Risa Bhinekawati

Risa holds a BA in Economics from the University of Indonesia (1992); an MBA from the Australian National University (1998); an MIPP in International Policy from the George Washington University (2006). In December 2015 she received her PhD in Management from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, with a dissertation "The social capital that bridges CSR programs and corporate sustainability: The case of Astra in Indonesia".

Risa is the recipient of three Australian government awards: the Australian Leadership Award (2009), the Allison Sudradjat Award (2009), and the Indonesia-Australia Merdeka Fellowship (1998).  She also received the Merriman Fellowship (2005) from the George Washington University, USA.

Working as a corporate sustainability advisor and lecturer, she is very passionate about improving sustainable development and governance in Indonesia and other developing countries.  Risa has more than 23 years of professional experience, including senior leadership positions in various organizations, such as Unilever Indonesia, Ericsson Indonesia, Danamon Bank, Partnership for Indonesian Governance Reform, Indonesian Telecommunications Society, and Indonesian Synthetic Fiber Makers Association. She is now a lecturer at Podomoro University and also serves as the Advisory Board Member of Women in Global Business, Indonesian Chapter.

Risa has extensive experience in establishing organizations and empowering people; formulating policies and implementing strategic planning; managing interactions between the government, private sector and civil society. She has built networks and expertise in restructuring organizations, coordinating and drafting inputs for public policies such as Indonesian telecommunications law.  Risa has led national initiatives such as revitalizing traditional markets where 11 Indonesian local governments converted their market waste into compost, which improved the environment and public governance.