Travelling Scholars

LPA engage a wide range of speakers who deliver professional learning workshops for leaders of Lutheran schools.

David Buttifant, Travelling Scholar 2025

Dr David Buttifant from Resilience Builders is a resilience and high-performance coach to elite AFL and Olympic athletes, Doctor in Exercise Physiology, and founder of the N.I.C.K. Foundation.

In June 2025, David will facilitate Leadership Workshops in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, designed to empower leaders and cultivate high-performing teams. The aim of these sessions is to drive meaningful engagement by capturing the nuances of leadership behaviours and providing guidance, rather than prescriptive instructions. These workshops will equip you to:

Build Self-Awareness: Encourage leaders to gain a deeper understanding of their strengths and areas for development.
Develop a Shared Understanding: Establish a common framework for what effective leadership looks like within the organisation.
Uncover Underlying Beliefs: Identify and address the beliefs driving current leadership capabilities.
Create a Game Plan for Success: Equip leaders with the tools and strategies necessary to achieve sustained high performance.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

As a young boy, David was heavily involved in sport. Helping his dad from the age of six, he always had football in his life. He is now helping elite AFL players succeed. “In team sport there’s an element of connectedness”. As a trained physical education teacher in Broadmeadows with an interest in sports psychology, he pursued further studies completing a PhD and MBA. He was appointed as Senior Sports Scientist with Australia’s Sydney 2000 Olympic team, before embarking on a 13-year career as Sports Science Director at Collingwood, where he pioneered high altitude training. Humble about his achievements, David believes that patience, support and perseverance are the winning ingredients, and that “the losses are as equally defining”.

David launched Resilience Builders in 2019. Resilience Builders designs and delivers resilience development programs for teenagers, schools, community groups, athletes, teams and corporates. The resilience programs were created on four solid pillars of resilience: physical, emotional, social and spiritual.

David is passionate about developing and supporting young people. He established the N.I.C.K. Foundation in honour of his late son. The N.I.C.K. Foundation runs mentoring programs, leadership workshops and motivational talks for young adults and their parents.

David Vinegrad, Travelling Scholar 2023

In June 2023, David Vinegrad, the Director of Behaviour Matters, delivered a professional learning workshop in each region, focusing on relationships in the schoolhouse. A well-known presenter and experienced counsellor and mediator, including high level management of critical incidents and school-based trauma, David has over 40 years of experience working with teachers, students and parents in a variety of diverse educational settings. David is dedicated to assisting schools and organisations get the best out of what they do. Improving the way people relate to each other in schools and workplaces is vital - because behaviour matters. As a recognised world leader in the development of restorative practices, David assists schools and organisations to be at the cutting edge in their field.

For further information please visit: https://behaviourmatters.net.au/

Dr Adam Fraser, Travelling Scholar 2019

An important way to support principals and leaders in our schools is to focus on practical ways of coping, indeed flourishing, amidst what is an increasingly challenging task. In May 2019, Dr Adam Fraser visited each of the regions presenting his research concerning ‘Flourishing Principals’, providing a basis for reflection and the application of new strategies.

‘Helping principals flourish not just cope.’

Becoming a School Principal is not for the faint hearted. The job has evolved significantly. It has become more demanding, broader and more complex than ever before. It is going through a tipping point of change like we have never seen. This ranges from changes in technology, internal systems used, curriculum and expectations from the community, students and parents. Add to this the fact that the role has become 24/7 and accessibility means they feel like their lives are no longer their own.

The Flourish Movement has a vision to leave a legacy of wellbeing and fulfilment for current and future school principals. More on the movement here: https://www.dradamfraser.com/the-flourish-movement