Maree Jenner – 2025 Ambassador – Audio described

A young girl said to me one day, she said,

"You've grown up little,"

and her father was like, "Oh!"

And I went, "Your daughter's brilliant."

'Cause I have, I've grown up,

and I am little.

[Audio description] Maree Jenner.

My name's Maree and I live on the wonderful Central Coast.

I love to travel, but I also like to get out

and about and riding my bike.

I'm a disability advocate and I'm an ambassador for

International Day of People with Disability.

[Audio description] Maree has curly grey hair and glasses.

My big question is,

'when you look towards the next generation,

what gives you hope for the future?'

I'm the only person with short stature in my family.

Going to school, that was hard.

Some of the children at school decided that it was okay

to mock and laugh at me.

I had to learn early to stand up for myself,

and that's the part of my living with disability.

It's given me the strength to be an advocate, to speak up

and challenge people's thinking.

[Audio description] Other Ambassadors.

(Isabella Choate) Something that gives me hope for the future

is our younger generations

who are proudly claiming their disability.

(Ronan Soussa) More representation in media

to raise awareness as well.

(Santiago Velasquez) When I'm walking down the streets

and little kids are genuinely curious.

(James Parr) Having the next generation advocate for us and with us.

I love their thinking.

Now, I tell them when I apply for a job,

"Do you think I wrote, I had short stature or dwarfism?"

And they said, "No, it doesn't matter."

I do inclusion programs in schools,

encouraging young people

to be upstanders and allies for one another

and to be inclusive in their thinking.

They are the change-makers of tomorrow.

They will be the designers and the builders

and their thinking is different to the thinking of the past.

That's what gives me hope.

[Audio description] The logo for International Day of People with Disability.