Meet the Team

YouthAdvance has a long-standing association with The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Australia. Many of our team members have either completed their Award or have been an Award Leader or Guide for the Duke of Ed.

Keith McReynolds, our CEO, founded YouthAdvance in 2017. Having completed his Bronze, Silver and Gold level Awards, he has also worked within the NSW State Award Office and is an Ambassador of the Award.

His passion for outdoor education and the Award, as well as his history of association with the Award, encouraged him to form YouthAdvance as an Open Award Centre. His goal was to allow more Australians to have access to the Award and its benefits.

We are very proud that in just under 5 years, YouthAdvance has assisted over 1000 students to complete their Award.

We’re here to help you on your Award Journey

With Regular Monthly Participant Meetings, Webinars And With Your Award Leader Only A Phone Call Away, Our Aim Is To Provide You With The Best Possible Support And Opportunities So You Can Achieve The Award In Your Timeframe.

Keith McReynolds Chief Executive Officer

Keith is the principle Director of KMR Management Pty Ltd trading as Remote Safety Solutions and YouthAdvance Australia, which was formed in 2009. In 2017 Keith formed YouthAdvance Australia to meet the growing need of services focusing around supporting organisations who operate The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.

Keith’s main objective and YouthAdvance’s mission are to ensure that there are opportunities for young Australians to engage in personal development and activities that allow them to become equipped for life and work.

Johanna Blair Award Leader

Johanna is an Award Leader with YouthAdvance and has been with our team for almost four years. She is our primary Award Leader in NSW and is focused on the majority of our School Partner Participants.

Johanna has a fabulous knowledge of all aspects of the Award including activity approval, assessor requirements, the Online Record Book and many useful tips and tricks. Johanna herself completed Bronze, Silver and Gold levels of the award whilst at school. Her favourite memories were walking in the Jagungal wilderness area for her Gold practice journey (where we are also running our Gold programs for Kosciuszko!).

Johanna is a mum of three school aged kids and lives on the Northern Beaches. She enjoys bushwalking and snorkelling.

Rebecca Thornely Award Leader

Rebecca is one of our amazing Award Leaders and she looks after Open Award Participants in NSW, QLD, ACT, SA and Victoria.

As a Duke of Edinburgh Award participant herself, as well as mother to three young kids, she jumped at the chance to be part of the YouthAdvance team and get the opportunity to bring such a wonderful program to more young people around Australia.

Rebecca has travelled extensively and says “I really value the chances I’ve had to meet new people, experience different cultures and see more the World we live in – I really think this is an opportunity more adolescents should have and Duke of Ed offers it to them”.

She is passionate about helping all our participants to achieve their goals through the Award and to watch them gain new skills, resilience and independence to succeed in life. Rebecca has a great understanding across the different components of the Award including activity approval, assessor requirements, the Online Record Book and many useful tips and tricks.

“Personally I’m a big fan of getting outdoors, camping and walking – but I also love to curl up with a good book”.

Tam Dougherty Award Leader

Tam is our latest addition to our amazing Award Leader team at YouthAdvance. Tam will be focused on our NSW School Partner participants, including the Northern Beaches Schools, being a Northern Beaches Mum of two herself.

As a past Duke of Ed participant herself, she jumped at the chance to be part of the YouthAdvance team and embrace the opportunity to bring this fabulous program to more young people around Australia.
Tam loves all things adventure and anything to do with water. She has travelled extensively and loves immersing herself in different cultures and learning about them, especially the cuisine.

Tam is passionate about helping all our participants to achieve their goals through the Award and to watch them gain new skills, resilience and independence to succeed in life.

Josh Donald Program Guide

My name’s Josh and I’m a guide at Youth Advance. I left my job as an accountant to be a guide after an amazing experience on a guided trip in Guatemala. We climbed up an extinct volcano and spent the night watching a volcano across the valley erupting every 15 mins. I decided then that I wanted to be able to give others the opportunity to experience nature in a way that they might not otherwise be able to.

I love my job because I can teach participants the skills and knowledge they need to enjoy the great outdoors! Hopefully they can learn to love it as much as I do.