Originally from the Upper Hunter, Ms Kearney is well known for being CEO of Mai-Wel from 2000 to 2018, where she helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and spearheaded important projects.

This wasn't the first time Ms Kearney was involved in helping people in the Maitland community.

Ms Kearney was a teacher, and then a volunteer with the Community Support Scheme (later called SkillShare) in the 1980s and 90s where she assisted young unemployed people and ran employment programs.

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It was in 1997 that Ms Kearney joined Mai-Wel as coordinator of LaborForce Solutions, where after a few years she put her hand up for the CEO role and the rest is history.

The mother of four and grandmother of ten has been keeping very busy since retiring in 2018 - she has worked with Hunter New England Health as a consumer representative leading up to the opening of the new Maitland Hospital, and is a member of Maitland Sunrise Rotary Club.

Ms Kearney said as consumer representative, she would raise things that could be a challenge for users of the hospital.

"I often talked to them about signage because that's a huge issue, with my connection to disability," she said.

"It was about giving the perspective of the patient or the family."

Using her knowledge of the health system, Ms Kearney is on the board of Maitland Health Stays, a combined project of the Maitland Rotary Clubs that will provide accommodation for families of patients in Maitland Hospital.

"There has been many challenges, as you can imagine through COVID, but we're progressing it well at the moment and we're feeling confident that we're going to find a site so we can go ahead," she said.

"It's for families of someone who might be in hospital for two nights, or it might be the patient themselves who has to come and go for a few days after, so the accommodation will be at an economical cost to the person.

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After a lifetime of work and volunteering to help others, Ms Kearney said it's a great feeling to be able to make a positive difference.

"I think we all want to achieve something, we all want to have what others have and I just think if you have an ability and interest in doing something like that [to help people], then go ahead and do it," she said.

Ms Kearney calls the "beautiful, leafy suburb of Lorn" home.

"Maitland is actually a little bit of a country town, as far as I can't really walk down the street without meeting somebody in there, a friend or people from the past, which I absolutely love," she said.

Ms Kearney said the events in Maitland like gala balls and debates are always places for people to connect.

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