OUR TEAM Meet our Founder & our Board

Caroline Jane Knight

Our Founder & Chair

Caroline is the fifth great niece of Jane Austen, and is the last of Jane’s nieces to grow up in Chawton House, in the South of England, on the family’s ancestral estates where Jane herself lived, wrote and published her most famous works.

Until she was 18, Caroline lived in the Great House in Chawton, the country manor belonging to Jane's brother Edward, which has been passed from one generation to the next since 1588. Following a childhood steeped in centuries of tradition and her great Aunt Jane's legacy, Caroline was determined to be independent and became a successful businesswoman and social entrepreneur.

Caroline was appointed CEO of DemoPlus in Australia in 2009. She has sat on the boards of Life Education Victoria and the Australian Institute of Management, and in 2012 Caroline was nominated as a finalist in the Telstra Businesswoman of the Year Awards. In 2015 Caroline was Chair of the Australian Institute of Management National Excellence Awards' judging panel (not for profit).

Caroline has unique insight into the life, works and family of a literary icon. The worldwide celebrations of the 200-year anniversary of Pride & Prejudice in 2013 inspired Caroline to establish the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation to harness the passion for Jane Austen and support the practice of literacy across the world, in honour of Jane.

Learn more about Caroline's incredible story →

The Board

MERCIA CHAPMAN

Deputy Chair

Mercia Chapman is a lawyer specialising in the areas of wills and deceased estates, trusts and charity law. Mercia holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and Bachelor of Law from the University of Melbourne and is Senior Legal Counsel for Equities Trustees Limited.

Mercia has had a lifelong interest in the works of Jane Austen and is President of the Jane Austen Society of Melbourne, which meets regularly to celebrate and discuss all aspects of Jane's life, works and legacy.

Her other activities include Chairman of the Victorian Branch of the International Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

Mercia is a founding member of the board of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation and is very excited about the opportunity to support programs to increase literacy among the disadvantaged members of our global community.

CHERYL DI FLORIO

Treasurer

Cheryl di Florio is a Partner in the accountancy firm Hamilton Morello, where she has been working since 1993. In keeping with Hamilton Morello's motto, "Right advice at the right time," Cheryl can often be found at clients' business premises and farms throughout Melbourne and country Victoria assisting clients with the growth of their businesses and personal wealth.

More recently, Cheryl and others at Hamilton Morello have embarked on a program of education on personal finance matters for women. This program has involved presenting at various workplaces and running an evening for women where various financial matters are discussed.

Over time Cheryl has been involved as Treasurer at various community and sporting organisations, also taking up the reins to run Milo: Have A Go programs at a local cricket club for 5-years.

LIA TIMSON

Secretary

Lia is an experienced journalist covering international affairs at Nine newspapers in Australia. She is the World Print Editor & Deputy World Editor of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald where she works closely with foreign correspondents and contributors on the mastheads' international coverage, and shapes the foreign news we read on the sites and in the papers every day. She is a former Technology Editor for the papers.

Lia holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Communications (Advertising) and a Master's in Journalism, has lived in several countries and speaks three languages, English, French and Portuguese.

Lia is co-founder of the ABCD - Association for Brazilian Bilingual Children's Development - a NSW not-for-profit dedicated to bilingual children's literacy. A self-declared bookworm and lover of languages, Lia is passionate about literacy to help children become confident adults capable of making informed choices and contributing to the world around them.