Former Goulburn man Simon Poidevin heads up Total Brain Limited

The Goulburn product, whose mother, Anne, still lives in the district, says he's looking forward to the challenge as Australia/New Zealand president of Total Brain Limited.

Mr Poidevin started with the company recently after becoming aware of its work years earlier.

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The mental health and wellbeing platform is well known in the US but his job will be to develop it in Australian and New Zealand markets. Mr Poidevin had undertaken capital raising for the company in his former work.

"It's a chance to do something different but the good thing is it's not as though I don't know about its work," Mr Poidevin said.

Total Brain CEO Louise Gagnon said the outfit had made "great strides" in the United States with companies such as Boeing, Accenture, AARP and Kaiser Peranente adopting its mental health and wellness technology. More recently it partnered with IBM to provide US veterans with a digital solution to monitor and support mental wellness.

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"The cost to the Australian economy of poor mental health is now being quantified by the Australian Productivity Commission but we can attest, from our experience working with companies and organisations in the US, that the figure will be distressingly high," Mr Gagnon said in a statement.

"To Simon's great credit, this is something he recognised years ago as he supported the work of the company's founder and chairman, Dr Evian Gordon, in creating the world's largest neuroscience database which provides the foundation of the Total Brain mental health and wellness platform that we see today."

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Mr Poidevin said the opportunities in Australia and New Zealand were immense.

He has worked in global financial markets for 37 years and recently resigned as managing director of corporate broking for Bell Potter. He was also an executive director at Pengana Capital, an Australian based Absolute Return Funds Management company and worked for 14 years with Citigroup, including as managing director of its corporate equity broking division in Australia.

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Mr Poidevin represented Australia in Rugby Union from 1980 to 1992, captaining the Wallabies in 1986 and 1987 and became the first Wallaby to play 50 test matches. In 1991 he was a member of the Rugby World Cup winning team.

He is currently the president of the Classic Wallabies, the living heritage of Australian Rugby which encompasses all players who have been selected to play for the Wallabies.

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He was awarded an OAM in 1988, The Centenary Medal in 2003 and the Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2018. Mr Poidevin was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame in 1991 and into the Australian Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014. He is also included inGoulburn's Sporting Hall of Fame.

When not living and working in Sydney, the former Saint Patrick's College student and Goulburn Dirty Reds player escapes to the Goulburn district family farm.

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