School Council
Governance
Sub-Committees
The School's Chief Operating Officer, Rod Kenning, serves as Company Secretary and is the first point of contact for Council matters.
Meet our School Council
Jeffrey Leigh
President
Jeffrey joined the Council in 2020 and has degrees in both law and economics. He has nearly 30 years of experience as a solicitor. For the last 20 years Jeffrey has worked in an in house role – with 15 of those years being in the position of Corporate Counsel for one of Australia’s largest serviced apartment operators.
Jeffrey has continued his association with the accommodation industry and is now involved with multiple accommodation businesses operating throughout Australia. He prides himself on his commercial approach to business.
Jeffrey has two children at KDS, Harry and Jasmine, and is looking forward to continuing to make a contribution to the School.
Lahra Carey
Immediate Past President
As the Principal of Narrative – a full-service public relations and reputational management consultancy, Lahra’s expertise is crafting appropriate messages to reach specific target audiences.
A former broadcast journalist, she is also a Partner of Newsflash Media – conducting presentation and media training across Australia’s C-suite executive market.
Lahra holds a Masters degree in Criminology, and a Graduate Certificate in Electronic Commerce. She is also a Director of Foodbank Victoria, a member of the Melbourne Press Club, the Public Relations Institute of Australia, a member of RMIT’s Public Relations Industry Advisory Board, and a graduate of the News Ltd creative Advertising AWARD School.
Lahra has a son Mitch and twin girls Charlotte and Alexandra who all attended The King David School.
Carrie Kausman
Chair
Carrie is an alumna of the School having attended in the early years for her primary schooling. She completed her medical degree at Monash University in 1997.
She has extensive experience in various fields including Paediatrics, Psychiatry and Obstetrics and has worked in General Practice since 2003.
Carrie is married to Josh and they have three daughters at the School, Jemma (now graduated), Abigail and Hannah who have been at the School from Kindergarten.
Jason Rose
Treasurer
Jason is a qualified accountant (CPA) and a director of Concept Financial Services Group (CFSG). In his role with CFSG, Jason works with companies to help them execute their growth strategies and he also advises on capital raisings and mergers & acquisitions.
Prior to his 10 years in financial services, Jason spent a decade in the advertising industry as an award-winning copywriter. Before that, he was an auditor with KPMG, focused on large manufacturing businesses.
Jason has undergraduate degrees in Commerce and Arts and a Masters degree in Applied Finance and Investment.
All three of Jason’s daughters have attended KDS since kindergarten.
Marc Light
Principal
Marc started his role as Principal of The King David School in 2014.
Marc holds a Bachelor of Laws/Arts as well as a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Melbourne.
He was previously Assistant Principal – Curriculum at Bialik College where he worked for the past 4 years and prior to that spent 5 years at Mount Scopus Memorial College.
Having attended The King David School in his primary schooling, Marc is the first alumnus to become Principal of a Jewish School in Melbourne, and is well known throughout the Jewish community.
With proven experience in culture setting, change management and strategic goal setting, Marc has been an active member of the Senior Management Team across the K-12 continuum of Melbourne’s top performing Jewish Schools.
Marc and his wife Emma have three children, Daniel, Layla and Raphy.
Susan Taylor
Secretary
Susan is a Partner of Clayton Utz, one of Australia’s premier law firms. Her focus is energy regulation, an area in which she has worked for over 25 years. Her experience spans executive roles in a major ASX-listed electricity and gas network company, as well as in law firms and regulatory bodies in Australia, Asia and the US. She is admitted to practise law in Australia and New York.
Susan has held roles as a non-executive director on several Boards and their Finance Committees, including Amber Electric (current), the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Vic), East Gippsland Water (where she also chaired the company’s Finance and Risk Committee), City of Yarra Energy Foundation, the St Kilda Football Club and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Volunteer Advisory Board.
Susan’s son, Charlie, has attended the School since 2021.
Ganit Taft
KDSPA President
Ganit is our wonderful new KDSPA President.
Her bio will be updated shortly.
Ganit has served on the KDSPA as a general committee member since 2021 and took on the role as President this year.
