The Big Dream of a Small Town Girl for Indonesia

I grew up in a small city in the eastern part of Java, Indonesia, called Kediri. Seeing the
world through my mother’s eyes makes me realise that a woman should work hard,
regardless of the circumstances. I am in awe of her courage and persistence when the
obstacles before her seem daunting.

I was the first born and raised by my family to lead by setting positive examples for my
younger brother. My mother always supported me to achieve the best school, when it
comes to education. She told me that education is a pathway to a better future. That's
what led me to move all by myself to a bigger city 633 kms away from home, Bandung,
in the secondary school, as soon as I was offered a scholarship in an international
school.

Throughout my academic journey, I have been drawn to the leadership role. I graduated
from Faculty of Economics and Business of Universitas Gadjah Mada “UGM”,
Yogyakarta and actively contributed to AIESEC, one of the pioneers of global youth
leadership non-governmental organisation. Not just merely contributing, I was also
appointed to lead a social project called “Healvolution”, which supported Social
Development Goals number 3 to raise awareness of healthy lifestyle in Yogyakarta with
the support from international volunteers.

I could remember clearly how at the end of the project, one of the volunteers from the
Czech Republic told me, “Thank you, Sisy, for this wonderful experience and becoming
part of my development journey”.

That’s how I felt ashamed and cried a little. I never knew that a small town girl like me
could make an impact on someone else's life. From those life changing experiences, I
promise myself to try to help others and make an impact to build a better world. That’s
how I decided to take another leadership leap by becoming Vice President of Finance
and Governance in AIESEC UGM in the next following year.

After graduating from the university, I moved to the capital city, Jakarta, to continue to
seek experiences in PwC Indonesia, one of the largest accounting and consulting firms
where I served as an assurance auditor. One of the primary responsibilities involved in
performing audit cycles including risk and control management entities’ effectiveness,
financial reporting and compliance with the applicable standards.

During my four and a half years experience, I was fortunate enough to participate in
several audit engagements, including performing analysis over Environmental, Social
and Governance “ESG” sustainability reporting standards and how ESG goals impact
companies’ growth performances. Aligning with Indonesia's commitment to SDG 2030,
Indonesia itself has set a Nationally Determined Contribution to lower its emission by 31
percent in 2030. In accordance with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change recommendations, Indonesia has target net zero by 2060, if not sooner. The
sustainability report is a fundamental instrument to convey companies’ strategies in
addressing environmental risk, stakeholder engagement and social development with
transparency. It examines the relationship between ESG and access to finance, with
ESG metrics incorporated to the entities’ decision making process.

Based on the Public Disclosure Programme for Environmental Compliance “PROPER”

by the Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the higher compliance of
corporate social responsibility leads to a better environmental impact. In 2023, there
was reduction of Greenhouse Gases by 299 million tons, reduction of B3 waste by 55
million tons, water efficiency by 437 million m³ and reduction of water pollution load by 6
million tons. In addition to that, there were 20,052 activities that supported SDGs goals
with total funds disbursed amounting to Rp 57 trillion.

I noted that some of my clients have shown their commitment towards ESG, while many
others are still struggling to cope with the increased demand for sustainable practices
and reporting. ESG remains a fairly new discussion topic, with businesses having
limited information to the next steps but at the same time want to ensure compliance
with the government regulations. According to one of my leader in PwC Indonesia, even
though GRI standards and SDGs are most used in the sustainability reporting, with the
recent launch of IFRS Sustainability Disclosures S1 and S2 standards, it is predicted
that the IFRS S1 and S2 will be increasingly implemented by organisations. At the same
time, the framework will continue to evolve to meet the changes of needs from the
business environment.

Furthermore, for many companies, ESG data is often divided in silos across the
business or manually logged in spreadsheets. Without ESG data integrated with the
financial data, decision-makers have no clear way to determine the potential impact of
ESG activity on key financial metrics, which is essential for refining strategy.

Despite the urgency of sustainability accounting professionals both in businesses and

public sector institutions, in overall, business awareness of sustainability practices and
reporting in Indonesia is still deemed low compared to other countries, specifically those
in the Southeast Asia region. Based on ASEAN CSR Network's report on Sustainability
Reporting in ASEAN Countries Indonesia ranked fifth in terms of total sustainability
disclosure level in 2018 by 53%.

Although the number of sustainability reports in Indonesia has increased each year,
according to Foundation For International Human Rights Reporting Standards
(FIHRRST) and Moores Rowland Indonesia, only 121 companies or 16% of all public
companies listed in the Indonesian Stock Exchange have prepared a standalone 2020
sustainability report. In addition to that, only 17% of sustainability reports in 2020 have
been assured by an independent party dominated by the financial industries and less
than 28% of the sustainability reports are disclosed in accordance with the criteria under
POJK 51/2017, set by Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority “OJK”.

My desire to address the issues has prompted me to pursue a higher degree in Master
of Business Administration “MBA”, with the hope to get a theoretical and practical
background to address some of these issues in Indonesia. The main target country for
my master's degree is the United Kingdom “UK”, home of several prestigious
universities in business management that offer a range of courses related to ESG. The
UK is indicated as a world leader in sustainability, outperforming other G7 countries in
terms of sustainable performance. Not only that, with my interest in leadership, MBA
programs will sharpen competencies in business leadership skills such as problem
solving and decision making.

