Welcome to The Reformist by Think Policy
The Reformist is a publication that spotlights real reform stories across the public sector to understand what contributes to systemic change.
Amid streams of bad policy decisions and apathetic politicians dominating the news cycle, The Reformist wants to show that change is within reach by learning from past reforms, identifying what we could change today, and imagining what’s possible in the near future.
But don’t let our description limit your idea of reform. Everything can be a reform story; you just need to convince us. We’re always looking for compelling stories about how complex it can be to make change within an established system.
Send your pitch: connect@thinkpolicy.id
The Editorial Team
Nathaniel Rayestu
Rayestu is the Editor-in-Chief of The Reformist and Head of Media at Think Policy, where he oversees the organization’s media portfolio. He also manages Bijak Memantau, a policy monitoring and advocacy initiative built to deepen civic understanding, track government action, and hold public officials accountable.
In his spare time, he spends far more time than is advisable picking fights with randos on Twitter.
Nea Ningtyas
Nea is the Managing Editor of The Reformist and Editorial Lead at Think Policy. She set up the publication’s Substack account at its inception, wishing it would help revive slow-thinking culture. Her (brief) experience writing for The Jakarta Post shaped her style and determination to find compelling storyworthiness in every boring, complex policy problem. After a year of studying in London, she’s back with a Master’s degree in Digital Media and a musical theatre obsession.
She plans her weekends around her yoga schedule and the next coffee shop she’s trying.
Rayhan Kalevi Barung
Kalevi is a writer & researcher for The Reformist and an analyst at Think Policy. He writes the Insights section, spending most of his week questioning whether a law from the 1950s is important enough to include in a story. Being somewhat an Epistempholiac, the opportunity to write for The Reformist has helped reinforce his biases that one could be a dabbler of many, yet a master of none.
In his free time, Kalevi climbs religiously.
Liana Tan
Liana is the visual designer for The Reformist and Creative Lead at Think Policy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interactive Design and New Media, but fate intended for 95 percent of her career to be squabbling in the world of social media and marketing instead. Her illustration style is heavily influenced by reading far too much manga, though she’s adjusting it to be a little more editorial.
Each thumbnail will become a piece of her art journey. For better or worse? Just keep checking back and see where it goes.
Clara M Fong
Clara is a Luce Scholars Program fellow and contributing writer for the Reformist. She is spending one year at Think Policy dabbling in a bit of thinking and policying in Indonesia. She was previously a Writer and Editor at the Council on Foreign Relations, covering Asia and climate.
She is a driver-licenseless public transit aficionado, attributed to her upbringing across multiple cities, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and now Jakarta.
Andhyta (Afu) Firselly Utami
Afu is an occasional writer for The Reformist and the Chief Experiment Officer at Think Policy. Her grandma got her hooked on books when she was three, and she started blogging at 13. She doesn’t read the news daily, although she’s big on history — basically an accumulation of news filtered through time.
She hyperfocuses on a new policy conundrum every few years or so. Her first after college was environmental economics, but lately she’s been obsessed with figuring out how to make democracy work. P. S. Afu is low-key mad because AI has made the em dash their mark, although she started using it at least a decade ago.
Florida Andriana
Florida is an editor at The Reformist and the Chief of Strategy at Think Policy. Professionally raised as a consultant, she has a soft spot for an unnecessarily satisfying executive summary. She is drawn to public policy because it offers a powerful way to make change, while also being one of the most complicated puzzles to work through: competing interests, imperfect information, and moving pieces, where understanding how they connect can be as important as finding the answer.
She likes her quiet mornings, with coffee and whatever book or rabbit hole has caught her attention that week. Her interests tend to rotate, from horseback riding and diving to hot mat Pilates and boxing. She really appreciates good food and is especially partial to comforting soto bening, a balanced Negroni, or hearty nabe or sukiyaki.
Ravio Patra
Ravio is an editor for The Reformist and the Political Economy Principal at Think Policy. His career in public policy is anchored in an impact-first principle and does not strictly adhere to well-established mores, defined by how power and interests of the self — those of policymakers — eclipse public ones.
When he’s not doing these, chances are he’s sleeping next to his four cats, hitting a green ball on a tennis court, or coming up with a new spreadsheet for who knows what.