Rabbi Allison Conyer
PJV Rabbi
Born in Los Angeles, Rabbi Conyer was raised in a secular Jewish family deeply committed to humanitarian values. Her curiosity about her cultural roots led her on an enriching exploration of her Jewish heritage. With a background in Psychology, along with French and Italian Literature, she immersed herself in various Jewish traditions, culminating in her ordination as a Reform rabbi from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in 1998.
Married to Dr. Bryan Conyer and a proud mother of four children. Rabbi Conyer is excited to share her knowledge, enthusiasm and ideas with Council.
Michael Benson
Michael is the CEO of CSBC P/L and Clear Edge Offices P/L, a Serviced Office and Coworking group based in Melbourne. Prior to joining CSBC P/L, Michael was a member of the local executive of Regus and the CFO of Corporate Executive Offices.
Michael is also a Chartered Accountant with many years’ experience in the financial sector both in Australia and in South Africa. Michael also holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a post graduate Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Tina Landsberg
Tina Landsberg joined the School in 2015 when her daughter India commenced Kinder, and she took on the role of class rep. She joined the King’s Carnival committee in 2016 and became a general member of the KDSPA in that year. She was President of the KDSPA until 2024 and continues to be passionate about the School.
Tina works part time as a Market Research Project Manager and enjoys a great work- life balance in this role.
Adam Kaye
Originally trained as a banking and property lawyer with Melbourne-based law firms SW Lawyers and Thomson Geer Solicitors, Adam is currently principal and founder of boutique real estate investment and advisory firm IDA Property Group.
In addition to his day-to-day role with IDA, Adam is also co-founder and director of Melbourne-based IT incubator Papercloud Ventures as well as several subsidiary companies including Vivi International Pty Ltd – a manufacturer of world-leading wireless mirroring solutions designed exclusively for use in the education sector.
Adam and his wife Lexi have two sons, Oscar and Luca and a daughter Claudia.
Joshua Samuel
Joining the council in 2024, Joshua is an Enterprise Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services, where Joshua advises customers on technology strategy and implementation, working with one of Australia’s largest financial institutions. Previously, he led the
design and building of financial markets and wealth management software, whilst driving business transforming initiatives.
Joshua has a lifelong connection to The King David School, having attended the school from Kinder through Grade 6, and now as a parent with his children attending from Kindergarten. Further, Joshua’s mother, Shayndel, taught
Jewish Studies at the school for many years, whilst his father, Ian, was a founding member of the school council and was the school’s honorary solicitor for a number of years.
The Samuel family have been members of Temple Beth Israel since the 1940s, and Joshua is keen to ensure that Progressive Jewish education is available for generations to come.
Rick Tudor OAM
After 15 years, Rick retired as Headmaster of Trinity Grammar School, Kew in December 2013. Previously he was Deputy Headmaster and Head of Senior School of Melbourne Grammar School, and Headmaster of Beaconhills College for eight years.
He co-authored Understanding the Human Body, and was Course Developer of HSC Group 2 Subject ‘Human and Social’ Biology. Rick was also previously on the Council of St Margaret’s School, Berwick, and took the role of Deputy Chair for two years.
He has also sat on the Board of Anglicare Victoria, and previously as a member of the Ethics Committee at the Royal Women’s Hospital. Other leadership roles have included Victorian representation on the Australian Anglican Schools Network, Chair of the Indigenous Education Focus Group of the Centre for Strategic Education, and Chair of the Victorian Branch of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia. He is also a Member of: the St Paul’s Cathedral Chapter, the Board of the Anglican Diocesan School’s Commission, the Board of the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, the Boards of Ivanhoe Girl’s Grammar School and the Board of the Melbourne Learning and Living Centre. He is also a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators and a Fellow of The Australian Council of Educational Leaders.
Strategic Framework
School Council has conducted extensive community surveys with an independent consultant.
After analysing the results of this research utilising strategic workshops and consultations, the School Council released this “Strategic Framework” document.
This document articulates what School Council believes The King David School stands for and outlines the School’s vision and purpose for being. The document provides a deliberate and strategic reference by which operational decisions are determined and implemented.
Our Principal, Marc Light and the Senior Leadership Team now implement the Operational Plan that ties in to this Strategic Framework. The Leadership Team continues the important work of delivering on each of the five key pillars identified by School Council in this document.
The Constitution was adopted by members at the EGM held at The King David School on Monday 14 December 2020
