Maureen Pendergast was born and raised in Winnipeg and has spent 13 of the last 15 years in Wolseley with her partner Sharon. A graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, Pendergast received a BA in Communications in 1985. From 1987 to 1999 she worked for the CBC as a journalist in various capacities both locally and nationally. Pendergast was also the Manitoba correspondent for CBC radio's flagship morning show, This Morning.

She co-hosted of the annual Cocktails in the Trees fundraising party during Winnipeg's Pride Week and MC for the 1999 Pride Rally in front of the Manitoba Legislature. She was also a city appointed representative to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers board.

After leaving the CBC, where she worked as a morning show host, she started Kinkora Holdings - named after a town in Prince Edward Island - as a house renovator and property re-developer, specializing in working with non-profit groups to find creative housing solutions for the city's centre.

In the summer of 2002, Kinkora received $1.1 million to purchase an abandoned and "rat-infested" apartment block at 457 Young Street (which was sold to Kinkora for $1) and convert it into 23 units of affordable housing for low-income families. Afterwards, Pendergast ran for City Councillor for the Daniel McIntyre ward - hoping to unseat Harvey Smith in Fall 2002.