Between 2009-2022 Roma was Principal of River Gum Primary School where she built a high performing team using a coaching approach to leadership. She believes that leadership capacity is paramount to change and critical for school improvement. In her time at River Gum, Roma helped developed system leadership capacity by coaching four Assistant Principals who went on to gain Principal positions. She believes that ‘true leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.’

Through a collective, coaching approach, her young leadership team has embedded a coaching culture at River Gum and empowered teachers to improve student outcomes, resulting in significant learning growth over the years. This is a great example of how a strong coaching culture can not only survive but actually thrive through a period of leadership change. Roma has shared the ‘how’ of using a coaching approach to develop the capacity of senior leaders in several GCI podcasts.

1n 2020 Roma became the Chairperson for the Monash University South Eastern Teaching Academy. Most recently she was seconded to the position of Acting Senior Improvement Leader for the Cardinia network of schools. Roma is also currently working as an Educational Consultant in a number of the Victorian Department of Education schools.