Staff and Board

SYN is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by the SYN membership, who offer their time and expertise voluntarily to our organisation. 

The SYN staff carry out the administration and organisational management of SYN. These people work with our amazing volunteers  to make SYN's strategy come to life.

From time to time, SYN employs project staff to undertake funded projects. Currently, we employ:

Here are our Board members:

President - Sally Whiteman

Sally Whiteman was elected President in November 2012 after commencing on SYN’s Board of Management in late 2011. Since that time she has contributed to the 2012 – 2014 Strategic Plan as well as SYN's Policies and Procedures through the Risk & Compliance Committee.

Sally has been involved with SYN for several years, lending voice to Australian music The Hoist, and ear to television program 1700 as Music Manager. She remains passionate and supportive of Australian music and composes herself. Sally is a lawyer with a particular interest in media, intellectual property and commercial law.


Vice President - Adam Christou

Adam Christou is a community broadcaster, former music radio coordinator and a passionate supporter of Australian Music who calls Melbourne his home.

Adam has worked and volunteered tirelessly in the community broadcasting sector having spent time as the music coordinator at both JOY 94.9 and youth broadcaster SYN.  Adam recently wrapped up a short-term experimental Australian music series on Triple R called On The Fringe.

When not involved in broadcasting, Adam works at Remote Control Records in North Melbourne.  He spends his free time helping out bedroom electronic label /THIS THING/ and boutique booking agency Wing & Gill with their social media campaigns, plays guitar and sings (very badly).


Secretary - Andrew Crook

Andrew Crook is senior journalist at Crikey.com.au covering politics and the media. He has previously reported on finance for Business Spectator and on music for The Vine and Mess+Noise. He spent three torturous years toiling as a policy officer in the Victorian Public Service before settling in behind the newsdesk in 2007.

Andrew has a long history at SYN, hosting the seminar Indie Night show Hyperstation in 2004 and serving for 7 subsequent years on the SYN board. He has overseen a number of key reforms, including a revamp of SYN’s finances, the implementation of three strategic plans and the organisation’s successful transition from a tenuous year-to-year proposition to a feisty and self-sustaining media entity.


Treasurer - Marcus Beames

Marcus has been into the cut & thrust of commerce since the beginning - he starting playing monopoly in the 2nd grade, and started his first business at high school. When not delving into an obsessive curiosity for business models & economics, you will probably find him out looking for new kinds of food to add to the menu for his Hospitality business.

Marcus learned the dark arts of finance working for the ANZ Bank, and now puts those skills to good use as the treasurer of SYN. He does pro-bono financial work for other education/youth NFP's - to enable them to worry less about accounting & more towards fulfilling their vision.


Joe Toohey

Joe is currently the General Manager of Express Media, a Melbourne-based organisation which provides support and development opportunities for young Australians in writing and media. He has previously worked as a Project Officer at Regional Arts Victoria, a Research Assistant and Sessional Tutor at Victoria University, and a Youth Services Officer for Banyule City Council on the area’s FReeZA Youth Music and Cultural Events program.

Joe joined the SYN Board in 2008, after volunteering in roles including presenter and Executive Producer since 2007. 


Tamzin Byrne

Tamzin is currently studying a postgraduate journalism degree at RMIT University, but she feels that the real learning happened at SYN, working on the current affairs program, Panorama.

She foolishly ignored SYN's first call-out for presenters as a fresher back in 2003. But in 2008, Tamzin dropped in to help a friend one day, and didn't leave SYN until she'd had a go at everything - TV and Radio, talk and music, as presenter and producer - including as
Executive Producer of Panorama in 2009 and Radio Manager 2010. Her contact book is bulging with politicians, astronauts, musicians, sportspeople, business leaders, and even an expert on modern piracy (the high-seas kind, all thanks to the opportunities and resources
provided by SYN.

Since leaving SYN, Tamzin has been published in The Age, The Herald Sun, Crikey, The Punch and The Drum. She's taught broadcast journalism to school-leavers and run a program for international student journalists at a UN conference in Melbourne.


Georgia Moodie

Ever since she fell in love with a frenchman (long story), Georgia has been hooked on radio. Since starting at SYN in 2007, she has been Executive Producer of Arts Mitten, SYN’s flagship arts and culture radio program, and a trainer with SYN’s Education and Training Department.

In 2010, Georgia studied at the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies in America, a 15-week intensive course in radio documentary. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne, with majors in history and Australian studies, and completed Honours in History at Monash University in 2011.

She is the presenter of All the Best, an award-winning radio storytelling program produced by FBi Radio Sydney in association with SYN, and works here and there at ABC Radio National.


Leonie Morgan

Leonie Morgan has worked across the public, private and community sectors. Currently she consults on workforce development, change management, program evaluation and governance with Precision Consultancy.

Leonie brings her experience in strategic planning, human resource management, governance and advocacy to the SYN Board.

She holds a Masters of Education, is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Director on several not-for-profit Boards. She has recently completed a four year term as a member of the Film Victoria Board and her services to women in decision making are recognised by her inclusion on the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll.


Patricia Niklas

Patricia is a Communications graduate and sex educator with a passion for youth advocacy. After doing the rounds at a few youth non-profits including The Oaktree Foundation and YEAH, she found her spiritual home at SYN as the Executive Producer of The Naughty Rude Show.

She currently works in digital production and youth mobilisation at the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) and in her spare time is learning to dance Reggaeton-style, where she struggles with basic physical co-ordination.

Andy Lynch

Andy is a Media and Communications graduate, turned tutor at The University of Melbourne. Since joining SYN in 2008 Andy has panelled and presented for several radio shows and taken the helm of syn.org.au as Online Manager.

After finding his media-making-feet at SYN, 2012 saw Andy dip his toe into the mainstream media as an unmemorable, third placed contestant on Millionaire Hotseat. Still determined to make it big on the small screen, Andy found himself selected to compete in front of an audience of 16 million Japanese game-show fans as a contestant on The Brain World Cup. Actually.

When he isn't whiling away his days waiting for fan mail from Japan to come in, he jams out on de bass guitar with a few local bands and dreams of taking SYN's online presence to spectacular new heights.

 

The SYN Board meets monthly at the House of SYN.

Staff and Board