Our executives

Jeff provides both a strategic and day-to-day focus over our operational functions.

Jeff provides both a strategic and day-to-day focus over our operational functions and the delivery of our strategic goals, purpose and vision. Jeff joined Goodstart in 2014 as the Chief Financial Officer bringing many years of experience in senior commercial finance roles across not-for-profit, private and public sectors. During his tenure at Goodstart, Jeff has secured our financial sustainability to help us achieve maximum social impact – with our social purpose investments increasing from $12.5M to more than $47.3M in 2022. Jeff has been instrumental in leading our centre growth strategy and executing sector-leading capital projects, to helping establish our charitable cause the Early Learning Fund with Uniting (NSW/ACT) and The Benevolent Society, and overseeing the strategy and implementation of our child safeguarding framework. 

Jeff became the Chief Operating Officer role in early 2019 and led the transformation of a new way of working at Goodstart, placing centres at the centre of everything we do.  In early 2023 Jeff was appointed Deputy CEO, a role to which he brings his strong leadership focus to create a thriving organisation where all children and Goodstarters feel a strong sense of belonging.

Myra oversees Goodstart's social impact strategy, policy, measurement, research and evaluation and social inclusion programs and initiatives such as EChO (Enhancing Children’s Outcomes) and Family Connections. Myra and her team amplify the delivery of Goodstart’s social purpose and impact across the country.

Myra brings significant experience to Goodstart, as a driving force of social policy and reform that has helped transform and improve the quality of life of Australians. She has been the senior social policy advisor to two Australian prime ministers and has worked across early childhood education and care, schools, community services and health policy at state and national levels. Myra’s career began as a teacher in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. She is deeply committed to supporting those Goodstarters working closest with children and is a passionate believer in the power of early learning to transform children’s lives. Myra co-wrote Preschool – Two Years are Better Than One with Dr Stacey Fox at the Mitchell Institute which aimed to help compel Australia to pursue a national commitment to ensuring all three-year-olds have access to high-quality early childhood education by offering a second year of preschool. Myra has also been a Goodstart mum, with her children attending Goodstart Kedron.

Peter is an experienced CFO who enjoys working in a "for purpose" environment and is passionate about shaping a stronger future for Goodstart, bringing a strategic focus to financial sustainability, risk and assurance and the longer term success of Goodstart.

Peter is an accomplished finance and commercial leader with a diverse corporate and operational based career across health, aged care, retirement living, not-for-profit, financial services, engineering, construction/projects and mining/energy.  With expertise in finance, commercial operations, funding, procurement, IT, property, and governance, he excels in strategy, delivery and change. Peter's ability to lead high-performing teams, navigate complex change and employ broad financial skills in listed and non-listed entities sets him apart.  Recent roles have included working with a distributed network of services across 400+ locations and developing a deep understanding of diverse operations.  His strategic financial and risk leadership is instrumental in shaping a stronger future for Goodstart, ensuring stability, growth and the ongoing provision of nation-wide high quality early learning. Peter's dedication to excellence drives sustainable success and reinforces Goodstart's vision and purpose.

Sue leads a range of work and initiatives to bring our ambition of becoming a world leader in early years pedagogy and practice to life. This sees Sue and her colleagues on any given day working closely with educators in our centres, the sector, academics and national and international thought leaders to translate and embed early learning evidence into practice.

Sue is an international thought leader in early childhood pedagogy and OBE (Order of the British Empire). Prior to joining Goodstart, Sue was the Head of Early Learning at Action for Children in the United Kingdom (UK). As a complement to her role at Action for Children, Sue provided specialist advisory services on early years and childcare policy and quality to the UK Government and relevant Ministers. In her early career, Sue spent 14 years as a teacher, including three years in the British School, Athens, and six years as Early Years and Infant Lead in the British School in Manila, Philippines. She has also been a school principal and held the regulatory role of lead inspector for the Early Years Foundation Stage (the UK version of Australia’s Early Years Learning Framework).

With a strong background in all areas of business operations – marketing, logistics to procurement and finance – Paul has a deep understanding of what is needed to support teams and centres to be their best to deliver great children’s outcomes. 

Paul is a highly accomplished executive with 40 years’ experience working for major national organisations as well as 20 years of board experience and strong operational and leadership expertise as the State Manager for Goodstart’s Victoria and Tasmania region – overseeing more than 170 Goodstart centres. Paul has a deep understanding of managing diverse organisational footprints and people and an unrelenting focus for Goodstart’s vision and purpose. He is highly passionate about people and making a difference in the communities we all live in – benefiting Goodstart communities and beyond as a volunteer and fundraiser for several charities across the nation.

Melinda is instrumental in supporting Goodstart’s 654-strong centre network and empowering our centre leaders and their wider teams each and every day to maximise the potential of every child through high quality early learning.

Melinda is a dynamic leader, who fosters innovation, is results driven and has extensive leadership experience in operations management, cultural change, business transformation and customer service.

With over 30 years of senior leadership and executive experience, Melinda brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to Goodstart. Her background includes leadership roles at Woolworths Ltd and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), leading national service delivery and major change and transformation projects.

Natalie excels in maintaining a great balance between organisational requirements and nurturing an exceptional employee experience to support our people to thrive.
 
Natalie leads our people and learning teams which maintain an unwavering focus on ensuring Goodstart provides an inclusive and thriving environment for both Goodstarters and the children we serve. Natalie brings significant HR expertise to Goodstart, with her career spanning across several roles within the Queensland Public Service, including Queensland Treasury and Queensland Audit Office. Prior to joining Goodstart, Natalie served as the Chief People Officer, leading a major HR transformation at Residential Tenancies Authority, where she also held acting positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Customer Experience Officer.

As our Chief Products & Enabling Services Officer, Lynne is supporting the creation of an organisation where rapid and sustainable transformation is our new normal, enabling Goodstart’s short and longer-term ambitions.

Lynne has over 20 years of experience in operations and business transformation, working globally for Amex, Dell and IBM. Before joining Goodstart, Lynne was Vice President of Services and Infrastructure Transformation at American Express Global Business Travel. Lynne has a strong track record of leading complex change across workforces, requiring process redesign, implementation of new technologies, workforce capability rebuild, and new ways of team-based problem solving. At Goodstart, Lynne oversees organisational transformation, ensuring leadership and resources are optimised to realise Goodstart’s 2025 ambitions.