Papua New Guinea has a way of changing people, and for Dr Dylan Male, it shaped the course of both his career and his leadership journey. In this episode, Dominic de Moura McCarthy sits down with the Australian agricultural scientist and emerging leader to reflect on his first experiences in the Pacific, from Hawai'i to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and how those journeys transformed his perspective on community and leadership.

Dylan shares how his time as a New Colombo Plan Scholar at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology in Lae deepened his connection to the region, the relationships that continue to shape his work, and why genuine people-to-people connections are at the heart of effective leadership. As a co-founder of the Pacific-Australia Youth Association (PAYA), he also reflects on the importance of buildin ...