Jackie grew up on the land in regional Victoria, and now lives with her farmer husband, Dan, in the Western District. Through her experience living and working in rural Australia, Jackie understands the unique challenges faced by women in these areas, with limited resources, access to healthcare, and networking opportunities. Jackie is a passionate advocate for creating opportunities that help rural women to connect in their communities.

The ‘Rural Women’s Day’ brand grew beyond expectation, following the inaugural event held in the Southern Grampians on October 15, 2019. Since, Jackie has facilitated over 20 RWD celebrations with volunteer hosts, and welcomed over 2000+ women to events across Australia. She has organically grown a social media community of 15,000+ followers, and supported the start-up collaborative podcast ‘Ducks on the Pond’, which now has over 60,000 downloads.

With collaboration at the heart of her not-for-profit, Jackie has formed collaborations and partnerships with over 200 businesses and individuals, and published two keepsake magazines celebrating the stories of rural women, with distribution of 2500 copies across Australia and New Zealand. In 2023, Jackie was awarded the ABC Rural & Kondinin Group Community Leader of the Year at Farmer of the Year Awards.

Jackie contributes her time to Rural Women’s Day in a volunteer capacity alongside Directors, Christine Elliott (Jackie’s Mum) and Emma Newton, who you may get to meet at your local event. She has been fortunate to work in various agricultural industries including livestock production, machinery sales, and more recently joined the family’s beef and sheep property alongside her Dad and spends her spare time creating floral arrangements, or on an adventure with her husband Dan and their little dog Ted.