Guided by the Rotary motto of ‘Service above self’, Martin Corkery has dedicated much of his life – and his own funds – to community causes in Australia and internationally.
A longtime Ipswich Rotarian, Martin established a community crisis centre on the Gold Coast, which brought immediate and long-term benefits to the local community and helped struggling small businesses.
In 2019, Martin became concerned that farmers in drought-stricken areas of rural Queensland were struggling to survive. So he travelled across the region with a professional news camera man to interview locals for fundraising videos. He paid for the trip and the camera man himself.
More recently, Martin self-funded two visits to post-invasion Ukraine to establish links with local Rotary clubs and find out how Rotary Australia could offer support to Ukrainians in need.
Martin is also a businessman and co-founder of Children First Learning Centres, which he helped establish in 1991.