Jacqui has been a consistent champion of our Eastern Bay Communities, gifting her time, skills, and insights to make our place, a better place, to live, work and thrive. Her voluntary and paid work across many sectors of the Bay of Plenty and nationally saw her recognised as a an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in September 2009 for her services to the community.  

Jacqui has established many playcentres in Auckland and the Bay of Plenty, served on the South Auckland Education Board for Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee and the NZ Playcentre Federation's Education and Publications Committee. She has also been involved with the development of correspondence courses on child development. A true champion of the Arts, she established the Whakatane Community Arts Council & The Summer Arts Festival. As the CEO of Eastbay REAP , Jacqui was instrumental in expanding educational services and programmes across the Eastern Bay. 

As a guardian of the environment, Jacqui wasnt shy to roll up her sleeves and get 'stuck in', being an active participant in the Nukuhou Saltmarsh Care Group, the Apanui Saltmarsh Care Group, the Whakatane Harbour Care group, has served as a trustee for the Whakatane Kiwi Trust and been an active voluntary Trustee for the Eastern Bay Community Foundation, leading the Distributions and Grants Panel. Her loss will be keenly felt, but her legacy lives on.