#32 - Jack Growden: Action Over Words, Digital Inequality, and Building the Basics First

In this conversation, Jack Growden shares why digital inequality and other community challenges are being overthought and under-solved, and simple actions that work: get the laptop into a child’s hands, build the classroom, add the toilet, and keep going.

From donating one laptop in Papua New Guinea at 20 to leading LiteHaus International across 13 countries, Jack talks with Sam about resilience, practical philanthropy, community-led work, founder dependence, and why the basics still matter if we want real opportunity to reach more people.

This episode explores:

• how LiteHaus International started with one donated laptop in Papua New Guinea.
• digital inequality in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific.
• what communities in PNG and Cambodia taught Jack about doing the work that matters.
• laptops, classrooms, toilets, water tanks, and electrification as practical foundations.
• staying on the tools while building something that lasts beyond the founder.
• resilience, kindness, and Jack’s call for more net producers than net consumers.

Guest bio:

Jack Growden is the founder and CEO of LiteHaus International, a Townsville-based social entrepreneur tackling digital inequality across the Asia-Pacific. He started by donating his own laptop to a school in Papua New Guinea at 20 and turned that instinct into a fast-moving organisation grounded in practical action.

Today LiteHaus International works across 13 countries, has supported 630 schools, and has put more than 30,000 laptops and desktops back into use. Jack has been recognised on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, was a Young Australian of the Year finalist, and continues to build practical, community-led solutions through LiteHaus and wider social impact work.

Guest links:

• Jack Growden: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-growden-355542161/
• LiteHaus: https://litehausinternational.org/
• “The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better” by Kate Pickett & Richard Wilkinson: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-spirit-level-9780241954294

Conversation references: 

• Geraldine Cox: https://www.sunrisecambodia.org.au/
• Pete Williams' Natural Genius episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX2G0g4asXc

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and the last fortnight
03:05 LiteHaus, donated devices, and action over words
05:47 Why Jack loves the work
09:36 Opportunity, PNG, and simple, fixable solutions
14:28 How Jack prioritises and why the basics come first
17:03 Resilience, founder dependence, and building to last
27:28 Who inspires Jack
42:20 Kindness, contribution, and a better society

Explore further:

Support LiteHaus International: https://litehausinternational.org/
Learn more about Natural Genius: https://naturalgenius.com.au
Learn more about Sam: https://samanthabell.com.au

About Natural Genius:

Natural Genius is a podcast for thoughtful people building useful lives, organisations, communities, and ideas. Sam Bell speaks with people who carry practical intelligence, care deeply, and make things happen in ways others can learn from.

It is part of the Natural Genius platform designed to help people hear what matters, think clearly, and move good work forward with more signal and less noise.

Credits:
Hosted by Samantha (Sam) Bell in Violet Town and Townsville, 1 April, 2026.
Produced at the Violet Town office, 1 - 8 April, 2026.

Transcript

Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Natural Genius Podcast. We're here to help you tap into your natural genius. Let's go. You might recall Pete Williams recommending that I chat with Jack Groudon, which is just about to happen. He's an impressive social entrepreneur that has empowered many people through Asia Pacific with technology and digital tools. I'm so much looking forward to meeting with him. Enjoy hearing from Jack. Jack, welcome to the Natural Genius Podcast. I was just saying I'm so, so grateful for your time, especially with what has been happening. Tell me about the last fortnight, mate. It's just one of the many things and resilience that you've, I dare say, had to show and um yeah, what's been happening?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Yeah, well, it's been an interesting fortnight, let's put it that way. Um, so I'm uh yeah, in addition to being um you know the founder of Lighthouse International, um very proud to be um a husband um to a beautiful wife. And uh unfortunately, uh maybe I think it was about eight days ago, nine days ago now, um our warehouses in towns all got broken into. So I got that phone call at 2 45 a.m. And uh so immediately, of course, you know, given the work that we do, we obviously carry a large inventory of donated laptops from all over the world. And so uh I was my first thought was they've gotten into that. Um I had a bit of colourful uh language to describe those individuals when we're on the way down, let me tell you. But we got down to the facility and miraculously uh none of our stock had been touched. So we were very, very grateful for that. We'd lost a couple of tools and um a drone, which wasn't great either, obviously being a charity, but um, we use that all the time. But um, but that's life. Um we can recover from that. But unfortunately, my wife's wedding dress was uh in storage um in uh yeah, in uh my office container. Unfortunately, they're broken there, and for some reason they thought that's a that's a good thing to take. So um we've had a yeah, unfortunately, a bit of an underwhelming response from the police as well. So it's been disappointing. Um, but yeah, that's life. You just get on with it, you know. Um, and yeah, like I think you mentioned about resilience before, it's uh there's a fair bit of that in our sector um because you know you go through some pretty average things, but I have to admit that was uh yeah, that was one that that that still sits with me a bit. So yeah, no good.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Mate, uh, I I have a feeling from what how Pete Williams described you is that you're rolling on with that what with the disappointment, but also just keeping on going. Uh tell me, Jack, uh, should we do a call out for the drone? How we how how are we going in terms of getting that drone? Surely somebody would be able to contribute.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Yeah, look, I think uh I think at the end of the day, um probably not quite at liberty to reveal everything here today, but um, yeah, I these individuals are pretty well known to police, um, pretty well known around the community up here in Townshell as well. It's one of the unfortunate parts of living up here. We've got a fantastic community, and I'm a bit I'm a big advocate for North Queensland. Unfortunately, we do have a bit of a problem with uh with home invasions and theft and so on. Um so yeah, I don't I think a call out probably not necessary to be honest, but um, I was meaning a call out for do donations.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

