Bridging Algorithms and Action: Joanka Devi Kalynda
In early 2026, in a small Indonesian town, a group of NTU students set out to make a mark on three fronts. They ran digital literacy and AI workshops for local teachers, opening up new tools for the classroom. They coached micro-enterprise owners on branding and product innovation, sharpening how small businesses tell their story and grow. And they planted trees alongside absorption wells built to conserve groundwater.
The programme, Boyolali, Ojo Lali, was the 2026 edition of Balik Kampoeng — a student-led community service organisation founded by Indonesian students at NTU, committed to creating sustainable impact in communities across Indonesia.These activities were part of the programme Boyolali, Ojo Lali – the 2026 edition of Balik Kampoeng. Founded by Indonesian students at NTU, the organisation is committed to creating sustainable impact in communities across the country.
At the head of it was Joanka Devi Kalynda, a Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) student about to graduate from the College of Computing and Data Science (CCDS). As President, she led over 20 members in shaping the programme's vision, partnerships, and execution.
"Balik Kampoeng lets me give back to communities in the country I come from," she says, "turning what I was learning into something that could actually improve lives."
It was also, in many ways, one of the clearest expressions of the kind of student Joanka has been for four years, one who treated her years at CCDS as an opportunity to look beyond herself and empower the community.
Looking beyond the noise
While a DSAI degree delves on complex models and data architectures, Joanka spent her university years in another direction. Her journey began in 2022 with a deliberate decision to look past the AI hype.
"I wanted to understand what it was actually all about, not just the hype but the substance behind it," she recalls. Realising that data and AI could be harnessed to drive better decisions in critical sectors like healthcare, finance, education, and agriculture, she set out to bridge the gap between technical theory and human impact.
Leading with purpose
This desire to use technology for good directly shaped her final-year project and proudest academic milestone: FairGrad: Fairness-Aware Gender Classification. The project tackled the pressing ethical issue of algorithmic bias, investigating how AI systems that classify gender can be engineered to perform more equitably across diverse demographic groups. For Joanka, true innovation cannot be separated from fairness.
Beyond her impactful work with Balik Kampoeng, Joanka continuously stepped out of her comfort zone to lead the wider student body. As the Honorary General Secretary of the 25th SCDS Club, she coordinated a 200-member committee dedicated to shaping engaging events for the computing community.
She also dedicated two years to NTUSU, serving first as the Publicity Officer for the Student Integration Committee, and later as a UI/UX Designer for ntumods.org, a platform NTU students use to plan their academic schedules.
"I didn't want my time in university to be only about myself," she explains. "I wanted it to count for something beyond me. A classroom teaches you to solve problems that already have answers. These activities taught me the things that don't fit neatly into a syllabus."
Learning to listen
Joanka's leadership style evolved further through her role as a mentor in NTU's Falcon Mentorship programme. There, she learned to listen before advising, to ask guiding questions instead of dictating answers, and to trust that people often hold the solutions within themselves.
Her growth was accelerated by the Impactful Leadership Programme, which provided her with curated training, mentorship, and personal coaching. The experience redefined her philosophy on what it means to lead: "The best leaders make themselves unnecessary by building a team that thrives even when they're not there."
Four years on, the direction was clear: a way of building, a way of leading, and a clear sense of who her work should reach.
A vision for the future
As she graduates from CCDS, Joanka is set to join Bloomberg's Analytics & Sales programme, a path that sits at the intersection of finance, data and people. Yet, her long-term metric for success stretches far beyond salary or titles.
"If I'm still curious, still kind, and still close to the people who matter, I'll consider that a life well spent," she reflects. Armed with a robust technical foundation and a deep commitment to social responsibility, Joanka embodies exactly what a CCDS education is quietly designed to achieve.
