By Monica Oliphant – CORENA committee member and patron
It is with great sadness that we note the untimely death of one of our Board Members, Corinna Pereira. She was on the CORENA board from 2016 – 2018 and 2022 – 2024. A few of us, however, had known her for many more years – over 25. This was in her capacities of working for the SA Government Energy Advisory Service, Local Government and Housing SA. In the latter job she was tireless in introducing solar to low-income households, developing, and implementing and evaluating the programs.
Corinna is remembered for her beautiful smile and personality. Also, her completely ethical and dedicated work principles, her willingness to share knowledge where possible but never going outside of the bounds imposed on her by her then employer. She had a deep knowledge of how to introduce energy efficiency and solar into the home and also commercial building upgrades and it was impressive how she could project manage initiatives to completion. Corinna was always sought after for advice, which she regularly willingly gave and was a real asset to the CORENA Board.
We used to smile at the similarity of the names “Corinna and CORENA”, which when speaking sounded the same!
Many of us will miss the regular lunches and coffees we had together over the years, always a very pleasant event where we talked about work, common problems, and her love of travel. We all deeply admired Corinna’s outgoing nature, and the positivity and enthusiasm she demonstrated across all areas of her life – and particularly in her work in climate action.
This optimism is something we will each try to emulate as we continue our work at CORENA into the future.
Corinna will be sorely missed.