I should have been getting more careful with my words.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

By all means, yeah, yeah, yeah. By

LiteHaus, donated devices, and action over words

SPEAKER_01 3:05

all means.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Why should we start with that, Jack? Because I'm conscious that sometimes with podcasts people drop off. But tell me how, like, let's just get that off. Like, how do we how do people donate to Lighthouse? And yeah, perhaps just give a little bit of an intro to Lighthouse for those who have not heard of it.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yeah, sure. So Lighthouse is uh yeah, fantastic North Queensland um founded and and based um charity, and we've been working all across uh 13 countries now, um, taking essentially taking uh secondhand computers from corporate schools, universities, organizations, and so on, fixing them up and then putting them back out to use um both across regional Australia, but then also um, as I said before, across 12 other countries. So um it all started in PNG. Um we'll probably talk a little bit more about the origin story later, but um, you know, the nut nuts and bolts of it is I I donated my laptop to a school in in PNG when I was uh 20 years old and promised to come back with 12 more to build a computer lab. Um we did that six months later, so we built the first uh computer lab um anywhere in a school across remote parts of PNG, and then after that, um it's grown and grown and grown, and now we've supported 630 schools across 12 countries. We've put out uh just over 30,000 laptops and desktops to families in need um across Australia and schools right across the Asia Pacific region. Um so it's been an amazing journey and look forward to getting to that today. But uh, but yeah, essentially um we're on the lookout all the time for secondhand um laptops. About a million Australian students do not have one at home um when they go to school. So that's about a quarter of our student population. And I think um, you know, yeah, the thing that we we pride ourselves on is action over words. So there's a lot of talk out there about solar in the digital divide. Um, we just get on with it and make it happen. So um, so yeah, if anyone, if anyone has a secondhand device or if you've got kids going to a school and wonder what they do with their end-of-life equipment, um, or equally, you know, your workplace or so on, then um, yeah, please reach out. It's uh we've been described as the no-brainer solution um by uh he won't mind me quoting him, the chief information officer at Deloitte, um Australia. They've been our biggest supporters of of donated devices. And um, yeah, as he says it's a no-brainer, it costs you nothing to support, um, keeps e-waste at a landfill, and uh best of all, it gives great opportunities for for people in need right across the world on what is a a very broad uh form of inequality, but one that we don't quite understand or isn't quite as prominent as as you know some of the others that have been around for a lot longer, you know, predating the digital age. So yeah, we look forward to getting any support that we can.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Jack, you're so articulate and on point. No wonder you can create so much action quickly. Tell me, what do you love about what you do? And um, actually, before I go we go into that, tell me um how do they get in contact with you, just in case people are just on audio.

Why Jack loves the work

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Of course, yeah. Just jump uh like just jump on our website, so Lighthouse International, just watch the spelling, L-I-T-E-H-A-U-S. Um, we're a very small team, we're very personal. Um, so just reach out. It's likely your email will come straight through to me or one of our other lovely staff, and um, we'll make it happen. But yeah, it costs nothing to be involved, and um, yeah, we'd just welcome any support that we can get. Um, in terms of uh in terms of why I love this work, um, look, who wouldn't at the end of the day? Um, I think the interesting thing for me, um, if I look at it, I mean, everyone's a lot, not everybody, but a lot of people have a social impact story and so on. Um, and ours is wonderful, so are many others. I think what distinguishes our story is that um I often think about you see people when they get into their 40s and 50s turning to philanthropy, usually because they've you know generated enough wealth that they can they can fund amazing things around the world, and that's terrific. Um, then you get others that want to shift change or a career change. Before I ran Lighthouse, I was a I was a town planning student at JCU. I'd interned at the UN and I'd been a concrete. So you make sense of that if you can, but the reality is that this is all I've ever known. And I it's funny that you know I've started with philanthropy first. When I had no money, I've I can assure you I've got I'm not in the funding category, um, I'm in the doing category. Um, but yeah, I absolutely love just getting out into the into the world um and just helping helping people in need um achieve real outcomes because at the end of the day, um, like I say, we've got that mantra of action over words. Because I personally, as I've navigated this journey over the last you know, six, seven, eight, nine years, um, I see far too many great solutions are kept on whiteboards. People are trying to solve, there's there's a trend of trying to solve every systems change. I'm going to solve absolutely everything. Well, you know, the reality is there's very few people that can that can achieve systems change. It's usually through government, it's usually through democracy. Um, and to me, the the change that we're trying to do is in people's lives, everyday people's lives. Um, at the end of the day, we have a cost of living crisis in Australia and it's about to get worse. You know, we've got companies all across Australia making contingency plans for if fuel gets to five bucks a litre. Now, for some families, a laptop is is a luxury, but fuel in their car is not. They have to get their kids to school, they have to go to work, and they may not have the luxury that I do. I mean, I'm working from home right now. So many, many families are going to be really pinched here. And if they don't come to Lighthouse for a laptop, they're up for a thousand bucks for their kids to have a laptop. And the expectation is that they will have a laptop. So we've got all these grand theories that sit on whiteboards about how to solve this. It's pretty simple. Just get the tool into their hands. Take one burden off of these parents that are doing the very best that they possibly can. And the same goes for our computer labs that we build across PNG and the Solomon Islands and so on, you know, Philippines, Cambodia, Timo, list goes on. Um, they could be even better. They could have AI, they could have drones, they could have, you know, connection to Starlink, all these are wonderful things. They could. But at the end of the day, we're dealing with schools where you know that there's just absolutely no technology in the classroom at all. We're making steps forward. We're showing that we care, we're we're doing the very, very best that we can. And I do think that, yeah, that's that's why I love my job more than I love the sector, because I work with people that just want to get the job done. Um, and I often say that kids in PNG or communities, parents, whatever it may be, they don't care who's doing it. They don't care if it's Lighthouse or a big mining company or the government, they couldn't care less. The kids don't care. They just want the tools that they deserve for a quality education. And so, yeah, we try and do it as seamlessly and easily as possible, like that, and just get on with the job.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

