Our Team

Sherly was born and raised in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Driven by her curiosity to discover what’s “out there,” she embarked on a transformative educational journey at UWC Dilijan in Armenia.

After UWC, she joined a gap year program to travel the world and learn new skills along the way. She then earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan. She is now based in Tokyo, working as a recruitment consultant.

She has always found ways to stay connected to the UWC community—whether by organizing UWC short courses, representing the National Committee at the International Congress, or through other initiatives.

In her role with the national committee, you’ll find her brainstorming strategies to reach more applicants, curating social media posts, and overseeing the entire selection process from start to finish. Her mission is to ensure that “quality education is not a privilege, but a right.”

Born and raised in Banda Aceh in the 90s, M was very much confined to a conservative environment. He knew that he internally questioned many mundane things around him as a teenager, but couldn’t really think (or speak up) critically. Getting a full scholarship to UWC USA in Montezuma, New Mexico allowed him to ascertain himself that it is okay to question things out loud, criticize others, reflect on own actions, and break the apathetic culture.

M finished a Bachelor’s degree at Trinity College in Connecticut, USA with a full financial support and then decided to return home to work in Jakarta. M is currently a youth empowerment enthusiast working with a social enterprise and a study abroad mentorship program. M has volunteered with UWC Indonesia since 2015 and has taken many leading and supporting roles in communications, fundraising, alumni relations, and general leadership.

Ridho Maulana Dirgantara recently graduated from the University College Maastricht, the Netherlands, with a BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences, majoring in Environmental Governance and Climate Policy and a minor in Urban Sustainable Development and Ethnography & Qualitative Research. He designed his curriculum, combining five European universities from Italy, Spain, Finland, France, and the Netherlands.

He also served as the Regional Executive Body of the ASEAN Youth Forum, the Deputy Safeguarding Student Lead at the United World College of Indonesia, and the Academic Committee Chair of the University College Students Representative of the Netherlands. He completed two European Solidarity Corps projects in Poland.

In 2024, he finished program management internship at the United Nations University – MERIT and his Refubees team obtained 15300 RM funding to assist the Refugee Network Center in building the first refugee-led market in Malaysia. He also received an opportunity to study in depth urbanization in Africa and GIS at Al Akhawayn University, Morocco, where he examined climate change impact on the urban poor.

He is the recipient of the UWC Dare to Dream Scholarship, the UWC Davis and Shawn Mendes Foundation Scholarship, and the UCM Excellence Scholarship. Currently, Ridho is undertaking a traineeship at the EU Delegation to Indonesia, focusing on the environment and climate change section, with a specific emphasis on forestry governance.