Our People

The Executive Committee responsible for the John Paul II Australian Leaders Forum is made up of the following people:

Dr. Michael Casey

Michael is Private Secretary to Cardinal George Pell. He is a member of the council of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, and a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Notre Dame Australia.  He has also served as a foundation member of the Board of Campion College in Sydney. He is the author of Meaninglessness (2011), and the editor of God and Caesar (2007) a collection of Cardinal Pell’s essays, and has published a number of articles on politics, culture and religion in journals in Australia and overseas.

David Collits

David is the Executive Assistant of Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, Bishop of Parramatta and has been in that role since May 2012.  Prior to that, he worked as a solicitor for a Sydney law firm and was a Judge’s Associate in the New South Wales Supreme Court.  He has degrees in Arts and Law from Sydney University and is currently completing a thesis in Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney.

Jim Cosgrave

Following 20 years executive experience in the international Pharmaceutical Industry, Jim established his own management consultancy in 1977, which he continues to operate.
Currently he is also serving as a Trustee of Campion College, Australia’s first and only Liberal Arts College.

 
 Kristan Dooley

Kristan Dooley is the Managing Director of Women’s Forum Australia, an Australian women’s research and education organisation which promotes life-affirming cultural change for women. Kristan previously worked in the public service and military for over twenty years specialising in corporate governance, finance and administration and working both in Australia and overseas. Kristan holds an Honours degree in Mathematics and a Masters in International Relations. She is currently studying for her Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance through the Chartered Secretaries of Australia.

James Power
James is the Managing Director of the Power Group of Companies with a background in business management and entrepreneurship.

James is a Director and Trustee of Campion College, a not for profit liberal arts College in Old Toongabbie, Sydney. He is a member of the Order of Malta and resides in Brisbane with his family.

Karl Schmude

Karl is a Founding Fellow of Campion College and Executive Director of the Campion Foundation.

President of the Australian Chesterton Society and a widely published author, he formerly served as University Librarian at the University of New England.

Sophie York

Sophie is a barrister and mediator, and law lecturer in Jurisprudence (Legal Philosophy) at Sydney and Notre Dame Universities, and a Board member of Campion College.

She is a Dame Commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Officer of the Royal Australian Navy Reserves, and former Councillor of the St Thomas More Society. She is also a writer, speaker, activist, and event organiser. She is the author of Angels of Aceh – Operation Tsunami Assist, published by Allen and Unwin. She has served with community groups and delivered comprehensive papers on many topics. She is married to an anesthetist, Dr Paul Dunkin, and they have four sons.