It’s impossible to imagine how self-confessed chronic volunteer, twenty-nine-year old Elizabeth (Liz) Brennan squeezes in her smorgasbord of voluntary commitments alongside her ‘real’ jobs as marketing officer at family business, Moora Citrus, and her role coordinating an agricultural research program in Papua New Guinea.
The fact that she does it with such aplomb has recently earned her the Western Australian Young Achiever of the Year Award, which she was presented with at the inaugural awards night on Friday 13 May by former work colleague, Hon Martin Aldridge MLC, who nominated her for the award. Earlier in the evening, Liz was presented with the the Community Service and Volunteering Award for her intimidatingly long list of voluntary work, including her position as President of Australian Women in Agriculture, her membership of the World Farmer’s Organisation Women’s Committee, her role in organising the 2015 ANZAC Centenary and her volunteer work with AusAID and Meals on Wheels.
“It’s an absolute treat to be acknowledged for something that fills me with so much joy,” she said in her inspiring acceptance speech. “Whilst volunteering overflows my altruistic cup it has also opened so many doors for me professionally, from chairing not-for-profits, influencing global policy on food security, living in PNG (the second most beautiful place in the world) and getting to meaningfully contribute to the future of the most beautiful place in the world – my hometown, Wongan Hills.”
With a business/marketing degree following on from a childhood on the farm, Liz represents a new generation of farmers who have returned to agriculture with fresh eyes – and who understand the power of selling the story behind the produce. It’s people like Liz who are poised to lead Australia from the mining boom into the dining boom.
Part of Moora Citrus from scratch, Liz has had a crash course in citrus production over the last decade. Seeing her family’s property just outside Moora transformed from sheep paddocks to a mass of verdant trees producing the highest quality oranges and mandarins the world has to offer has given her a genuine passion for the product.
