Board

CHAIR

Megan Lawton 

Joined 2017

Megan is a born and bred Territorian who has been involved in Darwin’s vibrant theatre scene from the early age of three, including being a longstanding Corrugated Iron participant during her teens. Megan studied Drama as part of her Arts degree, before pursuing a career as a lobbyist and a lawyer. Megan brings her experience as an awarded manager whilst CEO of the Law Society Northern Territory and as a lawyer in private and Government roles. In 2016 Megan established a boutique legal and business consultancy, VIVID Advice which specialises in employment, governance and strategy. In addition to her legal qualifications and experience Megan has completed the AICD Company Directors Course and Megan has extensive experience on boards including eight years as Chairperson of Darwin Theatre Company.

TREASURER

Steve Bartlett

Joined 2019

Steve is a chartered accountant, currently working for Territory Generation, an NT government owned corporation, following separation of the NT's electricity businesses in 2014. Steve has gained over 28 years of professional experience from public practice to commercial (primarily resources and energy industries), from family-owned businesses through to multi-listed multinationals.  Throughout this time, Steve has held responsibility for all aspects of accounting, with a particular focus on defining and creating business value. In addition, Steve has enjoyed a number of broader business and commercial management responsibilities; success in all cases only being possible through the development of strong and effective teams. Steve and his family moved to Darwin in 2007 for a 12 month period, and have not yet left.

PUBLIC OFFICER

John Jablonka

Joined 2015

John has 30 years experience in community development, designing, managing and delivering training and education programs in the youth, arts, health, justice, environment and governance sectors, in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. He has consultancy experience in governance capacity development, cross-cultural training and participatory approaches. He was a founding member of the Board in 1997 when Corrugated Iron Youth Arts became incorporated and developed its organisational framework. John has sat on a number of boards including school councils, youth agencies, environmental groups and social enterprises. In his current work with NT Legal Aid Commission leading community legal education programs across the NT, John works in partnership with a range of sectors including arts-based projects seeking to support young people's rights. John is a longstanding member of Darwin playback theatre, a musician and actor. John is also parent of one current and one recent past participant and champion at Corrugated Iron.

BOARD MEMBER

Elspeth Hurse

Joined 2020

Elspeth is an educator with an extensive background in the arts and a long-standing association with Corrugated Iron. Her background includes a career in dance and community arts spanning over three decades. Elspeth’s association with CIYA started in the early 1990’s when she was the NT’s Executive Office for Australian Association of Dance Education (now Ausdance) and a dance instructor. In 2006 Elspeth became the NT’s first representative on the Australian Dance Awards Panel. In recent years, Elspeth collaborated with CIYA to facilitate arts in schools, particularly focusing on Indigenous young people. This includes the award winning Educating Remote Indigenous Children in Urban Setting program (ERICUS) at Millner Primary School and engaging students in the Katherine region. Her commitment to Corrugated Iron comes from her belief that the arts offers young people the opportunity to develop many of the skills and attributes needed to address the complexities of today and the future. Elspeth is currently working as a Teaching Principal in a remote community.

BOARD MEMBER

Philip Anderson

Joined 2020

Philip joined the board in 2020 to bring his professional expertise into an arena that he is passionate about - theatre.