Traditional Western models of "helping" Aboriginal communities don't work. By turning these models on their head and instead building authentic relationships and engagement on the ground, Denise Hagan and the Puuya Foundation are empowering a remote Aboriginal community in Cape York, Australia and delivering successful, life-changing programs. Denise Hagan works at the complicated intersection where the genuine desire of governments, philanthropists and nonprofits to help remote Aboriginal communities collides with entrenched, misinformed and Western-oriented attitudes to engagement, empowerment, funding and solutions.

Denise was invited by community elders to the remote Aboriginal town of Lockhart River in the far north of Cape York and was scheduled to stay for three months. She ended up staying for five and a half years and is currently living back in Lockhart River. Denise developed a deep understanding of the poverty and disadvantage the community has faced for generations, the strength and determination of the people who live there, and the hard fact that, despite good intentions, standard government processes for programs and funding do not deliver the solutions needed. This talk was given at a TEDx event held in the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. For more information, visit https://www.ted.com/tedx

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