As a Head of Economy Cluster, Mia plays a pivotal role in overseeing the cluster's research projects and ensuring the quality of outputs produced by the teams. She just completed a baseline study on multistakeholder collaboration for mainstreaming gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) in Indonesia. The study provides a comprehensive overview of the initial conditions of collaboration between civil society organizations (CSOs) and local governments in promoting GEDSI in the planning and budgeting process.

Her current research focuses on green jobs within the textile and textile products subsector to promote a green industry. The study aims to support Indonesia’s green transformation by promoting green jobs and developing a workforce equipped with green skills contributing to both national and global sustainable development goals.

To maximize research uptake, Mia ensures continuous engagements with key stakeholders throughout the research process. She translates research findings into policy briefs, research notes, and other publications tailored for the policymakers. Her policy engagement efforts extend to serving as a resource person in high-level seminars, focus group discussions (FGDs) and media interviews.

Beyond her research, Mia leads various capacity building and training activities, including advance training on migration data management, policy brief writing, bridging research to policy making, and qualitative impact assessment. She also supports SMERU’s management in strategic areas such as proposal development, research design, recruitment processes, and the mentorship of junior researcher. Additionally, she frequently represents SMERU in welcoming and briefing external international guests.

Before joining SMERU, Mia served as a researcher at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), a socioeconomics expert for the International Fund for Agricultural Development and a microcredit specialist for a UNV-UNDP decentralization project in Eastern Indonesia.