My top choice of school is Edinburgh University that emphasised the quality of teaching
and held the triple crown accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business “AACSB”, the EFMD Quality Improvement System “EQUIS” and
the Association of MBAs “AMBA”. The university is ranked 15th in the 2024 QS
Sustainability Rankings, which recognizes the integration of relevant sustainable
development issues in the learning process. The program offers a special course,
Ethics and Sustainable Governance, with a strategical and technical understanding
about the ESG, reporting standards, including the ESG responsibilities and how to
address challenges of converting environmental issues into numbers. In addition to that,
the program provided Business Strategy for Environmentally-Suitable Futures courses
with an in-depth learning of how private or public sector organisations work on the low
carbon related concerns. Aside from the curriculum, the university is committed to
provide a learning and growth environment by creating a coaching system to the
students across all of the programmes. I am confident that the knowledge and teaching
process will allow me to act as a business consultant and advise organisations on
reporting and low carbon related decision making.

The University of Birmingham is another potential option for my MBA degree as it also
held the triple crown accreditation and provides a range of courses that align with my
interests, including (1) Sustainability Operations, (2) Strategy in a Complex and
Uncertain World, (3) Global Perspectives on Responsible Business and (4) Accounting,
Accountability and Decision-Making. Those modules will undertake how organisations
cater demands to address sustainability and develop strategies that meet the social,
environmental and financial impacts. The post-experience master combines practical
leadership learning experiences with purposeful and responsible business, which allow
us as the students to develop our own approach to apply techniques for measuring
organisational performance using framework used in financial and sustainability
reporting.

Another university that I am interested in is University of Sheffield that tailored the MBA
journey not only as a student but also individual development. A dedicated business
sustainability module is provided in the program, such as Effective and Responsible
Leadership and Strategic Management. The need for leading ethically and responsibly
is important for the sustainability organisations. With the integration of making long-term
strategies considering the ecological and social environment, I believe that the courses
will help me to deepen my understanding to develop sustainable strategies in business.
Upon my completion in MBA program and my prior experience in the financial sector, I
have developed a set of plans to implement in 2025, which can be categorized into two
distinct parts: (1) accelerating the Indonesia sustainable reporting framework and
establishment of ESG into organisations’ strategies and (2) develop platform to help
navigate the life of youth in Indonesia.

First, I plan to continue working at PwC Indonesia as an ESG consultant and apply the
knowledge that I have acquired from my MBA program. As many organisations still
have limited information to ESG, I will build a framework to integrate ESG data and
considerations into business strategy. It involves identifying ESG issues and
performances, developing goals, incorporating ESG into companies’ decision making
and performing measurement and reporting of the ESG progress.

In addition to that, I intend to build a pipeline for sustainable reporting framework, which
can be used for companies in Indonesia. I will develop an end to end ESG analytics
tools that enable to showcase different cases from regulatory disclosures, board
visibility, as well as end customer and shareholder communications. As the reporting
framework will develop throughout the years, I will join technical training provided by
PwC Indonesia or external parties to keep myself updated. In the long term, I plan to
work and become one of the leaders in OJK to help develop sustainability reports
disclosure standards in accordance with the criteria set by international standards and
the implementation in developed countries. I believe the courses I have taken during my
master's program in the UK will assist me in developing a strong foundation as an ESG
consultant.

Secondly, I am planning to continue building and leading Navigasee, a platform to help

navigate and guide the youth in Indonesia. During COVID-19 period, several of my
friends and I had the luxury of time to discuss how to overcome the quarter life crisis we
were currently facing. We had limited access to discuss with the more experienced
people to mentor or guide us. We then decided to work with several NGOs and figures
who had built reputation and specific expertise in the past, such as Lifevitae Indonesia
to organise online webinars with target participant youth across Indonesia. I believe that
the knowledge and networking that I have built during my master programs with MBA
students and LPDP awardees will help me to develop Navigasee.

I strongly hope that the new knowledge gained through the master's program will assist
me in accomplishing the goals outlined earlier. As the LPDP focuses on accelerating
Indonesia's development, I believe that my goals will help Indonesia to grow, specifically
in the economic and environmental sectors.
Ringkasan Pengabdian Pasca Studi (max 200)

Upon my completion in MBA program and my prior experience in the financial sector, I
have developed a set of plans to implement in 2025. I plan to continue working at PwC
Indonesia as an ESG consultant and apply the knowledge that I have acquired from my
MBA program. I will build a framework to integrate ESG data and considerations into
business strategy. In addition to that, I intend to build a pipeline for sustainable reporting
framework, which can be used for companies in Indonesia. In the long term, I plan to
collaborate with OJK to help develop sustainability reports disclosure standards in
accordance with the criteria set by international standards and the implementation in
developed countries. I believe the courses I have taken during my master's program in
the UK will assist me in preparing a strong foundation as an ESG consultant.

I am planning to continue building Navigasee, a platform to help navigate and guide the
youth in Indonesia, in collaboration with local NGOs.. I believe that the knowledge and
networking that I have built during my master programs with MBA students and LPDP
awardees will help me to develop Navigasee.
Perkenalkan diri:
Latar belakang Pendidikan
Pekerjaan
LoA

Jurusan tidak ada di Indonesia:

Jelaskan kenapa harus di luar negeri – tidak deskriptif kalau jalannya harus jauh

Ahli di Indo maupun di luar

Baca risetnya baca jurnalnya

Rencana riset – good

Jika gagal – jelaskan dulu untuk berusaha agar tidak gagal

Kenapa yakin kuliah lagi – jelaskan hasil setelah kuliah lagi

Soal hamil – harus dijelaskan rencananya tidak bisa dijawab dijalani saja.

1 vs 10 fokus ke diri sendiri dan impactmu

LPDP saja – sesuaikan dengan value LPDP (visi misi) dan rencana kontribusi

Diskriminasi – focus pada bertahan

Closing statement: terima kasihnya bagus, tapi belum tentu akan kuliah lagi. :”