Dr. Rosalia (Lia) Sciortino Sumaryono
Founder and Strategic Director
Dr. Rosalia (Lia) Sciortino Sumaryono, a cultural anthropologist and development sociologist by training, earned her doctorate with honors at the Vrije Universities, Amsterdam. Currently, she is Associate Professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University in Thailand and advisor to two Indonesia-Australia social development programs in Indonesia: the Empowering Indonesian Women for Poverty Reduction program and the Knowledge Sector Initiative.
Most recently, Dr. Sciortino was IDRC Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia (2010–2014), Senior Adviser to the Australian Agency for International Development in Indonesia (2009–2010), and Regional Director for Southeast Asia of the Rockefeller Foundation (2000–2007), where she established the foundation’s Southeast Asia Office in Bangkok. Prior to that, she was Program Officer of Human Development and Reproductive Health in the Indonesia and Philippines offices of the Ford Foundation from 1993 to 2000.
Dr. Sciortino has acted as a consultant to international and regional organizations, as an adviser to non-profit organizations, and as a visiting professor at various Southeast Asian and Dutch universities. She has published widely on development issues in Southeast Asia, and her books Care-Takers of Cure (Perawat Puskesmas di antara Pengobatan dan Perawatan) and Civilized Health Care (Kesehatan Madani) are widely read by those interested in social health in Indonesia. A native of Palermo, Italy, she fluently speaks Italian, Dutch, English, and Bahasa Indonesian.