And tell me more, Jack. I'm conscious that you could actually drive this conversation. I want to hear whatever else you want to say, because there's a few other sort of more specific questions I want to raise. But I feel like please just keep going.

Opportunity, PNG, and simple, fixable solutions

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Yeah, sure. No, by all means. And and I think like that that's one part I love about working at Lighthouse, I guess, is that we are action over words. But the reality is, you know, there's there's there's some beautiful stories always. And I think back to um the 40th computer lab that we ever opened in a school in PNG. And uh there was uh um basically every time we go to a to one of these launches, it's a huge community occasion, and we try and involve the community in everything that we do. So there's about 1,500 people there present for the snipping of this ribbon for the for the digital classroom. And um you just imagine it pandemonium, there's kids going crazy everywhere, there's noise, and it's just wild. It's absolutely incredible. It's a credit to to PNG, it's just an amazing place to visit. But um, suddenly out of nowhere, all of that just stopped instantly because there was a mother was crying. She has three kids at this school, and she just started howling with like a howling cry almost. And it just everyone just stopped. It flawed everybody. And I was up on stage with a pair of scissors in one hand and a spear that had been given to me as like a ceremonial gift, which is still, I don't have it here, but it's in the house somewhere. But it's just amazing, you know, a gesture of respect and yeah, greatly appreciated. But um, I was standing up there and I don't know where this this cry is coming from, but I'm sort of up there on this stage about to snip the ribbon. And uh, next thing you know, this this woman comes up and grabs me around the waist, and she was just hysterical. And it, you know, she's never used a computer in her life. She's never used one in her life. So she, it's not that she she doesn't understand anything about computers, but what she does understand is that we were bringing more than digital devices. We were bringing opportunity that day. We were bringing it a chance for her kids to connect to the digital world, to be a part of something bigger that she never got a chance to be a part of. And from that day on, it we understood that that that's the power of the work that we do. We're not, I'm not from an IT background, for example, at all. Um, but we're in the business of helping people with simple, fixable solutions, you know, and and making sure that yeah, people like that uh her her children are able to have the same opportunities that I had an hour and a half's flight from PNG growing up here in Townshall my whole life, you know. Um, so there's stories like that, and then there's also sad stories which have um you know informed the next stages of what we're trying to do. I was in Cambodia recently, and schools there, there's not enough classrooms. So a lot of kids, not enough classrooms. A lot of classrooms destroyed years ago and never been replaced, and so on. Obviously, Cambodia's had a very turbulent history. So um kids in rural parts of Cambodia um go to school in shifts. So one shift worth of kids will go from uh 7 o'clock to 11, they'll have a two-hour break, and then a new shift rocks up at one o'clock to five o'clock. And it's fascinating to see because the kids rock up on their motorbike scooters, uh, it's like a big car park out the front, and then they all leave at 11 and then a new crew comes in at one. But it's sad at the same time because you know, kids are only getting about 16 to 20 hours of learning every year. Um, you know, I'm about to have a baby boy in a few months, and um, you know, uh he's gonna the expectation is that he's gonna have seven to eight hours of schooling a day um for 12 years. So really kids in in Cambodia are getting are getting less simply because of an infrastructural gap. And the saddest part is though, we were leaving one school um and we're it was in the middle of these rice fields everywhere in um right on the border with Vietnam, and we're driving out and there's a uh you know, a small girl sitting uh I looked out the window and she's sitting in the front of her house and she's just she's bored and she's playing with this stick, you know, and she's just sort of looking at the ground, moving some sand around, uh, while all of her friends get to drive past and then by the way and they have a chance. There is such a shortage of classrooms that even with the shift arrangement, kids are still missing out. And that's the sort of thing that sits with you for a long time because then you sit there and go, how hard is it to build a classroom? Could it be any harder than building a computer lab? Because we weren't IT people and we're not builders either. But number one, we care, which is the first ingredient. Number two, we don't give up. We never give up, and we're gonna give this a go. So we've just launched a new strategic plan um which uh involves building classrooms uh, firstly in PNG, it's a place we know best, and then moving on as well, and also building toilets so to make sure that girls can still go to school when they reach period age, um, electrification, water tanks, etc. etc. These are simple solutions, um, but they make a massive difference. And they're dare I say, and then I'll I will be I will uh pause for a moment for breath, but um dare I say that like these are the things that are no longer sexy on whiteboards for consultants in this space. They're no longer the you know the the crazy innovative design, but the reality is we all need a toilet, we all need a classroom, we all need uh, you know, water tanks for water, for drinking water and to wash our hands. And I think we've forgotten in this sector to build the basics first. Um and that's what we're we're more than happy to go back into that space and and help build the basics first.

