Pijar Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation Launch Asia Leaders’ Circle for Southeast Asia’s Next Generation of Leaders

The regional fellowship will bring together 18 emerging leaders to reflect on complex challenges facing the region and strengthen leadership practices that better account for the needs of underserved communities.

BANGKOK, 23 | October 2026 — Pijar Foundation, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, today launched the Asia Leaders’ Circle, a regional fellowship initiative for emerging leaders across Southeast Asia working on public-interest challenges. The programme will provide a high-trust, culturally grounded space for participants to examine ethical dilemmas, reflect on difficult institutional decisions, and consider how their choices affect underserved, marginalized, and underrepresented communities.

The Circle responds to a gap in leadership development across the region: the need for spaces where leaders working on social and development challenges can reflect honestly on competing priorities, public pressures, and difficult trade-offs, particularly when their decisions affect communities that are often underrepresented in institutional decision-making. Through structured reflection, peer exchange, and cross-sector dialogue, the programme will encourage participants to consider how their leadership practices can better account for the needs and lived experiences of these communities.

The programme was announced during AsiaXchange 2026, The Rockefeller Foundation’s annual regional flagship convening that brings together leaders and partners from across Asia.

“Southeast Asia has no shortage of capable leaders. Experienced leaders bring institutional wisdom, while emerging leaders offer fresh perspectives and the courage to challenge established thinking. Leadership should not be a one-way transfer of knowledge, but a continuous exchange where both generations learn from one another,” said Ferro Ferizka, Chairman of Pijar Foundation.

“This is the ambition behind the Asia Leaders’ Circle: to create a trusted space where emerging and experienced leaders can challenge assumptions, learn from one another, and build lasting relationships. We hope to nurture leadership grounded in humility, wisdom, and collaboration, where different perspectives can lead to more thoughtful and inclusive decisions for the communities we serve,” Ferro added.

The inaugural Asia Leaders’ Circle is expected to bring together 18 emerging leaders from across Southeast Asia, representing public service, civil society, media, arts and culture, business and innovation, and scientific research. The selection process will prioritize individuals whose roles advance charitable causes, alongside demonstrated leadership experience or potential. Candidate identification will also consider regional representation and gender balance, with particular attention to individuals whose work involves engagement with communities or responsibility for decisions that shape outcomes for under-resourced groups.

In the 2026 State of Southeast Asia Survey, an annual regional survey of opinion-makers and thought leaders on ASEAN and Southeast Asia’s political, economic, and geopolitical landscape, more than 70% of respondents were under the age of 46. This points to the growing presence of a younger generation in the professional communities shaping the region’s agenda and public debate. This generational transition is unfolding at a time when the challenges facing Southeast Asia are becoming increasingly interconnected.

“Young people in Southeast Asia are already shaping a brighter future for the region with innovative solutions, a willingness to take risks, and a shared sense of responsibility for their neighbors’ well-being. The Asia Leaders’ Circle will be a valuable platform for emerging leaders to build unlikely partnerships, broaden their perspectives, and tackle regional and global challenges together. We’re proud to support this initiative and look forward to learning from the cohort,” said Elizabeth Yee, Executive Vice President of Programs at The Rockefeller Foundation.

The Asia Leaders’ Circle is pleased to welcome K.G.P.A.A. Mangkoenagoro X as the first member of its Board of Advisors. His perspectives on intergenerational leadership, cultural heritage, and institutional stewardship will continue to help shape the programme’s direction and development as it takes root across the region. Drawing on Mangkunegaran’s longstanding traditions of education, cultural preservation, and public service, his involvement brings a distinct perspective on how leaders can carry forward inherited wisdom while responding to the changing needs of society.

“When I was entrusted with leading Mangkunegaran, I inherited a responsibility that connects generations: to care for a living heritage, and to ensure that its wisdom continues to serve people in a changing world. Each generation brings new questions. Our task is to carry that wisdom forward with the openness and courage to respond. That is why I welcome the Asia Leaders’ Circle: a space where honest reflection and lasting relationships can lead to better decisions for the communities we serve,” said K.G.P.A.A. Mangkoenagoro X.

Through his involvement, the inaugural fellowship will take place in Surakarta, with cultural learning activities hosted at Puro Mangkunegaran, a historic centre of Javanese culture, education, and artistic tradition. Beyond its historical significance, Mangkunegaran offers a living example of how cultural knowledge, leadership traditions, and institutional values can be preserved, questioned, and adapted across generations. Fellows will have the opportunity to engage with these perspectives, exploring how humility, wisdom, and a sense of responsibility towards others can inform contemporary leadership and institutional decision-making.

The inaugural fellowship will combine a residential immersion in Surakarta with a public-facing convening in Jakarta and structured post-programme engagement. Together, these elements are designed to create a continuum from private reflection to public dialogue and continued learning. Fellows will have opportunities to exchange perspectives with policymakers, practitioners, philanthropies, and regional leaders, while alumni engagement will support continued peer learning after the programme.

Over the longer term, the Asia Leaders’ Circle aims to contribute to more conscious, inclusive, and accountable decision-making within Fellows’ institutions and areas of work. Through follow-up engagement and documentation of emerging decision-making practices, the programme will examine how participants apply their learning, including whether their approaches give greater consideration to underserved, marginalized, and underrepresented communities. These insights will contribute to a Decision Practice Compendium intended to support programme learning and inform future cohorts.

Applications for the inaugural Asia Leaders’ Circle are open to emerging leaders across Southeast Asia whose work advances charitable causes and who are interested in reflecting on complex leadership challenges alongside peers from across sectors, countries, and disciplines.

Apply here: https://www.pijarfoundation.org/alc2026

— 

About Pijar Foundation

Pijar Foundation is an Indonesian philanthropic foundation working to strengthen the leadership, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration needed to shape Asia’s future. Its work spans three core pillars: Leadership & Capacity Building, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Policy Advocacy & Philanthropic Secretariat.

Through partnerships with governments, businesses, philanthropic organisations, academia, and communities, Pijar Foundation supports locally grounded solutions and helps connect promising ideas with the institutions, partnerships, and resources needed to grow their impact across Indonesia and the wider Asian region. For more information, visit pijarfoundation.org.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

Investing $30 billion over the last 113 years to promote the well-being of humanity, The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on unlikely partnerships and innovative solutions that deliver measurable results for people in the United States and around the world. We leverage scientific breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, and new technologies to make big bets across energy, food, health, and finance, including with our public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn, Instagram @rockefellerfdn, and LinkedIn @the-rockefeller-foundation.

About Mangkunegaran

Mangkunegaran is a royal institution and cultural centre in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Rooted in a rich heritage of history, arts, and values, it sustains and nurtures culture through tradition, education, collaboration, and experiences that bring people closer to its living heritage. Drawing on knowledge and values passed down through generations, Mangkunegaran inspires new ideas, creative expression, and cultural practices that respond to contemporary needs and challenges. It creates opportunities for people across generations to discover, find meaning in, and contribute to culture as part of everyday life. For more information, please visit our website https://mangkunegaran.id/ or Instagram @mangkunegaran.