The new Chief Executive Officer of Life Ed NSW says living outside metropolitan Sydney has given her a deeper appreciation of just how vital preventive health education is for rural and remote students.
Terese Hooper has been appointed to lead the organisation best known for its iconic mascot Healthy Harold, which reaches more than 260,000 children across NSW each year with programs covering drug and alcohol education, nutrition, cybersafety, and consent.
Now based in Woolgoolga, Ms Hooper is the first CEO in the organisation’s 45-year history to live outside a metropolitan area. She says that matters.
“I just feel so incredibly fortunate to be able to lead this statewide organisation from one of our regional communities,” she said in an interview.
From her perspective, regional leadership brings both representation and empathy.
“For the best part of 45 years we’ve been a very Sydney based organisation. So I’m the first CEO to ever have been given the role who lives outside of metro. It’s pretty cool to have that kind of representation.”
Life Ed operates in metropolitan, regional, and remote schools, travelling to more than 2,200 schools and early learning centres each year. For smaller communities across the New England, those visits can be especially significant.
“Metro kids are spoiled for choice, whereas there’s very few providers that service all of the regional schools,” Ms Hooper said.
Across the New England, Healthy Harold and the Life Ed vans make their way to some 120 local schools and early learning centres, reaching more than more than 7,600 students annually.
Life Ed has an equity of access policy that means no school is too small or too far away.
“If any school wants us, we will get to them, even if they have three students or six students and it takes us a day to drive there,” she said.
That commitment can stretch budgets, but Ms Hooper believes access to health education should not depend on postcode.
“It shouldn’t be contingent on your postcode or where your parents live. This is your right as a young human in New South Wales to learn how much agency you do have over your own health and wellbeing.”
She believes physically showing up in smaller communities sends an important message.
“It’s not just about supporting the kids. It’s really about telling those communities that you matter and that we value you and you’re as important, if not more important, to us,” she said.
In addition to regular school visits, Life Ed has recently delivered its “Festival of Health” events in regional centres, including Moree and Kempsey, working with local health providers, visiting multiple schools in a coordinated program, and providing those centres with important enrichment activities.
For Ms Hooper, who began her Life Ed journey nearly a decade ago as an educator in Healthy Harold’s mobile learning centre, the mission remains personal.
“Like many young people, my early world was shaped by instability and complexity. What changed my life was access to knowledge, trusted adults, and the belief that my future could be bigger than my circumstances,” she says.
“Life Ed creates those moments – where children feel safe to ask questions, learn how their body works, manage pressure, and build confidence, agency, and hope.”
“We’re here to walk alongside children as they grow. By scaffolding learning year-on-year, we help them move from curiosity, to understanding, to confidence, and ultimately to choice.”
“As CEO, my commitment is ensuring every child has the knowledge and support to pursue a healthy future full of possibility,” she said.
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