Edwin Utama
Project Leader, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Jakarta
MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University , USA

Edwin is a core member of Financial Service practice at the Boston Consulting Group. He has worked on strategy, organizational and operational improvement projects for leading companies in financial services, energy, and telecommunication providers in South East Asia and Western Europe. In 2007 he was nominated by the South East Asia offices to join the firm’s prestigious Ambassador program, where he is managing a number of projects for key clients across European offices.

Prior to BCG, Edwin was a Manager in Operations Group at Citibank Global Consumer Banking Indonesia, where his team received “Process Excellence Award” and won the top 5 countries in Asia Pacific  for “Best Vital Few Operational Quality Performance” between 2001 – 2003.

Edwin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering (cum laude) from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with majors in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Marketing from Kellogg. He received a full scholarship from the Sampoerna Foundation to complete his MBA.

Edwin feels indebted to the society, and he is interested in giving back when possible, especially in the area of education (he led a team to prepare Meldic II – the first electronic English-Indonesian dictionary for the blinds in Indonesia in 2002). He was also a former Eagle Scout.
In Books for Hope, Edwin gives vital advice on strategy, processes and operational models.

Edy Chandra
Co-Founder & CFO, a palm oil company

Edy is the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of an agriculture trading company. Prior to being an entrepreneur,  Edy has had 9 years of professional experience in auditing.  He was affiliated to PricewaterhouseCoopers as an external auditor for 7 years, before moving on to KPMG. His working experience spans from Asia to USA where he worked and lived for more than 8 years in the United States. He has served in PwC’s  office in Seattle , Washington and KPMG’s offices in Dallas , Texas and Los Angeles , California , before deciding to return to his home country, Indonesia. He received his CPA from North Dakota in 2002 and is a member of NDSBA and AICPA.

A philanthropic capitalist, Edy  brings to Books for Hope valuable expertise in compliance, governance, reporting and taxation issues.

Silvia Yulianti
Project Manager, Grameen Foundation
MSc Environmental  Science and Technology , UNESCO-IHE Delft

Silvia obtained her MSc in Environmental  Science and Technology from UNESCO-IHE Delft, the Netherlands. Prior to graduate school, she worked as Industrial Engineer in PT Indonesia EPSON Industry, a multinational printer manufacturing company. After graduation, she switched the nature of her job from a profit into a-not-for-profit, started in Yayasan Bina Usaha Lingkungan (YBUL), a Jakarta-based organization, as Rural and Environmental Project Manager where she was involved in various works on rural and community based renewable energy development. Later on, she was also Program Manager of the New Ventures Indonesia, a program of the World Resources Institute,USA, to support environmentally friendly and socially responsible small and medium businesses development. Currently she joins the Grameen Foundation to work for a replication of the Grameen Village Phone Program in Indonesia. Her experiences in rural areas in Indonesia have motivated her to join the Books for Hope as member of the Advisory Board.

Silvia’s experiences  in dealing and working with local communities and rural areas in Indonesia have been extremely helpful for Books for Hope.

Suryo Soekarno
Principal, MarkPlus, Inc.

Suryo is the Principal of MarkPlus,Inc., a firm providing consultancy, research and  training services to companies, in the fields of marketing (including sales, service, branding, and marketing communications). Suryo serves a variety of individuals and entities within Indonesia and throughout Southeast Asia
Suryo received a B.A. from Wesleyan University , and an MBA from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore .

Carsten F. Schifter
Financial Analyst, Procter & Gamble European Headquarters

Carsten is a Financial Analyst for Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals Western Europe. He is a former scholar of the German National Foundation and holds a Master in Finance, Management & Controlling of Bamberg University, Germany . During his studies in France he also acquired an additional Pan-European Master, focusing on Human Resources and Entrepreneurship.
Carsten has a long history of giving back to the society, especially through working with Russian teenagers in Russian war cemeteries of World War Two, supporting a German Blinds Organization or simply spending time with elderly people in nursing homes to share their daily life.
In Books for Hope, Carsten specializes in maximal optimization of resources and how we can improve the life of unprivileged children through lean cost structures.