How Jack prioritises and why the basics come first

SPEAKER_00 14:28

And in all of that, Jack, which is just ever so impressive, how do you prioritize? Like, how do you work out what to focus on computer labs versus toilets, for example, or classrooms? I would love to hear more.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

I mean it's like micro decisions perhaps as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah, look, it's um there's no magic, magic solution either. Um, but it's it's obviously funding led as well. What we can get funding for we do. Um because you know, we've got staff that uh, you know, we've got a small team that does such an amazing job worldwide, you know, um, and uh we obviously, you know, they they've got mortgages have to pay and so on. So where we get the funding is where we go largely, um, but also where we have the greatest support. So the biggest um stakeholder in all the work we do is the communities that we work with. And uh, you know, we tend to work uh very heavily in the PNG Highlands, for example, because we have excellent um depth of relationships with communities there that just make logistics work, security work a lot better, and just the whole project comes together um a lot better. But look, we've only just started started this classroom project. So the first um the first uh sort of outcome will happen in September. So yesterday I was up looking at our um steel frame manufacturer's yard, so very exciting. Um and yeah, designing everything for tropical environments. So, what do I enjoy about my job? Increasingly, this stuff here. I think sometimes uh there's an urge when you uh start up to fire the CEO from the tools, you know. Um I I'm happily, I know the board's gonna listen to this. I'm happy to say that my favorite part of my work is being on the tools. Um, you know, you don't start an organization like this to be buried in Excel sheets and uh things like that sitting at a desk, you know. You you run it because you want to be out in the field doing great things. But of course, it's an it's a necessary part of the job to um, you know, when you're running a team and um and growing an organization, one of the biggest challenges that we've got as an organization is that yeah, we do rely heavily on the founder, um, and we're trying the very best that we can to undo that as well, because I want to be able to walk away one day and know that this thing's built to last. It's a great organization, and we want it to keep you know delivering lasting change for years and years to come. Because I tell you one thing right now, Sam, it's um we're gonna be very, very, very, very well needed for years to come. All NGOs and charities because this the world is going the wrong way, and uh inequalities are widening, um, challenges are only getting deeper and deeper, and we're not getting to the bottom of these these issues. And for all the the flack that charities and social enterprises and NGOs cop, we are out there on the front line and we we haven't given up. All of us haven't given up. And so, yeah, shout out to everyone that's out there striving in our sector. It's not easy, and uh we're needed, and we're

