[] – Adrian, you were served an OAM back in 2011 for services to Indigenous youth. In 2014, you was among the inaugural AMP Tomorrow Makers award recipients, among numerous other awards. Could you please share a bit about your background and what led to your passion in social enterprise and offering strong support for Very first Nations individuals?

[Adrian Appo] – I’m a Gooreng Gooreng man from South-East Queensland. I sort of grew up in relatively humble situations as a country boy. As I had actually advanced in my career [and I believe by this time I was serving with the Royal Australian Air Force] I was really looking at my life and how my career was advancing, and it was going really well.

I just had one of those minutes when I was sitting down and reflecting, and I was actually in the lounge room talking to my wife who is non-Indigenous, and I in fact stated, “I believe I owe more to the Aboriginal community than simply being effective.”

To my amazement, she actually said, “yes, I think you do.” Then I began to consider how I could really affect others and help them on their journeys. I moved away from focusing on my own career path and started to look at how might I actually empower others, particularly Aboriginal youth at that stage to really find profession pathways.It’s been an unbelievable journey, Adrian, and some amazing accomplishments there. You were one of the Co-Founders of First Australians Capital, which I pointed out earlier, and you’re likewise the Founding CEO of Ganbina, and both of those organisations have actually supported numerous Native Australians. You now work for this confidential trust that continues to support this area of advancement. Can you please share a little bit more about this present type of work that you’re included with, and the tasks that you work in? Definitely. I have to say Tom that the method I have actually directed things I have actually been associated with is really looking at how can we make

systemic change, by being involved in programs, organisations, and affects that make sustainable modification for impact. It’s one of the things that really drew me to my present line of work to be working for a structure. The foundation that I’m in fact working for is rather significant. It’s weird that it’s anonymous, which also interest me since it’s the humbleness of the structure creator and the organisation itself. It’s not about us, it’s about the change that we can make. For me it was,”how can I enter this space and do a definitely great

job for the organisation,” however likewise,” how can I enter this space, and actually influence philanthropy normally with working much better in the First Country space? “That’s a terrific objective to have there, and I’m sure you’ve taken a lot of learnings from that, Adrian. How are Native businesses unique in the way that they operate, and what differentiates them from social business and mainstream traditional services? That’s a gorgeous question, because

one of the things that we tend to do is actually separate service, and typically when we’re referring to companies we’re talking about the private sector, a business where financiers are really getting a return or a little to medium company where the owner is actually getting a return. This is opposed to a social enterprise where it’s about the community getting a return.The fascinating thing is that in the Aboriginal spaces that I have actually found and that I’ve worked with through First Australians Capital, from a sector point of view, there is really little delineation between the results obtained by private organization in the Aboriginal sector, or the more

conventional social sector organization. Explaining that, what we have actually found is whether it’s social sector company, or whetherit’s an economic sector organization, most of Aboriginals in each of those spaces actually has a social agenda. They’re either looking at developing more employment, they’re taking a look at looking

at protecting culture, or they’re taking a look at taking care of the environment and the land. When you in fact look at that, there’s really little delineation, and we began tracking this and what we found was 95%or more of Aboriginal companies in fact had this agenda.I’m calling from Turrbal and Jagera land here in Brisbane today. If we’re to look at the 60,000+years that our Indigenous Australians have actually sustained the land, and how you’ve talked with me about how they integrate that sustainable element of supplying support for community within their organizations, it simply makes total sense and aligns with that. Adrian, where do you see continuous opportunities then to support First Nations individuals to grow in business and aid close the horrendous gap that exists? I believe in the very first instance Tom, we need to identify,”why have our financial services and structures and our financial structures left out Aboriginal people from business and company?”When we take a look at this, what we actually see is that there’s two main things, [the first being] the involvement in organization and therefore the early organization advancement, however then likewise access to capital, especially because early phase start-up. That’s not various than a lot of other individuals when we take a look at the social enterprise area, as there’ll be a lot of social enterprises and services saying,” we have precisely that very same problem”. Unfortunately, it’s magnified in the Aboriginal space.That makes sense. What are your observations then of that more comprehensive social business sector throughout Australia, and what needs to be done to grow this motion in basic? I believe the broader social sector motion in growing requirements to take some of the lead from the Aboriginal sector. It has to do with having a broader view of what is a social result. In most cases in the social

sector, to get established and begun, social business are looking for funding, which is generally offering,”what is your social outcome? “More specifically we fall into the trap, especially in Australia, with that social outcome in regard to employment. It’s about employment, work and more work. What we in fact understand is that there are far higher social outcomes to be obtained. There is the environment, environment, land, water, sea management, culture

. There’s a whole variety of social criteria that we can actually connect to a social business. I believe that if there is discovering and there is an opportunity, it’s to look at the Aboriginal space.