Ima is the Executive Director of The Habibie Center – one of Indonesia’s leading think tanks focusing on
democracy and human rights. In addition to running the day-to-day operations of The Habibie Center, she
advocates for peace policy and the strengthening of democracy in Indonesia, and works to enhance relations
between Indonesia and other countries. Ima speaks regularly in Indonesia and internationally on affairs
concerning Indonesia and The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – in particular the role of
civil in society in democracy, global governance and democratization in the region.
Ima was selected as a 2015 Yale World Fellow joining a network of more than 250 Yale World Fellows from
84 countries. In 2001, Ima was awarded the APSA Congressional Fellowship from The Asia Foundation.
That year, she worked in the Office of Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald of California, lending
her greater insight into the workings of a functioning democracy. In 2010 she completed a fellowship with
IDEAS Indonesia, an Executive Program through the Sloan School of Management at MIT, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Ima earned her Bachelors of Human Science in Political Science and Islamic Revealed Knowledge &
Heritage from the International Islamic University Malaysia. She holds an M.A. in International Studies and
Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK. In her free
time she works with friends in championing women’s empowerment, advocating and providing support for
survivors of gender based violence through the non-profit Lentera Indonesia. She also helps to provide
books to underprivileged children through a program that she helped start, Drive Books, Not Cars.
Her research as an Asia Global Fellow will look at the progress of democracy in majority Muslim countries.
She will aim to address the issues of democratic development in a pluralistic society, in particular with the
role of social media and digital media in cultivating Muslim democrats that embrace a spirit of inclusion,
trust, tolerance, understanding and pluralism.