The Dialogue Institute (DI) is pleased to welcome Farinia Fianto, a Community Solutions Program fellow from Indonesia, who will be serving as an intern for the fall semester.
Farinia comes to the DI with a wealth of training and experience. She is currently and has been since 2003 Managing Director for the International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) in Jakarta, where she designs, develops, implements and evaluates all of ICIP’s programs. She is fluent in Indonesian and English, with additional proficiency in Arabic, Dutch and Javanese. After completing undergraduate studies at Universitas Indonesia, she received her M.A. in Islamic Studies from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
"The Dialogue Institute is one of the leading organizations promoting interfaith dialogue, which is very relevant to my work in Indonesia," says Farinia, who is also the mother of two young daughters, Shirin and Leia. "I am so inspired by the work that has been done by the DI, and it is a great privilege for me to work with an organization like this.
"Hopefully when I return to Indonesia, my experience here will contribute to a significant change in my work and in my community."
Among other responsibilities, Farinia will be helping to expand and deepen engagement with and among the more than 200 alumni of the DI's Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) in an effort to better track program impact and offer ongoing support as they carry out projects in their home contexts.
The Community Solutions Program, run jointly by IREX, an international nonprofit organization, and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, "is a professional development program for the best and brightest global community leaders working in the fields of transparency and accountability, tolerance and conflict resolution, environmental issues and women’s issues." In 2014, 50 different organizations in 21 U.S. states and the District of Columbia hosted 53 leaders from 31 different countries through the program.
