Our staff

Dr Aleisha Davis was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of The Shepherd Centre in January 2023. The Shepherd Centre is a leading not-for-profit organisation in Australia dedicated to supporting children with hearing loss and their families.

Aleisha joined The Shepherd Centre in 2003 after completing her Masters in Applied Linguistics at Cambridge University in the UK. First joining as a speech pathologist, over the past 12 years she has led the clinical teams to implement individual and group programs across 9 centres, through the interprofessional team of Listening & Spoken Language Specialists, Child & Family Counsellors, Early Educators, Researchers & Assessors and Cochlear Implant program in collaboration with the Sydney Children’s Hospital and ENT specialists. Aleisha led the design and commercial launch of HearHub in 2022, a digital platform to empower hearing healthcare professionals globally. She has worked with hundreds of families and children with hearing loss and has been awarded NSW Business Leader and Not-For-Profit Manager of the Year for her leadership in driving innovation and strategic growth of The Shepherd Centre’s programs and model, and designed and developed The Functional Listening Index – Paediatric, a tool for tracking a child’s listening development, now used by professionals around the world to enable earlier intervention and informed decisions by families.

The Shepherd Centre now supports over 850 children, young people and their families across four states of Australia.

Aleisha also leads a range of collaborative clinical research projects focused on understanding listening, speech, language and literacy development in children with hearing loss, evaluating access to sound through the fitting of hearing aids and other hearing technologies, and outcomes of intervention. She is passionate about driving clinical innovation, sector collaboration, partnerships, and transforming services to strengthen the communication skills of young people with hearing loss in their everyday environments.

Lanie joined The Shepherd Centre in May 2025 as Company Secretary and Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for finance, human resources, facilities, governance and compliance.  Lanie has extensive senior executive experience gained through positions held locally and overseas, in chartered accountancy firms and in the advertising and communications sector. For over a decade Lanie has worked in the “for purpose” sector including organisations supporting international development as well as an Aboriginal community controlled organisation.  

Angelika Dalkeith is the Director of Clinical Programs and Family Counsellor at The Shepherd Centre, responsible for regional management at each location and leadership of the Clinical Administration team. 

Prior to joining The Shepherd Centre, David was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hear For You from April 2013 to August 2021, David Brady has risen to the challenge of building on the organisation’s strong foundations, and in 2021 oversaw the successful integration of Hear For You into The Shepherd Centre, providing an award winning program for teenagers to complete the childhood development framework. Prior to this, he worked in the Sports and Recreation management industry for 15 years, David has ample experience to share – including his insights into living with hearing loss. Profoundly deaf since birth, David grew up in rural Armidale, NSW, where he overcame many challenges to complete the HSC, and gain degrees from both University of NSW and University of Sheffield in the UK. A keen sportsman, David represented Australia at the 2005 Deaflympic Games in Melbourne, played state level Water Polo, Hockey, and Beach Volleyball, and is currently is Chairperson of Deafness Forum of Australia, a member of the Australian Hearing Health Alliance Executive, one of the architects of the Commonwealth Government Roadmap for Hearing Health for Australia, and a member of the Advisory Board for Macquarie University Centre for the Implementation for Hearing Research.

Lee is responsible for technology and systems that underpin The Shepherd Centre’s operations as Director of IT. He joined in August 2021 after spending 15 years in the consulting industry, leading strategic IT and digital transformation programs in large and small organisations across Australia. Lee’s approach joins people and information to foster growth and opportunities in sustainable ways, having worked with for-purpose, government, private and public groups.

Alyshia began her career in the not-for-profit sector at Royal Blind Society, where she discovered a passion for using data to inform business decisions – this has guided her career ever since. Joining The Shepherd Centre in April 2011, Alyshia was tasked with the implementation of a fundraising and a clinical database to support the business. She acted as project manager for the clinical database, working closely with expert clinical staff to develop and launch the software in August 2012. Today Alyshia is responsible for information, databases and quality assurances, and is an integral part of the clinical and fundraising teams.

Joanne is the Director of Fundraising, she joined The Shepherd Centre in 2013. Joanne and her team work to recruit new donors to support the vital work of The Shepherd Centre and also regularly update our existing donors on how their donations make a difference to children with hearing loss.

Samantha Parker is Director of Marketing & Communications at The Shepherd Centre where she leads the organisation’s strategic communications and brand direction. She has extensive experience in developing communications that build awareness, strengthen partnerships and influence support across both corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Samantha is passionate about ensuring families can easily access the information and services they need while amplifying their voices to inspire action and long-term impact.