Global leadership team

Marisa Mastroianni is Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of UOW Global Enterprises. Marisa is an experienced CEO and non-executive Director.  UOW Global Enterprises mission is to deliver on UOW’s ambition to be a global network through development and operation of offshore campuses and pathways to university. 

UOWGE has helped thousands of students from over 110 countries excel in their higher education journeys. Since 1993, UOW Global Enterprises has grown to become one of Australia's most unique and successful global providers of tertiary education programs encompassing Vocational, Diploma, Associate Degree, Bachelors, Masters and PhDs delivered from our own campuses located in key international areas. 

Marisa also currently serves on the Boards of NRMA Ltd and is Chair of NRMA’s Audit & Risk Management Committee. Marisa is also member of the Venues NSW Illawarra Regional Advisory Committee. Previously Marisa has held senior financial and executive roles the in the maritime, health, retirement and aged care sectors. 

Current roles within UOWGE include: 

• Managing Director and Group CEO of the UOW Global Enterprises Board 
• Member of the UOWGE Nominations Committee 
• Chair of the UOWGE Diversity and Equity Committee 
• Director of the UOWC Board 
• Member of the UOWC Ltd Academic Board 
• Director of the UOWD Board 
• Member of the UOWD External Advisory Council 
• Member of the UOWD Academic Board 
• Member of the UOWD Ceremonial & Honorary Awards Committee 
• Member of the UOWCHK Board of Governors 
• Member of the UOWCHK College Council 
• Member of the UOWCHK Investment Advisory Committee 
• Member of the UOWCHK Property Advisory Committee 

Geoff Drummond is the Executive Director Strategy and Development with responsibility for developing and managing external and internal business growth initiatives and opportunities to support the global strategy, as well as major capital investment projects.

Geoff is an experienced Finance executive, with over 30 years practice in management and finance roles in both the private and public sector. This encompasses leadership positions in transport, utilities, outsourcing and consumer goods. Geoff also has considerable experience managing and directing mergers and acquisitions offshore, as well as due diligence, contract negotiation and post-acquisition transition support.

Prior to his current role, he was CFO and Executive Director Corporate Services of UOWGE, and prior to that CFO of NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and Sydney Ferries.

Geoff is a Fellow of CPA Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds business qualifications from Macquarie, UTS and Heriot-Watt Universities.

As Executive Director Commercial and Legal, Peter Janu has responsibility for providing advice on legal, regulatory and governance matters to the UOWGE Board, Group CEO and senior management. He is also Company Secretary of UOWGE and has responsibility for strategic and operational planning and projects and for group growth opportunities.

Peter has broad experience in commercial, legal and leadership roles for large ASX listed companies with international operations. He has worked in a range of sectors including: construction and engineering services, property development, financial services, professional services and retail.

Peter holds degrees in Economics and Law from the University of Sydney. He is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Kath McCollim joined UOW Global Enterprises in February 2018 as the Executive Director Business Transformation. Her primary focus was leading and overseeing the implementation of major integration and changes within the organisation, while also having a broader focus on capability uplift and innovation. She was responsible for managing the business transition and integration projects including project management and change management activities across the organisation.

From March 2021 Kath has taken up the position of Executive Director Global Student Recruitment. With a global network of campuses spanning four countries UOW has been well positioned to take a global approach to international student recruitment under a framework managed by UOW Global Enterprises, under Kath's leadership. The framework is underpinned by a hub and spoke focus. A global recruitment team at each campus, supported by in-country representatives in strategically targeted markets, is responsible for recruiting international students from its surrounding region, to all campus locations in the UOW network.

Kath is an experienced organisational change agent with 30 years' experience in strategic roles in both the private and public sector. This encompasses leadership positions in steel manufacturing, consulting, health insurance and higher education. Prior to joining UOW Global Enterprises, Kath was the Director, Business Improvement and Assurance for the University of Wollongong.

Kath holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Employment Relations and a Master of Commerce in Management for which she won an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award. She has industry qualifications in Mediation, Agile Project Management and Lean Six Sigma. Kath is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

As the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director Corporate Services for UOW Global Enterprises, William is responsible for Finance, Performance Management, Business Assurance and Risk. 

William has over 20 years of experience in finance, audit and risk management roles across multiple sectors including Audit and Assurance services, FMCG and Consumer Goods. 

Prior to his current role, he was the Group Financial Controller for UOW Global Enterprises. 

William is a member of the Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA) and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. 

