Indonesian Scholar Uses Climate Education to Help 60 Million Students

Afgan Gradiyanto is a 2025-2026 Obama Foundation Scholar from Indonesia who worked in his country's education ministry. He helped create climate change education programs that reached 60 million students, 400,000 schools, and 4,000 universities across Indonesia. Before working in government, he was a management consultant. Now he wants to learn how nonprofit organizations and donors can help fight climate change in Indonesia. Through the Obama Scholars program at the University of Chicago, he hopes to understand how to build a culture of giving and find new funding sources for climate action. His goal is to create a system where government, businesses, and nonprofits work together to help communities and create real change in fighting climate change. The Obama Foundation Scholars program helps rising leaders from around the world take their community work to the next level.