Introducing our new staff member - Roseanne Murray
Roseanne Murray, Community Advisor, Community Waikato
In January, I joined Community Waikato as an Advisor for community and social service organisations. For the past 30+ years, I have been involved in the sport and community development sectors as a volunteer, advisor, facilitator, leader and governor.
Growing up in Taranaki, my parents were amazing role models when it came to volunteering and supporting their community. I have many memories of weekends spent helping with fundraising ventures for either the local school, a community facility or the many sports teams that we were all involved in. It amazes me how my parents found time to work, attend all our school and sport activities and still take us away camping in the holidays. Those experiences I am sure were a great influence on my life and led me to follow in my parents’ footsteps towards my own volunteering journey.
Participating in sport has always been a part of my DNA and combined with my abilities as a leader and communicator saw a natural progression into a career in the community sport sector. Having moved back to Kirikiriroa in 1999, I spent nine years working in Netball and for the past ten years with Sport Waikato. Within these roles, I had the pleasure of visiting many local communities across the Waikato region and met some amazing volunteers and leaders along the way.
Coming from a strong background in strategic planning and governance practices, I am keen to draw on my experiences and knowledge to help organisations build their capability to provide relevant services to their communities. This includes being collaborative in my approach and taking the time to build relationships rather than telling you what you need to do.
Outside of work I volunteer on three sport and community organisation boards which keeps me well-grounded on the highs and lows of the notfor-profit sector. I also enjoy catching up with family and friends, along with finding time to remain active, whether that is at the gym, exploring our cycle ways or walking around some of our beautiful tracks.
The opportunity to be involved in Community Waikato to support our community and social service organisations is a great privilege and I look forward to working alongside you to build thriving communities.