Junior Chamber International Illawarra chapter president and former Miss World Australia national top 10 finalist Jesy Pinkerton has been chosen as a finalist in the NSW Young Woman of the Year Awards.
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Ms Pinkerton was advised she was one of three finalists by the Department of Family and Community Services on Thursday. The winner will be named at NSW Parliament House on March 4 after a public vote that will open soon online.
The registered nurse from Wollongong was chosen for her dedication to improving the lives of others and all her charitable work focused on Australia's rural healthcare system and on supporting the families of children with disabilities.
After completing her Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Wollongong in 2009, Ms Pinkerton worked as a registered nurse at St George Hospital for two years before a snowboarding accident in 2011 left her unable to work but able to focus on other things.
She does a considerable amount of charity and fund-raising work and volunteers extensively with families of children with disabilities.
Ms Pinkerton has firsthand knowledge of the situation because her older brother Jared has profound cerebral palsy.
Her volunteer and fund-raising work includes activities with NSW Cancer Council, Variety, CatholicCare, Wollongong Hospital, Highlights for Hope and the Para Meadows Foundation.
As part of her Miss World Australia campaign she held many fund-raising activities for the Lilla Foundation which supports indigenous communities and improves living conditions in remote areas of the Northern Territory.
Ms Pinkerton placed second in the Beauty with a Purpose category of the national Miss World Australia pageant.
In an earlier pageant, Miss Sydney Australia, she won the interview section.
Ms Pinkerton has been a long-time member of JCI Illawarra, a global network of organisations involving young leaders who want to help improve local communities through active citizenship.
She has served on the board of the Illawarra chapter since 2013 and helped to raise more than $300,000 for a variety of local projects and organisations.
In recognition of her community work Ms Pinkerton was recently appointed an ambassador of the Australians for Australia Foundation.
And she wants to establish her own not-for-profit organisation to meet the needs of siblings of children with disabilities in her community.
