Women Changemakers Community Gathering - Jakarta
A safe place for women changemakers (and aspiring women changemakers) to meet one another;
A small-scale gathering where you can actually have intentional conversations with everyone;
A community you show up and participate equally as an agent of change;
A space to exchange stories and find inspirations to bring collective impact;
A time to prioritize for your well being and peace of mind;
A tribe you can come back to as your support network and build intergenerational friendships.
This is what this gathering is about. For women changemakers.
As our first gathering in Southeast Asia, Girls Be Change is cohosting this special community event in Jakarta with Ashoka Indonesia and TORAJAMELO on International Women's Day 2025! It is a gathering where everyone shows up as an equal participant, questioning and chatting. No panel. No presentation. No speech. Just intentional conversations.
Come join us on Mar 8 (Sat) 1:30pm for an afternoon to meet other fellow women changemakers and exchange our stories!
What is Women Changemakers Community Series?
The idea began in the summer of 2023 when two changemakers in Hong Kong, Carmen (Girls Be Change) and Dorothy (Dream Impact), questioned and envisioned what an ideal community is. We need a safe place among women changemakers to have organic meetups, intentional conversations and idea exchange with social ease, find inspirations and encouragement from each other, and build authentic friendships and support networks.
The first Women Changemakers Community Gathering was held in Hong Kong on March 8, 2024 at International Women’s Day. Ever since then, Girls Be Change cohosted with 16 (and counting) organizations and gathered over 130 (and counting) women changemakers across continents.
Co-hosts:
Carmen Chan | Girls Be Change
Carmen is a people-driven entrepreneur. Since the age of 25, she has been running her own ventures, including her namesake jewelry brand, Carmen Chan Jewelry; creative agency, Studio C; and lately, her new social business, Girls Be Change.
Carmen Chan Jewelry celebrates the beauty of imperfection through jewelry and accessory design. Carmen was awarded as the finalist of Lane Crawford Calling Out For the Next New 2015 and highlighted in Facebook #SheMeansBusiness in 2016. Studio C is a creative agency that provides public relations, marketing, and design services with clients from a variety of backgrounds, including Taylor Swift, Marriott International, Hong Kong Design Centre, Affordable Art Fair, and more.
Girls Be Change is a social business that enables and empowers girls and women to be explorers and changemakers. Carmen spent years understanding the challenges of women leaders and struggles of underserved women, and finally decided to transform her expertise in problem solving throughout her journey of entrepreneurship into this new venture with the goal to eradicate gender inequality and build strong impact eco-system collectively.
Rina Kusuma | Ashoka Indonesia
As the Family Changemaking Program Manager of Ashoka Indonesia, Rina Kusuma is an experienced coach, mentor, and facilitator with over 20 years in Indonesia’s environmental NGO sector, focusing on children, youth, and women’s development. In 2008, she founded Teens Go Green, a volunteer-based youth club promoting environmental awareness across Indonesia. At EcoNusa Foundation, she launched the School of Eco Diplomacy and Papuan Young Researcher programs to empower young people in biodiverse but underserved eastern Indonesia.
Rina holds an MA in Children, Youth, and International Development from Brunel University London and currently serves as Family Changemaking Program Manager at Ashoka Indonesia. Since 2022, she has trained 150 family facilitators across Indonesia in collaboration with the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Children Protection. She is also an Advisor for GYBN (Global Youth Biodiversity Network) Indonesia, Board member of Teens Go Green Indonesia, and co-initiator of Kaum Muda Tanah Air. A single mother of two, Rina enjoys baking, making kimchi, and watercolor sketching (check her artworks on Instagram: @sketsarina).
Aparna Bhatnagar Saxena | TORAJAMELO
Aparna Bhatnagar Saxena is an unapologetic feminist, a vegan, an environmentalist, and a student for life.
She has lived and worked in 4 countries in Asia and is now an impact entrepreneur, and having previously worked in start-ups, SMEs, larger corporations and impact businesses.
Under her leadership, TORAJAMELO has cemented its identity as a slow ethical lifestyle business, with a BCorp certification, PETA Vegan approved stamp, and Forum Fair Trade Indonesia membership.
The organization has a strong ESG focus and works on environmental, social, and cultural sustainability of indigenous communities of Indonesia. Aparna also launched AHANA, a showcase of curated ethical brands that is a focused move towards making conscious consumerism mainstream.
Aparna is co-founder of Vriksh Impact Partners, a boutique impact investment and advisory firm in India that is focused on supporting early stage businesses especially women founded and plant-based businesses.
As the Indonesia lead of Asia Start-up Network, Aparna’s role is to lead a thriving network that collaborates and supports entrepreneurs and businesses across the ASEAN region.
Aparna regularly coaches and mentors Female entrepreneurs and social impact entrepreneurs across Asia Pacific on leadership development, running small businesses, ESG fundamentals, and managing during difficult times.
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This gathering is only opened to women changemakers (or aspiring women changemakers).
Language: Mainly English
Each ticket includes event admission and light refreshment for one person. Tickets are non-refundable.
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