At their recently held AGM, Maleny District Sport and Recreation Club (MDSRC) ushered in an exciting new era, with the appointment of Carolyn Bradbury as President, and Dr Theresa Craig AM as an incoming committee member. As highly successful and accomplished women, both Carolyn and Theresa bring an impressive arsenal of professional expertise to the committee, including previous board management, financial and governance expertise, and business and legal acumen.
GC&M News spoke with the two newly elected committee members to find out more about their vision for MDSRC, and why it was important for more women to step up into positions of influence in our community.
Many people would recognise Carolyn by her professional name Carolyn Williams, and be familiar with her longstanding legal career, which has spanned 40 years. As the new President, Carolyn said she looked forward to working with the team who elected her, to continue the great work of MDSRC.
She said the committee would be working together on developing facilities not just at the Maleny Community Precinct, where the organisation has been based since 2015, but also in collaboration with member clubs – for the overall benefit of Maleny and surrounding areas.
She said she felt it was important for women to feel welcomed, valued and confident to step into community leadership roles.
“What’s important to me is that local organisations have created an environment where women feel equal and welcome and can therefore contribute to community life so strongly. Maleny has many women working hard in leadership roles already and I’m delighted to be joining them,” Carolyn said.
Dr Theresa Craig AM agreed that it was important to lead by example, and to provide visible role models for women to see that these leadership positions were accessible and achievable.
“A diverse range of people will achieve better outcomes, and women bring a different perspective to the table. Research has shown diversity contributes to a model for business and organisational success,” explained Theresa.
Carolyn said volunteers and community clubs were the backbone of small towns, and the benefits were also enormous to the volunteers who joined them. She encourages anyone wishing to share their skill sets and experience, while also gaining an ongoing sense of belonging, contribution and performance satisfaction, to get involved.
“There is no better place to meet people and form strong ongoing connections and sense of belonging to a community than becoming a volunteer. Maleny is famous for having so many clubs to choose from!” Carolyn said.
“We’ll continue working hard with our member clubs in our role as a service club, focussed on delivering sport and recreational facilities. Particularly, helping with grant support and advice when requested, so we’ll also be working collaboratively with Council to achieve those goals. We also have a couple of exciting, much needed community facility projects planned, with other organisations on our lease at the Maleny Precinct, which I hope to be able to bring more news on as things move forward,” said Carolyn.
More details visit malenysportandrec.org.au
Main image: Andrew Powell (Patron) Greg Williams (committee) Gail Denver (secretary) Max Whitten (committee) Carolyn Williams (president)Theresa Craig (committee) David Lowden (committee) Mike Norman (treasurer) John te Kloot (committee)