Jim Demetriou
President
With over 26 years publishing experience at a senior-level, Jim Demetriou started his career at HarperCollins Australia in 1995 as National Sales Manager before eventually becoming Chief Operating Officer. In 2011 Jim moved to Allen & Unwin as Group Sales & Marketing Director where he developed an industry-leading sales and marketing team. In 2020, Jim returned to HarperCollins as CEO to lead the company into its next phase of growth and maintain its position as one Australia’s most dynamic publishers.
Alex Allan
Vice-President
Alex Allan is the CEO of Fremantle Press, an independent not-for-profit publisher based in Western Australia. Prior to this, Alex worked at DK/PRH in the UK for 20 years, including six years as Global MD of Publishing for DK. She was also the founding Children’s Publisher for Welbeck UK, and on her return to Australia she commissioned for Welbeck ANZ, until its acquisition in 2022. Alex is the chair of the APA's Independent Publishers Committee.
Brendan Bolton
Appointed Director
Brendan Bolton has worked in education as a teacher, author and publisher for over 35 years. He was previously Head of International Business at Cengage Learning Australia, where he was responsible for exporting Australian-produced educational materials to the US, Canada, Europe, the UK and the GCC. He is a director of the Copyright Agency and chairs the APA’s Finance Risk and Audit Committee.
Chren Byng
Elected Director
Chren Byng is Senior Publisher at Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing and has over 20 years’ experience in the book industry. Prior to joining Hardie Grant in 2022, Chren was Head of Australian Children’s Publishing at HarperCollins, where she’d worked since 2005. Chren first joined the APA’s Children’s Publishers Committee in 2017, and has served continuously since then, taking on leadership of the CPC in 2021. Across this period, the CPC has worked hard with the APA to provide new opportunities for the children’s sector, including both market and professional development opportunities, and has enjoyed creating strong and productive relationships with key stakeholders in the children’s literature and literacy spaces.
Shirly Griffith is a former maths teacher who has a passion for the transformational power of learning. Currently Senior Director, Head of School, ANZ at Jacaranda (Wiley), she is a leader in the development of content through innovative digital platforms to solve teaching challenges and improve learning outcomes. As a director of the APA, Shirly has a particular interest in ensuring that the Association is responding to the new challenges facing educational publishers and advocating effectively for their interests.
Karen Hildebrandt
Appointed Director
Karen Hildebrandt’s publishing career has seen her working in various roles at Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and the Taylor & Francis Group, where she is currently Managing Director, Australasia.
Foong Ling Kong
Appointed Director
Foong Ling Kong is Publisher & CEO at Melbourne University Publishing. She has worked for many trade publishers in an in-house and freelance capacity, and commissioned and edited predominantly non-fiction titles. Until her recent reunification with MUP, she was Editor of Debates for the Legislative Assembly at the Parliament of Victoria. She was also on the founding board of the Stella Prize.
Praveen Naidoo
Elected Director
Since joining Pan Macmillan Australia in 2000, Praveen has held a variety of positions across Sales, Product, IT and Operations, including leadership roles as National Key Account Manager and Operations Director. He possesses a 360-degree understanding of the industry and is energised by the unique, fast-moving challenges of trade publishing. Appointed Managing Director for the Australian and New Zealand markets in 2022, Praveen brings decades of hard-earned insight to the helm, ensuring continued success.