In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, where access to services is limited and gender norms remain deeply entrenched, local leadership often determines whether development takes root or falters. Jenny Wal Gonapa, founder of PNG Highland Adventures, is one such leader — demonstrating how entrepreneurial skills, when combined with social purpose, can generate tangible change at the community level.
Gonapa’s journey began in 1988 with a Diploma in Business Management from TAFE Queensland, supported by Australia Awards PNG. But her story is not one of personal advancement alone. Her training abroad provided more than just formal education; it laid the foundation for a career built on using business as a tool for social transformation.
Since returning home, Gonapa has led 13 community development projects, funded by Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. These initiatives range from economic empowerment to infrastructure, but her most recent work has focused on supporting women experiencing sexual and domestic violence—a pervasive yet under-addressed issue in the PNG highlands.
Her leadership highlights a critical lesson in international development: while donor funding and external expertise are valuable, local agency is the decisive factor in success or failure. Programs like Australia Awards have long aimed to build this capacity, and Gonapa is an emblematic case of what locally-led development can look like when supported strategically.
Moreover, her model challenges traditional distinctions between the private sector and civil society. PNG Highland Adventures is both a tourism enterprise and a vehicle for social engagement—demonstrating how economic empowerment can be leveraged to address structural inequalities, particularly gender-based violence.
At a time when foreign aid is under increasing scrutiny, stories like Gonapa’s provide a powerful counter-narrative: targeted, long-term investments in human capital can produce durable, community-led outcomes. In a country where governance is often fragmented and public trust in institutions is low, such actors play a vital bridging role between donors, the state, and society.
As Australia recalibrates its aid strategy across the Pacific, particularly in light of rising geostrategic competition, supporting alumni networks and grassroots leaders like Jenny Wal Gonapa may prove as important as headline infrastructure projects. Development in Papua New Guinea will not be won solely in Port Moresby or Canberra—it will be shaped in communities like hers, where courage, credibility, and community capital go further than policy rhetoric.