SI Moreton North Inc SIMNI

02/06/2026

Week Two of Meet our SI Moreton North Inc SIMNI members and their amazing gifts to community.

Shveta Sharma – Police Liaison Officer – Indian Community - Deception Bay Police Station. Shweta and two of her Police Liaison colleagues attended the SIMNI “Light on the Lake’ Candlelight Vigil remembering and reflecting on the lives that have been lost to domestic and family violence. attended our 7th Annual Candlelight Vigil along her two of her colleagues.

Martin – Life member and club matriarch showed her impressive IT skills using the NCWQ Zealous Online Bursary Scoring program to judge the SIMNI - Audrey Martin Bursary. Never one to let technology beat her, Audrey quickly mastered the program and competently scored the applicants. At a ripe age of 89 Audrey shows you are never too old to learn new skills.

Sarah Shotunde– Sarah’s commenced her new company SS Communications in Sept 2024 and she has recently joined the team at Share the Dignity using her amazing skills as a Brand Consultant and Communication Expert to help spread the word. She is leading by example, raising her two young daughters to be strong independent women.

Molly Tulip – UQ Law Student, Law Clerk and is an Executive Mentor of the YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament. These are volunteers who give hours of their time each and every week to support young people achieve connection, parliamentary education, and improve both their personal and professional development.

Beata Ostapiej-Piatkowski – Counsellor and Youth Justice Advocate, Beata is a fierce advocate for the rights of non-English speaking background women (NESB) and children seeking safety as their fundamental right. She is a mum with two adult sons.

With 58 members SIMNI is the largest Soroptimist Club in Soroptimist International South East Asia Pacific and we look forward to sharing our members over the next few weeks.

25/05/2026

What happens when a community facing climate change decides to create its own future? 🌏💚

https://youtu.be/m9IiCUH0480

The Murik Lakes Seeds of Friendship Project in Darapap Village, Papua New Guinea, is a powerful example of resilience, innovation, and community-led action.

Located in the Murik Lakes region of East Sepik Province, the people of Darapap Village are experiencing the devastating impacts of rising sea levels, shoreline erosion, saltwater contamination, and increasing threats to food security and fresh water access.

In partnership with SI Moreton North Inc SIMNI, this project is helping the community build sustainable above-ground gardens, improve nutrition, and create long-term food security solutions despite the challenges of climate change.

This video features Immediate Past President Fiona Cullen presenting the Murik Lakes Seeds of Friendship Project as part of the Food Security Panel at the Soroptimist International South East Asia Pacific Federation Conference of Clubs held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from 1–3 May 2026.

The presentation highlights the extraordinary effort behind the project — from women growing vegetables in raised canoe gardens, to village men and youth working together to build a large deck garden structure over mangroves using hand-cut mangrove posts.

A special acknowledgement must also go to Kylian Kenni, SIMNI Member and Project Manager, along with her husband Ela — tribal elder and chief — whose unwavering drive, leadership, and determination continue to push this project forward despite enormous environmental, logistical, and personal challenges.

We are also incredibly proud that this project received international recognition through an award from Soroptimist International and was showcased at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March 2026.

This is more than a gardening project. It is a story of leadership, inclusion, determination, and hope.

Please watch, share, and help us shine a light on the incredible work being done by the people of Darapap Village. 🌱

🌱 Murik Lakes Seeds of Friendship – Darapap Village, Papua New Guin...

24/05/2026

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing our members and their amazing capacity to give to others.

24/05/2026

SIMNI members volunteer their time, energy and finances to support, educate, enable and empower women and girls around the world.
They also use their voices on the global stage to raise awareness of issues affecting women and to uplift with solutions that address the challenges.
In the space of a few weeks these amazing women of influence shared their skills and passions.
Rochelle Courtenay CEO of Share the Dignity – attending Women Deliver 2026 Conference in Melbourne - the Conference brings together more than 6,500 advocates, leaders, grassroots organisations and governments, all focused on driving real change for women, girls and those who menstruate.
Fiona Cullen SIMNI Immediate Past President -presenting Darapap Village Seeds of Friendship above ground garden Project at the Soroptimist International South-East Asia Pacific 2026 Conference of Clubs - Kota Kinabalu.
Cheryl Gray CEO Women's Network Australia panel discussion at WEConnect International Asia Pacific Summit in Singapore. Thank you to WEConnect International for convening such a generous, practical and future-focused summit. The challenge to take the ideas, connections and commitments from Singapore and turn them into action is accepted.
Naresh – Invited to be on the panel at Girmit Diwas hosted by Queensland. As a diasporic Girmit descendant and a community researcher I am committed to supporting research and continue efforts to preserve the voice and stories of our elders.
Machellee Kosiak - Academic Lecturer - 2026 Midwifery Graduation- Brisbane Convention Centre. This year there 14 Indigenous midwives, which included 7 Indigenous women from the Away From Base group, graduating the largest cohort to date.

16/05/2026

Congratulations to the eight Queensland athletes selected in the Para Swimming Australia team bound for Glasgow 2026, including our QAS-supported athletes 👏

Read the full team list: https://bit.ly/4nl3BrP

Excited to have our beautiful Lakeisha Patterson OAM once again swimming in the team. We are so proud of you Lucky.

15/05/2026

Dear SI Moreton North,

I hope this message finds you well.

On behalf of Soroptimist International, I am pleased to share the attached certificate in recognition of your Club’s project, "Seeds of friendship (raised gardens)".

This certificate acknowledges your contribution to our global advocacy work during the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women and the important work undertaken by your Club in support of women and girls.

We encourage you to share this recognition with your Club members and wider community. If you are able to share any photos of the certificate being received or displayed, we would be pleased to consider these for SI communications.

Thank you once again for your continued commitment to Soroptimist International.

Warm regards,

12/05/2026

Ask me why I am a Soroptimist? This is all as volunteers!

05/05/2026

Our club has been supporting Rhodanthe Lipsett Midwifery Scholarships for 14 years

02/05/2026

Shout Out and please share - there are over 30 bursaries on offer.