From lived experience to boardroom impact
How Jenny Saliba is using governance to help drive universal access to early learning
As a child, Jenny Saliba arrived in Australia from Lebanon at the age of six. Unable to speak English and with no experience of early education, she was placed straight into school halfway through the year. “I still have vivid memories of that time,” she reflects. “It was incredibly challenging, and it made me realise just how vital those early years of learning and language are.”
Today, Jenny is a non-executive Board Director at The Front Project, a not-for-profit dedicated to improving access to quality early childhood education across Australia. The organisation has the ambitious goal of achieving universal access by changing systems, not just services.
For Jenny, it’s deeply personal. “The Front Project’s cause is close to my heart. I know firsthand how life-changing early education can be, and how hard it is to catch up when you’ve missed it.”
Alongside her board role, Jenny is also the Chief Financial Officer of Wealth & Capital Markets at Australian Unity , and previously served as CFO of an ASX-listed childcare operator. Yet despite her strong corporate background, Jenny felt she needed a deeper understanding of the not-for-profit space and how real social change happens.
That’s why she enrolled in the Governance for Social Impact online short course, designed and delivered by the Centre for Social Impact.
From frustration to impact-driven governance
“The course was genuinely transformational for me,” Jenny says. “It helped me shift my mindset from being frustrated by how complex systems can be, to being inspired by the challenge of influencing them.”
She credits Doug Taylor, CEO of The Smith Family and course facilitator, along with the quality content, for inspiring that change. “It was a lot to process, but it was incredibly rich. I learned so much about frameworks like theory of change, systems thinking, and especially measuring what really matters. Not just outputs, but real impact. I still think about those lessons in my day-to-day work.”
The course also gave Jenny a shared language to bring back to the boardroom. “Our CEO at The Front Project, Caroline, often talks about theory of change and systems frameworks. Before the course, I understood it conceptually, but now I feel equipped to engage more deeply in those discussions.”
Jenny says it also deepened her appreciation of the language and tools of impact leadership. “Now I understand the 'why' behind those tools. They’re not academic; they’re practical. They help you focus on outcomes that actually matter to communities.”
A call to corporate Australia: Governance education can’t be optional
What surprised Jenny most was how relevant the course was to her corporate role as well. “Have you ever wondered where the responsibility for deriving social impact lies; the not-for-profit, social enterprise, public companies?” Jenny asks. “The truth is, corporate Australia can no longer see social impact as someone else’s job. It’s everyone’s responsibility to lead, measure, and embed impact across their organisations.”
“Imagine if the top 50 employees in a large corporate all did this short course,” she suggests. “It would harmonise individual efforts across the organisation and help us collectively understand and measure our social impact.”
“There’s a real gap in corporate Australia when it comes to understanding social impact. We don’t always know how to measure it, and that makes it hard to truly embed it into strategy and culture. Purpose-driven governance courses like this could change that.”
Jenny also believes courses like Governance for Social Impact offer a powerful mindset shift for corporate leaders. “So many people get frustrated by the system, but this course actually made me feel invigorated,” she says.
“I feel I have embarked on an incredible journey to rethink governance. I have a greater appreciation for the complexity of navigating systems, what it truly means to be mission-led, and the trade-offs when scaling impact and funding. Using impact measurement tools helps prevent the temptation of straying beyond your mission.”
“These tools and frameworks aren’t just for not-for-profits. They should be part of every executive’s leadership journey.”
Turning Learning into Lasting Impact for Children and Families
The Governance for Social Impact course offered Jenny more than just technical skills. “It accelerated my learning and gave me confidence to lean in, to not feel disconnected by the complexity of the system, but to see it as something we can help shape.”
It also gave her clarity around the critical role organisations can play in driving systemic social change. “We often talk about influence and impact, but the course helped me actually understand what that looks like in practice, such as how you can pivot, how organisations can be part of a broader shift, even when the system feels slow or stuck.”
Having experienced firsthand the challenges of missing out on early education, Jenny’s commitment to The Front Project’s mission is clearer than ever. “Every child deserves the best possible start. And good governance, guided by real understanding of impact, is a powerful way to help make that happen.”