Resilience, founder dependence, and building to last

SPEAKER_01 17:03

not gonna give up.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

So oh, good on you, Jack. Oh my goodness, Pete Williams was so on point that you'd be so inspiring. I hope I that doesn't make you blush. Tell me, Jack. So um already there's so many people that I want to introduce you to. Um, and Corinne Prosker's one of those people because she was we've just released a talk with her, and it was about being built to last, like building for forever. Yeah, and I just I've always loved that. I loved that idea when I was in an indigenous community in far north Queensland, and they were telling a story about years ago that they threw out a consultant that came to help them with their community plan because they weren't going to do it for 100 years or plus. Yeah. Um, over a hundred years. So I just um all the power to you. And tell me, um again, how do so day to day, Jack? You could be absolutely frantic for 24 hours of the day. How do you if you if you were thinking about another social impact entrepreneur or social entrepreneur that was listening to this, how would you suggest that they get so much done as you do? And as I mean, Pete Williams has seen so many people in his career and it and you are a standout to him. So tell me more about any hacks that you might pass on around getting stuff done and getting making impact.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Yeah, it's it's I mean, it's just there's no magic wand that I always struggle with this question because it's plenty of things that I don't do very well, that's for sure. And um, you know, otherwise we'd have 50 staff and be growing all around the world. So, you know, there's all as everyone's got their different skill sets. And um, some things come very naturally to me. I am very action-oriented and full of energy, and I've been blessed with that. I wake up before the sun comes up and um, you know, just get on with it. But I I do think you just have to have a you have to have a sense of resilience. You you are trying, if you're out there trying to solve these problems, um, you're not just out there helping people, you're trying to unwind problems and barriers and gaps and deficiencies that often, you know, it's cut to the chase, they're often imposed by others. It's not like it's an accident that we have out of control uh wealth inequality, for example, emerging in Australia. That's no accident, it's a result of policy failure. So if you're trying to overcome that, it's very easy to get lost in the enormity of it as well. So I I love staying at the forefront of what we do. And I also subscribe to this idea that if anyone thinks they can be perfect in this sector, it it's it doesn't exist. You know, it just doesn't exist. Maybe one day it will, but I don't think it ever will because you're always gonna have, for example, 20% of people, beneficiaries, who uh bluntly piss the support away. Um, whether it's uh a school that just decides, you know what, too hard, we're not gonna use those computers at all. And all of the the intent that was behind the donors that supported that, the donors of the devices, those who lend a hand with the shipping and our staff and our team and everything, it's all gone. But you don't do it. You can't achieve the hundred. But if you don't spend a hundred dollars, you can't help the 80 uh worth of impact. You can't achieve that. So you just have to accept, you know, this is not a place for for loss of version strategists, for example. You need to be able to just accept failure and it because it's not a failure, it's just a cost of business, you know. Um, it's the off-cuts when you're chopping steal, it's the way it goes, um, you know, for example. And so I I think yeah, you have to have that inbuilt resilience and just understand that you do your bit, you know, you're not going to be able to solve all of the world's problems in one hit. There's many more things Lighthouse could do to strengthen our programs in tackling digital inequality. No doubt about that. That's what I was talking about before on the whiteboard. We could draw pretty whiteboards too. But the reality is if we waited to solve the entire solution, everything there, then you know, uh, my story is a good example of that. When I first started Lighthouse, I was trying to help one school get a computer lab. Then it turned into 600 schools, but then suddenly we're working on building classrooms and water tanks. We only learnt about that. We only started completing loops on a whiteboard because we went out there and got things done and we listened to people and and got on with it. So I might my thing to people, maybe I was a bit different four years ago or something like that, but I'm a bit more battle-hardened now. And I'm telling people that if you want to start something like this, you're in it. You're in it for the long haul because you're very difficult to replace as well. You have the passion for your cause that nobody else is going to be able to replicate. And I'm sure Pete spoke about that as well. Pete's an amazing person, incredibly capable, as is all of our board members and our staff members. But do they have that deeply ingrained passion for this particular issue like I do? It's impossible. It's just impossible because I've I think about this thing 24-7, whether I'm asleep, whether I'm awake, I'm thinking and breathing this this journey that I'm on, and it's a great privilege. But yeah, it's bloody painful sometimes. It's hard yakka, and there's no way around it. Um, yeah, I so I I put that out there. I don't mean to disappoint listeners and all that, but I there's no magic wand. It's just a sheer it's a sheer um pile of hard work that just keeps building and building over time, and before you know it, you've built something that you know hopefully makes a big difference in people's lives. Um in saying that though, I would also just put an asterisk on that by saying that you know um I've been so blessed to have a wonderful um you know marriage and partnership when I when I was uh when I first met Chloe we were um we'd just bought houses in the first week that we met she bought a house and I bought a house and we're pretty keen on each other but we thought we'd better we better not you know go all in on a house together after two dates. It's probably not the best. So I think after about six dates we did. But my point being is that like you know um she she's watched the whole journey where I was working at another um company and running Lighthouse in my spare time and trying to grow it and um you know get it just yeah doing the best that I can and she's seen that full journey and she's been able to um support you know support me and sharing this dream the whole way through. So I'm very very lucky there and got a fantastic support network that um yeah perhaps you don't realise the the value of that you know every day but they they make a big big difference in this journey as well.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Oh I'm so pleased for you and Chloe that you that she has that context and that you've had her by your side I think that uh to have a partner and to have a great support network is so much a part of people's success. And tell me where do you reckon that your care, your pragmatism and your resilience comes from Jack because those three aspects it's not often I hear people talk about care in business and I think it's increasing in terms of how often I'm hearing it these days, which is lovely.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

