2025 Wrap Up

As we get started in 2026, let’s take a look back at Empatika’s 2025.

A new base

First, we relocated our main office from Jakarta to Bali. Our projects span a wide range of sectors, including health, education, inclusion, gender, environment, and the private sector.

Projects covering inclusion, climate, health, and the private sector

Some key takeaways and themes from our work last year included:

1. Everyone deserves the right kind of support,

2. Communities hold wisdom, we just need to help to bring it out, and

3. Growth happens in small steps, not giant leaps.

Empowering caregivers of children with disabilities

In 2025, a number of Empatika’s projects centered around the theme of inclusion. This included our first large-scale training project, which helped empower parents of children with disabilities (CwD) in 13 cities and districts across Indonesia. 

This project included developed of a comprehensive caregivers guideline and involved training more than 100 local facilities—early childhood and special education teachers, therapists, and parents of children with disabilities—who then led multi-day training with over 1,000 CwD caregivers in their respective locations. 

In collaboration with Total Mind Learning, we designed the training to be practical and easy to understand, with a particular focus around two critical areas that we found during an initial phase or research: helping parents 1) develop a positive and confident mindset, and 2) gain a deeper understanding of child development.

Learn more about this project including the training content and the impacts at: www.empatika.org/cwd-caregivers-spotlight.

As part of supporting project sustainability, we also created a free knowledge and information platform for parents, www.orangtuaberdaya.com, as a hub for ongoing learning and support.

Climate Equity Assessments and Ecosystems Sensemaking

Our climate-related work in 2025 highlighted the intersection between environmental sustainability and social equity. This included an inclusive needs and equity assessment for the planned Jakarta Low Emissions Zone which aims to help ensure that climate-related projects such as this one do not deepen existing vulnerabilities, such as placing a heavier burden on those who are already most exposed. Discussions with community members living and working in two potential low emissions zones highlighted the need for improved communication—ensuring that people understand why change such as a low emissions zone is necessary, including better understanding how pollution affects their lives.

Late in 2025, our team conducted a sensemaking workshop for a large Climate Entrepreneurship project. The implementing organization for this project had recently done some ecosystems mapping research in Makassar, Ambon, and Kupang, and the project team asked for our assistance to help them compare, triangulate and synthesize all of the insights. The sensemaking workshop was conducted in Jakarta over two days, working with the project team and the implementing partner. 

Exploring Independent Midwives Practices and the HPV Vaccination Program

Empatika also continued to expand our health-related work in 2025. We collaborated once again with the Burnet Institute, this time looking at independent midwifery practices in Indonesia. Although independent midwives are often mentioned as the frontline of healthcare services in Indonesia, we found that they lack more formal recognition and integration into the wider health system, including a lack of supportive policies which has left some independent midwives feeling undervalued and worried about the sustainability of midwifery practices moving forward.

Back in April 2025, we also wrapped up our study exploring girls and their caregivers’ experiences with HPV vaccination by holding a dissemination workshop with stakeholders and partners in Jakarta. 

Private Sector Work and Training Updates

Our work with the private sector continued in 2025 with our third study exploring user experiences for online music platforms.

Alongside our research and program implementation, we held two more open training for our 1-day Participatory Practices for Better Engagement and Research training.

Thanks to all of our partners and participants throughout the year!

Looking forward

Welcoming 2026, we’re preparing a training workshop for the local government as part of our Inclusive Needs and Equity Assessment project. We are also getting ready to pilot a new training course on facilitation methods!

We hope 2026 will bring a new spirit and more exciting innovation and collaboration.

Hope to see you along the way!

View the full 2025 Wrap-Up Graphic