Garvey attended
Mount Holyoke College in
South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she earned a bachelor's degree. Her professional career began as a teacher in the
Central African Republic with the
Peace Corps. In 1999 Garvey was elected to the Arlington County's Board of Education and served for 15 (non-consecutive) years. During that time, she served as chairwoman five times. Robert G. Smith, who served as the Board's most senior administrator for most of her tenure, described a key exchange they had when he was being interviewed for the job of supervisor. Garvey wanted to see a cost analysis of the program before supporting or opposing the streetcar, while her main opponent was an enthusiastic supporter. Garvey's win was attributed to voters who sought an independent voice on the County Board. Vihstadt was able to use the streetcar and tap into growing voter resentment over what he called "vanity projects" such as an aquatics center, an over-budget dog park and an infamous "million dollar bus stop and won the election handily. Board members
Jay Fisette and Mary Hynes, both strong supporters of the streetcar, realized they could not persuade the majority of voters to support the project. The project was officially halted on November 18. The acrimony of the cancellation was apparent immediately after the vote when Fisette refused to shake hands with Garvey. The simmering tensions over the project was highly unusual because of Arlington's commitment to both courtesy and consensus. In June 2016 Garvey easily defeated challenger Erik Gutshall in a local Democratic Party Primary which was a rare challenge to unseat an incumbent's bid to win reelection ==Personal life==