Leadership and advocacy are either fundamental and collaborative solutions that powerful to solve any multiple issues in this world. I believe that everybody, including people with invisible disabilities like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), have the opportunity to make a difference and inspire others. According to the CDC, autism prevalence rose from 1/150 in 2000 to 1/59 in 2014. According to the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, there are approximately 2.4 million autistic people in Indonesia. That’s why, in June 2019, I founded AutiCare.id (now defunct), leading a team of two-person. Inspired by my background as a computer science student at Universitas Gadjah Mada, as well as personal experiences with Autism as a result of my diagnosis of mild-autism at the age of five, AutiCare’s journey began with a simple website but with strong vision: to link the autistic community to proper treatments and services, as well as increase people’s awareness and acceptance through the autistic community in Indonesia.

This experience has taught me that it’s not an easy path to take. During my last two years at AutiCare, I had to deal with two significant challenges:

• Neither my team nor I had any prior experience in the startup industry.
• There are few accurate facts and sources about autism in Indonesian, and many people still underestimate autistic people

Since then, I’ve been analysing the root causes of any problems and devising effective strategies for overcoming them. My strategic planning skills were put to good use by improving communication within my team through an online forum, discussing smaller goals, finding system flaws, and providing input that encouraged my team to create new strategies to improve results. As a result, teammates were more likely to provide fresh ideas and material for new posts, and monthly web scope increased by 10%. At that time, I’m able to encourage better public understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and we were able to increase the conversion rate of AutiCare’s website from 1.51k to 2.02k clicks, and also from 41.7k to 53.3k impressions in one year (2021)

Besides that, I spent many nights learning further about Environment and Sustainability as my passionate level, but I passed with experiences. I’ve been selected as delegate at the HPAIR Harvard Conference, ASEAN-China Young Leaders’ Summit, and World Bank Group Youth Summit in 2021, and I’m also selected as an Indonesian MGoS-VNR main speaker in the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) in 2021. In terms of organisational and people-management skills, my leadership capabilities have brought me to hold important positions at a youth constituency, such as being the Indonesian Country Contact Point for COY17 at YOUNGO and Communications Manager at PISAgro. Those achievements indicate that I can work independently but also perform well in team. But above all my achievements and experience, I am a hardworking individual who is motivated to learn new things and have a willingness to leverage the leadership journey.