So tell me where do you think that comes from uh I think I've got wonderful parents um so my parents have always been community minded for example so my mum you know uh volunteered at a football club that I played at for 25 years um you know became the longest serving secretary of that football club's history my dad was involved in community efforts all the time um and also just like they they ran a business they ran a civil construction company that um you know just yeah scaled enormously from the humble origins that they started from um you know and and it's it was amazing growing up around that like it was always um yeah you always you met the people that they came around and sat at our table that worked for you you know so it was like making decisions that are like we're gonna cut people here we're gonna cut people there you've got to realize that they're all people that have mortgages that have struggles that have battles it's not easy to do this and I've had to experience it as well in this this role and it's not nice it's the worst it is the single worst part of this role is having to move people on because things sometimes don't work out and it's it's awful and we've had to do a bit of that recently so um you know but at the end of the day I think yeah ultimately that the resilience is is um a is just a a baked in part of me I feel um and because my parents for example I was 23 when I started lighthouse full time and I gave up a very good job at the university locally here to to try it and mum actually begged the board members to stop me um funnily enough so uh yeah shout out to mum there but um yeah they've been an amazing supporter ever since but um but as for dad like dad started he bought an excavator when he was 23 because he was operating one in the mines and saw where that was going to lead him if he just stayed as an operator. It was um being you know being overweight sitting there whinging about the world and why he didn't have a crack and he he he had to go the bank told him absolutely no possible way you're getting a loan from me mate and uh unless you do the following things which were you know never going to happen he came back six months later and um you know got the loan and he said what what the bank said what what can I offer what can you offer us he said nothing no collateral and he said I can offer you this his heart and this his handshake and then he got on with it and and made it happen. So I think there's definitely that that sort of part in me. But as for caring I'll take a bit of a different a different angle with this I I just don't think our economy cares. I don't think that the the economic system that we have now is not about care. It's about exploitation it's about uh when you're working in these corporate sectors people change when they wear a shirt they change their persona how many times have you had to deal with a difficult character that works you know for a telco company that's that's you know broken your service and you're sitting there going I'm the one that's been inconvenienced here why are you being challenging or maybe someone that works uh in an airline when you've been massively inconvenienced and they're reciting company policy we've forgotten to be humans we've forgotten to just be neighbors friends husbands fathers we've forgotten that and that's because it's been beaten into us for 250 years to to prioritize our work over our family and so on. So I do think we have a I think the reason why I I care so much is because I'm different. I'm I I think out of the box and I don't subscribe to you know these sort of things and and I just think yeah but it you gotta return to your natural state as a human which is we care you know we we cared ever since the first human being broke their leg and they didn't end up devoured by us we thought we're gonna put a a stint in them and we're gonna help them get on with it you know um so I think yeah and as for the pragmatism well maybe that just comes from being from North Queensland as well I'm very very proud of where we're from um we live in the real world we love that shout out to northern Queensland it's so cool. Well I may as well play along with it um I know most people will know our you know one of our members up here the honourable Bob Cutter um I personally I'm not I I don't vote his way but uh I do think you know um this whole notion that yeah there is a river where there's crocodiles that eat people about 600 meters from my house. We still live in the frontier we still live in a wild part of the world um and I think you just learn to get on with it you learn to use your hands and and make things happen and um I think we yeah that's why I think we we do quite well um in places like PNG and and so on. So

Who inspires Jack

SPEAKER_01 27:28

yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah Jack thanks for mentioning crocodiles for the international I thought I had to you know what I mean so yeah so great. Oh Jack you're ever so inspiring. Who inspires you these days especially because you are in this sector and you've won plenty of awards and you've been to plenty of different situations where you would see others that are doing great things. Actually we're doing lots of shout-outs a shout out to Maggie Doyne who I'll introduce you to that started a home and school in Nepal she was backpacking and similar age to you when you started Lighthouse and just saw the way that orphan kids were um were treated and then now it's this thriving amazing school and I love seeing these schools across the world that are examples for other regions where um kids there are they've become a family and lots and lots of kids and they've graduated and gone on to do great things so far. So from humble beginnings but yeah tell me who inspires you Jack?

