He arrived in Australia in 1982 - one of the first wave of South Africans to leave. He brought Mango Groove on tour. Helped raise the first $1 billion philanthropy campaign in Australian history. And is now rebuilding a university's connection to its diaspora, from the outside. Oh, and he never even went to that university.

Some people don't follow a plan. They follow a thread.

Lawrence Jackson grew up in Sandton, Johannesburg, the oldest of three boys in a close-knit Jewish family, with a big house, a love of sport, and the kind of upbringing he describes as genuinely blessed. Until the late seventies, when things began to change. When his mother's brother came home from Angola in a military hospital bed, the decision was made. The family packed up and left for Sydney in 1982.

Lawrence was 16.

What happened next is one of those lives that takes you places you never planned and somehow makes perfect sense looking back.

In this episode, Lawrence takes us through:

·      How a chance encounter at a Gold Coast pub led to him touring Mango Groove around Australia.

·      The blind job ad that accidentally launched a 25-year career in philanthropy and social impact.

·      How a lunch conversation led to him building WITS Australia and raising funds for scholarships from 10,000 km away.

·      Why he refuses to be the South African who "bought his Wallaby jersey on Thursday and forgot home on Friday"

·      What it means to hold two identities and why he thinks that tension is worth keeping

Lawrence's story isn't about one career. It's about a life built around community, connection, and never quite letting go of where you came from.

"I don't want to be one of those South Africans who arrived on Wednesday, bought their Wallaby jersey on Thursday, and washed their hands of South Africa on Friday."