GROW Gardens is a social enterprise creating meaningful employment pathways for young First Nations Victorians through real, paid work in gardening, landscaping, and environmental care.
GROW Gardens exists to tackle long-standing social inequities by closing the gap — connecting First Nations youth to land, culture, purpose, and creating real jobs through meaningful work on Country.
Every GROW Gardens project provides hands-on horticultural experience, accredited training, and culturally aligned mentorship, helping our employees build confidence, skills, and long-term employment prospects.
Our Team
Damian Walsh.
Before co-founding GROW Gardens in 2025 with Paul Baker, Damian had extensive experience in employment, compliance, and workforce development, holding roles at organisations like Alffie, where he built training systems for unemployed Australians, supporting vulnerable populations, and at Sidekicker, where he developed fair labour hire initiatives in horticulture and blue-collar sectors. Damian is proud to manage and mentor the First Nations Youth employed with GROW Gardens.
Paul Baker.
Paul’s passion for nature and sustainability led him to co-found GROW Gardens with Damian Walsh in 2025. Paul is motivated by a desire to foster skills development, cultural connection and a pathway to long-term employment for young First Nations Victorians. Paul is also the owner of Paul Baker Gardens.
Our Partners
By partnering with the Killara Foundation, we bridge the gap between young Indigenous Australians and meaningful career opportunities with the support and involvement of the Killara mentoring program. Together we foster skill development, cultural connection and a pathway to long-term employment.
GROW Gardens is a certified social enterprise through Social Traders, meaning every job we take on creates real impact. We provide employment pathways for First Nations young people while delivering quality gardening and maintenance services.
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