About Us

SAFETY. LEADERSHIP. INTEGRITY. INCLUSION. CHILD-CENTRIC. COLLABORATION.

We have humble beginnings and solid foundations. Established in 1981 as the Illawarra Children’s Services Action Group, we sought to bring positive, lasting change to the Illawarra region through active campaigning for the rights of families to affordable early education and care.

Big Fat Smile is a not-for-profit community-owned, industry leading provider of child education, care, recreation, cultural and inclusion services in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Fast forward 38-years, and we have grown into one of the largest and most respected providers of early education and inclusion services in our region. We exist for children and families, working to provide access to the highest quality early education and care in Australia. In fact, quality is central to everything we do.

We enrich the lives and minds of our children and families in their communities.

Board of directors

Big Fat Smile is governed by an elected Board of Directors. Their role and responsibility is to establish the strategic direction of the organisation, ensure an effective framework for the management of risk, and oversee executive and business performance.

Board Chair & Non Executive Director
David Campbell
David Campbell
M Mgt, FAICD
- Board Chair
- Non Executive Director of Big Fat Smile Group Ltd. since 2014
- Governance, Nominations & Remuneration Committee Member
- Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee Member
- Retired Member of Parliament
Non Executive Director
Louise Meyrick
Louise Meyrick
BA, Dip Ed, M Comm, M. Dispute Resol
- Non Executive Director of Big Fat Smile Group Ltd. since 2015
- Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee Member until May 2018
- Governance, Nominations & Remuneration Committee Member since May 2018
- Senior Consultant, Policy & Planning Specialist
Non Executive Director
Ken Whitton
Ken Whitton
B Commerce, MBA, Grad Dip (Fin Plan)
- Non Executive Director of Big Fat Smile Group Ltd. since 2015
- Chair, Governance, Nominations & Remuneration Committee
- Senior Policy Advisor, Superannuation Peak Body
Board Deputy Chair & Non Executive Director
Sophie Ray
Sophie Ray
BA (Hons) LLB (Hons) Grad Dip Leg Studs, GAICD
- Non Executive Director of Big Fat Smile Group Ltd. since 2016
- Governance, Nominations & Remuneration Committee Member
- Director & business owner
Non Executive Director
Jason Malone
Jason Malone
BComm, MBA, CPA
- Non Executive Director of Big Fat Smile Group Ltd. since April 2018
- Chair of Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee since May 2018
- Executive General Manager, Aged Care Sector
Non Executive Director
Chelsea Hampel
Chelsea Hampel
BComm, MA, GCMgmt
- Non Executive Director of Big Fat Smile Group Ltd. since November 2018
- Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee Member
- Director, Higher Education Sector

Senior Executive Group

Big Fat Smile is led by a senior executive group based at the organisation’s Head Office in Corrimal.

CEO
Jenni Hutchins
Jenni Hutchins
B Arts (Welf, Psych), PG Dip (Child & Family, Psych, Intern Psychologist), R.Psych
- CEO, since February 2017
- Chair, Senior Executive Group
Jenni leads the implementation of Big Fat Smile’s Strategic Plan with the outcome of enriching the lives and minds of our children and families in their communities.
General Manager, Operations
Melissa Woodhouse
Melissa Woodhouse
Dip (Children’s Services), Grad Dip (Public Sector Management), Cert IV Training and Assessment
- General Manager, Operations, since December 2017
- Member, Senior Executive Group, since December 2017
Melissa leads a team in the operations of Big Fat Smile’s portfolio of community preschools, long day care centres, Fun Clubs, school holiday care, Inclusion Agency and community support programs to enhance the education, care and wellbeing of children, families and communities.
Chief Financial Officer
Aidan Slevin
Aidan Slevin
- Chief Financial Officer, since August 2019
- Member, Senior Executive Group, since August 2019
- Aidan has been employed with Big Fat Smile since 2017.
Aidan leads a team in the delivery of the finance, facilities and IT functions of the organisation.
Pedagogical Thinker in Residence
Michele Peden
Michele Peden
Associate Diploma of Social Science (Child Studies), BEd(EC), Cert IV Workplace Training Category 2, GDipAdultEd, Cert IV Training and Assessment, MEd(EC), PHD
- Pedagogical Thinker in Residence, since February 2018
- Member, Senior Executive Group, since February 2018
Michele leads a team in developing an educational framework for children aged 0 – 12 to support Big Fat Smile’s services and enhance education and care outcomes.