Whatever school of thought you belong to, a big change is already happening in Indonesia

Do you know the two hottest questions among millennials nowadays? “What are you passionate about?” And for some of us who are currently abroad: “Do you want to work in Indonesia or Country ‘X'”?

Whatever school of thought you belong to, a big change is already happening in Indonesia. The real pressing question is “Would you be willing to become a part of the change?”

Three young student-speakers, James Karnadi (Indonesian Civic Youth Initiator), Jessica Tanoesoedibjo (Social Entrepreneur), and Putri Tanjung (Creative Entrepreneur) recently shared a number of national programs, and their stories, to a group of Indonesian diaspora at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.

James opened the event by sharing a number of engagement opportunities for young college students to be involved with the current entrepreneurial ecosystem in Indonesia. He further highlighted five areas that are ready for disruption, which include agriculture, education, health, tourism, and logistics.

Furthermore, Jessica encouraged students to consider the social entrepreneurship path. Given the apparent development and other challenges that Indonesia faces as a country, she believes that it is our shared duty and responsibility to become part of the solution. Jessica mentioned that it is possible to do good and be financially sustainable at the same time. In the end, she also mentioned how it would be possible to change anything if we only focus on ourselves.

Lastly, Putri highlighted the issues of middle income trap and brain drain as the two main macroeconomic challenges. She has high hopes that entrepreneurship can help to solve these issues. As an experienced creative community organizer, she believes that the young people in Indonesia are able to innovate, create competitive products and services, and most importantly provide new jobs. Putri also said that now is the time to give back to Indonesia as the country has provided so much for us.

Also read: Insights on tech and the Indonesian diaspora in Silicon Valley

LMU? “University of Silicon Beach” — its location is close to Marina Del Rey while the Venice area is the hub of digital twitch, such as: EA, Snapchat, Google.

1. Largest Indonesian student population in Southern California

2. Entrepreneurial

3. Driven by the current ILMU’s leadership initiatives

Ways to Get Involved

• Indonesian Civic Youth is a program that aims at providing opportunities for current high school students to get work experience and training in empathy building. The national program is spearheaded by President’s Office. Currently, There are around 700 young people who are part of this movement. For more details about the program, please click the link here.

• Code for Indonesia, specifically Indonesia Android Kejar, a Google-led initiative to create 1000 Android developers in Indonesia. This program is meant to target the short of technical talent issue in Indonesia.

• Google Launchpad Accelerator Indonesia

• #1000 Startup Digital (Gerakan 1000 Startups).

• Internship opportunities with KIBAR, GOJEK, Ruang Guru, and the President’s Office (Kantor Staf Presiden).

—-

Special credits to Joshua Yawry, Vinca Giandhi, Calix Carrington and the rest of the ILMU officers (Indonesians at LMU) for organizing the Indonesia 2.0 event.

The post Next-gen Indonesian diaspora is a powerhouse, and this is an invitation to tap into its potential appeared first on e27.