In 1928, a quiet gathering in Batavia carried the pulse of something new. Young people from across the islands came together with a single intention to imagine a shared future. The room had no sign of power, only sincerity, courage, and hope. Nearly a century later, that spirit continues to guide us.
The Youth Pledge was more than a declaration; it was an awakening of collective leadership. It reminds us that the strength of a nation and of any movement grows from the spaces where trust and clarity meet. From that hall of voices, we inherit a lesson still alive today that the future unfolds for those who lead with unity and purpose.
Now as we commemorate the 97th Sumpah Pemuda this 2025 under the theme “Pemuda Pemudi Bergerak, Indonesia Bersatu,” we are called once again to move together collectively. Let’s think about this question altogether: How can leadership today stay grounded in shared trust and courage, so that together, we may continue to move forward as one Indonesia, united in purpose?
The Shift Toward Shared Leadership
Collective leadership differs from the traditional idea of leadership centered on individuals. While conventional leadership focuses on the person at the top, collective leadership highlights the power of people working together toward a shared goal.
Today’s global challenges, from climate change to social inequality and sustainability, are so interconnected that no single person or institution can address them alone. This is where the spirit of gotong royong becomes more relevant than ever.
The Sumpah Pemuda itself was born from this spirit of collaboration. It was shaped by 13 young people representing diverse organizations and backgrounds who came together to declare one nationality, one homeland, and one language: Indonesia. In doing so, they transformed diversity into strength. Their unity in purpose serves as a model for how collective action can overcome fragmentation and complexity, a lesson that remains vital for tackling today’s multifaceted issues.
Collective Leadership: The Spirit of the Youth Pledge Lives On
In the words of Soegondo Djojopoespito, who chaired the 1928 Youth Congress that united young Indonesians under the Youth Pledge, “Kita harus bersatu untuk mencapai cita-cita yang luhur, tetapi janganlah persatuan itu menghapuskan perbedaan kita.” His message reminds us that unity and diversity are not opposites but companions in progress. This principle continues to guide BLESS’s ecosystem through the FLARE mission, where collaboration thrives on inclusion and shared purpose.
The FLARE mission helps shape a responsible bioeconomy as both an economic approach and a climate solution. It grows through collaboration among people from different fields, such as leaders, farmers, innovators, business owners, NGOs, and policymakers, each bringing their own strengths toward a common goal. In many ways, this reflects the national spirit we commemorate this Sumpah Pemuda: that real progress thrives when we trust one another and move collectively. Within this mission, unity lives in harmony, where every voice contributes to a larger rhythm of purpose, grounded in Goleman’s emotional intelligence and resilience framework that nurtures empathy, awareness, and the courage to collaborate.
Lasting change begins with the courage to listen. Listening invites understanding and builds the trust that holds collaboration together. It asks us to pause our assumptions, embrace differences, and find clarity through empathy. Through this practice, leaders start to see beyond roles and titles, discovering the common ground where purpose can grow.
Collective leadership blossoms when responsibility is shared. The Youth Pledge was a moment when young people stood shoulder to shoulder, driven by a vision that felt larger than themselves. Each voice carried the same promise: Satu Nusa, Satu Bangsa, Satu Bahasa. That shared commitment turned a simple declaration into a living movement.
To lead together means to hold both ownership and care. It means seeing every outcome as something we build together and valuing the process as deeply as the result. Today, this spirit continues within BLESS and FLARE, where partners, facilitators, and local actors co-create impact through collaboration rather than competition. Leadership becomes an act of weaving connections, each person a thread that strengthens the fabric of purpose. When responsibility is shared, success feels like a sunrise, quiet, collective, and full of promise.
The young delegates of 1928 walked into uncertainty, guided by trust. That trust became the unseen root of Indonesia’s awakening. In collective leadership, this “adaptive trust” keeps everything grounded, a faith in the process even when the outcome remains unclear. It grows quietly beneath uncertainty, like roots that hold the soil together.
Trust in this sense is an act of openness that invites learning, connection, and patience through change. Many modern movements for climate, equality, and wellbeing move in this same rhythm that is small circles stepping forward together, guided by shared faith in collaboration. Trust becomes the bridge that holds, even when the destination is still forming on the horizon.
Rooted Leadership for a Regenerative Future
The Youth Pledge marked the beginning of a journey that continues to evolve through every effort to unite, listen, and lead together. Nearly a century later, its promise continues to guide us in how we work, collaborate, and care for one another each day.
Our modern Sumpah Pemuda takes shape in gestures that may seem small but carry quiet strength, the courage to show up with honesty, to share responsibility, and to walk side by side through uncertainty. Leadership, in this light, grows not from authority but from togetherness and trust.
The youth of 1928 once stood in a small hall, imagining a nation not yet born. Today, we stand on their dream, not to repeat their words, but to live them.
As Indonesia’s flag rises once more, let us remember that unity lives through motion. And may each of us, in our own way keep that movement alive in how we lead, how we listen, and how we move forward, one Indonesia, united in purpose as a young generation.
