What We Do
Our vision is to see young people across Indonesia trusted and equipped to lead the change their own communities need.
We build leaders through youth development, collaborative leadership and capacity-building. We co-create impact through peace and conflict resolution, digital storytelling, health initiatives and social innovation. We collaborate across networks, connecting community-level action with partners at the national level, so youth-led ideas become lasting change.
From community to global
We start at the community level and reach outward, connecting local action with partners at the national and global level.
Youth-led, from youth to youth
Every two to three years, ten new young people carry the organisation forward, so the work is always shaped by the generation it serves.
Grown from real needs
Each focus area grew out of a need we saw in front of us, not a plan drawn up in a boardroom.
01 / 08
Youth Development
Equipping young people with the skills and confidence to lead.
Many young people in Aceh grew up cut off from the wider world, and confidence does not appear on its own. Youth development is where The Leader began: giving young people the room, skills and belief to see themselves as capable of leading.
We create learning spaces that combine training, mentoring and real responsibility, so young people practise leadership rather than only hear about it. Growth is measured by what they go on to do in their own communities.
- Skills for communication, teamwork and project leadership
- Mentoring and coaching from people who have walked the path
- Real responsibility inside The Leader’s own programmes
02 / 08
Collaborative Leadership
Building leadership rooted in teamwork, not titles.
Big problems are rarely solved by one person. We see leadership as a shared practice: listening across differences, dividing responsibility fairly, and achieving together what nobody could alone.
The Leader itself is built this way: ten founders with very different talents working as one team. We carry that approach into our programmes, where young people learn to build coalitions across communities, sectors and generations.
- Team-based projects across different backgrounds
- Facilitation, negotiation and decision-making skills
- Networks that outlast any single programme
03 / 08
Peace & Conflict Resolution
Turning tension into dialogue and shared solutions.
Aceh lived through decades of armed conflict, and its young people inherited the consequences. That history is why we treat peace as a skill and a practice, not only the absence of violence.
We create spaces where young people talk across differences, learn how conflict works and practise resolving it without harm. From that experience they become people their communities can turn to when tension rises.
- Dialogue and mediation skills
- Understanding the roots of conflict, local and beyond
- Solidarity across communities and identities
04 / 08
Digital Storytelling
Using media to amplify youth voices and stories.
We do not want Aceh’s young people to be remembered only as victims of what happened to them. Stories told in their own voices change how they are seen, and how they see themselves.
We help young people use photography, video, writing and social media to document their communities and share their work. Good storytelling is both craft and responsibility, so we teach both.
- Content creation: photo, video, writing and design
- Ethical storytelling and responsible use of platforms
- Turning personal experience into public conversation
05 / 08
Capacity-Building
Strengthening skills that create lasting community impact.
Good intentions go further with the right tools. Capacity-building turns enthusiasm into ability: planning, managing, communicating and sustaining work that communities actually need.
We offer practical training, guides and handbooks that young people and community groups can pick up and use straight away, and we keep them accessible so the knowledge spreads beyond the room where it was taught.
- Practical skills such as project management, community organizing and proposal writing
- Guides and handbooks anyone can use
- Support for community groups and young organisers
06 / 08
Health Initiatives
Championing wellbeing as a foundation for change.
Young people cannot lead change if their health is neglected. Health has been part of The Leader’s work from the early years, including strengthening the health workforce and supporting adolescent health.
We work with young people, health practitioners and communities to make health information and support easier to reach, drawing on the expertise of health professionals within our own network.
- Adolescent health information for young people
- Strengthening the skills of young health workers and volunteers
- Guidance from health professionals in our network
08 / 08
Sustainability
We believe lasting impact requires long-term commitment and collective action.
Change that depends on one person or one funding cycle fades. Sustainability is one of our focus areas, and it is also how we run: making sure the work lasts.
Every two to three years The Leader selects ten new young people to carry the organisation forward, a cycle that keeps it youth-led. We pair that renewal with partnerships and shared ownership, so impact is carried by many hands.
- A leadership cycle that renews every two to three years
- Partnerships built on shared ownership
- Long-term commitment over short-term projects
See these focus areas in action
Every focus area comes to life through our initiatives, led by young people from the community level outward.
07 / 08
Social Innovation
We empower young people to transform ideas into impact.
Young people notice problems early and often imagine better answers before anyone asks. Social innovation gives those ideas a route from sketch to real project.
Through The Dream Factory, ideas are shaped, tested and carried into practice with support from the team and the wider network, always grounded in a real community need.