Messy thoughts on indeterminate Indonesian education nonprofit

I just came off of a call with the CEO of an emerging education nonprofit in Indonesia. I won't say the name of either the CEO or the nonprofit — I'm sure search engines do not particularly favor a college student's blog post, but I don't want my completely unaffiliated thoughts polluting their online presence, both out of respect for their mission & because I don't want to get into any trouble. (I sound like a startup intern who has signed an NDA: ~ stealth nonprofit ~.)

I wanted to put this down as a blog post because I foresaw myself wanting to tell friends & family about this conversation & I realized I'd be saying/texting the same things over & over, so I might as well write it down here. + that was the whole point of this blog, record-keeping of such things.

I was first struck by how we speak the same — a Sydney-to-Jakarta upbringing, it turns out, doesn't sound too different from my Indo-centric American upbringing. We conversed in primarily English, punctuated by clauses in Bahasa. I only lost her once, when she mentioned the name of a Sumatran regency — a kabupaten — the syllables were too fast & unfamiliar for me to catch with my pink Muji pen.

I was next struck by how we speak the same — this time, in terms of educational equity & impact *at scale*. Ever since hearing somebody use the words 'at scale' in an educational change context last summer, I have been spamming this phrase to no end. But only because it really resonates with me! I am so interested in how researchers, policymakers, & nonprofits can design & improve entire systems in education — how can we do right by students, making positive change for as many students as possible, at geographic scale & numeric scale? Keeping in mind that with great power comes great responsibility, & that impact can swing either way. I also loved her use of the phrase 'virtuous cycle' — it's so social-good, systems-change, optimistic in a way that also resonates with me. Is there any reward for goodness except goodness? [55:60]

Though... I am slightly skeptical of the nonprofit model & their theory of change. I think a lot about teacher service fellowships (e.g. Teach For America & the broader Teach For All ecosystem), & I wonder whether this explicitly marketed emphasis on 'fellowship participation is an investment in your own professional growth' can be extractive, in that your 2 years of service becomes, intentionally or unintentionally, a phase of 'slumming it' for the résumé. & I so trust that the majority of people applying for these selective teaching fellowships do have good intentions, but I've also read so much about these good intentions ending up in burnout, teacher churn (which has demonstrated negative impacts on student achievement), & fellows being used as anti-union scabs, at least in the U.S. context — I should read more broadly! I am dually hopeful & cautious.

& I very much respect the energy & passion that the CEO brings to the org. I worry I might have come off as very scatter-brained, since my sentences are rarely linear, but she told me I clearly have a lot of energy & passion myself (true), that I don't seem like a trend follower (avante-garde!), & I definitely seek out info (i.e. I asked her so many questions). Which I suppose is a positive assessment? Maybe I need to stop worrying what people think of me. She gave me some insight into her own professional trajectory, having started in government, moved to fintech (product & regional expansion), then education nonprofit work. She advised me to take advantage of my youth to grow as fast as I can, gaining as much money/knowledge/fulfillment/[whichever success metric is most meaningful to me] as possible. & she emphasized that growth comes from taking on immense challenge, backed with immense support. She had those talking points down, masha'Allah. 

Very interesting convo — I always love to read/think/talk about TFA, & lately I've been thinking a lot about similar models in the Indonesian context, so very fascinating to talk to someone at the top! Will definitely stay in contact & track the nonprofit's progress.