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Yeah look I mean obviously the the field of change makers that are out there um it's incredible there's no doubt about it like people that are like you just mentioned there I mean I I hiked through Nepal when I was 19 as well and um yeah it's a it's an amazing country and I can see how it definitely um tugs at the heartstrings you know and gets you to stay a bit like um yeah many of the places that we work in do. I'd say you know obviously there's a yeah the this the sector's just full of incredibly inspiring stories um and you know I think it just demonstrates what you can achieve you know uh and I guess now that I'm further down the track in the journey I realise just how hard it is to maintain. There's a lot of very very well intentioned and um incredible change makers that just couldn't get this thing off the ground for whatever reason their issue just couldn't attract the funding even though it's absolutely worthwhile and so on. So I I I I give a shout out to people like that that is that are out there that are still unpaid like I was for a long time that are doing the Sunday morning runs out there that are the thankless ones. And one one that comes to mind for me you mentioned about the awards and stuff like that. Like yeah it's been amazing to go and accept an award at the UN in Geneva and New York when you grew up in Towsall you know it's amazing to go and do that sort of stuff. It's true but like at the end of the day that's not what you do it for um but there's a lot of people out there who don't win the awards and we you know as much as we are part of the communities that we work in the nature of our work means we're not there every single day. We're not there you know baked into the to the communities and and living amongst you know a lot of challenges and one that comes to mind is someone called Geraldine Cox is very well known changemaker across Australia and she shares she's not from North Queensland but she has the no nonsense straight up and down she'd be fantastic on this podcast actually um but you know she runs an orphanage called uh sunrise Cambodia and she's done that since probably the mid-90s I think and you know I I I get to meet the beneficiaries of our program and their their name that they're just I speak to them on first name basis but for for her beneficiaries they call her mum you know yeah and she has Geraldine written a book or I feel like I've heard of her years ago I would love that to have her on here yeah just trying to see what I've got it there somewhere but um but yeah so Geraldine's amazing we we've put laptops into her orphanage as well in Cambodia but um but look just an amazing person that I I I fly in I fly out I fly in I fly out I move on you know and I I come back to a very comfortable life here in in Townshall um Geraldine is in Cambodia um and she toils away day in and day out and it's you know as much as we come in and and solve infrastructural gaps whether that be digital or you know broader infrastructural deficits you know um she she's solving something that's more more intangible but deeply deeply deeply more impactful uh you know she she's collecting kids that are that have had experienced things in life that nobody ever should and she's giving them a new lease on life and she's tinkering in the brain and rebuilding someone's self-esteem and those sort of I mean self-esteem and and and um and and self-belief in these sort of thing I mean that's worth a lot more than water tanks and and computer labs and we'd never pretend any any different so it's people like that that inspire me because you know Geraldine had the you know the Channel 9 what do you call it uh 60 Minutes report back in the early 2000s a lot of attention and all that but every time she's gone back to that place and she's built her life around serving though those people and I think that's an incredibly incredibly admirable endeavor um and it's one that you talk about like replacing founder and all that that's that's become so deep it's very very difficult for her to ever be able to walk away from so I really do take Mahara for Geraldine. I would also say that it's you know and this is probably a bit of a cliche in our sector but the people we serve are so inspiring. As I said we're about to build a our class our first ever double classroom water tanks toilets at the Kunabo primary school in Chinbu Province PNG and uh I went up there in March to make the announcement and um I got to meet a group of dads I'm gonna say like basically a PNC kind of group is what we'd probably call it in Australia but basically a group of you know dads who have kids at the school um who have just decided you know what they've been working since 2016 they want to do some projects around the school to improve it. They likely all went to that school as well it's how these sort of communities work um and so they were showing me this building that they built because the government basically made a policy decision out of Port Moresby that every single school uh needs an extra classroom one won't get into that but long and the short of it is they need an extra classroom funding not available to all the thousands of schools in PNG. So what did they what did these this these dads do? They got on with it. And you walk into this classroom um it's a double classroom it's made of cement that wouldn't pass the test you know it's made of roof irons they've found wherever they can they've they're using river rock you come up with a million different floors you could point out in of course it cost them nothing to build they just did the very best they could but that's the point they did the best they could they didn't sit idly by waiting for an NGO to come along which ironically now we have um to help but maybe it's not so ironic maybe it is meant to be because at the end of the day they've they've gone you know what we're gonna solve our own problems we're gonna get on with it and and and get something done and do it to the best of our ability and I do think that at the end of the day you know whatever happens in the future for Lighthouse or whatever people think of us out there as well I don't really care. I just hope they pay us the respect to say that they gave it everything they had they they did their best with what we had because I can assure you we do.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

And I think yeah those those parents that just you know yeah the wives of those fathers that are carrying their kids on their back for three hours walking through the jungle and these these are stories that if you don't get inspired by that then you know yeah I don't know what will oh Jack Rock Solid I just am so rapt to hear you tell me those stories especially because sometimes as doers it's just awesome to meet other doers. So I'm so so pleased that with all that you get done you can meet people along the journey that are doing the same so that you can be like oh I I wonder for you too Jack whether you ever have those moments of like oh they're like me or like you just feel this affinity with people that are not from where you've been born and raised uh but you can feel this real similarity which is just so beautifully human. And Jack I want to say a couple of other things there's oh god I love those words that you just said about tinkering in the mind that Geraldine Cox and Maggie Doyne that I was mentioning before that they're that that's like that's just priceless work and I wonder if this care and big heartedness is just a big part of it because to have to create that support network to have people feel loved and part of a family or part of a a village that cares and and they feel safe I mean that's just it's just such beautiful work and so I just wanted to acknowledge those great words that you put together and your perspective on it. And then also I wondered for your team Jack is there any other uh requests that you might have in terms of certain uh skills or anything that could really support lighthouse you were so good to talk about your benefactors before and uh it makes me curious about how to how you might be building your team and and uh those listening might be able to contribute.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Yeah look that's that's that's interesting. Just just briefly back to the point about you know it takes a village and these sort of things I think we've lost that as a society. If I can just go off 100 we've lost that as a society I think um we are incredibly individual individualistic as a society and I get to see people when they're the the best part about our job probably is that when I engage with people it's always when they're exercising the best part of themselves. So whether they work whether an IT manager at a school at a school or a company we're probably the most exciting call that they're going to have at in their day of the week because it's not about procurement it's not about sorting out a problem it's about doing some good. And so we get to see people in their best all the time which is fantastic. Yet I still notice in our society we we drive past the person who needs a lift you know because there's an erosion of trust we are we are we wouldn't dare volunteer for longer than this number of hours in a week or do something for somebody else there's so much of that in our society that we've lost. And when you spend a lot of time in PNG and you talk about like you know finding people that are similar to you even though they might not look the same or whatnot that's what I found in PNG. You have a communal a sense of communal responsibility and obligation. It is not perfect. I'm not glamorizing it there's a lot of issues with it as well like there is issues with our society but when you parent your parent with 10 parents you know everyone pitches in and helps out we're about to go on this journey where we're lucky we've got some fantastic um you know budding grandmothers as well um you know on both sides that are super keen to help and so on. But largely that burden will fall disproportionately on us and even more disproportionately on Chloe you know no matter what I try and do our society's just you know it has made it like that where we don't work together as a team very well we are out there for ourselves um and I think we we need to we need to look at that because we constantly in this sector I talk about infrastructural deficits well if you look at infrastructural purely on an infrastructural objective deficit PNG is a long way behind. How many times we heard that phrase you know but when it comes to the glue of our society how far behind are we? Because it would be unbelievable for someone to be walking down the road in PNG and not be helped along by a family member say I'll give you a lift down no worries and things like that. We live in a very individualistic society and it's at our loss. It's at our loss because we have to build higher fences to avoid each other we we we flee from conversation we go which it's it's a real problem. So you know we're very quick to point out what others don't have we're very slow to to to come to the real the realization of what what are we lacking you know as a society. So I think care if our world could care a bit more if our society could care a bit more we'd all benefit a lot more. We are losing purpose and community that's what I see I have a I have those two in spades that's why I'm a happy person. But a lot of people are lacking those two things because society uh the this this the meeting ground of society has evacuated we've lost it and that's a big problem um in terms of our team uh yeah we've got a fantastic team we've got wonderful people that support us and so on um really what it comes down to to us is some simple things that we need we're very we're very clear with our asks we need money we need devices and whatever else we can be donating things like solar panels water tanks and so on but ultimately like we've got a great team um I think also throughout the corporate social responsibility um how would you say sector around the world we're seeing a decline in real what I call real giving and that is money you know we can't run without we can't run on good intentions we can't run off of donated hours you know to a certain point it's all valuable don't get me wrong but I'm saying what everyone in our sector doesn't quite say we need cash we need cash we need cash we need cash we need our devices because that's what we do we donate devices to schools um and and to people in need so it's those fundamental blocks like I keep getting back to that we we can't go without you know yes we need a lot of other things as well but we can't go without those fundamental basics and no charity no and no social enterprise no NGO in this country can go without those things either so yeah that's really what our ask is and we know it's difficult but um you know that's why not everyone supports us but that's the reality of what we need to make this thing run.

