Executive Director

Dominggus Elcid Li

Biography: Dr. Dominggus Elcid Li has served as the Executive Director of IRGSC (Institute of Resource Governance and Social Change) since 2013, an Indonesian think tank based in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province. His research examines the correlation between subsistent communities and human trafficking. His research focuses on political sociology, focusing on corrupted institutions and the fade away of the State and its relation to subsistent communities. He is also investigating the subsistent community’s problem, particularly the urban poor’s predicaments as they migrant from rural West Timor area. Using action research, he is also developing several urban movements including anti-trafficking movement (2014-2015), urban participatory democracy (2016), and he has also developed the people’s biomolecular laboratory to address problems that people have faced during the pandemic COVID-19 (2020). He graduated in 2013 with a PhD in Sociology from the University of Birmingham.

Selected works:

• Li, D.E. (2020): Children Trafficking in Indonesia: the Defeat of Subsistent Mode of Production from Market Penetration in West Timor. Jurnal Perempuan, September, 2020.
• Li, D.E. (2020): Indonesian Social Justice Index. Book, second author. Jakarta, August 2020.
• Li, D.E. (2020): Republic and Social Injustice: The Tragedy of the Illiterate in Indonesia. Prisma, Vol.39.
• Li, D.E. Ed. (2019): Water Problem Among the Poors on the Border Area of Indonesia and Timor Leste. Book, IRGSC.
• Li, D.E. (2018): Globalisation, the Role of State, and the Rule of Law Crisis: Human Trafficking in the Eastern Part of Indonesia. Book Chapter, ISEAS, 243-264.
• Li, D.E. (2015): Indigenous Land, Global Capitalism, and Church Vision. In: Theology of Land, Makassar. Book Chapter, 227-238.
• Li, D.E./Paul. S./Bernadetha R./Wetangterah L. (2017): Human Trafficking and Corruption in Post Suharto Period ‘within’ Indonesian Border. IRGSC, Working Paper, Kupang.
• Lassa, J./Li, D.E. (2015): Understanding Social Exclusion in Indonesia. Asia Foundation. Link to publication.
• Lassa, J./Li, D.E. (2015): NGO Networks and the Future of NGO Sustainability in Indonesia, NSSC. National NGO Study and Service Centre. DFAT. Link to publication.
• Li, D.E. (2013). Silent Suffering, Historical sociology analysis of the East Timorese in Indonesia after 1999. University of Birmingham, PhD Thesis. https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/5184/1/Li14PhD.pdf

Areas of expertise:

• Human trafficking
• Rural Sociology
• Urban Movement
• Participatory Democracy
• Historical Sociology

Current position(s)

• Director of Nusantara School of Difference
• Member of FKUB Provinsi NTT (Interfaith Dialog Forum in NTT Province)
• Vice Chairperson of Pool Test Bimolecular Public Health Laboratory in NTT Province (Laboratorium Biomolekuler Kesehatan Masyarakat)

Past position(s)

• Indonesian Research Fellow, ASH Center, Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), Harvard University (2014-2015)
• Ford Foundation Fellow in University of Birmingham UK (2006-2008)
• Member of ITP (Peace Bridging Institute or Insititut Titian Perdamaian)
• Contributor for TV7, Metro TV in NTT Province, Indonesia (2004-2005)

Prizes and Awards:

• Harvard Kennedy School Indonesia Program (HKSIP) Indonesian Research Fellow,
• University 21 Fellowship (2009)
• Ford Foundation Fellow (2006-2009)
• ITP (Institut Titian Perdamaian) Fellowship (2004)

Membership and Networks:

• Institut Titian Perdamaian (ITP)
• Forum Academia NTT
• Nusantara School of Difference (NSD)
• CEDAR (Community Engage with Difference and Religion)
• Global Sociology (Indonesia)
• Indonesian Social Justice Network (ISJN)

Researcher

Yohanes V. Lasi Bobo

Biography:  Yohanes Victor Lasi Usbobo is an activist and a social researcher based in Kupang City. She has been involved in activism since college and after graduation she worked with various local, national and international NGOs working on conflict prevention, peace building and community empowerment issues.

He has participated in the Asian Professional Youth Exchange Program sponsored by Fredskorpset (Norek) Norway and was placed at the Shalom Foundation, Myanmar. He traveled to several states to provide training on the Conflict Early Warning and Early Response System and met with military leaders of several ethnic groups.

In 2013 he received a full scholarship from the Australian government and completed his master’s degree in International Development from Flinders University in South Australia.

Upon his return from his studies he joined the IRGSC and was involved in some of the research and evaluation carried out by the IRGSC on its partner institutions. She is interested in issues of conflict prevention and peace building, safe migration and trafficking in persons, indigenous peoples, women’s studies and border studies. The last research conducted was on Political-Economic Analysis in Belu District in collaboration between the Pikul Foundation and USAID – ERAT.

