Headquarters:
Level 3, Botanicca 9/588A Swan St, Burnley, Vic 3121
Year founded:
2002
Number of employees:
65
Phone:
1300 932 338
Email:
hello@schoolbox.education
Website:
schoolbox.education
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/schoolbox
Grant van der Kruk
Chief Executive Officer
Scott Salter
Chief Success Officer
Natalie Neilson
Chief Operations Officer
Leadership
Grant van der Kruk is chief executive officer at Schoolbox, leading the company’s vision to help K–12 schools create more connected learning communities. He works closely with schools, partners and the executive leadership team to guide Schoolbox’s long-term strategy, ensuring the company continues to evolve alongside the changing needs of education while remaining true to its educator-first philosophy.
Chief Executive Officer
Grant van der Kruk
Scott Salter is chief success officer at Schoolbox, leading the teams responsible for ensuring schools realise long-term value from their investment in the platform. Working closely with customers throughout their Schoolbox journey, he focuses on building lasting partnerships, supporting successful adoption and helping schools continuously evolve to meet the changing needs of their communities.
Chief Success Officer
Scott Salter
Natalie Neilson is chief operating officer at Schoolbox, overseeing service delivery, customer success and operational excellence across the organisation. She is committed to ensuring every school receives the expertise, support and partnership needed to successfully implement, adopt and grow with Schoolbox over the long term.
Chief Operations Officer
Natalie Neilson
Chris Barr
Chief Commercial Officer
Chris Barr is chief commercial officer at Schoolbox, leading the company’s commercial strategy and growth across Australia and international markets. Passionate about building long-term partnerships, he works closely with schools to understand their strategic priorities and ensure Schoolbox delivers meaningful value throughout every stage of the customer journey.
Chief Commercial Officer
Chris Barr
Duane Cox
Chief Product Owner
Andrea Pesavento is chief financial officer at Schoolbox, leading the company’s financial strategy, governance and long-term sustainability. She plays a key role in enabling continued investment in innovation, customer success and the long-term partnerships that have underpinned Schoolbox’s growth for more than 25 years.
Chief Financial Officer
Andrea Pesavento
Andrea Pesavento
Chief Financial Officer
Fiona Kapkidis
Head of People and Culture (Human Resources)
Margaret Leau-Sulusi
Business Development Manager
Pam Chhabra
Manager – Residential Strata
Duane Cox is chief product officer at Schoolbox, leading product strategy and innovation across the platform. Working alongside educators and school leaders, he ensures every product decision is grounded in the realities of school life, combining deep education expertise with purposeful innovation to deliver technology that evolves with the needs of K–12 schools.
Chief Product Owner
Duane Cox
With more than 20 years in people and culture, Fiona Kapkidis combines her HR experience with a strong background in business and music education. A graduate of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne, she later completed postgraduate qualifications in business management at Monash University, shaping her holistic approach to people development. Her career includes over five years in Asia with a major communications company, where she led professional development, team engagement and training programs across culturally diverse organisational environments.
Prior to joining The Knox School, she worked in the property industry, leading people strategy, recruitment and stakeholder engagement. Passionate about creating positive workplaces and building authentic connections, Kapkidis believes that when people feel valued and supported, they bring their best to what they do. She remains deeply connected to the music community, teaching piano privately and having previously served as a board director for both the Victorian Music Teachers’ Association and Melbourne Youth Orchestras.
Head of People and Culture (Human Resources)
Fiona Kapkidis
Margaret Leau-Sulusi brings over 20 years of banking experience to her role as business development manager, having started with Westpac in 2005. Her background includes lending support, senior lending roles and branch management. Leau-Sulusi partners closely with mortgage advisers, providing product expertise and strategic guidance to drive strong client outcomes. Known for her collaborative style and responsiveness, she is passionate about building trusted relationships and delivering customer-focused results.
Business Development Manager
Margaret Leau-Sulusi
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
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Bio
Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Product Manager
Claire Watson
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
“We also maintain open lines of communication with advisers so they know what to expect and can plan accordingly”
Hayley Burgess, ANZ Bank New Zealand
“We’ve invested heavily in resourcing and process improvements to reduce friction and speed up approvals”
Hayley Burgess, ANZ Bank New Zealand
Schools increasingly want the freedom to choose specialist technology without creating a fragmented experience for teachers, students and families. Schoolbox has spent more than 25 years delivering that balance. The team’s approach has been to keep learning, pastoral care and communication connected while integrating with the wider systems schools choose to use. The aim is not to absorb every function into one platform but to ensure the overall experience feels cohesive and easy to use.
That same thinking carries into product development. New technology is considered carefully, with an educator-led approach. Ongoing conversations with educators, school leaders and technology teams help shape where Schoolbox invests and which problems need solving next.
AI has brought that question into sharper focus. Rather than approaching it as a race to add features, the Schoolbox team has focused on where it can reduce repetitive work and support teaching and learning and still leave professional judgement with the educator while protecting students and staff and placing governance and control in the hands of schools.
That perspective is reinforced by the makeup of the team. Former teachers, school leaders and education professionals work across product, consulting, implementation, customer success and support.
The relationship with schools also tends to be long-term. Schoolbox recorded a 98% customer retention rate in 2025 and has now been recognised by The Educator as a 5-Star Service Provider for the sixth consecutive year. The bigger question for schools over the next decade may be less about how much technology they adopt and more about how confidently they adapt to change and who they partner with to support that change.
AI, evolving pedagogy and increasingly complex digital ecosystems will continue reshaping education. The challenge will be ensuring those changes strengthen the work of schools rather than adding another layer for educators and communities to manage.
