COMPASSION OF CARALEE
AFTER BEING LEFT IN FINANCIAL RUINS AFTER HER DIVORCE, CARALEE TOOK CONTROL OF HER FUTURE AND NOW WANTS TO HELP OTHERS WITH THEIRS
HIGH-profile family lawyer Caralee Fontenele says not even two left feet would have stopped her from leaping at the chance to dance solo in front of 700 people to raise money for domestic violence.
A revolutionary divorce lawyer with lived experience, the director of leading Southeast Queensland law practice Collective Family Law is one of 10 brave business leaders from across the state taking part on Dancing CEOs on May 15.
Dancing CEOs supports Women’s Legal Service Queensland, which provides free legal and welfare help to women and their children at risk of domestic violence.
Despite providing more than 30,000 services to women across the state, one in three calls cannot be answered due to resource limitations and sadly it’s not known if these women will have the courage or the opportunity to call again.
Caralee, who has offices in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, says her decision to swap the boardroom for the dance floor was a “no-brainer” because she was all too aware of the rise in domestic violence incidents in recent years, particularly during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Last year Dancing CEOs was cancelled because of the pandemic and Caralee said this was a double whammy for the
Women’s Legal Service because it not only missed out on about $450,000, but had to deal with a record increase in the number of DV cases.
“This huge campaign gives them a decent injection of some much-needed cash so they can perform the services they do to keep women and children throughout the state safe,” she said.
“I have a huge understanding in regards to how financial considerations stop a lot of people from leaving domestic violence situations, often it’s easier to stay because of the uncertainty of leaving.
“Domestic violence isn’t always just emotional and physical, it can also be financial abuse.
“I’ve seen families with lots of money in assets but women are not given any access to it. It’s our job as family lawyers to help them with this.”
But Caralee said the biggest hurdle was encouraging women in domestic violence situations to ask for help, because she could see a way out for them when they couldn’t see it for themselves.
Having first-hand knowledge of divorce also gives the 42-year-old mother of three an insight into some of what her clients might be going through.
In 2003 she moved from New Zealand with two small children and two years later at just 27 she went through a divorce.
“It was so financially disempowering and afterwards I felt it was so unfair because despite supporting someone else’s education and career, I was left with almost nothing,” she said.
Included in her long list of achievements is the publication of her third book, Nourishing You, a collection of more than 100 simple recipes that are gluten, dairy and sugar free.
Following on from her first two books, Real Food Pledge and Real Food Everyday, Caralee is donating all of the money from the sales of her third book to the Women’s Legal Service.
“It’s hoped that each of the 10 dancers will raise at least $30,000 and it’s hard to fundraise at the moment so I’m doing all that I can to reach my target,” she says.
In the lead up to the May 15 event at the Brisbane City Hall, Caralee has weekly practices with a dance instructor who is putting her through her paces ahead of her two-minute Brazilian funk routine.
To throw your support behind Caralee, visit dancingceos.com.au and search for her name on the leaderboard.