HUAWEI JOINS KYLE & FUTURE LEADERS ON KOKODA TRAIL

One of the world’s leading providers of public use telecommunications systems has backed a group of young Indigenous Australians as they take on the challenge of a lifetime with Kyle Vander-Kuyp on the Kokoda Trail.

Huawei’s sponsorship will cover the costs of five of the 24 young Indigenous leaders as they take part in the Jobs Australia Foundation’s Indigenous Youth Leadership Program on the Kokoda Trail from 1-10 August 2010.

Jobs Australia Foundation Chair David Thompson said Huawei’s sponsorship of this inspirational trek sends a great message to the Australian business community about the value of developing the capabilities of our future Indigenous leaders.

“Jobs Australia Foundation was established to help disadvantaged communities throughout Australia and we hope that Huawei’s backing of the trek leads other businesses to do the same,” Mr Thompson said.

“We thank Huawei for helping young Indigenous people to build their leadership capacity and become positive role models within their communities.”

Huawei Australia CTO, Peter Rossi said, “Huawei is happy to support this leadership initiative for young Indigenous Australians. We are a global organisation with a commitment to building our Australian business and providing employment opportunities for local people.

“Taking on the Kokoda Trail and this leadership program will be a challenging and life-changing experience for these 24 young leaders and we want them to gain as much as possible from it.

“We expect program patron and Australian hurdler champion, Kyle Vander-Kuyp, will be a great support and guide for the participants during their trek.”

Jobs Australia Foundation’s Indigenous Youth Leadership Trek of the Kokoda Trail needs funding partners to sponsor each of the 24 young trekkers plus the mentors that will accompany them.

The cost for each participant or mentor is $10,200 including the pre-trek leadership camp in Queensland this April, studying components of the certificate II in Indigenous Leadership and 12 days in Papua New Guinea.