The Tanoto Scholars Gathering and the 2015 Motto

Sukanto Tanoto has become well-known not only for being the owner of a global business group in the forestry and energy industry, but also for being a businessman who has been actively engaged in finding new ways to supply the world with sustainably manufactured products, as well as involved in the education of future generations.

Sukanto Tanoto has been an advocate of sustainability and lifelong learning at a global level – this was the motivation behind the establishment of the Tanoto Foundation. The world-class businessman was forced to drop out of school at the age of 17, so he knows how difficult it is to build a life in the highly competitive world of business without proper education. The mission of his Foundation is the continuous improvement of education standards and the alleviation of poverty by means of making education available for deserving youngsters.

The Foundation has indeed done a lot for improving the living standards of local communities by increasing the availability of education. The Foundation’s School Improvement Program has already reached out to 200 elementary schools in North Sumatra, Riau and Jambi, has created learning environments that are safe, sustainable and healthy, and has offered numerous talented students scholarships that enabled them to continue their education. Tanoto offers scholarships to teachers in remote areas as well, in order to improve the quality of education at all levels. Tanoto offers his wealth of knowledge to entrepreneurs as well – the Tanoto Entrepreneurship Series organizes events on a regular basis to support entrepreneurs and initiatives across Indonesia.

The most recent gathering of the Foundation, held in the middle of August 2015, had 266 Tanoto scholars attending from 23 universities from all over Indonesia. The theme of the 4-day event was “Learn and Lead” – a broad topic that covered the learning of soft skills, character development, leadership and teamwork-related issues, as well sustainability and community-based views pertaining to the general theme.