Sekar Insani Sumunaringtyas was born on April 26, 1979.

In 1996, she continued her studies at the Department of Agricultural Industrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Bogor Agricultural Institute, or better known as IPB University, and graduated in 2000. She has been working as an official in the Ministry of Agriculture since 2023.

Arjan de Haan is a development expert who focuses on public policy and poverty in Asia. He leads the IDRC program Supporting Inclusive Growth, managing a team of 10 specialists in Ottawa and regional offices.

Melisa Apriyani is a passionate educator and grassroots development strategist with over a decade of experience across diverse regions, sharpening her understanding of sustainable development, capacity building, and women-led solutions. As Indonesia’s Program Manager at Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA), Melisa currently supports seven grassroots partner organizations and 94 women leaders across 28 provinces in Indonesia, helping them expand their work in conservation, eco-entrepreneurship, and climate resilience.

Silke Pietzsch is a humanitarian and development leader with over 20 years of experience in analytical livelihoods, resilience, and social protection across Asia, Africa, and fragile contexts. She bridges operations and evidence, leading needs assessments, market and cash feasibility studies, climate risk and PDNA analyses, and mixed-methods evaluations to inform shock-responsive and anticipatory programming.

Elvin Jerome Laceda is a Filipino social entrepreneur and agribusiness leader advancing climate-resilient, inclusive food systems for vulnerable rural communities. He is the Founder and President of RiceUp Farmers Inc., where he leads initiatives that strengthen smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity through market access, financial literacy, enterprise development, and value-chain integration.  

Babken (Bob) is Senior Social Development Specialist (Social Protection) in ADB’s Social Development Practice Team. He is experienced in policy-oriented research, analysis and operational work in social protection, social development, and local governance. He previously worked at HelpAge International, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and the World Bank. He was also professional lecturer at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he designed and taught post-graduate courses on Design and Delivery of Social Protection and Evidence-Informed Policy Design.

Ippei Tsuruga is Social Protection Programme Manager for Indonesia at the International Labour Organization. He has worked on the design and reform of social security schemes—including unemployment, old-age, invalidity and survivors’, employment injury, maternity and sickness benefits—in Indonesia, Viet Nam and Myanmar. He is a published author on social protection, with a strong focus on extending social protection to workers in the informal economy. Prior to joining the ILO, he worked on development cooperation in Africa and Washington, D.C. with JICA.