John Forster celebrates 25 years of making a difference, the Noah’s Ark way

If there was one thing Noah’s Ark Chief Executive Officer John Forster could tell his younger self, it would be to “keep in perspective the nature of change”.

Marking 25 years as CEO in 2025, John said it was this perspective of change you don’t necessarily consider when you’re in the thick of research, policy making and advocating for the inclusion of children with disabilities. 

“This is because when I got involved in inclusion in 1990, that meant for the first 90 years of the 20th century children with disabilities were excluded (from the community),” he said. 

“So we are actually not very far into the process, but when you’re in the middle of it you don’t see it like that, you’re just busy doing it.” 

John’s story with Noah’s Ark began well before he became its leader. He was drawn to the organisation initially as a parent seeking a service, he said was not only progressive, but had a family orientated approach.

Noah’s Ark was founded by families, for families. 

John had also previously worked with homeless youth and could see that supporting children in their early childhood was so important. It was some of these experiences which have helped inform John’s 25 years at the helm. 

He emphasised ‘the guiding story’, describing two pillars upon which  the organisation was based. The first of these was the focus on collaborating with the whole family. “The second pillar,” he said, “was that Noah’s Ark thought about children with disabilities’ inclusion within the community. And that still drives all the work we do and is consistent with what the founders did, although it has adapted as the context and environment has changed around us.” 

Around the time John made the move to Noah’s Ark, he said there was a spark of international interest in Early Childhood, driven by then US President Bill Clinton, who John said had commissioned a significant piece of research called From Neurons to Neighbourhoods. 

“I was really interested in being part of that (movement) because I could see it was going to lead to some important thinking about children and so I joined Noah’s Ark—and part of my interest was that Noah’s Ark had this quite developed inclusion program called Play Works,” he said. “Noah’s Ark had also been involved from the very get-go in the inclusion of children with disabilities through providing toys and equipment into childcare centres."

If you’re going to make a difference you need to try to understand how to make the greatest difference.

“I came because there was this group of people involved in inclusion but also this group of awesome people who knew all about children’s development in a unique way because they were working with children who had atypical development. It’s definitely been a journey.” 

Throughout John’s dedication to Noah’s Ark, he has also acted as a leader in Early Childhood Intervention, having served as National President of Early Childhood Intervention Australia. 

“The last thing I did was work on a joint statement around inclusion between Early Childhood Australia and Early Childhood Intervention Australia, which was bringing the Early Childhood fields and Early Childhood disability fields together to have a common vision,” he said. “This was big because they had always been parallel systems.” 

John has somehow found the time to act as a founding Director of Professionals and Researchers in Early Childhood Intervention (PRECI), alongside advising government as a member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council and the Victorian Government NDIS Implementation Taskforce. The research behind, and introduction of, the Key Worker model was a significant move forward—in 2012,  Dr Stacey Alexander and John published their research and resource guide on the Key Worker role, with information still relevant and in use today. 

“This was really taking the principle and putting it into practical application, and it got national recognition,” he said. 

And of course, ‘making a difference’ has always been his driving force. 

“I’ve really been interested in ‘what does best practice look like’ and in terms of having best practice you need to create a policy context which supports that,” he said. “If you’re going to make a difference you need to try to understand how to make the greatest difference.  

“It has been fantastic to work internationally and nationally. I’ve been able to work with absolutely fabulous and committed people, and I am very grateful for that. The amazing thing about Noah’s Ark is it still has this real integrity about it and real commitment, and there’s a group of people who have been in the organisation for a long time who are really committed to its values. 

“If I was going to say what I was proudest of, it would be that: to be part of an organisation which has grown like it has. It’s really been very amazing.”

John, together we thank you for guiding and steering Noah’s Ark through the past 25 years.

Read more highlights from the year in the 2025 Annual Report.