Services in both Australia and New Zealand. Most recently she was with Medibank Health Solutions where, as a senior learning and development designer, she played a pivotal role in developing and delivering training for the first Australian GP after-hours phone service.

Mandy is currently completing her Masters in Learning Science & Technology at Sydney University. In addition, Mandy is a faculty member of the Australian Centre for Integrated Studies in the field of organisational psychology.

Dirk Drieberg
Head of Faculty,
Design & Technology
Environment & Languages

Dirk has more than 30 years' experience in the education and training sector. Dirk was instrumental in the development of the Australian Institute of Music, leading the organisation through the implementation of competency-based training. Dirk's strong affiliation with the creative industries continued through his roles as the Education Systems Manager for the Computer Graphics College and the Accreditation Manager for the School of Audio Engineering and Raffles KvB.

Dirk joined Open Colleges in 2004 and has held the positions of Compliance Manager and Academic Director. Dirk has a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) Hons. and vocational qualifications in training and assessment.

Kim Wright
General Manager,
Business & Service Improvement

Kim leads our Faculty Support Divisions, which include Student Support, Registrar, Course Development & Improvement and Quality & Continuous Improvement.

Kim has extensive experience and broad-ranging expertise in the education and training sector - particularly in quality service delivery, change management, business systems, project management and business process engineering. Prior to joining us, Kim held senior management positions with Think: Education Group and IDP Education.

Katina Kalergis
Manager,
Course Development & Improvement

Katina is responsible for leading a team of course development professionals to create new cutting-edge courses and ensure that our current courses reflect latest industry trends and developments.

Katina was Education Manager at Thomson Education Direct (a predecessor of Open Colleges) and was responsible for the development, improvement and delivery of an extensive portfolio of accredited and unaccredited courses. After leaving Thomson, Katina joined the Australian Institute of Professional Education as Academic Director. Katina has a Master of Professional Education & Training and Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment.

Nancy Davis
Manager,
Quality & Continuous Improvement

Nancy oversees quality and continuous improvement across Open Colleges. Nancy is an experienced education and training professional with more than 12 years' experience. She has extensive experience in conducting internal audits and establishing quality systems and processes. Nancy previously worked as Director of Compliance with the Australian Institute of Workplace Learning (AIWL). Nancy has strong experience in leading project teams working on significant VET projects including developing training programs in a variety of business, education, commercial and learning environments.

Nancy has a Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment, Bachelor of Management, Associate Diploma of Applied Science, Diploma of Business Administration and Associate Diploma in Horticulture.