Who We Are

The Kokoda Youth Foundation Story

In 2004, Vietnam veteran Doug Henderson OAM sat among fellow diggers at an RSL conference, expecting a familiar program. Instead, the guest speaker’s story of the 1942 Kokoda Campaign stopped him in his tracks.

Doug realised how little he knew about the desperate fight to protect Australia after Pearl Harbour. As Japan pushed south, ordinary Australians—some battle-hardened, others barely trained—stepped forward to defend our northern doorstep in Papua New Guinea, then Australian soil.

Their courage and sacrifice would change Australia’s history - and Doug’s life - forever. With the help of his wife, Anna, the Kokoda Youth Foundation and Kokoda Challenge were born.

Doug left that conference inspired and changed. The courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice shown on the Kokoda Track was unlike anything he’d ever heard. He was driven to share these powerful stories and use them to help struggling young people build the same inner strength.

Doug and Anna shared the Kokoda story in schools and soon gathered the first small group of disengaged young people to experience the Kokoda Track firsthand. Our first ever 'Kokoda Kids' would go on to train together and complete a journey that pushed them physically and mentally, as it changed their lives for good.

But there was just one hurdle: funding.

Doug had a bold dream that would not only help raise funds for the youth programs, but help instil the Kokoda values in thousands of others... and the Kokoda Challenge came to life. It began as a 96km team fundraising trek - matching the distance of the real Kokoda Track. Every dollar raised was used to send local kids to PNG to tackle the real thing. The Kokoda Challenge now spans four locations and four distances, attracting nearly 9,000 particiants each year and raising millions for our youth programs.

From one man's vision, countless lives has been changed for good...