Maria joined One Voice Wales as the South Wales Development Officer on 1 March 2022.

Maria lives with her with her family in a small village just outside Newport, South Wales.

During her career she has worked in the private and public sectors.

Initially, Maria worked for a number, of years, in the insurance sector before joining a Local Authority where she worked in insurance and risk management. She left to focus on family matters before commencing work in the local community as Clerk for a Community Council and a separate charity.

Whilst continuing to work as a clerk, Maria completed the ILCA (Introduction to Local Council Administration) course the CiLCA (Certificate in Local Council Administration) qualification.

Maria says “It has been an important time to join One Voice Wales due to the changes being brought about by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, which provides for the establishment of a new and reformed framework for local government elections, democracy, performance, and governance. This will obviously present challenges in adapting to the changes of the new framework.”

One Voice Wales will be leading on these changes with Community and Town Councils. Maria looks look forward to meeting colleagues from other Councils through the course of her work.

Maria is also an important link with commercial organisations and suppliers who support our events.

Each Development Officer supports a network of our Area Committees and is available to give advice to Councils via the Chair or Clerk.