Our Team
Kevin Ayre - Chief Executive Officer - Australia & Europe
Kevin played an instrumental role in setting up the Sarina Russo Job Access business in 1998. Since that time the Sarina Russo Job Access has grown from 8 sites in South East Queensland to 31 sites across Queensland and Victoria. Kevin is also a member of the National Employment Services Association (NESA), the peak industry body for the employment services industry.
Prior to joining the Sarina Russo Group, Kevin had a distinguished 25 year career with the Commonwealth Government's Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. This included 13 years in senior management at a state, national and international level. His senior management positions included Zone Manager, Area Director and Deputy State Director, Queensland.
Kevin was closely involved in employment and training program policy development and delivery, as well as managing government employment services in areas of up to 50 offices with 1,500 staff. He made significant contributions to the successful implementation of major new Commonwealth employment and training initiatives including Working Nation.
Mark Berlese - Chief Executive Officer - UK
Mark Berlese is the CEO for Sarina Russo Job Access (GB) and the Company Secretary for the Sarina Russo Group.
After 17 years with the Sarina Russo Group, Mark has extensive experience at senior management level in marketing and operations management in both the employment and education industry.
Mark has completed executive studies in the USA at Stanford, Cornell and Harvard University in the areas of Marketing and Human Resource Management.
Philip Dack - Head of Business Development
Phil has be en working in Welfare to Work since the launch of the New Deal programme in 1997. Prior to this, Phil managed a work experience programme based in Europe's largest female prison, HMP Holloway.
Phil has been at the heart of programme development, policy and quality with some of the world's leading private providers of employment and training for unemployed and economically inactive individuals. His experience has included designing and managing business processes for ONE, the programme that was the forerunner for Jobcentre Plus, and implementing internal audit regimes for a national Welfare to Work provider. Phil has developed programmes for funding streams including SRB, Employment Zone, New Deal, European Structural Funds and Pathways to Work and maintains a keen interest in the latest developments in W welfare to W work policy.
Phil is committed to delivering programmes through expert partners wherever this can enhance value for both public funders and service users. In Sarina Russo Job Access, he is pleased to be working for an organisation that shares this commitment to appropriate partnerships, based not on ideology but on quality, performance and a determination to find sustainable solutions for individuals and communities.