When he was 13 he buried his two older brothers, who had died of drug overdoses.

"On the day of their funeral I made a promise to myself," Craig recalled.

"I saw what little support they had with their own addiction issues.

"The day we buried them I knew that I wanted to work with Aboriginal youth in the drug-and-alcohol sector to make a change for future generations."

Now 37 and a senior team leader at the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), Craig is busy making those changes.

Earlier this week he travelled to Brisbane to shadow BoysTown CEO Tracy Adams on Thursday as part of Generation One's CEO for a Day program.

Craig said the program had shown him there are many more career opportunities available to him.

"If you work hard and believe in yourself, the world is your oyster," he said.

"You're not limited to the Aboriginal sector because you're an Aboriginal person.

"There is this whole other side to it."

Ms Adams said the CEO For a Day program was important as it helped break down perceived barriers indigenous Australians had about aspiring to hold leadership positions.

"To have somebody [like Craig], who's interested to come to the organisation and to really be able to feel we're making a contribution to somebody else's personal development, has been great," she said.

"I think indigenous people have great contributions to be making and can really add value to the work we're doing.

"Often we don't see that and they are not represented in really senior roles in organisations, yet they should be."

Working with young indigenous children for more than 17 years has shown Craig why those perceived barriers stopping indigenous Australians from holding senior roles are there.

"My mum grew up living in humpies on the banks of the Murray River," he said.

"She was part of the stolen generation."

People often ask Craig how the stolen generation can still be affecting young people in 2015.

"Aboriginal people were forced onto missions, forced to give up their language, forced to give up their own belief system, their own culture," he said.

"When that sort of stuff happens and you don't know how to be a good parent, for whatever reason, that's how you raise your children.

"If they learn from what they've been taught, it keeps getting passed on.

"It only changes when you break that cycle."

He said this trans-generational trauma still affected many young people.

"I found working with young Aboriginal boys, they've lost their place in society," Craig said.

"Traditionally, men were hunters and gatherers, they provided for their tribe, and through forced removal and all that stuff they've lost that position in their modern-day community.

"They don't know where they fit in."

Craig believes it is this trans-generational trauma and lack of access to mental health services that drive large numbers of indigenous youth to drugs and alcohol.

"It's the complexity of all the issues that they come with," he said.

"I still think it's up there with one of the biggest killers.

"Though drugs and alcohol is something that affects all kids.

"It's unbiased; it doesn't care whether you're black, white, green or brindle."

Through his work at VACCHO and having managed an Aboriginal youth drug and alcohol rehabilitation service, Craig has helped many young people overcome addictions and put their lives back on track.

He firmly believes unless you heal the hurts of the past you cannot build the future.

"It's about how indigenous Australians get their position back in their community but in today's shape and form," he said.

"To be strong leaders in their community.

"Not to hit their partners or girlfriends, because traditionally that's not what happened.

"It will take time, but I believe we will get there."

For Craig, the key to escaping this cycle of poverty was the emphasis his parents placed on education.

"My mum had to leave school halfway through Grade 4 to help raise her siblings," he said.

"That's one of the reasons why she pushed us to get a good education.

"School is not for everyone, but there is a certain point of education you need."

Craig left school at 17, in year 11, as he believed he knew it all and was going to get a job.

He returned to school when he was 20 and completed his HSC, one of the first in his family to do so.

Throughout this time, his grandmother was his mentor, providing skills and advice he would hold close to him for his entire life.

"She was the one who taught me through hard work comes good reward," he said.

"My grandmother was the longest-serving member on the Victorian Aboriginal Housing Board and she worked with a number of commissioners and police in Victoria.

"She was the one who also taught me if you have something to say and you believe it in your heart and soul, your voice is just as important as the next person."

Craig said having a strong mentor young people could look up to was imperative to breaking the cycle of poverty and trans-generational trauma.

"I was recently told about a young man who had completed a four-year apprenticeship in a community," he said.

"To me, he is a mentor.

"He may not have all of those degrees behind him, but he is someone that other young people will look up to, going, 'Wow, he has committed four years of his life and now he is a builder."

A mentor can come in many ways, shapes and forms.

"From grandparents through to AFL football players, or NRL, I should say up here in Queensland," Craig said.

"It's so diverse what a mentor can be in a community."

Mentors are important, Craig says, as they believe in you when no one else does.

"When someone believes in you, you can believe in yourself," he said.

"When someone starts to believe in themselves, anything is possible."

Does Craig see himself as a mentor for other indigenous youth?

"I never used to, not until I ran an Aboriginal youth drug and alcohol rehabilitation service in Victoria," he said.

"Those kids gave me a lot because that was when I started believing in myself, thinking that yes, I do have skills and I'm good at what I do.

"I am to some people, but I aim to be a better one in the future.

"I'm halfway there."

And as for being CEO for a day at BoysTown, Craig is excited to be going back on Friday for a second day in the role.