Maree first joined ELA in 2004 and has been involved in various roles with the Queensland action group on and off ever since.
Having helped to organise countless events, in particular the annual breakfast, taken on various roles including Co-convenor from 2006-2009, Maree is the current Membership Officer. Her organisational skills and tenacity for accurate record keeping, and her commitment to reaching out to past and potential members, has seen the membership in QLD grow over the past two years. This is reflected in a reinvigorated QLD ELAG which is expanding to regional areas.
Maree says what she has valued most from her ELA membership and activity, is getting to know some very -politically savvy women, both elected members and staffers, including Meredith Newman, Virginia Clarke and Kerry Hackett, who have always willing to find an answer to a query, or redirect it to someone who would know.
As an executive committee and board member of many NGOs and INGOs in the past 2 decades, Maree has found these contacts invaluable and much appreciated connections.
The 2021 Mollie Smith Award is awarded to two outstanding women, Maree Klemm and Eleanor Bates