Nila Tanzil ditched the eight-to-five corporate life to do something meaningful, wanting to give back to her community. She first founded Taman Bacaan Pelangi (Rainbow Reading Gardens), a non-profit organisation that focuses on promoting literacy to under-privileged communities located in remote areas of eastern Indonesia, through constructing children's libraries. Taman Bacaan Pelangi now has 135 libraries across 18 islands, and has served over 30,000 children.

Then, while sitting at a beach thinking about how else she could improve people’s lives, Tanzil thought up Travel Sparks, a social enterprise that merges travelling with a cause. Travel Sparks creates custom tours for visitors who want to enjoy the local culture of eastern Indonesia while contributing to the community. She is an Eisenhower Fellow (2018) and an Atlantic Fellow (2016) who has won several awards, including the Kartini Next Generation awarded by the Ministry of Communication & IT and Ministry of Women Empowerment & Child Protection.

Tanzil has a Master's in Communication Studies from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and a bachelor's degree in International Relations from Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Bandung.