The St John's Youth Services Team
Board of Directors
St John’s Youth Services is governed by a volunteer Board of nine directors, who each share their time and talents to improve young lives in South Australia. Our directors have professional experience across the government, corporate and community sectors, and extensive expertise in a wide range of areas including law, finance, human resources, governance, project management, partnership development, public relations, marketing and pastoral care.
Board members June 30, 2022.
Chairperson | Brent Alexander |
Deputy Chairperson | Elizabeth Tyson |
Treasurer | Justin Piteo |
Directors | Peter Balabanksi |
Christine Bell | |
Sally Denton | |
Michael Gilbert | |
Stephanie Halliday | |
Geoff Slack |
Directors until November 2021: Ciara Merrifield and Eden Williamson-Cameron
Treasurer until January 2022: Caroline Hurr
Executive and Senior Management
Our CEO, Nicole Chaplin, has decades of experience supporting young people in South Australia, and has been part of the SJYS leadership team for more than ten years. As well as leading SJYS, Nicole is Deputy Chair of the SACOSS Board and a member of the Policy Council, and the SACOSS representative on the Stop Racism Taskforce. Nicole is also a board member for Nunga Mi: Minar, and Chair of the Anglicare Australia Reconciliation Network.
Nicole is supported by a highly qualified and experienced senior management team, who share both Nicole’s commitment to young people, and her belief in young people’s capacity to create extraordinary futures.
CEO | Nicole Chaplin |
Manager: youth110 | Ryan Bullivant |
Manager: Foyer Port Adelaide | Celeste Iannella |
Aboriginal Cultural Broker | Alex Houthuysen (Hill) |
Marketing Manager | Anne Linke |
Team Leaders | Louisa Au |
Matt Closter | |
Kylie van Alphen |

The SJYS Senior Management Team
From left, Ryan Bullivant, Alex Houthuysen (Hill), Louisa Au, Anne Linke, Matt Closter, Celeste Iannella and Nicole Chaplin
Frontline Team
Young people at SJYS are supported by a dedicated team of frontline workers who inspire and empower young power to overcome barriers and achieve amazing outcomes. This team is the heart and soul of St John’s Youth Services, and the reason so many young people in South Australia are able to move out of homelessness and into happy and fulfilling futures.
St John’s Youth Services has an enviable reputation in the sector as an employer of choice for highly qualified, caring professionals who value a supportive workplace culture that values innovation and puts young people in the centre of professional practice. This is reflected in outstanding employee retention, and the average employee length of service is around six and a half years.

Our newest team member, Ash (left), joined SJYS in June 2022. He’s pictured with SJYS’s longest serving employee, Ryan, who has been with SJYS since June 2005.