SPEAKER_00 40:28

Yeah and so with uh your donations Jack how small a donation do you receive?

SPEAKER_01 40:35

Oh we we've got people that uh support us with with two bucks basically a week um you know we've got uh I'll tell a great story about a uh one of my old football teammates who when I was starting Lighthouse he said this is a great idea um he was in the army at the time and he still is in the army actually um but you know supporting us with 80 bucks a week which I thought was sorry 80 bucks a fortnight which I thought was amazing but you know an army salary this is not a not someone that's an executive or anything like that but you know like I keep saying the small things they turn in the bigger things and by I think we looked last year and that the him and his wife had donated five thousand bucks and that's enough for us to build an entire computer lab run digital skills training for a community it's a game changer for that community it means everything to them and all they have to forego yeah all they had to forego was 80 bucks a fortnight um and you know it's it's just really special so these sort of things can build up big I would say to anyone it's not um nothing's nothing's too small because you know in our sector you do go through shifts and changes where you know sometimes you get big support and it doesn't go multi-year or it's one off and you sort of scale up you need that bedrock of great community support and we're very lucky to have that too we've got some fantastic regular givers of all different shapes and sizes but it's more to me it's more about the intent going back to that story at our primary school you know with those dads that they didn't have access to the best tools and the best materials but they gave it a good crack and the building's standing and they've done their best.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

So they deserve a big big hat um hats off and pat on the back you know oh Jack and before I I was so pleased to hear you say that you're a happy person I think you deserve it for all that you contribute and the heartache and the the things that you go through. As we close this out Jack is there anything else or any other stories that you want to share?

Kindness, contribution, and a better society

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Oh look there's a million stories and things like that but yeah I would just say to to everyone that's out there in our sector whatever role yours is um just keep going because at the end of the day the world is unfortunately you know I don't think anyone you know is is living under a rock at the moment but there's more challenges on the way and it's not about fear mongering it's our reality because it's our organizations that get swamped with with requests for help and so on. And just above all I it's the old cliche but you know I it's just to be kind to people because at the end of the day most of us have got no idea what's going on in other people's lives and the greatest curse that we have as a species is we only ever get to see things through one set of eyes. We can never and the other thing is we never get to see ourselves through those set of eyes either which is also pretty sad. But yeah look after yourself and look after people around us and we all just do a little bit and you know if someone from Towns a 20 year old boy for Christ's sake in towns if I can go on and do something like this you know just through sheer energy intent and resilience then anybody can um and you see that all around the world there's amazing change makers everywhere. But the final thing I would say as well is as a society we've got a problem where we've got uh net producers and net consumers you know and if we were able to balance that out where we had more net producers than net consumers if we gave more than we took um we'd have a great society and the and the thing I see a lot of is that we we're always told reduce this reduce that you know um we we have to cut down this you shouldn't have your your your and I'm not advocating you should leave your air con on all day but it's hard in Queensland you've kind of got to you're gonna have an a negative impact on the world so rather than trying to whittle that down it's inevitable go and have a positive impact On the world as well and make sure it outweighs the negative, and we'll have a good society. So, yeah, that's probably it for me.

SPEAKER_00 44:05

Jack, you are remarkable. I'm so so grateful to Pete for introducing us and thank you so very much for your time today.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

No, my pleasure. Thanks very much. All the best.

SPEAKER_00 44:17

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