Eisenhower Fellowships will honor Dr. Mari Pangestu of Indonesia as the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Fellow Award, the organization’s highest award for a Fellow.
Mari Pangestu is a deeply engaged Eisenhower Fellow with a distinguished career spanning 30 years in government, academia, diplomacy and private sector. She served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade from 2004 to 2011, and as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy from 2011 until October 2014.
The Indonesia EF Chapter has benefitted enormously from Dr. Pangestu’s consistent support—she actively attends chapter events and her convening power has sparked new energy in the Indonesia Fellows group. She has also shown her leadership in pursuing recruitment of candidates for EF, in particular, women. She has worked in partnership with fellow Indonesian Fellows on a number of projects that support local culture and women’s initiatives including: a cultural heritage project with Laretna (Sita) Adishakti (2002); a business accelerator for fashion entrepreneurs with Svida Alisjahabana 2010, CEO, Femina Group and an initiative to create livable cities with Elisa Sutanudjaja (2012).
As a mentor to Indonesia Fellows, Dr. Pangestu readily and regularly presides over discussion sessions to coach and advise newly selected Fellows prior to their Fellowship travel. Dr. Pangestu also acted as a special advisor to the 2016 Indonesia Conference Planning Team for the EF SE Asia Regional Conference. She authored an article to bring greater media attention to EF’s impact:
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/challenges-of-unity-as-asean-turns-50-the-jakarta-post-columnist
Dr. Pangestu also connects regularly with other Eisenhower Fellows in regional meetings and has keynoted at several EF Conferences on economic and trade issues in Southeast Asia including Singapore, Jakarta and Bali.
“We are deeply grateful for Dr. Pangestu’s contributions to the EF network and admire her tireless public service on behalf of Indonesia. She is a perfect embodiment of the Eisenhower Fellowships mission of a world that is more peaceful, prosperous and just,” noted EF President George de Lama.