Tri Rismaharini

Before President Joko Widodo elected Tri Rismaharini to become the Social Affairs Minister, she served as Mayor of Surabaya for ten years until 2020. But even before her mayorship, Rismaharini—popularly known as “Risma”—had already worked as a government employee for more than 20 years.

Rismaharini’s tenure as mayor—she was the first woman to take up the role—saw the addition of more open spaces in Indonesia’s second-largest city as rainfall absorption areas, as well as green lanes to create city forests. She is known as a firm leader for the city near which she was raised, and her policies became renowned for successfully reducing the severity of floods. Her leadership resulted in Surabaya winning several awards, such as the Asean Environmentally Sustainable City Award 2012 and the Adipura Kencana, a prestigious trophy given to the cleanest city in Indonesia, for eight years in a row.

As Social Affairs Minister, Rismaharini has promised to reform the aid-distribution system from physical cash handouts to bank transfers. Rismaharini was named as one of the 10 Most Inspiring Women in 2013 by Forbes, and recently named as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine