The story behind Guiding Growing Minds.
Our Founder
Dr Billy Garvey
GGM founder Dr Billy Garvey is a dad, podcaster, author and a developmental paediatrician with over 20 years’ experience working with children and families in a number of settings. He is passionate about helping those who care for kids – parents, educators, sports coaches, clinicians, family support workers – by advancing their ability to guide healthy child development and mental health.
“I’m about finding the ‘sweet spot’ between the medical textbooks and real life when it comes to looking after our kids.”
Billy strives to continue to learn how we can best support the children in our lives. His foundation is 14 years of full time university education and dual subspecialty medical training, but he hasn’t stopped there. Billy continues his learning through ongoing formal clinical professional development and trains our current and future workforce across a variety of clinical, education and family service professionals.
Despite his role as a senior specialist at one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious peadiatric hospitals, Billy felt like there was more he could do. In 2019 he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel the world to explore how we can better meet the needs of families and their children. Guiding Growing Minds was born from this vision.
Billy’s pathway to becoming a medical specialist is a little different. He was born and raised in Frankston, a tough outer-suburb in Melbourne Australia, working in varying part time roles from age 14, including as a hospital cleaner, childcare worker, factory line worker, bartender, supermarket night fill and forklift driver.
It was his time working in childcare (and also his experience getting kicked out of high school) that drove his desire to pursue developmental paediatrics and use his upbringing and life experience to help support other families and kids.
Guiding Growing Minds strives to be that support. We share our knowledge through meaningful pathways that utilise creative storytelling, authentic collaboration and genuine optimism to bring out the best in all of us. We imagine a future where no child is left behind and work hard towards making that vision a reality.
Our Advisory Board
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Adam is the CEO/CIO of a Melbourne-based family office, chair of Conscious Investment Management, and holds a number of directorship and committee appointments including Jamieson Coote Bonds, Gurner Queensland Investment Fund and Hawthorn Football Club Investments and Audit & Finance Committees. Previously, Adam was Head of Consumer, Retail and Healthcare investment banking at Goldman Sachs in Australia.
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Evan has worked in podcasting and radio for over 15 years, first as General Manager of Sydney community radio station FBi Radio and then founder of Kinderling Kids Radio before it was sold to LiSTNR. Prior to working in audio, Evan spent a decade working in investment banking in Australia and the US.
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Miffany has worked in agriculture and managed investments with post-graduate qualifications in Applied finance and Investment. She is the co-owner of retail businesses Minimax and Teds Cameras. She is also a Director of Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She is a mother to four children
