Passionate community advocate Trudi Marrapodi has won a top accolade at the recent Snowy Monaro Business Awards.
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Ms Marrapodi won the Outstanding Young Employee Award for her role as a disability support worker and Bombala coordinator of Cooma Challenge.
Cooma Challenge is the leading disability and community aged care service provider in the Snowy Monaro region. In addition to running services out of Cooma, it also operates a satellite office in Bombala.
Ms Marrapodi grew up in Eden and worked at a local fish and chips shop while at high school. After leaving school she completed her apprenticeship as a chef, and went on to become sous chef at Eden Fisherman's Club.
She moved to Bombala in 2013 with her husband Daniel and took on the role of a support worker with Cooma Challenge, caring for someone who lives with a disability and requires a significant amount of care.
Ms Marrapodi was so successful in this role that she quickly became the "go to" contact for other support workers in Bombala, and this evolved into a full time support coordination role with Cooma Challenge.
Success continued, with Cooma Challenge opening a full time office in Bombala to meet the growing needs of locals requiring access to community aged care and disability services.
Ms Marrapodi now manages a team of 20 support workers, who she matches with aged care clients and people living with disabilities to ensure people get the support they need.
"Nobody is more passionate in advocating for their community than Trudi," Cooma Challenge CEO Darren Carr said.
"We have a nickname in Cooma Challenge for Trudi - the Member for Bombala."
Ms Marrapodi's Outstanding Young Employee Award was Cooma Challenge's second gong for the evening, having earlier picked up the award for Excellence in Inclusive Employment.
In accepting the award, Ms Marrapodi noted her pride in opening and growing Cooma Challenge's first remote office, and promoting awareness of disability in the Bombala community - which included organising a disability awareness day at Bombala High School.
However, she said her proudest achievement was "advocating fiercely for people with disabilities and aged care clients in Bombala to ensure they get their needs met and every service they are entitled to".
As for what she believed it took to be an outstanding young employee?
"Good time management, passion, dedication - for me this means wanting the best for Bombala, and every new service to be available in my local community," Ms Marrapodi said.
"Young workers should recognise that they can learn a lot from their older peers. And did I mention good time management!"