Maria Christina O'Connell

Maria Christina O'Connell (born October 11, 1960) is the eldest daughter of Daniel Patrick O'Connell and Renate Else Agnes von Kleist. She is the second child in a family of five children and more GeneRally known by her second name, Christina.

After secondary school and the loss of her father, Christina, a Roman Catholic, contemplated life in a convent and spent some time as a pre-novitiate before returning to civil life in 1986. She then studied in Adelaide, South Australia as a social worker, and worked for various agencies in South Australia dealing with many aspects of social integration for Aborigine and European communities.

In May 2013, O'Connell was selected as a crew member for the Clipper Ventures amateur round the world yacht race and took part in leg 7 of the event, sailing from San Francisco via the Panama Canal to New York in April and May 2014.

In March 2014, she attained a Graduate Diploma in Mediation and Conflict Resolution from the University of South Australia.

O'Connell resides in the Coromandel Valley area outside the state capital city of Adelaide, South Australia.