A one-day leadership training was conducted on September 16, 2019 at the office of the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in Jakarta. This event was held as part of the collaboration between the CTI-CFF Women Leaders Forum, the Coral Triangle Center, and the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and was attended by 30 young women leaders.

Ms. Sri Atmini, from the National Coordinating Committee of CTI-CFF, opened the training session. Ms. Atmini spoke about leadership skills being essential in order to understand future challenges and find solutions, including in the management of marine resources. She said her hopes were for this leadership training to build the leadership capacity of the participants, so they can perform better as leaders at work and in their communities.

The training itself was facilitated by Robert Schout from PowerSkills Training & Development, based in the US. The training covered several topics, including the differences between leaders and managers; the four dimensions of leadership; types of learning styles; and communication styles. The training was delivered using interactive learning techniques that allowed for the engagement of all participants through group discussions and presentations. At the end of the session, the participants were asked to discuss and reflect on their primary and secondary communicative styles, and how they can develop and combine these styles for different circumstances and purposes.

One of the women leaders, Ms. Dinah Yunitawati, briefly explained the purpose and activities of the CTI-CFF Women Leaders Forum, and presented the conservation challenges that her and her colleagues have been addressing in the Banda Islands since 2018, aiming to reduce coral and beach sand mining. She also stated that the CTI-CFF Women Leaders Forum is a useful platform for women leaders across the Coral Triangle region to develop their leadership capacity, as well as to connect with other women leaders and learn from each other.