Louise Silvestri joined UOW Global Enterprises in 2014 initially focused on business development through acquisition, and is currently the Executive Director Business Transformation. Her primary focus is leading and overseeing the implementation of major integration and changes within the global organisation, while also having a broader focus on capability uplift and innovation. She is responsible for managing the business transition and integration projects including project management and change management activities across the organisation. 

Louise has a broad skillset and experience, with strong business knowledge across due diligence, business case development, project and change management, financial modelling, process improvement and system design and implementation. Louise has a financial management background and has held leadership positions in a number of industries including finance, mining, early childhood, not for profit and higher education.  

Louise holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Business Administration, is a Certified Practicing Accountant, as well as Certified Associate in Project Management PMI. 

Professor Mohamed-Vall M. Salem Zein was appointed President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) in January 2015, a role that sees him focused on driving initiatives to strengthen the position of UOWD as a leading academic institution in the UAE and the wider region. Professor Salem initially joined UOWD in 2004 and has since worked alongside the 320 employee-strong staff body in a number of leadership roles, including as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences and a ten-month period as Acting President of the University.

Prior to his appointment at UOWD, Professor Salem worked as a software engineer for several years in both public and private sectors in Mauritania and Canada and undertook a wide range of combined research projects with industry in both the UAE and Canada.

His areas of interest and expertise are in both technical and non-technical aspects of computing, including, but not limited to, software engineering, performance analysis, scalability, innovation and ethics in information technologies.

Professor Mohamed Salem received his PhD from the University of Montreal (Canada) in 2002 and is a recipient of IBM’s Centre for Advanced Studies PhD fellowship and the "Bourse d’excellence de la Francophonie" from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Key Roles and memberships include:

University of Wollongong Pro Vice-Chancellor Middle East and North Africa [PVC(MENA)]
Founding member of the Council of Deans of Engineering in the UAE
Chair of UOWD Education Committee
Chair of UOWD Research Committee

Felix Lanceley was appointed as General Manager of UOW College Australia in August of 2019.

Prior to this, as Director of Student Services and Academic Registrar of the University of Wollongong in Dubai, Felix had oversight of the University’s core administrative and student services units, as well as the University Library and Student Residences. He also acted in the capacity of interim Director of the UOWD Language Studies Centre.

Felix’s first association with UOW College was as Manager of Student Services, a post he occupied from 2009 to 2016. During this period he had oversight of all elements of the College’s student services including academic advising services, homestay, cohort management, orientation and graduation.

From 2002 to 2009 Felix spent seven years as Assistant Director of Studies and subsequently Director of Studies at a large English language college, based in three campuses across Sydney. His role there was to oversee the academic running of each campus.

Felix commenced his career as an ESL teacher through which he gained considerable teaching experience both internationally and in Australia.

Felix has tertiary qualifications from the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Queensland. He is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Key Board, Committee and Membership roles include:

Committee member and Chair of the UOW College Education Committee
Board member and Deputy Chair UOW College Academic Board
Ex Officio Member of the UOW Education Committee
Ex Officio Member of the UOW Academic Senate
Member UOW Strategic Course Development Committee

Ms Jennifer Ng is CEO Asia and is responsible for overseeing the operations of UOW Malaysia. Prior to this, she was named the first Principal of UOW College Hong Kong (UOWCHK) and held the role for 15 years. Jennifer has more than 20 years of extensive experience in the strategic planning of business models and development for self-financing higher education units.

Jennifer’s leadership was instrumental in the successful transformation of UOWCHK from a publicly-funded institution to a self-financing entity in the early years of its establishment, handling complex staffing issues along the way with a large scale migration of staff. In the lead-up to UOWCHK’s stewardship under the University of Wollongong, Jennifer played an important role to enable the transition to come into being.

Before joining UOWCHK, Jennifer was an Associate Director at the School of Professional and Continuing Education of the University of Hong Kong (HKU SPACE). She was the Acting Principal of the HKU SPACE Community College between 2000 and 2002 when it was first founded.

Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and a Master of Social Science in Economics from the University of Hong Kong. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and that of the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing, and is a Chartered Marketer of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She holds accounting qualifications as a Certified Management Accountant (Australia), and a Member of the Institute of Public Accountants.

Key Board, Committee and Membership roles for Jennifer include:

Director, UOWM Sdn. Bhd. Board
Director, UOWM-PCB Joint Board for UOW Malaysia
Director, UOW Malaysia College Sdn. Bhd. Board
Chair, UOW Malaysia Management Board
Member, UOWGE Board of Academic Governance
Member, UOWCHK College Council
Member, UOWCHK Property Advisory Committee
Served as Subject Specialist on The Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ)