With more than 20 years’ corporate leadership experience, Gael has a proven record of leading customer-focused, distributed network businesses across multiple sectors including healthcare, aged care and telecommunications. Gael joined Junior Adventures Group in August 2023 and was appointed Group CEO in February 2024. She is passionate about delighting customers and building strong, connected teams as they deliver the best care for the children, families and schools that JAG serves.  

Gael loves Pilates and is a proud Collingwood fan. On weekends she can be found in her garden, out on long walks or spending time with her family and friends.  

Living down under in Melbourne and with 25 years’ executive experience in national and global community-focused service provision, Melinda has spent most of her career focused on children, young people and local communities. She is well known by the federal government and industry partners through her participation in both government and industry advisory groups in the Early Childhood Education and Care, Redress and Child Safety.

A proud mum to three empowered young women who are pursuing careers in the fields of law, journalism and teaching Melinda is not one to sit still. In her spare time Melinda enjoys rowing, jogging on the beach, teaching ballet and being involved in all types of sports.

With a fierce and passionate belief in the ability of all children and young people, Melinda is excited to be a part of the JAG team and building brighter futures together for all Aussie kids.

The small town of Crewe in Cheshire in the northwest of England may be the famous home of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but more importantly it's where our Chief Information Officer was born and raised.

Ken has held various leadership roles throughout his 30-year career. For 16 years he has worked within the world of IT, across operations, transformational change and strategic management.

Ken is a devoted family man and loves spending time with his loved ones in his spare time. He dreamed as a kid that he'd grow up and play football – which he does, in a way, in his local Over 40s 11-a-side league.

A firm believer that life (and work) should be fun, Ken brings his positive vibes and generosity to the table every day, helping everyone feel comfortable and inspired to produce their best work.

Originally a Canberran but now a Melbourne local since 2007, Allisha brings over 18 years’ experience in Retail, Luxury and Commercial Business Marketing. She specialises in strategy, planning, PR, media management, consumer insights and business planning.

When Allisha isn’t chasing after her two young boys, she likes to keep fit by exercising, weight training, running and riding her bike. If she’s not moving her body, she’s either practicing her green thumb or trying her hand at learning the guitar. She’s also happiest when she finds a park that sits opposite a cafe so she can appease her ‘coffee snob’ alter-ego while her boys play on the playground.

When Allisha was younger, she idolised Amanda Woodward from Melrose Place and wanted to follow in her footsteps. She quickly realised that, despite how glamorous Amanda’s life looked; after moving to London and starting a career in Advertising, she was better suited for the world of marketing. She did, however; have a short-lived career in acting. Her year 12 drama teacher was playing with the piano and she was asked to sing a scale! Before she knew it, she was the lead actress of her high school musical! 

Being a mother herself, Allisha understands the importance of social relationships in childhood, and the incredible support Outside School Hours Care provides communities, which is why she’s passionate about her role at JAG. She’s excited about the impact our services can have as we work towards delivering the best OSH and Holiday programs across the globe.

Hailing from Sydney Australia, Sam has spent the last twenty years within the healthcare and childcare industries. She is particularly skilled at leading multifunctional teams, often through times of change, to deliver results. Sam is happiest when she’s spending time outdoors with her family and friends. She loves (trying) to keep fit, and also loves undoing the good work eating great food and drinking good wine.

Sam freely admits she was far too concerned having a good time when she was younger to recall any grand career ambitions but feels her career has unfolded perfectly anyway.  She brings to her role an infectious sense of optimism and energy, and believes having a good laugh is the key to happiness in life.

James has had a diverse in finance across multiple sectors over the last 20 years. Starting his career at PwC, James qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Australia before moving to London where he lived and worked for 15 years. He has worked across a range of international businesses from start-ups to global giants, and his real passion at work is helping to grow businesses across the world.

When he isn’t at work James lives in Melbourne with his wife and two daughters and spends his time travelling, seeing live music, enjoying good food and wine and spending time with his family.

Like most young children, James dreamed of growing up to be a Chartered Accountant one day and as luck would have it he did just that!

A Victorian by birth but Queenslander by heart, Josie was born in Prahran, Victoria and moved to the Sunshine State as a child. Josie has over 20 years’ experience in team development and people management in the highly regulated industries of Retail, Pharmacy and Childcare.

As a child Josie’s aspirations were hard to pin down, aspiring to becoming a kindergarten teacher, an air hostess and then, for something completely different… an accountant. When she joined the JAG team in July of 2020, she found the perfect marriage of all her passions - child development, people leadership and finance all in one role.

When Josie isn’t being a taxi for her 14-year-old daughter, she enjoys indulging in cocktails and food with her loved ones and attending the gym when she can. She is an incredibly passionate and optimistic person whose maternal instinct has only been magnified through becoming a mother. She brings this into her role by ensuring children get the best opportunities they can in life to learn, be children and have fun.

Born in the UK but calling Queensland home since the age of five, Jason brings over 15 years of management experience across the Health and Care, Pharmacy and Hospitality sectors. He is passionate in providing a customer centric focus, strong team ethics and connecting with communities.

As a child, Jason aspired to become a PE teacher because of his love for watching, coaching and playing sport. Instead of that coming to fruition, he has kept this passion as a hobby outside of work by coaching young indoor cricket teams. When he’s not swinging a bat, he is a proud partner and dad of not only his three children; Brendan, Jacob and Sienna, but also frequently admiring his perfect, fanatically landscaped lawn.

Growing up, Jason’s mum was a family day care provider, which he saw many children in her care flourish from disadvantaged environments. He is eager to continue his mum’s life work at Junior Adventures Group and build brighter futures for Aussie kids.

Born and raised in the Western Suburbs of Victoria and now located in sunny Perth, Brooke brings a collective of 28 years executive experience in the provision of Children Services and local government contract management. When Brooke isn’t spending time working, she is with her family, reading books and sipping on her coffee while experiencing many different foods.

Growing up, Brooke was always great with numbers and believed that her career would involve numbers in some way, so you can imagine her shock when she ended up going to university for Sciences in Human Movement and Sports. Her path in life strengthened her skills to be caring, level-headed and a great listener, which are all necessary attributes when working in the OSHC industry. She has a passion for people and wanting to make a difference by honing their talent and nourishing them during their journey with her.

Karen is committed to operational excellence and values-based leadership. Her professional experience is diverse and her passion for the well-being of children, families and communities is demonstrated through her roles as CEO of Mission Australia Early Learning, and transformation lead at YMCA NSW. Karen’s most recent role as a Director at the Northern Beaches Council enabled the delivery of high-quality children and community services.  In her spare time Karen has a passion for property development and furniture restoration.  She also enjoys getting lost in book shops, art galleries and foreign cities.

Vanessa was born and raised in Southwest Sydney, New South Wales, with Argentinian heritage and a natural passion for football! With over 15 years’ experience in the education sector, from Long Day Care and Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) to teaching Vocational Education and Training in high schools and Registered Training Organisations (RTO) settings, she specialises in Compliance and Risk Management.

When Vanessa’s not at soccer games watching her kids play, you’ll find her hiking, near the vicinity of the beach, riding jet skies with the family or spending time with friends. She is someone who’s energetic, passionate and a problem-solver. As a child, she had an endless list of things she wanted to be growing up, including a swimmer, F1 race car driver and a jet pilot in the air force (she was a huge Top Gun fan). Lucky for us, none of these careers worked out and we’re fortunate that Vanessa is here to help us build brighter futures.