Areas of :

• Conflict prevention and resolution
• Indigenous community
• Early Warning System
• Peace Building
• Political-economy analysis

Current position(s)

• Lead Researcher, IRGSC, Kupang

Membership and Networks:

• Forum Academia NTT

Junior Researcher

Priska Christine Mystika Manek, SH

Biography: Priska is a researcher focusing on migration, climate change, and gender. She has worked with IOM Indonesia and the Local Government Association of Lingkar Temu Kabupaten Lestari (LTKL), and has been involved with IRGSC since 2019. Her work spans anti-trafficking advocacy, assisting survivors in restitution processes, and supporting women’s economic empowerment through community-led initiatives. She is currently a fellow in the YSEALI Professional Fellows Program.

Areas of Expertise :

√ Migration studies

√ Climate change and environmental governance

√ Gender and women’s empowerment

√ Community-based development and advocacy

Current position(s)

√ Junior Researcher IRGSC, Kupang

Junior Researcher

Stevie Tualaka

Biography: As a plant pathologist, Stevie has focused her study on plant-pathogen interactions, molecular aspects of pathogenicity and disease diagnostics. She is also interested to study environmentally friendly pest and disease control methods. She has experienced identifying pests and diseases in apple and citrus crops in the SouthCentral Timor District, and using biological agents such as Trichoderma sp. to increase plant resistance.

Currently, aside from her interest study on plant protection, she is also focusing on the issue of the availability of seeing seaweed seedlings in Savu Island, due to the decline in genetic quality, by trying to apply the seaweed gene selection method through seaweed spores.

Areas of expertise:

• Plant pathology
• Plant Protection
• Biomoleculer
• Biotechnology

Current position(s)

• Junior researcher
• Village facilitator for Implementation of SIGAP in Savu Island, YKAN partnership with IRGSC

Junior Researcher

Nguru Kolo

Biography: Public Administration, especially on the accountability and transparency, is on his research and advocacy interest. Furthermore, his first-hand experience on coastal livelihood especially on seaweed farming, has certainly put his research interest specifically in the field of participatory sustainable development for blue economy. Being born and raised as a part of indigenous community that is faced by constant conflict such as land-grabbing other inclusion issues has encouraged him to do more research on indigenous people, conflict and development.

Areas of expertise:

• Seaweed economy
• Public administration
• Indigenous community

Current position(s)

• Junior researcher
• Village facilitator for Implementation of SIGAP in Savu Island, YKAN

Research Director

John Petrus Talan, M.Dev. St

Biography: John Talan is a researcher at IRGSC who joined since 2013. His research interests include development planning, urban development politics, water governance, climate change adaptation, disaster studies, anthropology of cash assistance, anthropology of infrastructure, megaprojects governance and social protection.

Selected Publication(s):

• A policy Brief (Co-Author): Informal Social Protection: The Role of Social Capital, 2024
  https://rdiglobal.org/publications/view/90009/informal-social-protection-the-role-of-social-capital
• Food and Nutrition Security as Affected by Cascading Crises caused by the Interplay of Conflict, Pandemic and Disasters: A West Timor Story. In Food Security Issues in Asia, 2024 (pp. 693-716). World Scientific Publishing (Co-Author)
• Book publication (Co-Author), Sail Through the Storms with Cash Transfer, Survivor’s Stories of Cash and Vouchers Assistance in Indonesia During Disasters and Covid-19. 2022, https://www.xlibris.com/en-gb/bookstore/bookdetails/823445-sail-through-the-storms-with-cash-transfer
• Article in The Conversation (Co-Author), 30 tahun lalu gempa dan tsunami merusak Flores: apakah mitigasi risiko di sana kini lebih baik? https://theconversation.com/30-tahun-lalu-gempa-dan-tsunami-merusak-flores-apakah-mitigasi-risiko-di-sana-kini-lebih-baik-196288
• Urban Water Inequality Case of Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. In 40 Perspectives on Urban, February 2021.
• KRuHA Working Paper (Co-Author): In Search of Citizenship in Indonesia; Omnibus Law on Job Creation Bill (published in Indonesian). Koalisi Rakyat untuk Hak Atas Air (KRuHA) – People’s Coalition for the Right to Water. Jakarta, 2020

Areas of Expertise:

• Spatial planning
• Urban studies
• Social innovation
• Climate change
• Disaster studies
• Technology adaptation and innovation studies
• Water conflicts
• Anthropology of cash transfer
• Science and technology studies (STS)

Current position(s)

• Senior Researcher, IRGSC, Kupang

Membership and Networks:

• GCSMUS – TU Berlin, Germany https://gcsmus.org/people/john-petrus-talan/
• The Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London (UCL)