Who we are

After years helping companies hire talent anywhere in the world, James saw a parallel challenge: millions of talented young people locked out of local employment opportunities simply because they lack access to education. He founded Banyan to change that—scaling a student finance system where education is an investment in students’ futures.

James Ramsay is an experienced product leader from tech unicorns Remote and GitLab, both pioneers of global remote working, with a background in Computer Science.

Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Private Assets at Brightlight, and Founder of EdFin, Simba Marekera brings deep knowledge and expertise including impact investing, novel asset classes, securitization and education finance.

Born in Zimbabwe, through education finance Simba studied at Yale before coming to Australia where he has worked in multiple impact finance roles, including Christian Super.

Founder of Cassinia Environmental, protecting and restoring nature throughout Australia, and Cassinia Community launching a range of social enterprises.

As a Carbon Market Specialist with World Vision Australia, Paul Dettmann saw the importance and impact of education in Africa, starting the journey towards launching Banyan.

Joseph Kamara spent over two decades with World Vision, beginning in Uganda in 2000 and serving across Mozambique, Australia, and global roles, most recently as Regional Director for Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs across East and Southern Africa. Through that work, he saw how development programs invest deeply in children only to end support at the threshold of adulthood — the moment when education and employment determine whether that investment translates into a livelihood. He joined the Banyan Foundation because he believes student finance completes that journey.

Dr Kamara is a Senior Lecturer at James Cook University, where he leads postgraduate programs in disaster health and public health, and holds a PhD from Western Sydney University.

Miriam Ramsay brings over eight years’ experience in monitoring, evaluation and learning across humanitarian, development and government contexts, with field experience spanning Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Kenya, Cambodia and Timor-Leste. Having grown up in Indonesia and lived across multiple countries, Miriam brings a deep personal commitment to expanding access to dignified work for individuals, communities and the economies they sustain.

She holds a Master of International Relations from the University of Melbourne.

Roderick Crouch is an Australian educator with a Doctorate of Education and over 17 years leading IB world schools across Australia, the UAE, Vietnam, Mexico, and Central America. He has founded and led schools in both not-for-profit and for-profit settings.

Most recently, Roderick spent nine years with International Schools Partnership, a global K-12 education group operating over 100 schools in 25 countries, where he served as a Global Head supporting school improvement. He now consults on future skills in K-12 education through Global School Consulting Group.

CEO of Cassinia Community, Ross Kelly was instrumental in conceiving and incubating the Banyan project. Ross has many years of experience working around the globe, including in emerging markets with Caterpillar Global mining.

During this time he was involved with locally recruited graduates and upskilling and training national staff. He spent several years creating and operating a training institute for Caterpillar in the vocational education sector. This has given him a passion for providing education opportunities for people who would otherwise miss out.