Emmanuela Shinta is a Dayak leader, activist, environmentalist, filmmaker and writer with a reputation for leading and empowering young indigenous people. Her expertise is Indigenous activism, youth movement and digital storytelling. 

In 2016, Shinta founded Ranu Welum Foundation, an indigenous-led organization which combines Indigenous wisdom and modern technology for cultural survival, forest protection and restoration, and Indigenous rights. She then launched the Youth Act Campaign, which encourages young people to get involved in climate action and demand climate justice for Kalimantan. This campaign then evolved into a movement, in which more than 1,000 young leaders all across the island as members are empowered to be changemakers in their respective communities. 

Shinta has trained more than 180 Indigenous filmmakers and produced/directed 18 Indigenous films. She is the co-founder of the International Indigenous Film Festival Network, and the Alive Global Ministry. Written in English, her memoir, Me, Modernism, and My Indigenous Roots, tells about her life as an indigenous woman in the midst of industrialization and environmental destruction and details her journey to activism. She has been featured in various international media, speaking at high level forums and traveling around the globe to bring the voices of indigenous communities in Indonesia to global audiences. She has experience working with the UN as advisor, expert and speaker. A latest documentary about her is Fire Beneath Her published by Al Jazeera. Currently she is still actively campaigning about Dayak indigenous rights and Kalimantan environmental issues through her social media, and developing Indigenous-based conservation model to protect 4,400 ha of the forest in her home village, Talekoi.

Click here to know her notable retrospective.