Leadership Team
At Affinity Education, our leadership team is dedicated to delivering the best early childhood experience for families and employees.
Driven by The Affinity Way and a commitment to excellence, our leaders inspire a culture that fosters collaboration, innovation, and professionalism.
With a focus on creating supportive, high-quality learning environments, Affinity's leaders guide our teams to ensure every child receives exceptional care and education while building a positive, engaged community across all our centres.
Tim Hickey
Tim is a much-loved and completely connected CEO with more than 25 years’ experience in senior management and executive level roles across Australia and America. A die-hard Blues fan, he joined Affinity in 2015 and is the driving force behind Affinity’s values-based culture prioritising recognition, reward and results. A father of three daughters, one of whom is working as an early childhood educator, Tim’s well known for his ‘Affinity Cheer’ - ‘To Affinity and Beyond!’
Favourite Affinity Value: Going Above And Beyond
“The excitement and satisfaction of discovering, supporting and realising potential in our people and our children is one of the best things about working at Affinity. We’re absolutely committed to setting our teams up for success.”
Cathy Montesin
Cathy joined Affinity Education Group in 2019, leading Business Performance and Financial Operations after more than 15 years in roles at PWC, National Australia Bank, EY and Cleanaway. Cathy’s data-driven focus combines with an open-door policy for our Centre Support, Operational teams and Centre Managers. Dedicated to achieving the best possible results, Cathy’s also a proud mum of three daughters and enjoys playing in her local netball team.
Favourite Affinity Value: Delivering Outstanding Professionalism
“We’re a national community working together to achieve a clear vision for employees and for Australian families. Everyone’s individual efforts make an obvious difference to the results we achieve.”
Nishad Alani
After a global career spanning some of Australia’s favourite brands including Boost Juice, Betty’s Burgers, Salsas Fresh Mex and Starbucks, Nishad joined Affinity in 2024. His positive leadership and focus on family and employee experience drives innovative strategies to continuously improve Affinity’s outcomes across all areas of the company.
Favourite Affinity Value: Creating Shining Stars
“I wish I could go back and thank my own early childhood educators who made it possible for my family to restart their life in Canada all those years ago. I’m so proud to be supporting our teams to make a difference in the lives of Australian families by providing reliable, quality early education and care for their children every day.”
Rolanda Mitchell
A well-respected leader in Australia’s HR sector, Rolanda joined Affinity in 2024, bringing with her extensive experience in change management and business transformation. Having worked with large scale organisations in both metropolitan and remote regions, she has a proven track record in delivering business performance outcomes within complex work environments. Committed to collaboration and recognised for her approachability, Rolanda heads up our People and Culture departments including Talent Acquisition, Performance, Learning & Development, and Governance while working closely with our Operational Team and Centre Support Office departments. Having migrated from Canada more than 20 years ago, she is extremely proud to call Australia home.
Favourite Affinity Value: Living The Team Spirit
“The opportunity to positively impact on the lives of more than 6000 employees and some 20,000 children every single day is a privilege, I’m so proud to be part of Affinity’s future.”
Dr. Lesley Jones
Since joining 2019 as Head of Education Pedagogy and Practice, Lesley has developed and launched our Lifelong Learning Curriculum, while establishing a national team of Education Advisors and framework for mentoring and leadership. Lesley’s academic career has included research focus on leadership in the early years and children's social competences. Lesley’s depth of sector experience after working from educator through to executive leader, and positive and proactive approach to developing passionate, high performing teams is an important part of Affinity’s culture. A proud mum of four daughters and 7 grandchildren, Lesley's is also a keen amateur golfer and enjoys taking time out to play whenever the opportunity arises.
Favourite Affinity Value: Creating Shining Stars
“After more than 30 years in our sector, I have never been more confident than I am today in our ability to support every child develop a lifelong love of learning, while expanding the capabilities and potential of our educators and teachers to deliver quality education & care.”